Chazz Palminteri is proud of his accomplishments. “I’m the only guy ever in the history of show business,” he said in our recent interview, “to write a one-man show and star in it, write the screenplay from the show and star in it, and write a musical based on the show and star in it.” […]
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.
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“Operation Mincemeat” starts its national tour in Providence
Back in 1943, in the middle of World War II, British intelligence agents engineered a diversion to convince German intelligence organizations that an Allied landing was planned for Greece and Sardinia, when the actual landing would happen in Sicily. The diversion, code-named Operation Mincemeat, was successful. More than half a century later, it was the […]
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Four “Sopranos” actors bring their stories to Cranston in October
Andrew Jedlicka runs a talent agency, and several of his clients were actors on HBO’s hit, “The Sopranos.” “I’ve worked with many of the castmates from the show since 2019,” said Jedlicka recently. “I’ve wanted to do this show, include many of the cast members, give people a chance to interact with the cast.” The […]
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Tony Estrella takes the stage alone in “The Smuggler,” directed by the man who wrote it
Tony Estrella has spent “most of my summer” working on the script of “The Smuggler,” the one-man show that will open The Gamm Theatre’s new season. “I try to start (the rehearsal process) with as much in my brain as possible.” Written and directed by Ronán Noone, “The Smuggler” features bartender Tim Finnegan, newly arrived […]
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Garrison Keillor at 84: ‘I could go on doing this for a while’
The schedule called for fifteen minutes with Garrison Keillor. It ended up being a half-hour private concert. Keillor brings “Garrison Keillor Tonight” to the Jane Pickens Theater on September 20. “I’m doing pretty well,” he said at the start of the conversation. “I’m making progress on a new book. As long as one has a […]
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Academy Players stages ’80s jukebox musical ‘Rock of Ages’
Chelsea Morgan is drawn to directing “huge, exciting, dance-heavy musicals with a large cast.” The jukebox musical “Rock of Ages” checks all those boxes for Morgan and her husband, Adam. Last summer, they directed “The Wedding Singer” at Academy Players in Providence. “I knew I wanted to do something with those same qualities this summer,” […]
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From Houston to Matunuck: Jordan Okeke is having the summer of his life at Theatre by the Sea
Jordan Okeke has been a very lucky actor. He started working professionally while he was still in college. “I worked every summer,” said Okeke recently. “My university allowed you to work while you were still in school.” Okeke, who studied musical theater at Sam Houston State University, has spent his summer at Theatre by the […]
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For actor Alex LeBlanc, a summer of ‘Grease’ and ‘Titanic’ at Theatre by the Sea
Alex LeBlanc is excited to spend a chunk of his summer at Theatre by the Sea. The 24-year-old East Greenwich actor is appearing both in “Grease” and “Titanic.” “This is my first time (at Theatre by the Sea) as an adult,” said LeBlanc in our recent interview. “I did ‘Mary Poppins’ here in 2014. I […]
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For “The Lion King’s” Rafiki, a role in five languages and counting
Zama Magudulela had to think for a minute before declaring, “I’m the only one.” Magudulela is on tour as Rafiki, the mandrill shaman in “The Lion King,” the Disneymusical opening this week at the Providence Performing Arts Center. “Out of all theRafikis in the world,” she said in a recent interview, “I’m the first one […]
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Carol Montgomery built ‘Funny Women of a Certain Age’ to give older female comics a stage — and the laughs haven’t stopped since
Carol Montgomery was sitting in a podcast with three older female comics. “I honestly don’t remember” their names, she said recently. “I’m 68 years old. I can barely remember my own name.” She does remember it was very funny. “It was done in the basement of someone’s house. She had food. We were eating and […]
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‘Kimberly Akimbo’ star Ann Morrison on playing a teenager at 70: ‘I’m just an actor who’s having fun’
When I spoke with Ann Morrison, who’s starring in “Kimberly Akimbo” that’s coming to the Providence Performing Arts Center on May 5, she was celebrating her 70th birthday. “I feel like a 16-year-old,” she said, “but my 70-year-old body is lagging. I remember when my dad was 88, he sat down in his chair and […]
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‘The Outsiders’ national tour brings Broadway to Providence with a 20-year-old newcomer in the lead
Nolan White is on the road in the national tour of “The Outsiders,” in the lead role of Ponyboy Curtis. “I’m 20 in real life,” he said in our recent phone call, “playing a 14-year-old. I guess I look pretty young.” For those who never read the novel or saw the 1983 movie, “The Outsiders” […]
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PPAC reveals its 2026/2027 season — and all six Broadway shows are new
