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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.

Posted inArts & Entertainment

What’s Up Interview: Meet Chris Swan, playing Daddy Warbucks in PPAC’s ‘Annie’

by Frank O'Donnell 10 hours agoJanuary 29, 2023

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Theater Preview: ‘The Oldest Profession’ opening at Burbage Theater Company

by Frank O'Donnell January 27, 2023January 27, 2023

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Review: ‘Faith Healer’ at Gamm Theatre is brilliant

by Frank O'Donnell January 23, 2023January 24, 2023

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

‘Little Women’ playing at Jamestown Community Theatre Nov. 18-20

by Frank O'Donnell November 18, 2022November 18, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Theater Review: ‘Tootsie’ laugh out loud funny at PPAC

by Frank O'Donnell October 28, 2022October 28, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment, People & Profiles, Things To Do

What’s Up Interview: Drew Becker, star of ‘Tootsie,’ playing PPAC through Sunday Oct. 30

by Frank O'Donnell October 26, 2022December 30, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

The Community Players start 101st Season

by Frank O'Donnell October 4, 2022October 3, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment, Things To Do

What’s Up Interview: Eden Casteel – ‘Kahn Artist’

by Frank O'Donnell September 23, 2022December 30, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment, Things To Do

What’s Up Interview: Piff the Magic Dragon coming to The Vets September 29

by Frank O'Donnell September 22, 2022December 30, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Theater Review: ‘TINA: The Tina Turner Musical’ powerful at PPAC

by Frank O'Donnell September 15, 2022September 15, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Behind the Scenes at PPAC with TINA: The Tina Turner Musical

by Frank O'Donnell September 11, 2022September 11, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

What’s Up Interview: The Mulhern Brothers, leading voices on RI radio

by Frank O'Donnell August 14, 2022December 30, 2022

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 […]

Posted inNews

RI Shakespeare Rep to present ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at John Brown House in Providence Aug. 12-14

by Frank O'Donnell August 10, 2022August 10, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

What’s Up Interview: Actor John O’Hurley, coming to Theatre by the Sea in Wakefield August 1

by Frank O'Donnell July 25, 2022December 30, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

What’s Up Interview: Rus Anderson, starring in ‘The Rocket Man Show’ at PPAC Saturday July 16

by Frank O'Donnell July 15, 2022December 30, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

What’s Up Interview:  Al Ducharme, to be inducted in the Rhode Island Comedy Hall of Fame

by Frank O'Donnell July 9, 2022December 30, 2022

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 […]

Posted inThings To Do

What’s Up Interview: Seth Rudetsky, coming to Theatre by the Sea Monday July 11

by Frank O'Donnell July 7, 2022December 30, 2022

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 […]

Posted inNews

Kelly Bates is home – WUN’s Frank O’Donnell joins the popular meteorologist as she returns to ABC6

by Frank O'Donnell June 11, 2022June 12, 2022

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 […]

Posted inNews

Theater Review: ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ opens the season at Theatre-by-the-Sea

by Frank O'Donnell June 3, 2022June 3, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Theater Preview: ‘The Voice of Gertrude Stein’ coming to Contemporary Theater

by Frank O'Donnell May 26, 2022May 27, 2022

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. […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Frank O’Donnell: High Drama at the Gamm – Cast resilient after Covid delay

by Frank O'Donnell May 21, 2022May 21, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

West Bay Community Theater to open new space in Wickford

by Frank O'Donnell May 11, 2022May 11, 2022

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. […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Frank O’Donnell: Gamm Theatre pauses performances of ‘Midsummer’… an actor’s perspective

by Frank O'Donnell May 9, 2022May 9, 2022

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 […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Rhode Island Comedy Hall of Fame & The Comedy Park coming to Cranston

by Frank O'Donnell April 30, 2022April 29, 2022

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, […]

Posted inArts & Entertainment

Rehearsing Shakespeare: Actor Frank O’Donnell’s first-hand account of preparing for ‘Midsummer’

by Frank O'Donnell April 27, 2022April 27, 2022

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 […]

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