New York

ARE WE EVER GOING TO SAY GOODBYE TO GOODBYE GIRL? The 1977 film The Goodbye Girl, written by Neil Simon and directed by Herbert Ross, was the first romantic comedy to earn over $100 million at the box office. So it should come as no surprise that it didn’t take long for Simon to turn…

QUEERILY, WE ROLL ALONG From June 15-July 3, 2023, the 9th annual Queerly Festival hits The Kraine Theater (85 E 4th St) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl), Most performances will also be available to livestream from home. Tickets ($25 in-person; $20 streaming) are available for advance purchase at Frigid. Founded in 2014,…

A GOOD SIGN FOR BROADWAY First-rate performances and Anne Kaufman’s near-flawless direction work well to conceal the few shortcomings in Lorraine Hansberry’s thoughtful and compelling The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, making this revival — which recently moved from BAM to Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theater  — rich with energy, emotion and life. Ms. Kaufman’s dynamic…

NEW YORK, NEW YORK SOARS ABOVE ITS OWN MATERIAL So apparently it’s still up to you New York — with a healthy assist from Susan Stroman and Lin-Manuel Miranda – to bring Martin Scorsese’s underrated 1977 film New York, New York to Broadway. But this new production, New York, New York – A New Musical,…

A WARM SUMMER From the moment we first see Diana (Laura Linney) and Alice (Jessica Hecht), the two friends whose story is told in David Auburn’s new play, Summer, 1976, we know exactly who they are. Diana is dressed in a sleek black top and pants; Alice wears a light peasant dress. The two women…

SOMETHING WICKED THAT WAY GOES No plague can kill a great show. It’s back. In a rare clash of film noir, performance art, an awesome murder mystery party, and Shakespeare, Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More is the ultimate voyeuristic thrill. Audience members don Venetian masks and explore the depths of the 1930s-style McKittrick Hotel in pursuit…

WHITE GIRL IN DANGER IS IN DANGER Broadway wunderkind  Michael R. Jackson  is back on the boards at  Second Stage’s Vineyard Theatre,  writing the book, music and lyrics for  his  latest  effort titled  White Girl in Danger. This new musical treads  similar  thematic ground as  his smash hit  A Strange Loop — which won the 2022 Tony for Best Musical and Jackson himself winning a Tony for…

THE BEST OSCAR GOES TO SEAN HAYES “It’d be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view.” The incomparable Oscar Levant is the subject of the hit play which opened tonight at the Belasco Theatre. If you are not that familiar with Levant, don’t fret,…

YOU’LL BE HOOKED The title says it all. Based on the play Peter Pan by JM Barrie, Peter Pan Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields is about a stage production of the children’s classic that goes wrong. Horribly wrong. Hilariously wrong. Hurtfully wrong. Just wrong. Currently playing at the Ethel Barrymore…

WHAT’S SO WONDERFUL? THIS REVIVAL OF WOMAN OF THE YEAR I’m jealous of New York Musical lovers. If they want to catch a rarely produced musical from the “golden age” of Broadway (the dates of “golden age” tend to blur), they have the J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company. And unlike the Los Angeles companies which…

HOW DO YOU CATCH A TIGER BY THE TAIL? STAGING. The eye-popping special effects of Life of Pi are reason enough to see this show, which opened this week at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Yes, there are a plethora of perfect performances, but no one should miss the elegant, effective, energizing design elements. This is…

WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS FAT HAM Ah, the Father/Son relationship. Tough when bad and often difficult even when pop and junior love each other. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, adapted with delightful quirkiness into Fat Ham  by playwright James Ijames, the young prince is so enamored of his recently deceased father, King Hamlet, he refers to…

THERE’S PLENTY OF GREAT PRANCIN’ BUT IT’S A HEAD-SCRATCHIN’ DANCIN’ There’s whole lotta dancing in the updated, Broadway revival of Bob Fosse’s DANCIN’, closing May 14, 2023 at The Music Box. Exciting dancing. Lyrical dancing. Athletic dancing. Sensuous dancing. Joyful dancing. Dancing full of technique and isolation and articulation and precision and extension. Performed by…