#lilli hokama

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The Expanse: A Telltale Series – Video Game Review

TL;DR – A little slow and sluggish in places, but it immediately brings you into this world and makes you want to explore every part of this story. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. Disclosure – I paid for this game. The Expanse Review – Now it should be no surprise to anyone who knows me, that I adore The Expanse. I have absorbed all the novels, short stories, and the TV Show that might be one of…

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Peter Quince (John-Alexander Sakelos) introduces his play to an appreciative audience (pictured top, l to r: Renea S. Brown and Bryan Barbarin, Nubia M. Monks and Rotimi Agbabiaka, Lilli Hokama and Hunter Ringsmith). 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Folger Theatre, 2022.

Photo by Brittany Diliberto. (source)

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REVIEW: "Now Circa Then" at the Chester Theatre Company

REVIEW: “Now Circa Then” at the Chester Theatre Company

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I counted and I think I saw 25 plays and musicals in 2019! Here's my summary of my top 5 favorite shows that I saw this year. I have to say, I was a little less impressed this year by the straight plays that I saw in DC than I have been in some years past-- but I saw some really killer musicals!

***

1.THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL semi-staged concert at Lincoln Center. This is the only non-DC show on the list and it's kind of cheating because this would be the top of my list no matter what, but I LOVE this weird, cheesy, awkwardly-constructed musical and have since I was a kid, and I've never seen a professional production of it because it's so rarely performed. Seeing this show at long last with such a great cast and with Wren was maybe the most excited I've been all year. Tony Yazbeck blew me away with his hilarious yet deeply-felt portrayal of Percy and I almost fainted when I heard my favorite musical theatre performer, Norm Lewis, sing the villain song, "Falcon in the Dive." I wish I could bottle how it felt to watch this show.

***

2. AMADEUS at the Folger Shakespeare Library. This was definitely the best straight play that I saw this year. Amadeus has always been one of my favorite plays (and movies!), but the intimate setting at the Folger and Ian Merrill Peakes' intense and deeply human portrayal of Salieri was, like, life-changing. Young actors Samuel Adams and Lilli Hokama totally held their own as the childish genius Mozart and his conflicted wife. Plus, the fanciful wigs and costumes and the magical set that evokes piano strings caging in the performers all added up to a sparkling effect.

***

3. ASSASSINS at Signature Theatre. I was incredibly excited to see this show, starring a line-up of some of the finest DC area talent (including my personal favorite local actors, Bobby Smith as Guiteau and Tracy Lynn Olivera as Sara Jane Moore), and it did not disappoint. They nailed the dark humor of the piece without getting too cartoonish. In my favorite scene, Smith cakewalks up and down the gallows, singing manically about "Looking on the bright side"-- then pausing with real tears in his eyes when it sinks in that he is going to die. This was a grittier and more minimalist staging of this piece than I've seen before, and it forces the audience to focus solely on the performances.

***

4. NEWSIES at Arena Stage. I love NEWSIES. I am aware that there is nothing truly original or extraordinary about this book or score, but it's one of the most delightfully uplifting and energizing shows I've seen. This rendition, an up-close-and-personal staging in the round at Arena Stage, takes it to the next level by letting you see every flicker of emotion that crosses the cast's faces, as well as amazing choreography by Parker Esse. Well-known local adult actors played minor roles with gusto (like Jamie Smithson as a very funny Teddy Roosevelt or Edward Gero, last seen as Falstaff at the Folger, as an intimidating Joseph Pulitzer), while the younger cast sang and danced their hearts out. Special mention to Erin Weaver, who I've loved in many straight plays at the Folger, giving Katherine Pulitzer so much life and sparkle without being as, well, grating as the original.

***

5. INTO THE WOODS at Ford's Theatre. I love seeing musicals at Ford's for my birthday and this was no exception. From the inventive sets and costumes to the passionate performances, this production enchanted from beginning to end, despite not being as revolutionary as the touring version I saw at the Kennedy Center a few years ago. This was a true ensemble piece-- I didn't feel one actor stood out as the star of the show, but all worked together well.

