New York

NO LONGER JUST ROLLING ALONG, MERRILY HAS LANDED WHERE IT BELONGS: BROADWAY It’s fitting that Merrily We Roll Along, which originally opened on Broadway in 1981 to mostly negative reviews, has been refurbished in the equally restored Hudson Theater. Both the theater and production make the perfect classy pair — stunning theater at its best…

SWING…AND MISS The Chicago Tribune review of Swing State, as advertised on the production poster, charged me with excitement in seeing Rebecca Gilman’s new play. “Perhaps the first of the great American plays of this decade. It blew me away!” Well, I wish I had that same experience. Mary Beth Fisher and Bubba Weiler The…

‘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…

A VICTORY LAUGH Purlie Victorious, written by the late Ossie Davis, is a brilliant, funny, moving play that premiered on Broadway in 1961, with Mr. Davis in the title role. The initial production was a hit that ran for 261 performances before touring nationally (the 1970 musicalized version, Purlie, largely utilizing Davis’s play, ran for…

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 VICTORIOUS ROMP In Ossie Davis’s 1961 play Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch–which opened last night at The Music Box Theatre–all the black residents of contemporary Cotchipee county, Georgia, work on Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee’s (Jay O. Sanders) cotton plantation. They live on his land, in shacks that he owns, and owe…

THE CUBAN THEATRICAL PHENOMENON OF THE LAST DECADE ARRIVES IN NYC One of my favorite places to see plays in NYC is also NYC’s most prominent Latino theatre companies: Repertorio Espaí±ol. Performed in Spanish with easy-to-read supertitles in English, the plays are always original and thrilling. Now comes Farándula, which will premiere September 28–October 1,…

Rip Tide Axis Theatre Company Axis Theatre, 1 Sheridan Square runs October 4–28, 2023; Wed-Sat at 8 for tickets (free-$40), visit Axis Directed by Axis Theatre Company founder Randall Sharp, Rip Tide, a new play written and performed by Edgar Oliver, takes audiences back to where it all began for the New York City icon….

INFINITE PLAYWRITING Co-produced by Atlantic Theater Company and National Theatre, the one-hour and 45-minute production (no intermission) is Annie Baker’s best play to date. At least from my past three experiences of the admired Circle Mirror Transformation, The Flick, and John. The play is set two hours north of San Francisco. The set design by…

GREAT STUFF IS COOKING IN THIS KITCHEN The world premiere of new coming-of-age musical, HELL’S KITCHEN, with music and lyrics by New York’s own 15-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys and playwright Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety), now in previews at The Public Theater with the official opening on November 19, 2023….

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…