Gregory Fletcher

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,…

Danny Brown’s two-hander opens with an orgasm and closes with a cathartic cleansing. Between these bold bookends lies 90 minutes of small talk—covering everything from sex and relationships to the kitchen sink. Adam (Ephraim Birney) hosts David (Joel Meyers) in his Upper West Side studio for what he hopes will be a quick, no-strings-attached encounter….

FOR ALL IT’S GIRTH Sumo is a Japanese sport in which two bulky Japanese wrestlers clutch and grab at each other within a circular ring. The goal is to either eject the opponent from the ring or knock him on his back. The typical match runs a few seconds and rarely as long as a…

A SHOUTING SHAME On the Evolutionary Function of Shame—which Second Stage Theater opened on February 26 at The Pershing Square Signature Center—ambitiously tackles complex themes of identity, family, and the moral dilemmas surrounding gender dysphoria, transphobia, and eugenics. While undeniably thought-provoking and timely, its execution at times overwhelms with excessive dramatics and shouting. Elizabeth Ramos…

IT’S SAFE TO DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS AT HOUSE St. Ann’s Warehouse, in association with New York’s Irish Arts Center, presents Safe House, a one-person song cycle originally produced at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. Running for a limited engagement through March 2, this haunting and esoteric production has a pile-driving performance by Kate Gilmore. Walsh describes the…

A DESIGN AS IMPRESSIVE AS A REDWOOD ITSELF The new Broadway musical Redwood, which opened on February 13, is a master class in tech theater. Set designer Jason Ardizzone-West makes this clear from the outset, enclosing the stage in a semi-circle of pinkish-white screens that extend beyond the proscenium arch, even covering the house-right and…

MADELINE SEIDMAN IS REMARKABLE IN GARSIDE’S CAREER Since 1995, the invaluable Mint Theatre Company has been unearthing lost, neglected plays from yesteryear. With artistic director Jonathan Bank at the helm, he has overseen the production of 60 revivals of worthy plays. Harold Brighouse’s Garside’s Career, which opened tonight, is the latest praiseworthy play to be produced…

MIND FOR GOLD Vinny DePonto, the Brooklyn-based mentalist, is undeniably a master showman—and a strikingly handsome one at that (I’ll draw a comparison to Jake Gyllenhaal). Like all magicians, the heart of his one-man show lies not in the tricks themselves (though they are breathtaking) but in his thought-provoking interaction with the audience. With Mindplay,…

WAKING US UP TO WOKENESS Playwright Jonathan Spector makes an impressive Broadway debut with Eureka Day, a strikingly relevant and well-crafted production that convincingly captures the complexities and contradictions of contemporary cultural debates. His ability to balance humor and drama to address divisive issues such as political correctness resonate strongly well after the 100-minutes are…

DEATH BECOMES HER BECOMES BROADWAY I had opposite opinions this week between the opening of the film version of Wicked and the new Broadway musical comedy Death Becomes Her. Wicked outsoared the Broadway version; the movie gave me more heart, warmth, and laughs than I ever got from the original (still running since October of…

THERE’S NO ‘MAYBE’ ABOUT IT HAPPINESS HAS LANDED AT THE BELASCO When Avenue Q ran against Wicked at the Tonys for Best Musical, it was often compared to the American folktale The Little Engine That Could vs. the big corporate multi-million-dollar musical. One was a small contender with lots of heart; the other a huge…

HELLO, SATCHMO! THANK GOODNESS LOUIS IS BACK IN TOWN; WE NEED HIM MORE THAN EVER There’s a new jukebox musical in town. But don’t run in the other direction. A Wonderful World, which opened at Studio 54 tonight, November 11, is the bio-musical of Louis Armstrong, aka the Ambassador of Blues, the King of Jazz,…