Gregory Bernard

GOES FROM A Y2K POP TO GEN ZZZZZZZZ There was a buzz of anticipation in the air as the house lights blacked out at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater—an audible fandom of excitement. Had clips already surfaced on TikTok? Had a cast recording dropped early? Or was it a lure of past performances: America’s…

MATH APPEAL The Monday Night Musicals series at the intimate Magnet Theater offers a vibrant platform for new work that blends comedic storytelling with musical innovation. Stripped down to the essentials — music, lyrics, and performance — the series feels like both a showcase and a springboard, providing a glimpse of shows that could thrive…

FLESHING IT OUT OF THE PARK The Monday Night Musicals series at the intimate Magnet Theater is serving up a theatrical amusement for those who like their bluegrass pickin’ with a side of post-apocalyptic patriarchy. Produced by Theater of Apes, this one-act musical runs through June on Mondays. The series spotlights new works that blend…

A JAZZY JUMBALAYA OF JOY The current revival of The Pirates of Penzance at the Todd Haimes Theatre isn’t just a revival — it’s a reincarnation. Yes, rechristened, reimagined, and thoroughly rewired, this rollicking remix of Gilbert and Sullivan’s nautical nonsense has a new title, a new book, a new sound, and enough New Orleans…

FROM SWEATSHOP FLOORS TO BROADWAY DOORS: REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES SEAMS TOGETHER A RUNWAY HIT The empowering new musical Real Women Have Curves, which opened Sunday night at the James Earl Jones Theatre, is a feel-good, crowd-pleasing celebration of identity, ambition, and body positivity. Based on Josefina López’s play and the acclaimed HBO film (co-written…

First produced by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1969, Lonne Elder III’s Ceremonies in Dark Old Men became an immediate critical success and a defining work of its era. For decades, it stood as the definitive Black American family drama — a blueprint for generations of playwrights, including August Wilson. Now, in a limited Off-Broadway…

SEEING THE UNSEEN: JULIA BELL BARRY’S HAUNTING NEW PLAY Part memoir, part The Sixth Sense, Julia Barry Bell’s new play, which opened tonight at Theatre Row, asks a haunting question: how do we respond to a child who seems to have extraordinary gifts? In the 1999 film, young Cole, who sees dead people, is sent…

DEATH BECOMES HIM In 2016, Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s Bright Star introduced a sound I’d never heard on Broadway—a blend of Americana and bluegrass so distinct it felt like a new musical dialect. Nearly a decade later, that rare sensation returns with Dead Outlaw, the dark and bizarre new musical by David Yazbek and…

A MEANINGFUL MUSICAL WHERE IDENTITY, ART, AND SILENCE COLLIDE IN 1996 PENNSYLVANIA The title might suggest a classical drama—perhaps something Shakespearean or starchy—but Keen Company’s latest offering (in association with Michelle Noh) is neither Elizabethan nor antiquated. All the World’s a Stage, a new chamber musical by Adam Gwon, trades grandeur for intimacy, unfolding on…

JUST SOME KIDS, A CABIN, AND THE ABYSS. NOTHING HAPPENS. EVERYTHING HURTS. If you’re a fan of Annie Baker—whose plays of quiet revelatory naturalism include The Flick, Circle Mirror Transformation, John, and my personal favorite, Infinite Life—then meet a compelling new voice carrying that torch: Eliya Smith. Her play Grief Camp, which opened tonight at…

KNEEL AT THE CHURCH OF CHURCHILL A drum roll begins each act and ends with a cymbal crash. Paired with the red front curtain and chaser lights outlining the proscenium arch, one might brace for another revival of Cabaret. But when the curtain opens at The Public‘s Martinson Theater, it becomes instantly clear we are…

IT’LL KNOCK THE PANTS OFF O’ YOUSE Who Is Jimmy Pants? is the second production in the York’s Spring 2025 “New2NY” series, presented at the Theater at St. Jean’s on East 76th Street—a welcome upgrade from their former home at Saint Peter’s Church, which was unfortunately lost to flooding in 2021. This 90-minute concert-style staged…

UPSIDE DOWN A STRAIGHT UP MUSICAL SATIRE I admire AMT Theater for two key reasons: its dedication to developing new works—particularly musicals, which I’ve witnessed in the past—and its commitment to showcasing up-and-coming talent, often granting well-deserved Off-Broadway debuts. It’s also impressive that this intimate 97-seat venue is staging the two-act musical Upside Down with…

LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL In what may be the slowest lights-up in New York theater, the first cue of Grangeville takes several minutes to complete—perhaps a 400 count. But lighting designer Stacey Derosier isn’t being indulgent. Instead, she masterfully isolates the estranged voices of two half-brothers speaking on the phone. Caught in a void of blackness,…