Areas We Cover
Categories
New York
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Off-Broadway Review: THE CLIMATE FABLES: THE TRASH GARDEN (Torch Ensemble at Playhouse 46 at St. Luke’s)
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Benjamin: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Benjamin: Yes, I am. Mr. McGuire: Plastics. Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean? Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it? — from The Graduate…
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Theater Review: THE BEST MAN SHOW (Hollywood and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals)
THE WORST BEST MAN MAKES THE BEST MAN SHOW A GUARANTEED WINNER We’re attending a wedding. Every viewer in the audience is an attendee. The vows have already been exchanged, and now it’s time for the groom’s brother — his best man — to give the customary speech. Charming and truthful but filled with toxicity…
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Off-Broadway Review: THE JOURNALS OF ADAM AND EVE: THE WORLD’S FIRST LOVE STORY (The Sheen Center, starring Hal Linden and Marilu Henner)
WE’VE GOT TO GET OURSELVES BACK TO THE GARDEN When The Sheen Center announced Ed. Weinberger’s new play The Journals of Adam and Eve starring Hal Linden and Marilu Henner, I thought it was a perfect trinity, a legendary event not to be missed, and in the end it was. Weinberger’s sardonic script, an adaptation of Mark Twain’s short…
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Highly Recommended Dance: SMUIN CONTEMPORARY BALLET (The Joyce in NYC)
SMUIN IS A SHOO-IN Celebrating its 30th anniversary, San Francisco-based Smuin Contemporary Ballet returns to The Joyce with a triple bill of original commissions each making their New York premiere through Sunday. The engagement will be the Company’s ninth at the Joyce and first since 2012. The program will include the New York premiere of Val Caniparoli’s…
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Recommended Off-Broadway: LA MUERTE Y LA DONCELLA and LA PASIÓN SEGÚN ANTÍGONA PÉREZ (Repertorio Español)
One of my favorite places to see plays in NYC is also NYC’s most prominent Latino theatre companies: Repertorio Español. Performed in Spanish with easy-to-read supertitles in English, the plays are always original and thrilling. This summer, two contemporary productions will be staged at the iconic Repertorio stage at 138 E 27th St by two young…
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Regional & Off-Broadway Theater: MEDEA: RE-VERSED (Red Bull Theater, Bedlam, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival)
“There’s more to her than anyone could ever infer – You can kick my words to the curb. I think it’s time that we heard from her.” An ice-cold, high-octane adaptation of Euripides’ play written in battle rap verse, this brand-new electrifying hip-hop version of the ancient classic Medea by Luis Quintero, co-conceived and directed…
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Extras: STEPHEN SONDHEIM – A REMEMBRANCE
I’m deeply moved that Merrily We Roll Along takes its final Broadway bow today. Though I’m far from New York and haven’t visited since before the pandemic, the clips, interviews, and Tony Awards have let me feel the tangible love and chemistry among the enormously talented cast. The love and light emanating from this show…
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Recommended Event: CLIP JOINT: POLLY BERGEN (Rex Reed and Will Friedwald at The Triad)
POLLY: WANT A TRIBUTE? Journalists Rex Reed and Will Friedwald will celebrate Polly Bergen with the newest edition of Clip Joint, featuring rare video clips of the late show business legendon July 15, 2024 at 7 at The Triad. The dynamic duo will reminisce over Bergen’s iconic career, illuminating her remarkable life with personal anecdotes and rare footage from a wide range…
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Off-Broadway Opening: EMPIRE: A NEW MUSICAL (New World Stages)
A MUSICAL THAT REACHES FOR NEW HEIGHTS Built during the Depression between 1930 and 1931, the Empire State Building became the world’s tallest office building’”surpassing the Chrysler Building by a whopping 204 feet. The design of the building changed 16 times during planning and construction, but 3,000 workers completed the building’s construction in record time:…
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Off-Off-Broadway Review MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (TGW Studios at the Gene Frankel Theatre)
MUCH NOTHING ABOUT ADO Presenters Kelsey Grammer and Faith American Brewing Company offer a production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at the Gene Frankel Theatre that is a daring experiment considering there are 15 actors from a rotating cast on such a tiny stage. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem quite so crowded given the bare set…
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Off-Broadway Review: N/A (Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center)
NOT APPLICABLE Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) are two of the brightest political stars ever to walk the halls of the Capitol. Still in her thirties, Ocasio-Cortez aka “AOC”, hails from a working-class background and, since her 2018 election, has unabashedly fought to put progressive goals and concerns at the…
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Theater Review: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC IN CONCERT (David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center; World Premiere of Jonathan Tunick’s Orchestrations for Large Ensembles)
A SUMMER NIGHT THAT SMILES THREE HUNDRED TIMES Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s delightful musical A Little Night Music is is an adaptation of the Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night, a droll story of sexual musical chairs among the middle- and lower-classes in provincial Sweden at the turn of the last century….
