Paulanne Simmons

JELLY’S JAM IS JAMMIN’ THAT’S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW Jelly Roll Morton was born Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe in New Orleans. Both his parents traced their Creole ancestry four generations back to the 18th century. He was a jazz and ragtime pianist, composer and bandleader who is regarded as the first arranger of jazz. Nicholas…

YOUR GOLDEN TICKET TO HIGH ADVENTURE …AND HIGH TEA What could entice a typical New Yorker to get up fairly early on a Saturday or Sunday morning and make the trip to a narrow side street in the Lower East Side? The answer to this question is simple: The Order of the Golden Scribe, a…

A KINGDOM DIVIDED Sam (Uly Schlesinger) is a bright, articulate and sincere young man. But he is also nervous, sensitive and bitter. In fact, he has recently attempted suicide. Actress Ruby Thomas’s first play, The Animal Kingdom, explores what family relationships might lead to such an act. The play, making its U.S. premiere at the…

Prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. –  St. Therese of Lisieux When I saw Manhattan Theatre Club‘s 2022 NY City Center production of Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic, it seemed to…

WE LIVE FOREVER When people think of Jews during the Holocaust (if they think of the Holocaust at all) they picture old and young passively assembling for deportation to concentration camps or lining up submissively to be sent to the gas chambers. But National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s newest offering Amid Falling Walls (Tvishn Falndike Vent)…

THE LONG-PLAYING STEREOPHONIC SHOULD’VE BEEN A SINGLE David Adjmi’s Stereophonic at Playwrights Horizons, directed by Daniel Aukin, has an excellent ensemble cast, a perfectly realistic set by David Zinn and pleasant, if derivative music by Will Butler. Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite make up for the verbosity and excessive length of the play. Eli Gelb and…

FINALLY, A MUSICAL THAT ISN’T GUTEN-FREE Those who saw Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells in The Book of Mormon have been looking forward eagerly to their return as a team in Gutenberg! The Musical!  They will not be disappointed. Scott Brown and Anthony King’s Gutenberg!, nimbly directed by Alex Timbers, is a blast from beginning to…

‘CAUSE YOU GOT TO HAVE FRIENDS Israeli playwright Anat Gov’s Best Friends comes to the 14th Street Y with an impressive history. Best Friends is the longest-running comedy in Israel and winner of the prestigious Israel National Theater Award for Best Comedy in 1999. It also had a sold-out run at Rattlestick Theater. Now, directed…

UNIQUE, DELICIOUS, ENTERTAINING, MAGICAL No matter how many times illusionists deceive our eyes and mentalists read our minds, we are always amazed by their feats. This is certainly true of Scott Silven, whose performances are especially stylish and smart. This fall for a limited run, Silven’s At the Illusionist’s Table returns for the fifth time…

A FRANK PORTRAYAL Perhaps the most famous quote from Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl is “Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.” However, these words were written before the Frank family was discovered in the secret annex and sent to concentration camps. Would Anne have had the same sentiments…