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. “Opera is still being composed. Today’s opera is very close in style to musical theater.” Hanauer is co-producing “The Voice of Gertrude Stein” at the […]
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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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 another cast member tested positive for Covid. Tonight’s show had been canceled. We were there for a put-in rehearsal. Another actor, Steve Kidd, has been […]
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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. “When Academy Players left East Greenwich and the North Kingstown Players folded, the West Bay was left without a community theater,” says Terry Shea, president […]
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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 just wrapped up a brush-up rehearsal of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ wearing our street clothes, and we’re about to head home for the day. We […]
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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, the stand-up comic who’ll be managing the club. “This is exactly what I wanted to build for comics and the community.” The club is part […]
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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 the Gamm Theatre in Warwick in a second-floor rehearsal room. I am fortunate to have been cast in the show as Tom Snout, one of […]
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What’s Up Interview: Theresa Caputo, coming to The Vets April 10
“What I do is absolutely crazy,” says Theresa Caputo. “It’s insane. I sense, feel, say things to people that freak me out.” We chatted on the phone recently, in advance of the Long Island Medium’s show on April 10 at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence. Caputo is arguably America’s best-known medium. “I can connect […]
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Theater Review: ‘Oklahoma!’ fails to impress at PPAC
Here’s what you need to know about the touring production of Oklahoma! at the Providence Performing Arts Center running through Sunday. First, a good number of people did not return after the intermission. This is never a good sign. Second, on the way out, the question most often overheard was, “What the heck did I […]
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Theater Review: ‘Ironbound’ features powerful performances
Set at a bus stop in front of a concrete wall – highway overpass, maybe – in a dangerous neighborhood in a rundown New Jersey town, “Ironbound” is bleak. While the latest production at the Gamm Theatre paints a pretty gray picture, there is some light too. We meet Darja (Donnla Hughes) at the bus […]
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Theater Review: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Jamestown Community Theatre
Jamestown Community Theater is back in business with its production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” their first show since the pandemic shut down the theater world in early 2020. Directed by Richard J. Martin, “Spelling Bee” is a bright and fun show to mark the company’s return. The cast is eclectic, featuring […]
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Theater Review: ‘The Prom’ overcomes audio issues and bigotry at PPAC
Here’s the bad news: Tuesday night’s performance of “The Prom” was plagued with sound problems from the start. Here’s the good news: Despite that, “The Prom” is a flat-out fun and entertaining show. Let’s talk about the show. It opens with a post-show Broadway celebration. Dee Dee Allen (Courtney Balan) and Barry Glickman (Patrick Wetzel) […]
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What’s Up Interview: Comedian Lewis Black, coming to The Vets Saturday, March 12
“We are literally living in an age when black and white TV would make so much sense,” says Lewis Black. The comedian is coming to The Vet’s in Providence this Saturday with his “Off the Rails” tour. He’s got his finger on the pulse of the day’s news. “This county has really moved so quickly,” […]
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Theater Review: ‘Exit Laughing’ at the Arctic Playhouse
As board members at the Arctic Playhouse in West Warwick, Lloyd Felix and Jim Belanger did the curtain speech prior to “Exit Laughing” last Friday night. They chatted up the audience and reminded us about the shows coming up this season. And then they talked about the show we were there to see. “I’m sure […]
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Theater Review: PPAC’s ‘An Officer and a Gentleman,’ delivers predictable fun
Perhaps you’ve heard the term “jukebox musical.” Typically, it’s a show that takes a group of well-known songs from a particular artist or genre and stitches them together with a new story. For instance, there’s MAMMA MIA!, taking a group of songs by Abba and building them into a story about a young girl about […]
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What’s Up Interview: Choreographer Patti Wilcox of “An Officer and a Gentleman” – at PPAC Feb 18-20
Patti Wilcox was pretty cheery when we chatted recently. “I’ve just arrived in Detroit and it’s great.” When I pointed out that “Detroit” and “great” don’t often appear in the same sentence, she laughed. “It’s a good tour city, and it is the home of Motown, so…” Wilcox is part of the creative team that […]
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Theater Review: Superb “An Octoroon” makes a point at Gamm Theatre
You could best describe “An Octoroon” as a play surrounding a play. Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, his modern play incorporates another, written by Dion Boucicault in 1859. That play centers on a crumbling plantation in Louisiana, and the fight to control it and the people who call it home. One of those people is Zoe […]
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Theater Review: “Superstar” still thrills at PPAC
I’ll admit it. I felt a little old when I realized that the current production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Providence Performing Arts Center was the 50th anniversary tour. Sure, I knew that the concept album was released while I was still in high school, which gave me a good frame of reference. But […]
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What’s Up in Local Theater: We review “It’s a Wonderful Life”
“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a holiday staple. The Jimmy Stewart movie is a must-play this time of year. For a bit of a change, why not see it live? The Gamm Theatre is presenting “It’s a Wonderful Life” as a live radio broadcast, and it could be the perfect tonic for today’s world. A […]
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Theater Review: Broadway returns to RI – “Pretty Woman” a hit at PPAC
Broadway is back in Providence, and Providence seems pretty happy about it. This week, the Providence Performing Arts Center is hosting its first Broadway tour in 19 months. PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL officially opened to a very full house Tuesday night. The musical is based on the 1990 movie of the same name starring Julia […]
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Theater Review: ‘A Lie Agreed Upon’ at Gamm Theatre
Tony Estrella, artistic director of The Gamm Theatre in Warwick, has a fondness for Henrik Ibsen. “His influence is all over the theater,” said Estrella recently, “second only to Shakespeare.” Often referred to as the father of realism in theater, Ibsen’s been gone for 115 years, but his works live on. For the third time, […]