Harvard’s A.R.T. celebrates a decade of musical theater
Audiences know the stories of their favorite musicals. Often, as in the case of productions like “Jagged Little Pill” that tap into popular tunes, they know the songs from the radio. But in “ExtraOrdinary,” a cabaret-style retrospective at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), they not only hear songs previously performed on the Cambridge stage — in productions like “Pippin,” “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess,” and “Waitress” — they hear the performers’ own stories too. The show, under the direction of Diane Paulus and with music directed by Lance Horne, celebrates and revisits the 10 years of musicals and music theater that Paulus has shepherded through the Harvard institution. “I’ve always been passionate about the power of musical theater because I feel it can reach audiences in a way that builds bridges,” said Paulus, the A.R.T.’s Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director. She distinguishes between classic musicals and “music theater,” in which tunes are added...