Honorable mentions include the Music Man at the Kennedy Center, Love's Labour's Lost at the Folger, The Play that Goes Wrong at the Kennedy Center, and Henry IV part 1 at the American Shakespeare Center. And I want to give a shout out to the stars of Creative Cauldron's Beauty and the Beast for two really amazing performances, especially Wyn Delano as the Beast, although the rest of the show, while enjoyable, wouldn't be on my top 10 list.

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Hunter Ringsmith (Lysander) and Bryan Barbarin (Demetrius) on left; Lilli Hokama (Hermia) and Renea S. Brown (Helena) on right; top: Nubia M. Monks (Titania) and Danaya Esperanza (Puck). 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Folger Theatre, 2022.

Photo by Brittany Diliberto. (source)

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Lysander (Hunter Ringsmith) and Hermia (Lilli Hokama) share a warm moment.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Folger Theatre, 2022.

Photo by Brittany Diliberto. (source)

[larryland]

by Macey Levin

  The audience at Chester Theatre Company is greeted by Julian and Josephine Glockner as they introduce a re-enactment at a tenement museum in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.   Something does not ring quite true since Julian has an Eastern European accent and Josephine is very American though the actual Glockners came to America in the late 19th century.  This is the initial setup in Chester’s disarming production of Carly Mensch’s Now Circa Then.

  Gideon (Luke Hofmaier,) with his passion for history, has participated in myriad re-enactments while Margie (Lilli Hokama,) a Japanese-American who has just arrived in New York from Michigan, is in a re-enactment for the first time.  He is dedicated to the accurate portrayal of the characters portrays.  The manual they receive containing the details of the lives of the Glockners is sacrosanct to Gideon and cannot be altered.  Margie is participating simply because she needs a job.  The odd pairing is attributed to the lackadaisical curator of the museum, Roberta, who never appears on stage.

  Gideon has erected a wall around himself so that he doesn’t have to confront the earlier part of his life, in particular his mother whom he describes as a virtual saint.  He has emotionally closed himself off and confesses to Margie that he has never had a girl friend.  She is more open  as she admits that she had a relationship back home but now she needs to find herself and fulfill her aspiration to do something important in life.

  The play is something of a romantic comedy as the two develop a personal connection that is soon reflected in the lives of Julian and Josephine.  The relationship inside and out of the re-enactment, however, is not always loving.  This leads to some comic and conflicting moments in the lives of both the historical and contemporary characters.  The end of the play has a few twists as the two re-evaluate their lives.

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The two leads are charming and their performances are tightly controlled.  Hofmaier is personable as Julian but becomes pedantic when he returns to Gideon.  He is lanky and handsome, though his Julian is somewhat goofy-looking especially when he interacts with the audience which occurs several times.  He becomes more introspective revealing a part of Gideon we have never seen.  Margie is a young woman unable to identify herself.  Her confusion and then the journey to self-realization is neatly evolved by Hokama as she takes hold of herself and realizes what life can offer her.  Both actors play the comedy with verve and the disagreements with authority.

  Though the script is of the romcom nature, serious human difficulties are confronted and genuinely portrayed through Mensch’s dialogue.  The development of character and conflicts occur naturally lending verisimilitude to Margie and Gideon’s story.  She has created likable people who demand our empathy but are also open to our criticism.

  Directed by Sean Christopher Lewis, the play is nicely staged.  Amidst the tenement apartment beautifully designed by David Towlun with its tin ceiling, clotheslines and authentic-looking furniture, Lewis uses the space and furnishings to compose interesting pictures.  There are a number of scenes, some only a minute or two long, that flow smoothly with out hampering the pace,  The comic scenes are played straight without descending into buffoonery while the serious moments are emotionally touching.  Margie and Gideon could be grating but Lewis gives them a warm side that the audience embraces.

  In addition to Towlun’s realistic set, the contemporary clothing by Heather Crocker Aulenback is obviously in contrast with the authentic turn of the 20th century costumes.  Lara Dubin’s lighting and Tom Shread’s sound enhance the tone of the varied scenes.  The production qualities at Chester are always well-designed.

