Gregory Fletcher

MAN VS. MACHINE, STILL LOSING Rice’s century-old warning lands with unsettling familiarity In its inaugural production at the newly claimed St. Clement’s Theatre, The New Group launches its next chapter with a revival of The Adding Machine that feels both like a nod to the past and a wary glance toward the future. Written by…

SAILORS, SILLINESS, AND A SHADOW ON THE HORIZON Quirky musical comedy drifts between charm and fatigue before finding a quietly haunting final note When it comes to musical theater, writer Milo Cramer seems to have a particular affinity for sailors—think On the Town, where three sailors spend a 24-hour leave in New York City, singing…

CHEKHOV IN EXILE—AND IN REVOLT A vivid, self-reflexive journey where art, politics, and survival collide Developed by En Garde Arts prior to its premiere at La MaMa ETC in May 2025, Seagull: True Story returns in a well-deserved encore production from The Public Theater and the Mart Foundation. Created and directed by Alexander Molochnikov, the…

LOVE, LOSS, AND LOOPING PATTERNS A quirky, performance-art breakup tale that charms before it overstays its welcome Created by New Zealand’s EBKM, Karin McCracken investigates the pangs of romantic grief as both playwright and performer in the two-hander Heartbreak Hotel, now at Off-Broadway’s DR2 Theatre. Part performance art, part play, the piece begins with Karin…

A HANDSOME, AMBITIOUS REVENGE MUSICAL TAKES SHAPE Strong design and performances elevate Dumas’ tale, even as tonal shifts occasionally blur its focus The York Theatre’s ambitious world premiere of the new musical Monte Cristo stages Alexandre Dumas’ revenge-driven tale of Edmond Dantès (Adam Jacobs), an innocent man wrongfully imprisoned by a corrupt system and betrayed…

EXTRA! EXTRA! SING ALL ABOUT IT A musical about paparazzi culture delivers energy and tunes but could stand to sharpen its storytelling Brogan Nelson, Jack Rasmussen The new musical The Paparazzi, now playing at AMT Theater, takes aim at celebrity gossip culture with a story about ambition, scandal, and the price of chasing headlines. To…

COME FOR THE PROJECTIONS, STAY FOR THE… PROJECTIONS (AND HAVE AN EDIBLE) A dazzling design team conjures Henry Darger’s imagination while the script drifts somewhere offstage I suppose when Martha Clarke proposes an idea for a theater production at this point in her illustrious career, the powers that be must grant her every blessing: no…

A BELOVED CLASSIC REBORN WITH BELL CHOIRS, SNOWFALL & HEART ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Are you fond of bell choirs, Christmas carols, indoor snow, and classic holiday tales? Then you’ll want to make your way to the PAC, where the Old Vic’s production of A Christmas Carol opened last…

GOTTA SEE THIS SHOW! ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ I’ve been a fan of American Dance Machine since I was a kid in the 1980s—a company devoted to restaging Broadway choreography with museum-level precision and theatrical verve. Part artifact, part history lesson, and wholly a celebratory toast to Broadway’s golden-age…

A PLAY HELD TOGETHER BY BANDAGES: SCALPAL, PLEASE Colt Coeur’s world premiere of The Surgeon and Her Daughters, written by Chris Gabo, is a play of ideas—debates volleyed across generations, races, and cultures. Yet for all its verbal sparring, very little actually happens over the course of its two hours. It isn’t until the end…

“TOWN OF NASTY” AND OTHER THINGS WE BLURT OUT FOR FREE SPEECH Immersive pulp fiction where the audience writes the filth The world premiere of Dirty Books is an immersive play written and directed by Mara Lieberman, which opened November 13 at Bated Breath Theater—a decidedly Off-Off-Broadway adventure. Part art installation, part scripted play, part…

THE MARATHON OF MAKING ART A process piece that asks as much of the audience as the ensemble Perhaps the title of Nazareth Hassan’s new play Practice, which opened at Playwrights Horizons tonight, was inspired by the old joke: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.” Fittingly enough, the play follows a…

THE ONLY THING STRAIGHT IN THIS ROOM IS THE LINE TO THE CREDENZA Messy White Gays—which opened November 2 at Off-Broadway’s Duke on 42nd Street—is a contemporary drawing-room comedy, a modern spin on the comedy of manners, built on witty exchanges, social commentary, and the absurdities of its characters. Classic models include Oscar Wilde’s The…