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bill rodriguez

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Trinity’s delicately balanced Merchant of Venice

The light and the dark
The Merchant of Venice gives modern audiences a lot to think and talk about — including, we can forget, a surprising amount of comedy. But the main concern is it being such a head-shaking case study of the era's anti-Semitism.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | February 15, 2012

A supersized Mary Poppins at PPAC

The bitter and the sweet
There's no secret why the hit musical Mary Poppins has filled more than 9 million seats around the world over the last seven years.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | February 15, 2012

Review: Cresta Bar & Ristorante

Diamond in the rough
Cresta Bar & Ristorante, the new restaurant in Pawtucket, is really classing up the place.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | February 15, 2012

A knee-slapping Lend Me a Tenor at PC

Hilarious high notes
As hilarious as the race for the Republican presidential nomination is, even that is no competition for Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | February 01, 2012

Review: Siena

Close your eyes and it's Tuscany
I can't imagine that anyone returning from a visit to Tuscany fails to wax rhapsodic about the cuisine, perhaps as soon as the customs inspection.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 31, 2012

2nd Story’s Take Me Out

A dramatic grand slam
Ironic, isn't it? To your ordinary man in the street or workplace, masculinity usually isn't an issue. Yet macho scale rankings readily come up in professional sports, where prowess should be enough evidence of testosterone levels.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 25, 2012

Review: Canfield House

Not just for robber barons
Interesting atmosphere in the lobby. A wealth of surrounding wood paneling, an Art Deco tasseled lamp on the host station, and the pièce de résistance: a tall roulette wheel, beckoningly still.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 25, 2012

The Gamm’s Festen is a fractured family tale

Secrets and lies
A certain lugubrious prince had a difficult time in another Danish household, but that was all tea and sympathy compared to the turbulent family in Festen .

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 24, 2012

SALT showcases Lindsay-Abaire and Broccoli

Small pleasures
Intending to enhance the flavor of local theater, SALT (Stage Actors Live Theater) is presenting its second production at Artists' Exchange in Cranston through January 29.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 25, 2012

Wilbury’s darkly humorous Exit the King

The reign man
Playwright Eugene Ionesco, a progenitor of Theater of the Absurd along with Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, put a lot of himself into Exit the King instead of keeping his usual ironic or satiric distance.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 11, 2012

Review: Ralph’s Bull & Claw Tavern

So much more than pub food
Time was, a place that called itself a tavern purveyed meals as well as drinks to weary travelers. Nowadays at most such places you might snag some buffalo chicken wings at best.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 10, 2012

Shrek the Musical charms at PPAC

'Toon time
Talk about your franchises.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 04, 2012

Review: El Tapatio

Transported to the border
Although El Tapatio is a full-fledged Mexican restaurant, with distinct Tex-Mex and Cal-Mex accents, it has certainly adapted to one Rhode Island tradition: bountiful portions.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 03, 2012

Raise the curtain

From classic to contemporary
There's plenty of theater to keep us warm in Rhode Island through the winter. From the professional companies to the colleges, there are shows for every taste and mood.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 28, 2011

A decidedly dramatic year (with a bit of comic relief)

Seriously!
This has been a good year for theater around here, from the reprise of a "Were you there when . . .?" rendition of a Shakespeare classic to a sprinkling of notable original productions.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 21, 2011

Review: Eleven Forty-Nine

In a line of fine restaurants
Four years ago, it was no surprise when a new restaurant opened in the space where Jason's had closed.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 21, 2011

Trinity Rep’s It’s a Wonderful Life

More comfort and joy
For theatergoers not sufficiently uplifted this holiday season by Trinity Repertory Company's production of A Christmas Carol , the troupe is presenting a second annual feel-good offering, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play , in the downstairs theater through December 31.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 14, 2011