All stories by David Cote on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Review: Volunteers In A Drug Trial Just Say Yes In ‘The Effect’ by David Cote

Is it love or a side effect? Lucy Prebble’s 2012 play interrogating the difference between spontaneous emotions and drug-induced moods is given a cool, minimalist makeover in a revival at …

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:01PM
Monday, March 11, 2024

Review: New Drama About the Murdoch Phone Hacking Scandal by David Cote

This ripped-from-the-headlines story has a strong cast and a worthy message. But it ought to be more thrilling than it is. 

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:01PM
Thursday, March 7, 2024

Review: A Priest and a Nun Walk into a War in Contemporary Classic ‘Doubt’ by David Cote

'Doubt,' one of the top ten American dramas of this century, is now back on Broadway in an impressive revival.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:01PM
Monday, March 4, 2024

Review: It All Comes Out in the Wash at John Patrick Shanley’s ‘Brooklyn Laundry ‘ by David Cote

The veteran playwright-director tosses together two soiled souls—played by Cecily Strong and David Zayas—adds softener, and gives ’em a whirl.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 06:09PM
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Spring Theater Preview: Navigating a Flood of Shows on Broadway and Off by David Cote

Between now and the end of April a whopping 18 plays and musicals will open on the Great White Way. Here's the best of what's coming, both on and Off Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:00AM
Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Review: Unwinnable Wars Lead to Impossible Debates in ‘The Ally’ by David Cote

Page-filling blocks of strong words are unfurled in this campus drama, as playwright Itamar Moses articulates—passionately and eloquently—each side of weighty issues of the moment, from …

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:01PM
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Review: Second Stage Theatre’s ‘The Apiary’: Stinging or Sweet As Honey? by David Cote

Set 22 years from now — as climate change has doomed the bees and thus humanity — this high-concept play mixes sci-fi with black comedy.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:01PM
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Review: Fake News Makes Musical Headlines in ‘The Connector’ by David Cote

This musical about a fabulist at a magazine draws on the Stephen Glass scandal of the ‘90s, but it’s more than a bit of stretch itself.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 07:01PM
Thursday, February 1, 2024

Public Obscenities by David Cote

All in the family: a PhD student visits India to film a documentary about queer life in Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s vibrant and charming debut play. Abrar Haque as Choton, Debashis Roy Chowd…

SOURCE: 4columns at 07:00PM
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

‘The Animal Kingdom’ Review: This Family Therapy Weepie Is a Flat Zoo Story by David Cote

Set entirely at group therapy sessions, this 80-minute exploration of psychodynamics and healing may leave you wishing for characters with more interesting problems.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:01PM
Saturday, January 27, 2024

Review: Don’t Sleep on Splendiferous Sutton Foster in ‘Once Upon a Mattress’ by David Cote

Foster generates waves of zany ecstasy in this delightful concert version of this fractured fairytale for City Center Encores.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 06:25PM
Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Review: ‘Prayer for the French Republic’ Is One of Broadway’s Best New Plays by David Cote

A Jewish family — shaken by a recent rise in European antisemitism — uproots itself in Joshua Harmon's passionately argued play.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:00PM
Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Review: ‘Appropriate’ Is a Family Album of White Supremacy  by David Cote

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s slow-burning satire of white privilege arrives on Broadway in an impeccable production with a dream cast, led by Sarah Paulson.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 11:03AM
Monday, December 18, 2023

Review: Cuba’s Past Sings Out in ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ by David Cote

This jukebox musical alternates passionate renditions of Afro-Cuban son, danzón, and bolero with scenes in English that chart the lives of musicians across four decades of love and loss.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 08:21PM
Sunday, December 10, 2023

Review: ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ Welcomes Autistic Youth Under the Disco Ball by David Cote

'How to Dance in Ohio' was clearly made with love, but this musical adaptation of an HBO documentary about autistic people learning to dance tries to balance good intentions and razzle-dazzl…

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Review: An Earnest Yet Awkward Land Acknowledgement for ‘Manahatta’ by David Cote

