The Boston Globe - 19.09.2019

B12 The Boston Globe THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

BOSTONFILMFESTIVAL
The BostonFilmFestival is back for
another year, with a mix of comedies,
dramas, documentaries, and even pre-
view screenings for upcoming TV
shows. Last year, the festival held one
ofthe firstNewEngland showings of
eventual best picture Oscar winner
“Green Book,” and this year organizers
have brought in two more award-wor-
thy titles fresh off their screenings at
the Toronto International Film Festival:
“A Hidden Life,” from acclaimed direc-
tor Terrence Malick, and “Jojo Rabbit,”
a World War II satire starring Scarlett
Johansson from director Taika Waititi
(“Thor: Ragnarok”). (Thursday, Sept.
19 through Sunday, Sept. 22 at vari-
ous times; Showplace ICON Seaport
and Boston Public Library, Boston;
$10-$15; all ages)

ERIC B. & RAKIM
It’s hard to overstate Long Island duo
Eric B. andRakim ’s influence on hip-
hop. Their debut album, “Paid in Full,”
is still cited to this day as one of the
best the genre has ever produced,
more than 30 years after its release.
After more than two decades apart,
the DJ and MC have begun touring to-
gether again, and will stop by the Wil-
bur on Thursday to drop some old-
school hits. (Thursday, Sept.19 at
8 p.m.; The Wilbur, Boston; $35-$45;
all ages)

SHAKEYGRAVESANDDR. DOG
Two of folk rock’s busiest touring art-
ists have hit the road for a co-headlin-
ing tour that arrives in Boston this
weekend. Texas-based songwriter
ShakeyGraves and Philly-bred psych
rockers Dr. Dog will play Rockland

Trust Bank Pavilion on Friday, with

Nashville power trio Liz Cooper & the

Stampedeserving as the opener. (Fri-

day, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m.; Rockland

Trust Bank Pavilion, Boston; $20-$75;

all ages)

FREE ADMISSIONTO50+

MASSACHUSETTS MUSEUMS

On Saturday, thousands of visitors will

be able to enjoy freeadmissionto

more than 50 museums across Mas-

sachusetts thanks to Smithsonian

magazine’s annual Museum Day

event. Boston museums taking part

include the Museum of Fine Arts, Gib-

son House Museum, the USS Constitu-

tion Museum, and the Mary Baker Ed-

dy Library. To see a full list of partici-

pating Massachusetts museums, visit

Smithsonian‘s website. (Saturday,

Sept. 21 at various times and loca-

tions; free; all ages)

MAC DEMARCO

Indie rock staple MacDeMarco has

built up an impressive following dur-

ing his decade-plus career, rising high-

er and higher on festival lineups and

performing in bigger venues each time

he comes to town. This year, the Ca-

nadian psychedelic rocker will play the

Orpheum, arriving in support of his

2019 album “Here Comes the Cow-

boy.” (Sunday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.; Or-

pheumTheatre, Boston; $59-$250)

KEVIN SLANE, Boston.com

Names

Mac DeMarco

KIMBERLEYFRENCH

TaikaWaititiandRomanGriffin
Davisin thefilm“JojoRabbit.”

BIG PLANS

THINGSTODOTHISWEEKEND

Red carpet for TB12

Famousfriendsat openingbashfor Brady’s businessventure

To m Bradycelebrated the opening of his flashy new TB12performancefitness center on Boylston

Street Tuesday night, rollingout the red carpet for friends and businesspartnersas fans snapped pho-

tos. The PatriotsQB looked every inch the superstar in a perfectly tailorednavy blazer, tortoise shell

sunglasses (though it was long after 5 p.m.), and that SuperBowl-winning swagger.

Brady had plenty of bold-facenameson handfor the openingsoiree,including his controversial

trainingcoachand business partnerAlex Guerrero, TB12CEOJohnBurns,TV personality and Med-

ford nativeMariaMenounos,TB12 seniorVPMatt McManus,OceanSpray Cranberries CEO and

presidentBobby Chacko, BruinsdefensemanZdenoCharaand his wife,Tatiana, Bruins forwardChar-

lieCoyle, and Boston MayorMarty Walsh.

Also smilingfor the cameras wasHarveySpevak, CEO of Equinox, the luxe fitness chainwith loca-

tionsfromLos Angeles to Torontoto London, includingfive gyms in Greater Boston.

WithTB12centersbeingconsidered for New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco

— as well as Torontoand London — it seemsas if Brady and Spevak would have a lot to chat about.

One familiar face we didn’t see at the grand openingwas Brady’s better half,Gisele Bundchen, who

knowsher way arounda red carpet. Maybe next time.

