Elements Theater Company is doing what it does best in Noël Coward’s “Blithe Spirit,” with spot-on accents, perfect diction and impeccable attention to historical detail. Written during World War II, the comedy of manners was an effort by the playwright to provide a lighter perspective on death by borrowing elements from the supernatural and romantic comedy. The play opens on wealthy couple Ruth and Charles Co...

Trouble just seems to follow Tom Sawyer, and Tom doesn’t seem to want to steer clear of it either. Aunt Polly has her hands full raising both Tom and his brother Sid. The mischievous child is always in the middle of one pickle or another. He’s late for school, never finishes assignments, explores where he’s not supposed to go and sneaks around all with a twinkle in his eye and a tick in his pocket. When one of...

The Monomoy Theatre showcases Sir Noel Coward's semi-autobiographical madcap comic play "Present Laughter," written in 1939 and placed on a shelf as World War II consumed Europe and the world. Coward himself starred in the leading role of Garry Essendine, opening to rave reviews in the fall of 1942. Clifton Webb starred four years later on Broadway. Kevin Kline drew acclaim in 2017, and so it goes, the laughter c...

“ The Twelve Dancing Princesses” is a lesser known Brothers Grimm fairy tale. For the 17 th season of WHAT for Kids! director and playwright Stephen Russell has combined modern-day politics and a children’s tale to produce the original and fun family show—“The Magic Cloak.” The comedy is set in modern day. Deborah Magee plays a homeless woman who opens the show by unsuccessfully begging from the ...

The art of painter Paul Schulenburg is delightful to the eyes, as well as the intellect and the soul. Eastham resident Schulenburg began his painting career after graduating from Boston University in 1979 with a BFA in art. At the time, a majority of art schools were focused on abstract painting and performance art, but Schulenburg wanted a traditional program of drawing and painting, which included anatomy an...

It doesn't bother Al Stewart that most people know him for his 1976 song “Year of the Cat.” “Pretty much everyone I know, people in my kind of bracket, are all known for one song,” the singer-songwriter said Monday in a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home. “I would rather be known for 'Year of the Cat' than 'Disco Duck.'” Although “Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages” were his most commercially su...

CHATHAM – The Cape Cod Chronicle gained its first comic strip in 1977 when local author/illustrator Rosemary de Ganahl published The Gullibles, a single-panel cartoon following a group of seagulls than ran for nearly 25 years. In the late '80s, Chronicle editor Tim Wood wrote a strip called “Woodchucks” illustrated by then-production manager Chuck Stanko that ran for a short time, but after the Gullibles ended...

“Seussical the Musical,” playing at the Chatham Drama Guild this month, entertainingly covers Dr. Seuss’s optimistic philosophy from Yuzz to Hi! (more about that later). They’re not kidding when they call it a musical. All told, there are 33 numbers, accompanied by piano (musical director Geraldine Boles) and percussion (Cassie Lortie). The show is performed on a versatile set painted in primary crayon colors....

Skylark or frightened dove about to be devoured by a predatory hawk? Marriage, motherhood, petticoats, and romance on demand mark the four corners to Nora Helmer's city apartment, circa 1960. Her husband Torvald loves her so much he wants to keep her all to himself; a wife is a man's most treasured possession, he says. Monomoy Theater presents a captivating and heart-wrenching production of Henrik Ibsen's "A D...

What could be more Cape Cod than a day at the beach? The Academy Playhouse’s summer-long children’s show sees the return of the underwater classic, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid Jr.” An animated group of sailors, led by Laura Kaser, open the show with “Fathoms Below,” a lively shanty warning sailors against the siren’s call of mermaids. While out for a sail, Prince Eric (Ethan Ehnstrom) hears Ariel’s ...

Love conquers all. Now playing at the Cape Cod Theatre Company, Home of the Harwich Junior Theatre, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a powerhouse production show with over-the-top costumes, big-time song and dance numbers and many touching moments. It’s all here, and the HJT stage has never looked finer! More than 25 actors, both young and young at heart, shine and will “wiggle” into your heart when you e...

Fathers and daughters have special relationships, and the past has a way of becoming your present no matter how far away you go. Local playwright Jade Schuyler incorporates both ideals in “The Tuna Goddess,” her first play and a world premiere at Brewster’s Cape Rep Theatre. Let me start out by saying this; this show is hilarious. Everyone who sees it will agree but especially those of us who live in the fishi...