Mary Kathryn Nagle’s play shifts between the Dutch colonization of Manhattan and the subprime mortgage crisis, a concept that looks good on paper but diminishes the characters and their ch…

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM
Sunday, November 19, 2023

Review: Alicia Keys Is in a ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ State of Mind at the Public by David Cote

Part juke-box musical and part feel-good empowerment fable, this musical from Alicia Keys hungers for a home on Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:30PM
Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Review: Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks Are Well Worth Waiting for Godot  by David Cote

In the Theatre for a New Audience production of 'Waiting for Godot,' Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks bring uncommon clarity to Beckett's classic.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM

Review: Stage Newbie Aubrey Plaza Dips Her Toe Into ‘Danny and the Deep Blue Sea’ by David Cote

Packed with profanity, anguished sexuality, and high-decibel meltdowns, 'Danny and the Deep Blue Sea' has been drama department fodder since its 1983 debut. Only this time, the acting studen…

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:07AM
Monday, November 13, 2023

Review: Barry Manilow Writes the Songs That Make ‘Harmony’ Sing by David Cote

The story of the Comedian Harmonists—the German (and Jewish) singing sensations forced to break up due to the Third Reich—is told in this amiable if derivative musical.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:18PM
Thursday, November 2, 2023

Review: Danny DeVito Hoards Laughter And Tears In ‘I Need That’ by David Cote

This tale of grief and release is the sort of crowd-pleaser that used to be common fare on Broadway but has long since migrated to small screens.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM
Sunday, October 29, 2023

Review: ‘Stereophonic’ Has the Vinyl Word on ’70s Rock Drama by David Cote

This portrait of a Fleetwood Mac-like band slaving over an album is full of novelistic detail and luxurious fly-on-the-wall beauty.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:00PM
Monday, October 23, 2023

Review: Sondheim’s Swan Song Is Goofy, Satirical, And A Joy to Hear by David Cote

The one-percenters of Stephen Sondheim’s final work, 'Here We Are,' are living a life of pleasure, beauty, and infinite possibility. Until Act II, that is.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 02:39PM
Thursday, October 12, 2023

Review! Of! Gutenberg! The Musical! Print Is Hilariously Not Dead by David Cote

It the hilariously desperate 'Gutenberg! The Musical!' two would-be Broadway composers pitch their show about the 16th-century German inventor of the printing press.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM
Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Review: Irish Joy and Pain Come to Life in Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy by David Cote

The Druid company's marathon of three plays from Sean O’Casey offers the chance soak up an Irish master who combined gimlet-eyed humanism with corrosive social critique.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 01:13PM
Thursday, September 28, 2023

Review: Melissa Etheridge Rocks and Reminisces on Broadway by David Cote

In no way does Etheridge reinvent the solo theatrical memoir. But she performs with a natural ease, like your wild aunt telling stories over beers one Thanksgiving.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM
Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Review: Satire Comes in All Colors in Ossie Davis’s ‘Purlie Victorious’ by David Cote

At the center of a prodigious cast and Kenny Leon’s clockwork staging are Leslie Odom Jr. and the astonishing Kara Young.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:00PM
Sunday, September 17, 2023

‘Swing State’ Review: Small-Town Drama Shows Heartbreak in the Heartland  by David Cote

Playwright Rebecca Gilman's keenly observed drama arrives Off Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theater from Chicago’s Goodman Theatre for a limited run.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM
Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Review: Annie Baker’s ‘Infinite Life’ Turns Chronic Pain Into Complex Pleasure by David Cote

The most satisfying new work since last season’s 'Downstate' has an obscenely gifted cast, led by Christina Kirk.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:30PM
Friday, September 1, 2023

Fall Theater Preview: A Dozen Shows Gets You Back to (Drama) School by David Cote

Experiments, parodies, Sondheim, Godot, and much more await you this fall.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 11:43AM
Thursday, August 17, 2023

Review: Savor High-Def Chekhov in a Marvelously Intimate ‘Uncle Vanya’ by David Cote

What’s gained by staging Chekhov in the round, with actors just feet away, sometimes lit only by a candle? It’s what you’d expect: a wonderfully intense experience of the text.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 08:00PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards