Past reviews, recommendations, profiles, and posts about arts and culture in New York City.
We were so angry when we left this play. The frustrating characters and their poor decision-making drove us crazy. Now with a couple of days’ distance from the performance, we realize, wow, that was some effective playmaking. Take Me Back is the New York City premiere of playwright Emily Schwend. It[…]
Tarell Alvin McCraney takes on Shakespeare’s notoriously difficult Antony and Cleopatra with a contextual re-imagining. He transports the tragedy from the last days of the Roman Empire to 18th century Saint-Domingue on the eve of the Haitian revolution. He enlists Enobarbus, Antony’s friend and supporter, as a narrator to assist with guiding the audience through[…]
Maxamoo’s Hot List, a preview of what’s hot beyond Broadway in New York City theater this March. Appropriate, an explosive play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is set to have its New York premiere at the Signature Theatre. It hit our early buzz radar from multiple directions and is at the top of our[…]
Gideon Productions is performing a stage adaption of the graphic novel Kill Shakespeare by Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery at HERE Arts Center through Wednesday, March 5th. This production is a lot of fun, colorful images from the graphic novel are projected onto a large screen in the middle[…]
The Open House, a new play by Will Eno at Signature Theatre, is a droll take-down of the classic Family Drama in American theater. Acerbic, depressing dramas about families who destroy each other may have brought immortality (not to mention Pulitzers) to Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill, but Eno has[…]
With The Happiest Song Plays Last, Quiara Alegría Hudes completes her critically acclaimed trilogy of plays, which began with Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Water by the Spoonful. This final play concludes the story of Elliot, an Iraq War veteran who struggles with the memory of his tour,[…]
Playwrights Horizons announced the lineup for its 2014-15 season today and we are excited. For starters, playwright Melissa James Gibson (author of This, one of our all-time favorite productions at Playwrights Horizons) will present the world premiere of her new play Placebo with her frequent collaborator, Daniel Aukin, directing (he also[…]
News of official openings, first performances, closings, and other news this week beyond Broadway in New York City theater.[metaslider id=8961]
Art and life intertwine in Stage Kiss, a play by Sarah Ruhl having its New York premiere this February at Playwrights Horizons. In the play, two actors with a personal history are chosen to play the leads in a romantic melodrama. Quickly, real life and on stage drama merge into a meta[…]
Speakeasy Dollhouse is a series of immersive jazz and burlesque theatrical events developed by Cynthia von Buhler. Dressing up isn’t required but it is encouraged. The first production in the series, The Bloody Beginning, explores a murder mystery involving the owner of a Prohibition Era speakeasy in New York City. The performance[…]
A few years ago, Colin Summers opened a business – send him an original poem and he will produce it into a song. The business was not going very well, until Colin received an email from Steve, a middle-aged man in Australia. Steve hired Colin to make a song from one[…]
Óscar Tango Bravo is a series of absurdist comedy sketches with an overarching storyline about conspiracy theories. It is part of the 2014 FRIGID New York theater festival. We might be missing the background knowledge in conspiracy theories and training in absurdist technique necessary to appreciate this piece. There were[…]
Ode to Joy is a new play by Craig Lucas (best known for Prelude to a Kiss and the book (i.e. the spoken parts in the musical) of The Light in the Piazza). It centers on the story of a depressed, alcoholic painter (Kathryn Erbe) and her two lovers (Arliss Howard and Roxanna[…]
Sotto Voce, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics), is a small sonata of a play about loneliness, loss, and the transformative power of love. In the play, Bemadette is an aging fiction writer who lost the only man she ever loved during World War[…]
Epic love stories come in all shapes and sizes. Some, like the recently-opened The Bridges of Madison County, require millions of dollars to produce, complex sets, and a live orchestra. Others, like Petunia and Chicken, now showing at the FRIGID New York Festival, have nothing but 2 actors, a shawl, a hat, and two spoons.[…]
Almost A Genius starts with Maria Wojciechowski dressed in a banana suit, sobbing, and making puns. From there Wojciechowski, who suffers from bipolar disorder and panic attacks, delivers a series of short monologues, as herself, and sketches, as various characters. Wojciechowski is at her best when talking directly about her life with winning[…]
One of our favorite shows from last year, the musical Fun Home, just released an original cast recording. It is now available on Amazon and iTunes. The music is by Tony Award nominee Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change) and the album features Michael Cerveris, Judy Kuhn, and Beth Malone from the[…]
Johnna Adams’ acclaimed play Gidion’s Knot depicts a single parent-teacher conference unfolding in real time. Austin Pendleton directs the New York City premiere at 59E59 Theaters. In this play the mother of 5th grade student, Gidion, meets with his teacher, Ms. Clark, following Gidion’s suspension from school. But as Ms. Clark’s surprise and[…]
Housing Works, a not for profit that addresses issues related to HIV/AIDS and homelessness, is hosting a one-time staged reading of WOMEN, a play by Chiara Atik. The play just wrapped up a wildly popular run and this is your last chance (that we know of) to catch it. A[…]
Monday night at 5:30 pm is not a prime theater going hour. So when you’re in a tiny basement theater in the East Village at 5:30 pm on a Monday and the house is packed you begin to suspect something interesting is about to happen. Such was the case at[…]