Bob Colonna

Latest Articles

Crist shines in 2nd Story’s Master Class

All the right notes
Self-centeredness, tunnel vision, career obsession — these are not traits that endear us to a person. Yet without them, as Terrence McNally's absorbing Master Class makes clear, Maria Callas would not have attained her ranking as a renowned opera diva.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | August 31, 2011

It’s good to be king

TRIST takes Henry VIII outdoors
After being out of the local theater scene for a couple of decades, the Rhode Island Shakespeare Theater (TRIST) is back, staging an outdoor production of Henry VIII at the Roger Williams National Memorial Park, on North Main Street in Providence, through June 26.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | June 15, 2010

A modest epic tale

Steven Jobe’s haunting Joan of Arc
What beautiful voices and music in this event. Steven Jobe’s Joan of Arc: An Opera In Three Acts is at once ambitious and quite modest, but vocally and musically it remains a pleasure throughout its three brief acts at the Blackstone River Theater in Cumberland (through May 23).
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | May 19, 2010

The con goes on

2nd Story’s The Voysey Inheritance
David Mamet has always had a professional fascination with confidence men who pretend to be businessmen.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | March 31, 2010

The human condition

Who’s to say what’s Crazy ?
Kevin Broccoli, the writer and directorial ringmaster, announced before the performance that we were going to see not a play, but rather an experiment.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | November 23, 2009

Laugh to keep from crying

Timeless optimism in You Can't Take It With You
Rarely did a play arrive with better timing than You Can't Take It With You , the joyfully optimistic paean to the American spirit that earned its Pulitzer in 1936, when the country was licking the wounds of collective Depression.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 15, 2009

Judgment day

Taking stock of Judas Iscariot
Interesting premise. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot , by Stephen Adly Guirgis, suggests what could happen if Judas, the most despised of the New Testament villains, were put on trial in purgatory.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | May 20, 2009

The Front Page

Breaking news: timeless fun at 2nd Story
The Front Page 's timeless fun at 2nd Story
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 28, 2009

All at sea

Local color spices Side By Each at the Rhode Island Film Festival
The Ocean State is a character as colorful as any of the ragtag denizens of Side by Each.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | August 05, 2008

Royal fun

Colonial’s rousing As You Like It
As You Like It accomplishes what every production of a Shakespeare comedy tries to do.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 22, 2008

Learning curves

SpeakEasy’s The History Boys; Trinity’s Paris by Night
From Mr. Chips to Miss Jean Brodie, charismatic teachers have been the stuff of drama.
By CAROLYN CLAY | May 08, 2008

A different angle

Mark Peckham directs a ‘scary piece’
“That’s what I demand of my actors, that they come in with ideas and work,” Peckham insists. “I’m not interested in someone who stands there and says, ‘What do you want me to do?’"
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | April 02, 2008

O funny night

Away in a manger with 2nd Story
When not seen as a theological argument, the story of Christmas can be taken as a humanistic encouragement of peace on Earth and goodwill to humanity.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | November 27, 2007

Soul survivors

2nd Story does Shaw's preachy Major Barbara
George Bernard Shaw was the cleverest essayist in the history of theater.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | April 03, 2007

Poll dancers

No wonder Harrah’s didn’t want to release the survey questions
There has been so much controversy about Peter D. Hart Research Associates’ recent poll on the proposed West Warwick, Rhode Island casino proposal — a world-class hummer rigged by Harrah’s — that Phillipe & Jorge thought we should shed some light on the matter.
By PHILLIPE & JORGE | February 09, 2006