OPENING
ADDING MACHINE: A MUSICAL | SpeakEasy Stage Company presents the New England premiere of this Off Broadway hit (Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Jefferson, and After Dark awards for best new musical) with music by Joshua Schmidt and lyrics by Schmidt and Jason Loewith. It's based on Elmer's Rice 1923 play The Adding Machine, in which 25-year vet Mr. Zero loses his job to the title calculator, murders his boss, and is rewarded with a trip to the Elysian Fields. Brendan McNabb stars as Mr. Zero; Leigh Barrett, Amelia Broome, John Bambery, Bob DeVivo, Liz Hayes, David Krinitt, Sean McGuirk, and Cheryl McMahon round out the cast. SpeakEasy general manager Paul Melone directs. | Boston Center for the Arts, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St, Boston | 617.933.8600 | March 12–April 10 | Curtain 7:30 pm Tues-Thurs [Tues April 6 only] | 8 pm Fri | 4 + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $30-$54; $5 discount students, seniors
APPLE | "Andy is in trouble. Downsized from his job, his marriage in crises, he looks to a mysterious young woman for salvation. But when his wife becomes seriously ill, Andy must make a choice: care for an estranged wife, or run away with a woman he knows little about." That's the set-up for Canadian playwright Vern Thiessen's play, which is getting its New England premiere from Phoenix Theatre Artists and Company One. The cast includes Dave Sanfacon, Barbara Douglass, and Eliza Lay; Phoenix artist director Greg Maraio is at the helm. | Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Comm Ave, Boston | 866.811.4111 | March 12–April 3 | Curtain 8 pm Fri | 4 + 8 pm Sat | 2 pm Sun | $25; $20 students, seniors
BECKY SHAW | The Huntington Theatre Company brings us Gina Gionfriddo's 2009 Pulitzer finalist, in which newlyweds Suzanna and Andrew fix up her BMF Max with his co-worker Becky in a blind date that lands the would-be lovebirds in a police station — whereupon Suzanna and Andrew start questioning their marriage as well as their matchmaking chops. Huntington artistic director Peter DuBois takes charge of a cast that includes Wendy Hoopes as Becky, Seth Fisher as Max, Eli James as Andrew, Keira Naughton as Suzanna, and Maureen Anderman as Susan (Suzanna's mother). | Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston | 617.266.0800 orwww.huntingtontheatre.org| March 5–April 4 | Curtain 7:30 Tues | 2 pm [March 17, 24] + 7:30 pm [7 pm March 10] Wed | 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 2 pm [no March 6] + 8 pm Sat | 2 pm [no March 7] + 7 pm [March 7, 28] Sun | $20-$82
OTHELLO | Actors' Shakespeare Project takes on the Moor of Venice who loved "not wisely but too well," with Jason Bowen as Othello, Ken Chesseman as Iago, and Brooke Hardman as Desdemona. Judy Braha directs. | Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, 85 West Newton St, Boston | 866.811.4111 | March 10–April 4 | Curtain 10 am Tues [March 30] | 10 am [March 17, 18, 26] + 7:30 pm Wed-Fri [Wed March 10 only] | 3 pm [no March 13] + 8 pm Sat | 2 pm Sun | $25-$47; $20-$30 March 10-12 previews
NOW PLAYING