HAYLEYKAUFMAN

NIC ANTAYAFOR THE

BOSTON GLOBE

ByMarc Hirsh
GLOBECORRESPONDENT
Throughout Lizzo’s sold-out con-
cert at Agganis Arena Tuesday night,
something perplexing kept on hap-
pening: The spotlight periodically had
trouble finding her. On the one hand,
it was hard to understand why the dif-
ficulty occurred more than once, given
that the singer/rapper/flautist pulled
and kept focus so effortlessly that
you’d think keeping her lit would be
the easiest job in the world. On the
otherhand, why bother at all? Lizzo
was capable of providing her own
damn light.
That’s something close to her de-
clared mission statement. “You de-
serve to feel good as hell,” she an-
nounced late in the show, and it was as
much emotional mentoring as it was
an introduction to the riot of uplift
that was “Good as Hell.” Earlier, she’d
explained what she was about: “self-
love, body positivity, a healthy rela-
tionship with masturbation.” (It
doesn’t take an eagle eye to note that
two of those things are redundant,
and maybe all three.) With“Truth
Hurts” currently the No. 1 song in the
country, she’s only becomemore confi-
dent, moreexuberant, more Lizzo.
Entering in a gold lamé choir robe
and gold bustier to take a pulpit that
was actually a DJ station, she opened
with the churchy fervor of “Heaven
Help Me.” The robe was quickly dis-
carded, but the gospel intensity re-
mained. Sung in a voice constantly on
the verge of breaking (though not
cracking), “Cuz I Love You” was
sweaty, drop-to-your-knees soul with
the drama cranked to 20, so over the
top that it leapfrogged parody and be-
came sublime; teasing out a cappella

notes to gloriously cartoonish lengths,

Lizzo at one point stopped herself in

the middle of a climactic high note as

if she herself was caught off-guard.

“Jerome,” meanwhile, looked to the

“Creep” of Radiohead rather than

TLC, turning its chord progression in-

to slow-blooming agony.

Elsewhere, Lizzo took forceful com-

mand with respect to matters of the

boudoir. The slow, soulful guitar flut-

ters of “Lingerie” soundtracked a se-

duction that was already a fait accom-

pli, and the slow, dark creep of “Scuse

Me” was so thoroughly carnal-minded

that it hardly mattered that therewas

nobody else in the bedroom. “Cryba-

by” was a slow grind with a hard snap,

gaining power as it kept on.

Despite the minimal stagecraft —

her only support was DJ Sophia Eris

and four dancers known as “the Big

Girls” — there was never an instant

when it felt like Lizzo, who played the

House of Blues less than four months

ago, had graduated to arenas prema-

turely. As the burbling-bass disco of

“Juice” brought the showto a close,

she cast a glow around her that filled

the room.

Ari Lennox opened with tinkly

R&B meant to insinuate with detailed

layers and subtlety, played at an un-

helpful, whomping boom.

Marc Hirsh can be reached at

[email protected].

ByDonAucoin

GLOBESTAFF

SpeakEasyStage Company’s pro-

duction of “Choir Boy’’ has flaws, a

few of them glaring. But you’re not

likely to care very muchwhenthe tit-

ular ensemble swings into action.

It is then, during the red-jacketed

cast’s excursions intostomping,

hand-clapping, altogether dynamic

performances of gospel, R&B,and

traditional African-American spiritu-

als, that “ChoirBoy’’ speaksin its

most expressive and resonant voice.

It is then, too, that a principal

theme underlyingTarell AlvinMc-

Craney’s Tony-nominated coming-of-

age drama — the complexitiesthat

arisewhenyoungmen try to forge in-

dividualidentitieswithin the

charged atmosphereof a group —

registers most vividly.

That theme is powerfully if some-

timeschoppilyrenderedin the play

itself, directed at SpeakEasy in its

New England premiere by Maurice

Emmanuel Parent. (The superb cho-

reography is by YewandeOdetoyinbo

and Ruka White, withrazor-sharp

musicdirection by David Freeman

Colemanand excellentvocalsby the

eightactors who play the choirmem-

bers.)

Anyonewho saw Company One

Theatre’s 2011 productionsof Mc-

Craney’s remarkable Louisiana-set

trilogy “The Brother/Sister Plays’’ or

last year’s stagingof “Wig Out!,’’ his

evocation of drag ball culture, knows

that this immenselygifted writer

conceives of plays as free-flowing,

shape-shifting organisms, uncon-

fined by the straitjacket of linear

structure and opento the integration

of nontextual elements such as mu-

sic.

