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  Theatre in Review: Arms and the Man (Gingold Theatrical Group/Theatre Row)
In the charming prologue to David Staller's production of George Bernard Shaw's classic comedy, we are warned that gunfire will be heard -- but more predominant is the sound of romantic ideals merrily being shattered to bits. ...
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Theatre in Review: Emergence (Pershing Square Signature Center)
"Things are not as they seem," says Patrick Olson, the guiding spirit of this oddball hybrid of lecture and concert performance, and I'm certainly not going to argue with him. Indeed, he makes this statement repeatedly in Eme ...
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Theatre in Review: Redwood (Ensemble Studio Theatre)
Say hello to Brittany K. Allen, a double threat you'll want to know better. She stars in Redwood which she also wrote, but this is no mere vehicle; she surrounds herself with a gallery of sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued ...
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Theatre in Review: Chasing Happy (Pulse Theatre/Theatre Row)
Nick, a middle-aged architect living in Provincetown, is a mess, and not just because he's the central character of Michel Wallerstein's wayward, enervated comedy. He has just enjoyed the sex of his dreams with Brad, a well-toned ...
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Theatre in Review: Partnership (Mint Theater Company/Theatre Row)
If George Bernard Shaw was interested in the New Woman, Elizabeth Baker specialized in the Businesswoman. The long-obscure playwright, whose career ran roughly parallel to Shaw's heyday, specialized in middle-class studies that ...
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Theatre in Review: Gutenberg! The Musical! (James Earl Jones Theatre)
The only thing wrong with Gutenberg! The Musical! is, as it happens, Gutenberg! The Musical! This isn't as sweeping a statement as it looks, but it points to the problem at the heart of a brash entertainment that ...
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Theatre in Review: Salesman (Yangtze Repertory Theatre/Connelly Theater)
Sometimes a playwright blindsides you, so slyly is he laying the groundwork for a transcendent moment. Jeremy Tiang's new play is about the famous 1983 Beijing production of Death of a Salesman, a key cultural and political ...
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Theatre in Review: All the Devils Are Here (DR2 Theatre)
If you happen to be in Union Square and catch a whiff of brimstone, don't be surprised. It's merely Patrick Page, holding a séance of sorts, calling up the spirits of Shakespeare's wickedest characters. Beginning with Lady Macbeth' ...
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Theatre in Review: The Lights Are On (New Light Theater Project/Embeleco Unlimited at Theatre Row)
Playwright Owen Panettieri wants to have his pie and eat it, too. In the case of The Lights Are On, the pie is poisoned. Or maybe not; who can say? Reality is a slippery thing in this psychological thriller, which ...
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Theatre in Review: Salesman (Yangtze Repertory Theatre/Connelly Theater)
Sometimes a playwright blindsides you, so slyly is he laying the groundwork for a transcendent moment. Jeremy Tiang's new play is about the famous 1983 Beijing production of Death of a Salesman, a key cultural and political ...
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Theatre in Review: Melissa Etheridge: My Window (Circle in the Square)
"Sometimes I think I'm so dramatic," Melissa Etheridge muses at the top of her almost-one-woman show. Actually, "affable" is more like it: Armed with a dry wit and a knack for self-deprecation, she guides us, genially, through the ...
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Theatre in Review: No Good Things Dwell in the Flesh (ART/New York Theatres)
In her new play, Christina Masciotti places a captivating character at center stage, then leaves her stranded, dramatically speaking. The title of No Good Things Dwell in the Flesh -- an apparent allusion to St. Paul' ...
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Theatre in Review: The Lieutenant (York Theatre Company/Theatre at St. Jean's)
For the latest entry in its Musicals in Mufti series, York Theatre Company has taken a deep dive into the murky depths of musical theatre history, bringing back a fascinating cultural artifact. Is there a musical theatre fan not ...
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Theatre in Review: The Tempest (New York Shakespeare Festival/Delacorte Theater)
The isle is full of magic, along with a faint hint of sadness, in this musical production that bids farewell to the Delacorte Theater in its current form. (It is closing for an eighteen-month renovation; next summer, we must contend with ...
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Theatre in Review: How to Steal an Election (York Theatre Co./Theatre at St. Jean's)
In How to Steal an Election, Calvin Coolidge sings. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
First, the good news: In another sign of life returning to normal, York Theatre Company has brought back its popular Musicals in ...
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Theatre in Review: Pay the Writer (Pershing Square Signature Theatre)
As a novelist, Tawni O'Dell has scaled the best-seller list and been welcomed into the golden circle of Oprah's Book Club. As a playwright, she has a long way to go before similar accolades come her way. Her 2019 drama, When It ...
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Theatre in Review: The Shark is Broken (Golden Theatre)
To give you a sense of what Broadway is like these days, last week I saw back-to-back productions based on Steven Spielberg films; clearly, pre-existing IP rules. First up: Back to the Future (which SS executive-produced in 1985) ...
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Theatre in Review: Back to the Future (Winter Garden Theatre)
Back to the Future represents the state of Broadway today. Is that good or bad? It depends.
Even as Hollywood discovers that the shelf life of intellectual property may not last beyond the seventh or eighth sequel, ...
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Theatre in Review: The Half-God of Rainfall (New York Theatre Workshop)
The last time we encountered playwright Inua Ellams, the occasion was Borders and Crossings, a modest, but pointed and powerful, collection of poems, featured in an online presentation at the Under the Radar Festival in the ...
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Theatre in Review: The Cottage (Hayes Theatre)
Plays, like buildings, need solid foundations, the very thing The Cottage so obviously lacks. Playwright Sandy Rustin has concocted a farcical spoof of early twentieth-century British comedies, but she hasn't noticed ...
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