All stories by Nicole Villeneuve on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 25, 2015

Hamlet Shut Up by Nicole Villeneuve

How do you interpret Shakespeare's lengthy soliloquies, impassioned dialogue, and intricate plots without words? In "Hamlet Shut Up," the solution is a few strokes of wit, a reliance on phys…

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Living on the Edge by Nicole Villeneuve

Parkour, also known as free running, has been gaining popularity since the mid-2000s, but Bulletrun's "Living on the Edge," the shift from the streets to the stage saps the sport of its vita…

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Hamlet Shut Up by Nicole Villeneuve

How do you interpret Shakespeare's lengthy soliloquies, impassioned dialogue, and intricate plots without words? In "Hamlet Shut Up," the solution is a few strokes of wit, a reliance on phys…

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Living on the Edge by Nicole Villeneuve

Parkour, also known as free running, has been gaining popularity since the mid-2000s, but Bulletrun's "Living on the Edge," the shift from the streets to the stage saps the sport of its vita…

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

The Hurricane Katrina Comedy Festival by Nicole Villeneuve

"The Hurricane Katrina Comedy Festival" is a moving and captivating storytelling session that chronicles five journeys through Katrina and the weeks that followed.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Down There by Nicole Villeneuve

In Axis Theatre Company's "Down There," playwright and director Randy Sharp attempts to investigate the circumstances that brought about brutal torture and murder of 16-year-old Sylvia Liken…

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Rat in the Skull by Nicole Villeneuve

Wallfly Theatre Company's fine production turns a single incident at London's Paddington Green police station into a thoughtfully rendered look at the tangled politics of Northern Ireland.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Fellowship!: The Musical Parody of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' by Nicole Villeneuve

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel and its 2001 film version will get a kick out of this campy takeoff, but those unfamiliar with Middle Earth will be lost.SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Venus Flytrap by Nicole Villeneuve

Despite striking visuals, Anthony Dodge's noir play can't decide whether to deconstruct or reinvent the genre, and the result is a watered-down version of classic noir that broaches gender i…

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Reservoir by Nicole Villeneuve

Eric Henry Sanders' take on Georg Büchner's "Woyzcek" finds effective contemporary parallels but has unfortunate errors in execution.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

NY Review: 'Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey' by Nicole Villeneuve

The team behind Wakka Wakka Productions breathes unexpected life into a scientific theory in this visually stunning and emotionally soaring creation.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Hello Hi There by Nicole Villeneuve

Conceiver-director Annie Dorsen sets two laptops to "chatting" to find out if they can equal human performance interaction. They can't.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM

Apple Cove by Nicole Villeneuve

Lynn Rosen's new play is a confused portrayal of a woman's self-discovery that combines camp with convention to little effect.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:58PM
Monday, August 13, 2012

NY Review: 'Quest for the West: Adventures on the Oregon Trail!' by Nicole Villeneuve

Based on the Oregon Trail computer game, "Quest for the West" is a Fringe musical that plays for nostalgic laughs, with promising hints of a deeper story.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:17AM
Monday, July 23, 2012

NY Review: 'Stand Tall' by Nicole Villeneuve

"Stand Tall," at NYMF, shrinks the epic David and Goliath story down to the playground level, turning it into a simplistic and immature bullying parable.

SOURCE: Backstage at 07:35AM
Tuesday, June 5, 2012

NY Review: 'The Bad Date Project' by Nicole Villeneuve

“Where is this going?” is not just a dating question. It also applies to this series of monologues that never becomes more than a sum of its parts.

SOURCE: Backstage at 07:45AM
Monday, June 4, 2012

NY Review: 'Twelfth Night: Wall Street' by Nicole Villeneuve

Casey Cleverly’s shallow modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” set on Wall Street, diminishes both the original work and its reconception.

SOURCE: Backstage at 03:37AM
Tuesday, May 8, 2012

NY Review: 'Welcome to America' by Nicole Villeneuve

"Welcome to America," an adaptation of a 1921 Yiddish Art Theatre play about immigrants by H. Leivick, from New Worlds Theatre Project, warrants a look.

