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Off-Off-Broadway Review: UH OH EXCLAMATION POINT KENDAL HARTSE QUESTION MARK LIVE AND IN CONCERT QUESTION MARK (The Gym at Judson Church)
RADIO-ACTIVE SATIRE (WITH SONGS) And now for something completely different. Presented for your amusement is a skillful skewering of the approach to fundraising—or, to put it more plainly, begging for money—in campaigns by public radio stations. These include frequent breaks in programming for on-air speakers’ earnest, self-congratulatory reminders of the uniquely crucial, indispensable value of…
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Theater Obituary: MARK BROKAW (A Tribute to the Director’s “Cry-Baby” on Broadway)
In Praise of a Misjudged Misfit: Mark Brokaw and the Undeserved Fate of Cry-Baby In the wake of director Mark Brokaw‘s untimely passing at 65 yesterday, I find myself returning not to one of his celebrated triumphs, such as How I Learned to Drive, but to a show that critics swatted away with a smirk…
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Off-Broadway Review: VIOLA’S ROOM (Punchdrunk & The Shed)
IN THIS BEAUTIFULLY MOODY MAZE, THE LINE BETWEEN ENCHANTMENT AND ENTRAPMENT BLURS I have yet to encounter an immersive theatrical experience that captivates me as deeply as a well-staged play, a beautifully choreographed dance, or a masterfully performed concert. Something always feels off; sometimes, these experiences remind me of poorly designed video games, visually ambitious…
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Theater Review: BANANAS? (The Town Hall in NYC)
QUINTUPLE THREAT NYMPHIA WIND HAS MORE THAN BANANA APPEAL I’m a bad gay. I’ve only seen one or two episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race out of—how many seasons now? Seventeen! But after seeing Nymphia Wind’s pride-month blowout at Town Hall last night, June 26, I get the hype. The reigning queen of Season 16 isn’t…
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Off-Broadway Review: ANGRY ALAN (Studio Seaview)
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE OF RAGE As the inaugural production at the new Studio Seaview (formerly Second Stage on 43rd and 8th), Penelope Skinner’s Angry Alan opened June 11 for a limited run. Starring John Krasinski in a surprisingly intense and layered performance, the 85-minute play initially unfolds as a one-man show—until it isn’t. Krasinski…
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Off-Broadway Review: DUKE & ROYA (Lucille Lortel Theatre)
MIC DROP IN A MINEFIELD Last night, the Lucille Lortel Theatre unveiled Duke & Roya, a luminous new work by the compelling playwright Charles Randolph-Wright. Under the graceful direction of Warren Adams, this Off-Broadway premiere is rich with soul and poetic rhythm and unfolds like free verse on stage. It’s 2016 and we are in…
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Dance Review: GISELLE (ABT at Metropolitan Opera House)
ABT’S GISELLE IS A TRU RENAISSANCE OF ROMANTICISM Very few ballets have made their mark like Giselle, the jewel of Romantic dance. It emerged in 1841, at the height of an era when people were fascinated by the supernatural and women who seemed more spirit than flesh. Giselle actually redefined the ballerina: no longer merely…
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Off-Broadway Review: JUST THE TIP (Jon Schnitzer at SoHo Playhouse’s Huron Club)
HOLY LAND, HOLY LAUGHS Comedy goes a lot of places, and some say a comedian can and should be able to joke about anything. But what if a comedian wants to go to Israel and the Palestinian territories? What if that comedian wants to tell jokes about it? Jon Schnitzer is not the first comedian…
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Cabaret Review: GEORGE YOUNG: SINGIN’ AND SWINGIN’ (NYC’s 54 Below)
VELVET NOTES AND VINTAGE VIBES Remember when singers had velvety voices and a smooth style? Even those who don’t certainly enjoyed George Young: Singin’ and Swingin’ at 54 Below on June 19. Young has a deep, rich voice well suited to his repertoire, and an easy style that quickly draws you in. Falling on Juneteenth, much…
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Theater Review: A LETTER TO LYNDON B. JOHNSON OR GOD: WHOEVER READS THIS FIRST (SoHo Playhouse & Edinburgh Fringe)
WAR IS FOR CLOWNS Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland join the thrilling ranks of clown-trained performers (Julia Masli is another) reshaping the boundaries of theatrical storytelling. A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First is an electrifying 65-minute performance that plays only through June 29 at the Soho Playhouse (formerly the…
