Past reviews, recommendations, profiles, and posts about arts and culture in New York City.
A musical adapted from Todd Haynes’ 2002 movie of the same name, Far From Heaven begins previews at Playwrights Horizons next week. The early buzz is good and ticket availability is already running low. Far From Heaven is set in Connecticut in 1957. It tells the story of what’s really going on with[…]
Continuing our Maxamoo Interview series with New York City playwrights, this week we talk to Johnna Adams and August Schulenburg. Their plays, Sans Merci and Honey Fist, were presented in repertoire by Flux Theatre Ensemble. To better understand these brilliant, prolific playwrights, we discuss their earliest theater memories and favorite theater experiences, including naked ushers[…]
Mayday Mayday is a one-man play written and performed by Tristan Sturrock, a charming actor from the UK who played the lead in Kneehigh Theater’s Brief Encounter (which played at St. Ann’s Warehouse and transfered to Studio 54 in 2010). In Mayday Mayday, Mr. Sturrock tells the true story of[…]
Mass, a new musical by Robert Honeywell, tells the story of two artists, their tumultuous love affair and turbulent art careers. The play is an interpretation of the fraught relationship between van Gogh and Gaugin. Mass plays at The Brick in Williamsburg through April 30. MORE INFO/TICKETS Reviews New York[…]
Pre-opening there is a lot of buzz around Natasha Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, an electro-pop opera based on Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. This production had a brief but very popular and sold run at Ars Nova last year. Now with some heavyweight backing (the producer of Sleep No More, among others), it’s[…]
A gentle takedown of popular culture from Emmy-winning writer William ‘Electric’ Black, American Star!!! The Musical, has a supremely talented cast, a catchy score, and production values worthy of a much larger stage. American Star is an indie theater musical for people who fear treading too far from the intersection[…]
American Star!!! The Musical Watch our Maxamoo Interview with William Electric Black, creator of American Star!!! The Musical. * * *A gentle takedown of popular culture from Emmy-winning writer William Electric Black, American Star!!! The Musical, has a supremely talented cast, a catchy score, and production values worthy of a[…]
In this play a wealthy family on the Upper West Side falls apart with witty, articulate ensemble chatter, starring Jessica Hecht, Judith Light, and Jeremy Shamos. Judith Light won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance. LOCATION Samuel J. Friedman Theatre261[…]
The story of Motown with all of the great music and characters you would expect: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and many more. LOCATION Lunt-Fontanne Theatre205 West 46th StreetBetween Broadway and 8th Avenue View Larger Map RUNNING TIME 2 hours and 45 minutes with 1 intermission[…]
“how I learned to be a superhero” is the story of three regular people with no superpowers who, nevertheless, set out to be superheros, costumes and all. The show’s mix of comedy and tragedy (how else is one motivated to become a superhero) delivers a simple, touching story. Remember this[…]
Star-crossed lovers take their Dungeons and Dragons role playing too far when they rob an armored car company in this New Georges production. According to those in the know, this show mimics the D&D world quite well, even providing a dungeon master/DJ to guide the action and spin some music.[…]
An actual comic book performed live on stage, in which a trio of humans battle Zygonians (invading sludge-monsters from outer space). It’s a multi-media mashup of actors, music, sound effects, and projections of traditional comic book panels. Geared to kids 7 and up with the following parental warning label: Comic[…]
At an Ohio comic book convention (“comic con”), two friends venture through steam punk armies, angry security guards, magic monsters, and an angry but sensitive villainess, in search of their hero, the author of their favorite comic book. Unfortunately, the last weekend of this run is sold out. Incubator Arts[…]
Rambunctious children and their eponymous leader revolt against villainous adults in gothic style, Matilda The Musical is based on a Roald Dahl book. This show received twelve 2013 Tony Award nominations and won four: Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical (Gabriel Ebert, who plays Mr.[…]
Production photos © Sandra Coudert After a hugely successful run at Rattlestick Theater earlier this year, Buyer and Cellar has transferred down the street to the slightly-larger Barrow Street Theatre. The story sounds goofy, an out-of-work actor staffs a fake mall in Barbra Streisand’s basement, but trust us (and every theater[…]
Chain Theatre21-28 45th Road, Long Island City The Elephant Run District theater company hosts a series of performance development labs this Friday and Saturday. Each night three 15-minute excerpts of in-progress productions are performed by the developing theater company. Followed by brief interviews of the performers by one of ERD’s cofounders.[…]
When Annie Baker’s writing and Sam Gold’s directing you don’t ask questions, you just attend. Playwrights Horizon’s416 W 42nd StTickets UPDATE March 29, 2013 Apparently a bunch of Playwrights Horizons’ season ticket holders freaked out over the length of Annie Baker’s play “The Flick.” The theater’s artistic director saw fit to[…]
Let’s speak frankly about women and sex. Let’s start by recognizing that the term women encompasses more than just skinny, straight, white women. ”The Bird and The Bees: Unabridged,” a new play, uses comedy, dance, and music to broach the, at once over explored and under examined, topic of female[…]
This David Byrne/Fatboy Slim musical at The Public Theater has not even begun previews and it is nearly sold out. Here Lies Love is the story of Imelda Marcos set to disco music. It has garned lots of attention, including this snazzy write-up in Vogue, complete with Annie Leibovitz photo. The Public describes[…]
This weekend and next Narcissister blends performance art, dance, striptease, music, feminist craft, and vaudevillian trickery in an evening-length piece that, self-described, stretches the limits of spectatorship. Abrons Art Center466 Grand StMore infoTickets