Kevin Vavasseur

“LET YOUR INDULGENCE SET ME FREE” At the curtain speech on the curtain-less stage of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, just before the start of the Public Works’  rousing new adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Program Director Laurie Woolery tells the audience that one reason for doing the show is, “…we’ve all been living in…

WHILE IT’S BACK TO THE MOVIE MUSICAL, FUTURE IS A PRESENT Ever go on the original Star Tours ride at Disneyland? You’re seated in some kind of space ship/tour bus that is piloted by a loveable but incompetent (of course) robot, who almost crashes the ship at lift-off. Once in space, the ride whisks you…

TO BE FOR FREE IS A BEAUTY There may be something rotten in the state of Denmark, but there’s something enthralling on the stage at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. In The Public Theater’s latest Free Shakespeare In the Park offering of Hamlet, director Kenny Leon and his superb cast have delivered a riveting…

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE In the vernacular of showbiz, the appellation “triple threat” refers to a performer who equally excels at acting, singing and dancing. That Broadway veteran James T. Lane, currently starring in his aptly named solo show Triple Threat, is deserving of this moniker is certainly not news. Mr. Lane has performed…

NEW YORK, NEW YORK SOARS ABOVE ITS OWN MATERIAL So apparently it’s still up to you New York — with a healthy assist from Susan Stroman and Lin-Manuel Miranda – to bring Martin Scorsese’s underrated 1977 film New York, New York to Broadway. But this new production, New York, New York – A New Musical,…

WHITE GIRL IN DANGER IS IN DANGER Broadway wunderkind  Michael R. Jackson  is back on the boards at  Second Stage’s Vineyard Theatre,  writing the book, music and lyrics for  his  latest  effort titled  White Girl in Danger. This new musical treads  similar  thematic ground as  his smash hit  A Strange Loop — which won the 2022 Tony for Best Musical and Jackson himself winning a Tony for…

YOU’LL BE HOOKED The title says it all. Based on the play Peter Pan by JM Barrie, Peter Pan Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields is about a stage production of the children’s classic that goes wrong. Horribly wrong. Hilariously wrong. Hurtfully wrong. Just wrong. Currently playing at the Ethel Barrymore…

THERE’S PLENTY OF GREAT PRANCIN’ BUT IT’S A HEAD-SCRATCHIN’ DANCIN’ There’s whole lotta dancing in the updated, Broadway revival of Bob Fosse’s DANCIN’, closing May 14, 2023 at The Music Box. Exciting dancing. Lyrical dancing. Athletic dancing. Sensuous dancing. Joyful dancing. Dancing full of technique and isolation and articulation and precision and extension. Performed by…

PROCTOR BY PROXY In playwright Talene Monahon’s new play The Good John Proctor, John Proctor doesn’t actually appear. He is integral to the plot and is certainly referenced but there is no physical character named John Proctor. So he is there but, at the same time, he isn’t — which is an apt description of…

PERFORMERS AND PRODUCTION PUMP UP THE OPAQUE PLOT OF PERICLES Pericles by William Shakespeare is a play that is probably ripe for an HBO adaptation. It deals with incest, death, redemption, palaces, brothels, lies, scheming mothers, weak fathers, assassins, purity, evil, pirates, kings, storms, princes, magic, Divine intervention, threatened rape and some very convenient coincidences….

ON AND OFF THE RIGHT TRACK Ever been on public transportation and wondered about the people seated around you? Not just whether or not they are nut-jobs or pose any physical threat but who they really are? What they are dealing with? What you would say to them? Could they one day be a friend?…

IT’S A JUNGLE IN HERE When Dorothy emerged from her ill-fated farmhouse just after landing in Oz, she held tightly to her tiny dog and spoke the immortal words, “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Upon entering St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, now taken over by a sprawling refugee camp, it’s easy to…

THE JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS WITH THE JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES In black odyssey written by Marcus Gardley and currently running at Classic Stage Company, Mr. Gardley steps again into his creative sandbox of African American history, Americana, mythology, heightened language and magical realism. As with his previous work, …And Jesus Moonwalks…

THE ART OF MAKING ART The Collaboration by Anthony McCarten is much more than, well, a collaboration. This riveting performance produced by Manhattan Theatre Club and currently playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater is also a conversation, a trip back in time, an art vs. commerce debate, an in-depth character study, a class war…