SOURCE: Backstage at 06:11AM
Sunday, May 6, 2012

NY Review: 'Evolution' by Nicole Villeneuve

Patricia Buckley's absorbing solo show "Evolution," from Absolute Uncertainty and Interart Theatre, explores commonly accepted ideas of progress and change.

SOURCE: Backstage at 07:03AM
Friday, April 20, 2012

NY Review: 'Open Hearts' by Nicole Villeneuve

Miriam Kulick's one-woman show "Open Hearts," about a 90-year-old Jewish matriarch and her complicated family, packs too much into barely more than an hour.

SOURCE: Backstage at 03:14AM
Sunday, April 15, 2012

NY Review: 'Prometheus Within' by Nicole Villeneuve

Theodora Skipitares' insightful puppet-theater work at La MaMa, "Prometheus Within," places the archetypal myth in the context of stem-cell research.

SOURCE: Backstage at 02:59AM
Sunday, April 1, 2012

NY Review: 'Obama 44' by Nicole Villeneuve

Voyage Theater Company's production of "Obama 44," at La MaMa, wants to examine obsession but is limited by its one-dimensional preoccupation with its star.

SOURCE: Backstage at 02:30AM
Tuesday, March 20, 2012

NY Review: 'Swell' by Nicole Villeneuve

Artist Juliacks adapts her graphic novel “Swell” for the stage for Culture Project, brilliantly merging aesthetics and atmosphere while pushing boundaries.

SOURCE: Backstage at 06:18AM
Saturday, February 25, 2012

NY Review: 'Big Plastic Heroes' by Nicole Villeneuve

Storyteller Slash Coleman's "Big Plastic Heroes," part of Frigid New York, has some high notes but loses its way among tired tropes and youthful fantasy.

SOURCE: Backstage at 07:15AM
Sunday, February 12, 2012

NY Review: 'I Killed My Mother' by Nicole Villeneuve

Featuring a star turn by Melissa Hawkins, Andras Visky's fictionalized account of Romania in the grip of Nicolae Ceausescu retains the rawness and poignancy of a memoir.

SOURCE: Backstage at 08:00AM
Friday, February 3, 2012

Inadmissible by Nicole Villeneuve

A spoof of the shady side of college admissions, D.B. Gilles' new play offers moments of fun that unfortunately often stretch into periods of tedium.

SOURCE: Backstage at 04:19AM
Sunday, January 22, 2012

Stopped Bridge of Dreams by Nicole Villeneuve

In his first new work in more than a decade, avant-garde pioneer John Jesurun updates the stories of 17th-century writer Ihara Saikaku for a dreamlike look at our isolated modern world.

SOURCE: Backstage at 06:22AM
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Sex in a Coma by Nicole Villeneuve

Featuring a flurry of action and little substance, Susan Eve Haar's new play is swallowed up by a supernatural premise that takes precedence over its characters.

SOURCE: Backstage at 02:10AM
Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Oysters Orgasms Obituaries by Nicole Villeneuve

In a sensuous and disturbing one-woman show that largely manages to avoid the perilous trap of self-reflectivity, Raïna von Waldenburg channels three stories that confront the taboo t…

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:16AM
Friday, November 18, 2011

The Sugar House at the Edge of the Wilderness by Nicole Villeneuve

Carla Ching's update of the Hansel and Gretel tale attempts to articulate the perils of growing up but hides the real emotion of adolescence behind unnecessary modernizations.

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:53AM
Sunday, November 6, 2011

The Secret Death of Puppets (or) How Do Puppets Die (or) Puppets Die in Secret by Nicole Villeneuve

In three bizarre but powerful playlets, Sybil Kempson takes us on an exploration of the grotesque and the uncanny that forces us to stop thinking and start feeling.

SOURCE: Backstage at 08:11AM

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