  This is a warm, sweet play beautifully acted and staged.  It is a treat to see Now Circa Then.

  Now Circa Then by Carly Mensch; Director: Sean Christopher Lewis; Cast: Luke Hofmaier (Gideon) Lilli Hokama (Margie); Set Design: David Towlun; Costume Design:  Heather Crocker Aulenback; Lighting Design: Lara Dubin; Sound Design: Tom Shread; Stage Manager: Rhonda Picou; Assistant to the Director: Sarah Brownstein; Running time: two hours; one intermission; 7/4/19 -7/14/19; Chester Theatre Company, 15 Middlefield Rd., Chester, MA 01011; 413-354-7771 https://chestertheatre.org/

    REVIEW: “Now Circa Then” at the Chester Theatre Company by Macey Levin The audience at Chester Theatre Company is greeted by Julian and Josephine Glockner as they introduce a re-enactment at a tenement museum in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  

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Chester Theatre Company Presents Carly Mensch's "Now Circa Then"

Chester Theatre Company Presents Carly Mensch’s “Now Circa Then”

Chester, MA – Chester Theatre Company (CTC) is proud to present Carly Mensch’s Now Circa Then in the historic Chester Town Hall, 15 Middlefield Road in Chester, MA from July 4 through July 14. The production is directed by Sean Christopher Lewis. A budding romance forms between two young historical reenactors as they become increasingly entwined with the lives of the immigrant couple they play…

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Chester Theatre Company Announces its 30th Season

Chester Theatre Company Announces its 30th Season

Chester, MA – Co-founded by Vincent Dowling and H. Newman Marsh in 1990 with the belief that every town should have a professional theatre, Chester Theatre Company (formerly The Miniature Theatre of Chester) prepares to celebrate its landmark 30th Season with four works, each a New England Premiere. Producing Artistic Director Daniel Elihu Kramer has chosen to open the season and to direct the…

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Lauren Gunderson is the most-produced living playwright this past year.  Her work has been seen in this part of the world at WAM Theatre (Emilie,) Shakespeare & Co. (The Taming,) and Aglet Theatre Company (Silent Sky.)  Chester Theatre Company in Chester MA is currently presenting her I and You, filled with laughter and poignancy.

Caroline (Lilli Hokama,) a high school senior in need of a liver transplant, is confined to her home, preferring to stay in her bedroom.  Having suffered through a series of illnesses her entire life, she is a fatalist and has willingly accepted that she will soon die.  She is paid a surprise visit by another student, Anthony (Paul Pontrelli,) whom she does not know, and who informs her that they are supposed to be working together on a project about the poet Walt Whitman for their American lit. class.  Due tomorrow.

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Their initial meeting is adversarial, she being contentious and rude, while he tries to be sociable and charming, but his main concern is to finish a triptych poster and to prepare oral presentations (which she will record.)  The assignment is to explore Whitman’s use of the pronouns “I” and “you” in his classic Leaves of Grass.  Paul reads excerpts from the book, and Caroline, being virtually ignorant of Whitman, reluctantly allows herself to be touched by his poetry.

Throughout the book, which is constructed of several poems he had written over many years, Whitman’s thoughts change as he grows older.  Though he extols the body and the material world in some works, he also praises the role of the mind or the spirit.  A perspective Anthony holds dear.

“Clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul.”

He is concerned with living the life one now has, something Caroline has unwillingly accepted.

“There was never any more inception than there is now,

Nor anymore youth or age than there is now,

And will never be any more perfection than there is now,

Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.”

And he muses over life and death, events that Caroline has pondered.

“Has anyone supposed it lucky to be born?

I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.”

As the day goes on Caroline and Paul slowly reveal their lives to each other… their beliefs,  family structures, the music they prefer, what the future holds for them.

Gunderson’s dialogue sounds prosaic, especially in this case where the central characters are teen-agers.  But the exchanges, as pedestrian as they may be, move the play and characters forward.   The banter between them is realistic and is typical  of what one would hear in a high school corridor, including the four-letter words.  But that, too, defines these two young people.

