Hint: it’s not the water.
NEW REPERTORY THEATRE, for 20 years a fixture in Newton Highlands, decamped to the state-of-the-art Arsenal Center for the Arts in 2005. After having to squeeze the likes of
Sweeney Todd onto its postage-stamp stage in Newton, the inventive troupe moved up to a new level at the Arsenal, both in the 340-seat Mosesian Theatre and in the 90-seat black box where Downstage @ New Rep presents edgier fare. Next up (April 22 through May 18): artistic director Rick Lombardo helms the New England premiere of
Dessa Rose by the
Ragtime team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. Based on a novel by Shirley Anne Williams, this far-from-frothy musical is set in the 1840s South and centers on the unlikely alliance of an abandoned white woman and an escaped slave, both new moms. Elliot Norton Award–winning chanteuse Leigh Barrett stars.
NEW REPERTORY THEATRE | 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown | 617.923.7060 | newrep.org