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Concert Review: NIGHT OF A THOUSAND JUDYS (13th Annual Benefit at Joe’s Pub for The Ali Forney Center)
A FUN FUNDRAISER FOR THE GLORY OF GARLAND & GAY RIGHTS What a night! So very, very varied – even though there was a specific theme. Night of a Thousand Judys is a loving valentine to the legendary Judy Garland, timed for the second night of Pride Month. It’s a program stuffed with examples of…
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Theater Interview: ROB MADGE (“My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?)” at New York City Center)
APPARENTLY, YOU CAN DO A LOT My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?) is a joyous, autobiographical solo show from social media sensation Rob Madge, charting their journey as a queer child with one dream: to stage a full-scale Disney parade in their living room. With wit, heart, and seven easy steps, Madge…
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Off-Broadway Review: PRINCE FAGGOT (Playwrights Horizon)
A RADICAL FAIRY TALE FIT FOR A KING The only marketing I saw for Jordan Tannahill’s provocative new play Prince Faggot, which opened last night at Playwrights Horizons (a co-production with Soho Rep), was the single-line tease: “Let us tell you a fairy tale about a prince.” It didn’t prepare me for the electrifying, emotionally rich, and theatrically thrilling experience waiting…
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Broadway Review: CALL ME IZZY (Studio 54)
SMART SELLS IT Jean Smart is a phenomenal stage actress of great depth and specificity. Not exactly news but since she’s possibly best known as the warm-hearted and slightly naïve “Charlene Stillfield” on the iconic television sitcom Designing Women, it might bear repeating. Currently starring at Studio 54 in the riveting new play Call Me…
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Off-Broadway Review: THE WASH (WP Theater)
EVENTUALLY, EVERYTHING COMES OUT IN THE WASH Woodie King Jr.’s New Federal Theatre has found a new home, relocating from the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side’s WP Theater. Their second offering, The Wash by Kelundra Smith, opened tonight—an earnest, history-minded drama recounting the overlooked 1881 labor strike by Black laundresses in Atlanta,…
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Concert Review: SAMARA JOY & HER BAND (Carnegie Hall)
FROM CASTLE HILL IN THE BRONX TO A DEBUT AT CARNEGIE HALL IN MANHATTAN, SAMARA JOY IN CONCERT AND IN THE GROOVE # # # Most jazz vocalists dream of rapid success: winning a major contest, dazzling critics with a first recording by age 21, snagging a Best New Artist Grammy, racking up a shelf…
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Cabaret Review: #IRL (IN REAL LIFE) (54 Below)
A REVIEW OF A REVUE Whatever happened to the topical revue format? As differentiated from musical revues that recycle old, established songs by particular writers, the topical revue presented new material in both songs and sketches. Once a mainstay of nightclub and theatre entertainment, the format was a potpourri of songs and comedic skits, maybe…
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Off-Broadway Review: JULIA MASLI: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (Public Theater)
HA-LLELUJAH! HELP IS JUST A “HA” AWAY Julia Masli makes a slow, focused entrance onto the stage of the Anspacher Theater at The Public. Despite the surrounding moody blues, her face is lit by a pin spot attached to her arm. She pronounces “ha” in several different ways: drawn out, deliberate, hushed, questioned. She approaches…
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Music Salon Report: 100th ANNIVERSARY OF RODGERS & HART’S “MANHATTAN” (54 Above)
ONE WOULD BE MAD TO NOT HAVE RSVP’D “YES” TO THIS PRIVATE PARTY CELEBRATING THE CENTENNIAL OF RODGERS & HART’S “MANHATTAN” Oh, if these walls could talk!!! Actually, the walls would probably also sing because so much music has been played and planned over the decades at the elegant apartment in question dubbed “54 Above.”…
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Off-Broadway Review: IMAGINARY INVALID (Red Bull Theatre at New World Stages)
Sick of It All—and Loving Every Minute: Molière’s Hypochondriac Gets a Hilarious Check-Up Molière’s final theatrical work, The Imaginary Invalid, is a scalpel-sharp satire of medicine and the absurdities of human nature. Written and performed in 1673 while he was seriously ill with tuberculosis, Molière took the stage with a genuine cough and died shortly…
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