📚 About Booked & Scene
Booked & Scene is what happens when a lifelong theater lover with too many thoughts and not enough outlets decides to make a space for real reviews, hot takes, and unfiltered theater kid energy. It’s part review platform, part interviews, part tips and tricks for cheaper tickets, and part love letter to the New England theater scene — with a focus on getting more young people into seats and into the conversation.
Every post is rooted in honesty: the highs and the almosts. No jargon. No gatekeeping. Just a deep love of the craft, and the belief that theater should feel accessible, exciting, and real: whether you’re a first-timer or a lifelong fan.
If you want lukewarm praise and polite shrugs, there are other places for that. If you’re looking for reviews that only share the positives, look elsewhere. If you want real talk with heart? You’re in the right spot.
🎭 Meet the Team
Kapiolani Kassal (she/her) – Founder, voice behind the reviews, professional seat snagger.
Hi, I’m Kapiolani: the iced coffee(regardless of the temperature & hour)–powered voice behind Booked & Scene. I’m New England-based, book-obsessed, whimsy wanting and always ready to talk about what made me cry, cringe, or clap the hardest.
I started this site because I wanted a space for theater reviews that felt more personal, more honest, and a little less… filtered. I wanted to write like I was talking to a smart friend, not lecturing a room, and I want people to be able to trust that I’ll let them know if a show is or isn’t for them. Every single show can’t be the absolute best show to ever exist and that’s okay. I care deeply about New England’s theater scene and even more about helping young people feel like they belong in it. I long to step into a theater and have the audience feel as diverse in age as the city we live in.
Whether I’m in the front row or balcony, it’s always about the same thing: telling the truth about what I saw, the magical moments, the misses, and everything in between.
Sami Karam (she/her) – Co-conspirator, web designer, moral support, and co-founder of chaos.
While I’m technically the one writing the reviews, Booked & Scene has always been a team effort, and by “team,” I mean Sami. She built this website (isn’t it cute?), comes to most shows with me, and has been here from day one, encouraging me to take this little side gig seriously.
If you remember the “Yap with Kap & Sami” segments on my personal Instagram… that was the blueprint. Just two friends giving hot takes from the ice cream shop post-show, celebrating what we loved and not being afraid to say what didn’t land. That spirit: honest, joyful, a little (incredibly) chaotic is what Booked & Scene is all about.
Truth is, none of this would exist without her.
Booked & Scene 