New York

Learning another language is like becoming another person. — Haruki Murakami In 2008 Iran, four very different people struggle to learn a new language—a language that promises new opportunities, both personal and professional. It may not flow as naturally or sound as pleasing as their native Farsi, but that hardly matters. English holds a global…

NYC PREMIERE OF RENÉ MARQUÉS’ LOS SOLES TRUNCOS René Marqués‘ seminal work, Los Soles Truncos, stands as a cornerstone of Puerto Rican classical theater. Written in 1958, the play is set against the historical backdrop of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, exploring themes of love, jealousy, the passage of time, and the cultural…

RATS AND POLITICS TOGETHER? WHO EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING! In the wildly entertaining and mind-bending Symphony of Rats, which I had the pleasure of experiencing at REDCAT in Los Angeles last October, the President of the United States embarks on a surreal journey filled with phantasmagorical encounters. Flanked by his presidential aides, he…

Based on the play by Josefina López and HBO’s Real Women Have Curves (screenplay by Josefina López and George LaVoo), Real Women Have Curves: The Musical is set to begin performances on April 1 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, ahead of an opening night on April 27, 2025. Broadway newcomer Tatianna Córdoba will make her…

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,…

Drop everything! Shawn Mendes, Cécile McLorin Salvant & Sullivan Fortner will appear as special guest artists this Thursday, January 16 for the second performance of The Energy Curfew Music Hour Season 2. Featuring the band Punch Brothers, fronted by singer-mandolinist Chris Thile, the musical variety show at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre will be recorded live and released as an Audible Original. For tickets (just…

RUNNING FOR ONE’S LIFE Under the vision of Founder and Artistic Director Susan Feldman, St. Ann’s Warehouse – one of the most eclectic and vibrant venues in New York – is now presenting another cutting-edge production, the North American premiere of Iranian writer and director Amir Reza Koohestani’s play Blind Runner, a moving hymn to freedom. Performed…

A SPARKLING, SPIRITED PIRATES The Pirates of Penzance is a spirited lampoon of Victorian morality, skewering its pretensions and hypocrisies while also poking fun at the lackluster operas and ballets that dominated English stages from 1871 to 1896. The legendary duo of William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, celebrated as the quintessential librettist-composer partnership of…

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way… When Tolstoy wrote that line in Anna Karenina, he hadn’t met the Dahls yet – that unforgettable family in Leslye Headland’s Cult of Love, exploding nightly at the Helen Hayes on Broadway. If only he could have observed them at their…

A letter is a blessing, a great and all-too-rare privilege that can turn a private moment into an exalted experience. – Alexandra Stoddard The holidays have faded into memory, and the bitter chill of winter days have settled in. But fear not — when the frost bites, the theatre offers warmth, and somewhere out there,…

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…

A MAGIQUE CARPET RIDE Do you need an escape from suffocating daily life? In Bushwick, across the street from Théâtre XIV, home to the best burlesque shows in the city, artistic director Austin McCormick has opened a smaller cozy party crib to stage Cocktail Magique, with the help of Zane Pihlström, an exceptionally talented costume…

THERE’S A NEW GYPSY IN TOWN AND SHE’S STUNNING In the 1920s, Rose Thompson Hovick steamrolled her way through vaudeville and lived vicariously through her reluctant young daughters, Louise and June, forcing them to act, sing, and dance to feed the family and her narcissism. Rose was one of the original “momagers,” a full-blown dictator…

AUDRA MCDONALD GIVES US A POWERFUL MAMA ROSE BUT IS IT A SUITABLE INTERPRETATION? Gypsy is a great show. Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim wrote a justly iconic score, and Arthur Laurents’ book is one of his best. Ever since Ethel Merman opened the show with “I Have a Dream” back in 1959, various divas…