Reddin’s 90-minute ride is consistently amusing and — given the bullying influence of the religious right in American politics, not to mention the preponderance of dirty-trickery, hypocrisy, and corruption — hardly far-fetched. If The Missionary Position lacks subtlety, it does not seem made up out of whole-Republican-coat cloth. And Tracy Brigden’s production, most of it imported from Pittsburgh’s City Theatre, where the piece had its premiere, has a light, playful touch that nonetheless jabs its targets. The performances are terrific, especially by Tami Dixon as pink-suited, red-faced, overdone, and overwrought Julie. Jeffrey Carpenter imbues the taunting, hardball-playing Neil with a James Carville–like charm. And as Roger, Tony Bingham has mastered the deliberate eye contact and frequent, unctuous gestures that unite preacher and pol. Neatly displaying multiple personalities as the maids, Rebecca Harris appears the only person on stage with normal blood pressure and a sane disregard for the American political machine.
Related:
Luverly enough, Wetherlaine’s, In proper style, More 
- Luverly enough
This new production is a little callow and a little obvious, and, especially in Matthew Bourne’s choreography, it seems to want a bigger stage than the Opera House affords.
- Wetherlaine’s
It’s where Box Seats, the sports bar up in Woonsocket, used to be.
- In proper style
The vocabulary, timbre, and tone of London flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Gail Bennett) are all — in the words of language-snob Professor Henry Higgins (Jefferson Mays) — “deliciously low.”
- The Devil Wears Prada
If Lauren Weisberger’s bestseller was a Starbucks espresso — overall bland, but hot and quick — then David Frankel’s adaptation is the decaf version. Watch the trailer for The Devil Wears Prada (QuickTime)
- Clever richness
The language in which the national political apparatus talks about war has undergone some shifts lately (no more, it seems, will we be “staying the course”), but you can safely bet on the sweeping endurance of words like “honor,” “ideals,” and, of course, “heroes.”
- Tinkling symbols
That Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code has become a worldwide phenomenon attests to the worldwide yearning for a better truth than the one we have.
- Visiting hours
George Bernard Shaw liked to call Shakespeare “the other one.”
- Primary colors
Now that the holiday hubbub is behind us, we have no dreams of white Christmases or visions of Sugar Plum Fairies to warm a theatergoer’s heart.
- Salvation by faith
Miracles are subjective, and it’s in this tenuous currency that strident young Joan d’Arc traffics, as she wins and finally loses her countrymen’s hearts and minds.
- Back to life
Well, it was a close call, but now that we’ve crossed the Stygian flood of Christmas Carols and other holiday fiascos, we can get back to the business of theater that might occasionally surprise, scandalize, and even keep us breathing.
- Can classical be underground?
At least one of the reasons many of us contemporary-music fans don't get into classical music is because it seems like no one wants us to listen to it.
- Less
Topics:
Theater
, Entertainment, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, James Carville, More
, Entertainment, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, James Carville, Marni Nixon, Mary Poppins, Tim Jerome, Royal Shakespeare Company, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Performing Arts, Matthew Bourne, Less