Because he is capableof inspired

artistry, that stylistic freedomcan

make McCraney’s plays soar, trans-

porting you in the process and deliv-

eringpiercing moments of emotional

truth.But thereare also timeswhen

his plays are bedeviledby a senseof

drift, a lack of narrative clarity or for-

wardmotion.

All of the above are true of “Choir

Boy.’’

At the play’s centeris Pharus,a

gay student at the Charles R. Drew

Preparatory Schoolfor Boys,who is

played by IsaiahReynolds with a

blendof insouciance and vulnerabili-

ty. Supremely confident when it

comesto his role as newly elected

leader of the African-American-ori-

ented school’s highlycompetitive

choir, Pharus is less so when it comes

to his sexuality. About that, he seems

to be at least partly in denial,saying

at one point: “I’m sick of people call-

ing me somethingI ain’t doing. I’m

just Pharus.’’

But rival Bobby (a fiery Malik

Mitchell) won’t let him just be Phar-

us, hissing homophobic epithets be-

hind Pharus’s backas he is leading

the choir in the school song. When

that landsBobby in hot water, he

concludesthat Pharus “snitched’’ on

him and sets out to engineer Pharus’s

ouster as choir leader. Later, more

sparks fly when the two argue over

whether African-American spirituals

functioned as coded maps to free-

dom for slaves. Their ugliest confron-

tation comes still later, over directly

personal matters, in a showdown

meantto be climactic, thoughthe

scene’s rhythms are slightlyoff at

SpeakEasy, diminishing its impact.

Still, it’s refreshing that Pharusre-

fusesto be a victim; he fightsback

against attemptsto diminish or erase

him,using the weapon of his wit,

whichranges fromplayful to cutting.

But a gay youthnonetheless faces

challenges when it comes to navigat-

ing“theDrewway,’’andahidde n

chapterof Pharus’s history makes his

position within the school a precari-

ous one.

McCraney smartly makes clear

that Pharus is not the only one grap-

plingwithinner turmoil. Bobbyhas

suffereda profoundpersonalloss

that couldlie at the root of his anger;

Junior (AaronPatterson) faces a bat-

tle to get by academicallydue to

reading difficulties; the sensitive Da-

vid (Dwayne P. Mitchell), for reasons

that may have to do withan episode

in his past, seems unusually desper-

ate to pleasehis parents. Even Phar-

us’s athletic roommate, Anthony

(Jaimar Brown,in a subtly fine-

tuned performance) is trying to fig-

ure out something important about

himself.

The shifting dynamics of “Choir

Boy’’ encompass not just the stu-

dents’ relationshipswithone anoth-

er but also the way they try to define

themselves via interactions with two

adultauthority figures.Unfortunate-

ly, thoseare the play’s weakest char-

acters.Headmaster Marrow is

played in stiltedfashionat Speak-

Easyby J. JeromeRogers. The role of

Mr. Pendleton, a white teacher, lacks

definition, hamperingthe usually

sure-footed RichardSneeand mak-

ing it unclear how seriously the audi-

ence is meantto take Pendleton.

That’s not an issue when it comes

to the prolific McCraney, or his work.

An Oscar winner for “Moonlight’’

(based on his play “In Moonlight

Black Boys Look Blue’’), writer of the

screenplay for Netflix’s “High Flying

Bird,’’ and creator of OWN’s “David

Makes Man,’’ he is to be taken very

seriously indeed as a cultural force.

DonAucoin canbe reached at

[email protected].

Finding a solo voice in ‘Choir Boy’

STAGE REVIEW

CHOIRBOY

Play by Tarell AlvinMcCraney.

Directedby MauriceEmmanuel

Parent. Musicdirection,David

FreemanColeman.Choreography,

Yewande Odetoyinboand Ruka

White.Presentedby SpeakEasy

StageCompany. At Roberts

StudioTheatre, Calderwood

Pavilion,BostonCenterfor the

Arts,throughOct.12. Tickets

startat $25, 617-933-8600,

http://www.speakeasystage.com

NILESCOTT STUDIOS

IsaiahReynoldsin SpeakEasyStageCompany’s “ChoirBoy.”

ARAM BOGHOSIAN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Lizzomorethanprovedshewasarena-readyin herconcert Tuesday.

Lizzo seizes the spotlight

at Agganis Arena show

MUSICREVIEW

LIZZO

WithAri Lennox

At AgganisArena,Tuesday

Wantmorewaystoget outofyour

homeandnot beboredinthecitythis

weekend? Check outfiveadditional

things todofromnowthrough Sunday

atboston.com/BosTe n.