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Off-Broadway Review: HENRY IV (New York Classical Theatre in Central Park, Carl Schurz Park and Castle Clinton)
HENRY, SWEET HENRY Enter Central Park at West 103rd and look for the closest, large meadow. Bring a blanket or a chair with you because you arrived at the “first stage” of Shakespeare’s Henry IV (a blending of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2) produced by New York Classical Theatre. Their mission is to reinvigorate and create…
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Dance Review: EXTREME TAYLOR (Paul Taylor Dance Company at The Joyce Theater)
EXTREME VALUE Paul Taylor Dance Company returns to the Joyce Theater with Extreme Taylor, bringing back some of the Maestro’s classic works. The program I saw included Private Domain (1969), Duet (1964), Big Bertha (1970), and Airs (1978), four among his most acclaimed works. Private Domain opens the show and sets Taylor’s clever vision of light and dark. The music, “Atrees” by Iannis Xenakis, fits the straightforward movements…
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Off-Broadway Review: PRE-EXISTING CONDITION (Connelly)
One of the most difficult crises to recover from is assault, let alone the assault from an intimate partner. Do you tell anyone? Do you confront? Do you forgive? To muse over these questions, Tony-nominated playwright Marin Ireland (Ironbound) offers the harrowing process of life after a lover’s assault with Pre-Existing Condition, now playing at…
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Concert Review: SAMARA JOY & HER BAND (Town Hall, NYC)
ODE TO JOY Is there such a thing as an accessible diva? An earthbound angel? A human being not made of flesh and blood but solely of musical tones and vibrations? If such other-worldly entities exist, then three-time Grammy winner Samara Joy must qualify as at least one if not all. The twenty-four year old…
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Theater Review: CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL (PAC/NYC)
A PUUUURFECT REVIVAL IS SERVED “Get your life!” says the pre-show announcement as the lights dim in the Perelman Performing Arts Center before last night’s opening of this much talked-about revival of Cats. The Cast of CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL That phrase might sound out-of-place in a Broadway musical’s pre-show announcement; however, when you step…
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Theater Opening: MESSY WHITE GAYS (38th Powerhouse Theater Season at Vassar College)
LET THE GAYS BEGIN! Sunday morning. Hell’s Kitchen. Brecken and Caden have just murdered their throuple-mate and stuffed him into a Jonathan Adler credenza. Unfortunately, they’ve invited friends over for brunch. Feel bad for them! They’re Messy White Gays! This new play written by Drew Droege and directed by Mike Donahue, will receive a workshop and presentation as…
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Interview: RICCARDO HERNíNDEZ (Scenic Designer for Broadway’s LEMPICKA [Tony Nomination] and SUFFS)
DESIGNING THE FUTURE Tony-nominated set designer for this season’s Lempicka, Riccardo Hernández also designed Suffs. Other Broadway productions have included The Thanksgiving Play, Jagged Little Pill, Indecent, Porgy and Bess, Caroline, or Change, Bring in ‘da Noise/Bring in ‘da Funk, and the original Parade. An international designer of operas, plays, and musicals, he’s also the co-chair…
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Theater Interview: ALEXI MELVIN (Producer of Broadway’s ILLINOISE & THE NOTEBOOK)
Alexi Melvin has found a new home in the New York theater scene, striving to champion innovative storytelling and artists within marginalized communities. In less than one year’s time, she has co-produced Here Lies Love, and the currently running productions of The Notebook and Illinoise. Born in Redwood City, California but primarily raised in Scottsdale, Arizona,…



















