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Ken Howard plays the powerful Massachusetts congressman in "According to Tip." |
Jump In: Theater
What's not to like?: The relatively new but highly popular tradition of free Shakespeare on the Common returns in its unabridged, three-week form this year, with performances scheduled for Springfield as well. Steven Maler, founding director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, directs "As You Like It" for what is now known as Free Shakespeare, sponsored by the Citi Center for the Performing Arts. July 18-Aug. 3, Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common, 617-482-9393, citicenter.org
Williamstown via Huntington Ave.: Artistic director Nicholas Martin leaves the Huntington Theatre Company for his summer place of old, the Wiliamstown Theatre Festival. Martin's first season there offers Bostonians a couple of chances to catch shows they may have missed here - Ronan Noone's "The Atheist" June 25-July 6 and the musical "She Loves Me" June 27-July 12 (but opening in Boston Wednesday) - as well as new productions of work by Martin favorites Theresa Rebeck, Christopher Durang, Anton Chekhov, and more. June 11-Aug. 24, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, 413-597-3400, wtfestival.org
The hills are alive: Elsewhere in the Berkshires, Barrington Stage Company's Musical Theatre Lab plans its largest season yet, with three new musicals, a staged reading of "WATT!?!" (a musical about, yes, former Interior Secretary James Watt), and two concert evenings. The full musicals are "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" (inspired by Chris Van Allsburg and workshopped last year), June 18-July 5; "My Crazy Girl" (inspired by a Korean comedy-horror film), July 10-26; and "See Rock City & Other Destinations" (winner of the 2008 Richard Rodgers Award), Aug 7-23. Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, 413-236-8888, barringtonstageco.org
Singing killers, killer comedy: Closer to home, Company One stages its own summer musical - though one that's rarely thought of that way. It's Stephen Sondheim's dark, electric "Assassins," which tells the stories of nine would-be killers of US presidents, and it runs July 11-Aug. 9 at the Boston Center for the Arts' Plaza Theatre. On a lighter note, Company One also presents the return of John Kuntz's absurdist tale of school bullies, secret identities, and beauty pageants, "After School Special." Kuntz and Rick Park star in this late-night presentation, Fridays and Saturdays only, July 12-Aug 8. Company One, 617-277-7032, companyone.org
All theater is local?: New Repertory Theatre artistic director Rick Lombardo directs Ken Howard in "According to Tip," Dick Flavin's "play with music" about the life of former Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill. Howard may be a star on Broadway and TV, but Tip remains the star of local politics, from his early days in Cambridge to his powerful reign in Washington. June 22-July 13, Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, 617-923-8487, newrep.org
LOUISE KENNEDY
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
