You could call Chris Swan a road warrior. Since 2014, he’s been traveling the road in one Broadway production or another. “The first was ‘A Christmas Story,’ where I played […]
Frank O'Donnell
Frank O’Donnell has worn many different hats. As an actor, he’s performed in three professional theatrical productions and countless community theater productions. He’s written, produced and directed four holiday-themed shows and once helmed the Notfanuttin’ Players, specializing in audience-participation dinner shows. He’s been performing as a stand-up comedian since 1982 and has been inducted into the RI Comedy Hall of Fame. He’s written comedy for other performers, like Bob Hope, Jay Leno and Joe Piscopo. He’s opened for performers as diverse as the Judds, Michael Bolton, Chicago, David Brenner, Gilbert Gottfried and more. He’s been writing reviews and features about theater in Rhode Island for better than two decades. His work to help save the monarch butterfly has been chronicled on NBC Nightly News and he is president of the Keri Anne O’Donnell Memorial Fund. A native of Providence and long-time resident of North Providence, Frank now calls Jamestown home. He and his wife Karen – who he met when both were students at Classical High School – have four children, and recently became grandparents.
Theater Preview: ‘The Oldest Profession’ opening at Burbage Theater Company
Anne Scurria is trying something new. Now in her 44th year acting at Trinity Rep, Scurria is directing her first play. As Scurria tells it, she was sitting at a […]
Review: ‘Faith Healer’ at Gamm Theatre is brilliant
Brilliant. I can’t think of a better way to describe “Faith Healer,” currently on stage at the Gamm Theatre in Warwick. Simple brilliance all around. It’s a three-person show, based […]
‘Little Women’ playing at Jamestown Community Theatre Nov. 18-20
I was able to sit in on a tech rehearsal of “Little Women” earlier this week at Jamestown Community Theatre. While the actors worked hard on stage, sound and light […]
Theater Review: ‘Tootsie’ laugh out loud funny at PPAC
My review of “Tootsie” can be put into four words. Laugh out loud funny. Those who know me will tell you I do not laugh easily. It’s an occupational hazard […]
What’s Up Interview: Drew Becker, star of ‘Tootsie,’ playing PPAC through Sunday Oct. 30
Drew Becker is just the third person to play Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels. He’s the lead actor in “Tootsie,” the musical playing at the Providence Performing Arts Center this […]
The Community Players start 101st Season
Rhode Island has a lot of history. That’s a given. But it’s amazing to say that Rhode Island is home to two community theater groups that are over 100 years […]
What’s Up Interview: Eden Casteel – ‘Kahn Artist’
Eden Casteel has been a performer pretty much her whole life. “I was a piano player at the age of four,” she said recently, “and I started voice lessons at […]
What’s Up Interview: Piff the Magic Dragon coming to The Vets September 29
Piff the Magic Dragon’s genesis was strictly accidental. “I was a close-up magician,” said the comic magician during a recent phone interview. “I did parties, weddings, bar mitzvahs, but I […]
Theater Review: ‘TINA: The Tina Turner Musical’ powerful at PPAC
The Providence Performing Arts Center kicked off its 2022/2023 this week with a powerhouse presentation of “TINA – The Tina Turner Musical.” Press night was Wednesday, but because the national […]
Behind the Scenes at PPAC with TINA: The Tina Turner Musical
Larry Smiglewski is working 24/7. “We’re in tech [rehearsal], so basically an all-hours thing.” Smiglewski is the production stage manager for “TINA: The Tina Turner Musical.” The show’s national tour […]
What’s Up Interview: The Mulhern Brothers, leading voices on RI radio
Maintaining a long-term career in Rhode Island radio isn’t easy. It’s even more unusual to consider that siblings can do it. Consider this. Brian Mulhern, current co-host of the morning […]
RI Shakespeare Rep to present ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at John Brown House in Providence Aug. 12-14
Covid presented a lot of challenges for area actors. Take Christin Goff. She’d been coaching some actors in monologues in the spring of 2022 and was planning a class for […]
What’s Up Interview: Actor John O’Hurley, coming to Theatre by the Sea in Wakefield August 1
John O’Hurley tells about a call he got from famed producer Michael Feinstein. “He asked, do you have a one-man show,” said O’Hurley in our recent phone call. “And I […]
What’s Up Interview: Rus Anderson, starring in ‘The Rocket Man Show’ at PPAC Saturday July 16
Rus Anderson didn’t set out to perform a tribute concert to Elton John. And yet, here he is. Anderson came to the United States in 2003 to attend college. The […]
What’s Up Interview: Al Ducharme, to be inducted in the Rhode Island Comedy Hall of Fame
When I caught up with Al Ducharme, he was on a cruise ship docked at a private island in the Caribbean. He was on board working as a comedian. “I […]
What’s Up Interview: Seth Rudetsky, coming to Theatre by the Sea Monday July 11
Sirius Radio’s Seth Rudetsky, one of the hosts on the Broadway Channel, brings his “Big Fat Broadway Show” to Theatre by the Sea on Monday, July 11. If you’ve heard […]
Kelly Bates is home – WUN’s Frank O’Donnell joins the popular meteorologist as she returns to ABC6
It’s 4:30 on an absolutely perfect Saturday afternoon. I’m sitting in the ABC 6 Storm Tracker Center on Orms Street, watching meteorologist Kelly Bates prep for her first news broadcast […]
Theater Review: ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ opens the season at Theatre-by-the-Sea
December 4, 1956. Something momentous occurred. No, it wasn’t a celebration of my 64th day on the planet. Far away from Providence, a recording studio in Memphis hosted an impromptu […]
Theater Preview: ‘The Voice of Gertrude Stein’ coming to Contemporary Theater
If you’re like me, when you hear “opera,” you think belting soloists, foreign languages, and works that are several centuries old. “Opera is not what people think,” says Rachel Hanauer. […]
Frank O’Donnell: High Drama at the Gamm – Cast resilient after Covid delay
It’s Wednesday evening. Cast and crew of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” are gathered again on the stage at the Gamm Theatre in Warwick. Tony Estrella had just finished explaining that […]
West Bay Community Theater to open new space in Wickford
There’s a new theater company in the southern part of the state. West Bay Community Theater is getting ready to move into a new space in the heart of Wickford. […]
Frank O’Donnell: Gamm Theatre pauses performances of ‘Midsummer’… an actor’s perspective
It’s not the way we wanted to spend our opening weekend. I’m paraphrasing Tony Estrella, artistic director of the Gamm Theatre in Warwick. It’s Sunday afternoon, Mother’s Day. We had […]
Rhode Island Comedy Hall of Fame & The Comedy Park coming to Cranston
Looking for some laughs? There’s a new comedy club in town that you’ll want to check out. “The Comedy Park is the culmination of a lifelong dream,” says Billy Simas, […]
Rehearsing Shakespeare: Actor Frank O’Donnell’s first-hand account of preparing for ‘Midsummer’
It’s Easter Sunday. While others are enjoying egg hunts and ham dinners, 18 actors, a director, a stage manager and several crew members are rehearsing A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at […]