On Tuesday morning, the management team at the Providence Performing Arts Center unveiled its 2026/2027 season in the theater’s grand lobby. Alan Chille, PPAC’s new president and CEO, first announced the Broadway season, sponsored by The Taco and The White Family Foundation. Chille was excited that all six of these shows are new: Operation Mincemeat […]
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Gamm Theatre brings Shakespeare directly to students with new outreach program
Joey Del Santo is Director of Education & Community Programs at the Gamm Theatre in Warwick, and he’s excited about the theater’s newest program. Del Santo hopes that Gamm on the Go will be an “easier and more accessible way to engage students.” Until recently, if any school program wanted to see a show at […]
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‘Wicked’ at PPAC is spellbinding, start to finish
When I interviewed Jessie Davidson last month, I asked her if the two “Wicked” movies helped or hindered the stage version of the show, in which she’s playing Elphaba. “The movie brought ‘Wicked’ to so many.” She said she meets young people at the stage door after performances who say seeing “Wicked” live was their […]
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Choreographing consent: Meet Rhode Island’s intimacy director
Valerie Remillard is an Intimacy Director. What’s that, you ask. Read on… Just prior to the pandemic, she directed a production of “Almost, Maine” at the Community Players in Pawtucket. The show is actually nine short plays stapled together, exploring love and loss in a mythical Maine town called Almost. “There is intimacy in every […]
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Westerly’s Jen Christina is living her best life in ‘Six’
Westerly’s Jen Christina spent three years on tour with the traveling company of “Annie.” “I was very happy being home in Rhode Island,” she said in our recent phone interview. “I was finally settled in after being on the road for three years, settling into my groove.” But after six months being home, she got […]
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Theatre Review: ‘Suffs’ is a standing ovation-worthy triumph at PPAC
It’s hard to believe, but women didn’t have the right to vote in American elections until 1920. And it took a movement of determined women to win that right. That’s the focus for “Suffs,” now on stage at the Providence Performing Arts Center. Suffs is short for suffragists, the women leading the movement to win […]
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Review: ‘Clue’ delivers exactly what we need right now
You know Clue. You played Clue in your youth – the murder mystery board game. You may have seen the movie from 1985, starring Madeline Kahn and Christopher Lloyd, among others. And now, you can see “Clue,” live on stage at PPAC. I must admit, I went in with reservations, What could this 75-minute, intermission-free […]
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Lil Rhody Laff Riot returns in March with Mulaney, Handler, and powerhouse lineup
Jon Mulaney. Chelsea Handler. Jay Pharoah. Marc Maron. These are some powerhouse names in comedy, and they’ll all be landing in Rhode Island in March 2026 for year two of the Lil Rhody Laugh Riot. “We tried this last year because we’d seen such a comedy boom coming out of Covid,” said Dan Schwartz, general […]
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‘Six: The Musical’ reigns supreme at PPAC
“Six: The Musical” starts out strong and never lets up. The show – more a high-energy pop concert than a typical Broadway musical – focuses on the six wives of England’s notorious 16th century ruler, Henry VIII. It’s the latest Broadway offering at the Providence Performing Arts Center. “Six” opens with the curtains parting and […]
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Magic and mayhem take center stage in ‘Harry Potter & The Cursed Child’
Let’s get this out of the way. In Harry Potter terminology, I guess I’m a Muggle. Officially (according to Wikipedia anyway) is “a person who lacks any sort of magical ability.” In my mind, a Muggle is someone who’s not fully steeped in the lore of Potterworld. Now that we’ve got that out of the […]
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Dewey Bunnell keeps America’s music alive on the road
Fifty-five years after the band America was formed, Dewey Bunnell finds it “very satisfying that our songs still have a life. All of it is exciting.” I had a nice chat with Bunnell recently in advance of America’s appearance at the Providence Performing Arts Center on October 18. He was relaxing in his home in […]
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Theatre by the Sea closes season with Elvis musical ‘Heartbreak Hotel’
Theatre by the Sea closes out its 2025 season with “Heartbreak Hotel,” the jukebox musical featuring over 40 songs from the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley. The show chronicles Elvis’ life from his dirt-poor childhood in Memphis through his 1968 TV special on NBC, often called his comeback show. The younger Elvis (Laird […]
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‘Hairspray’ at Theatre by the Sea: A rare musical exception
It’s not often you’ll see a musical and have nothing but good things to say about it. The current production of “Hairspray” at Theatre by the Sea is that rare exception. In the first ten minutes, you’re treated to high-octane production numbers with “Good Morning, Baltimore” and “Nicest Kids in Town,” and you can’t help […]