New York

TWO GINGER SNAPS UP FOR THIS PARENT TRAP PARODY The subtitle for Ginger Twinsies, the new Off-Broadway comedy which opened last night at the Orpheum Theatre, reads: “The Parent Trap parody (legally speaking).” Having never seen Nancy Myer’s 1998 Disney film starring Lindsay Lohan, it gave me pause; I wondered if I’d spend the evening…

JOY TO THE WHIRL For every inventive soul who’s ever heard “no,” “pass,” or “next,” Joy is for you. Based on the life of Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano, this briskly staged musical delivers an energetic blend of domestic chaos, entrepreneurial grit, and interior musical theater gold to keep it well fueled for its two-hour…

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED: PEN PALS GETS AN ENCORE RUN Casting has been revealed for Michael Griffo’s play Pen Pals, which is headed back Off-Broadway at DR2 Theatre with a rotating cast of actors beginning August 15, 2025. Stage and Cinema‘s rave review for the original production is republished below. See you at the theater!…

GHOSTS POURED NEAT Conor McPherson’s The Weir, a beloved staple for Irish Rep, returns for its fourth production under the intimate, finely tuned direction of Ciarán O’Reilly. This unusual and deeply human play walks you into a small, wind-battered pub in rural County Donegal for “just a quick pint,” only to watch you stumble out…

BIG GOSPEL ON LITTLE ISLAND Greek religion and Christianity had very different views on the nature of God and salvation, but the current revival of The Gospel at Colonus still manages to turn Little Island into a Pentecostal revival meeting. The show is based on an adaptation of Robert Fitgerald’s version of Sophocles’ Oedipus at…

A WESTERN WORTH REVISITING The Onomatopoeia Theatre Company, in collaboration with the Gene Frankel Theatre, brings back The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in a compelling and timely revival. Presented in two acts and running 110 minutes, the production benefits from the intimacy of a theater that seats fewer than 50. The result is a…

JOYFUL, JERKY, AND JUST WHAT OFF-BROADWAY NEEDS There are two powerful reasons to see Bear Grease. First: The deeply felt curtain speech by Henry Cloud Andrade, co-writer/co-creator—with Crystle Lightning—of Bear Grease. With warmth and candor, he begins by gently thanking the audience for not expecting a full Grease revival. More importantly, he shares the staggering context…

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? Lowcountry, Abby Rosebrock’s new play premiering at Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater, arrives with the promise of plunging into the “messy, tangled web of love and identity in the digital age,” but not even a ripple disturbs the surface. Though entrusted to the direction of Jo Bonney, the play…

ELLA STILLER’S DILARIA: A DEBUT IN EXTREMIS Three striking Off-Broadway debuts anchor Dilaria, a sharp, volatile new play by Julia Randall at the DR2—the Daryl Roth Theater’s 99-seat space just off Union Square. All three actors arrive with formal training in acting but have mostly appeared in TV and film since graduating. That cinematic background…

EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY (AND A DREAM) If you have time off this month and are feeling wanderlust for foreign travel—but your summer budget doesn’t allow for an actual trip around the world—I would like to recommend taking your vacation vicariously by catching Mr. Puppy The Musical a stage production about a globe-trotting dog….