New York

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…

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” ~ Oscar Wilde The Louvre, Uffizi, and Hermitage may dazzle you with their emphasis on fine arts, the British Museum may educate you with its historical range, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art does it all; it is undoubtedly the Eighth Wonder of…

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…

HOORAY FOR THIS BANQUET OF BLISS— ALL THOSE SENSATIONAL SONGS AND ENERGY— BEING ALIVE ON STAGE Words seem woefully inadequate to praise the wonderful, song-stuffed, dazzling and polished production featuring highlights from the musicals of Stephen Sondheim. The limited run of Sondheim’s Old Friends is highlight after highlight. For those many fans who’ve seen Bernadette…

A FUN, LIVELY KANDER & EBB MUSICAL AND THE TICKET PRICE ISN’T EX-ZORBA-TANT Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: If a character in musical theatre is going to make a declaration of independence, these three things are cherished. A good example is Zorba!. It is a cornucopia of carpe diem being treated to a…

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 BARE-BONES BOBBY IN BROOKLYN: A COMPANY THAT GHOSTS THE GOODS IS STILL ABOUT BEING ALIVE A revival of a show featuring the smart songs by the late Stephen Sondheim is sure to draw interest and audiences. Broadway is currently hosting the revue Sondheim’s Old Friends and his lyrics (with Jule Styne’s music) are in…

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…

GRACE, GRIOTS AND GOODIE BAGS The Baobab tree is an imposing, if unconventional, tree that grows in Africa along the Zambesi River. Also known as The Tree of Life, it seems to rise from the ground upside down, with root-like branches facing the sky. Legend has it that the once magnificent tree grew arrogant and…

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…