The actors are flawless. Pontrelli’s Anthony is charming with an ingratiating smile and winning personality.  Yet he is earnest in his need to complete the assignment and to make it easy for Caroline to participate, but she has built huge walls around her.  Hokoma’s Caroline fights to protect her solitude and to maintain her distance, trying not to allow Anthony or Whitman to touch her emotions or intellect.  Indeed, the poet is an unseen character.

The play has been directed by Kristin van Ginhoven, artistic director of WAM. The pace never flags as we are caught up in the adolescents’ evolving relationship.  She makes sure their conversations, which bounce between lightness and profundity, are examples of sharp timing and show growing emotional awareness.  Van Ginhoven moves her actors easily within the confines of Juliana von Haubrich’s typically cluttered teen-age bedroom.

Stella Giulietta Schwartz has the actors in contemporary dress… she in sweats, he in windbreaker and jeans.  Lighting by Lara Dubin and sound by Tom Shread add to the reality of the moment and the surprise ending that will leave you with an emotional jolt.

This is a beautifully written, affecting production.

I and You runs through July 9.  For tickets: 413-354-7771

Chester Theatre Company presents I and You by Lauren Gunderson; Directed by Kristen van Ginhoven; Cast: Lilli Hokama (Caroline), Paul Pontrelli (Anthony); Scene design: Juliana von Haubrich; Lighting design: Lara Dubin; Costume design: Stella Giulietta Schwartz; Sound design: Tom Shread; Stage Manager: Keri Schultz; Running Time: Ninety minutes; no intermission; Chester Theatre Company, Town Hall Theatre, Chester, MA; From 6/28/2017 – 7/19/2017

  Lauren Gunderson is the most-produced living playwright this past year.  Her work has been seen in this part of the world at WAM Theatre (

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The first performance of the Chester Theatre Company 2017 season, the preview of I and You, is set for June 28, with the last performance of our final show of the season, Folk, at the end of August.

With the flip of the calendar also came the news that we have cast those shows. (More details on the middle two shows, Skeleton Crew and Every Brilliant Thing, to follow soon.)

I and You is Lauren Gunderson’s ode to youth, fate, and the strange beauty of shared humanity. The journey begins when Anthony arrives at Caroline’s door bearing a battered copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, an assignment from their English teacher.

Actors Lilli Hokama and Paul Pontrelli have been cast as the teens who let their guards down when their seemingly straightforward poetry project unlocks a deeper mystery that has brought them together.

Directed by WAM Theatre’s  Kristen van Ginhoven in her CTC debut, performances run June 28-July 9.

Lilli Hokama

Paul Pontrelli

Skipping ahead to August, performances of Folk begin August 17, with the final curtain falling on August 27. CTC veterans Michelle Tauber and Michael Sean McGuinness have been tapped to play Winnie, the jovial beer-hoisting nun, and Stephen, her long-time friend and fellow Friday night reveler.

Michael Sean McGuinness

Michelle Tauber (right)

Fifteen-year-old Kayleigh, a troubled teen who enters the scene when she tosses a brick through Winnie’s window, will be played by Emery Henderson, a 2017 Northampton High School graduate (who has an already impressive resume for a young actor) in her CTC debut.  Berkshire favorite James Warwick, returning for his eighth CTC production, will direct the American Premiere of Folk, a play with music, written by one of England’s most promising playwrights, Tom Wells.

Chester Theatre Company Announces Casting for Two Shows The first performance of the Chester Theatre Company 2017 season, the preview of I and You…

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Bottom (Jacob Ming-Trent, left), Snout (Brit Herring), and Flute (John Floyd, right) perform their version of “Pyramus and Thisby.” (Pictured top, l to r: Renea S. Brown and Bryan Barbarin, Nubia M. Monks and Rotimi Agbabiaka, Lilli Hokama and Hunter Ringsmith.) 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Folger Theatre, 2022.

Photo by Brittany Diliberto. (source)