Thursday, March 28, 2024

Corruption by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

Playwright J.T. Rogers ("Oslo", 2017 Tony Award for Best Play) specializes in dramatizing the backstories to true scandals of which the real details behind the facts never made the news. His…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:57AM
Wednesday, March 27, 2024

The Look of Love (Mark Morris Dance Group) by Joel Benjamin

"The Look of Love" was filled with Morris’ least complex choreography, relying on repetition, walking, running and soft leg extensions along with simple arm gestures.  Considering the sop…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:56AM
Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Bathhouse.pptx by Scotty Bennett

Theatrical productions can sometimes be exhilarating, moving, provocative, informative, perplexing, confusing, dull, or bad. "Bathhouse.pptx," written by Jesús I. Valles and directed by Cha…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:52PM

ON THE TOWN WITH CHIP DEFFAA … CATCHING “TITANIC” AT THE FRANK SINATRA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS by Chip Deffaa, Editor-At-Large

I’ve never seen any student production—at the high school or college level—achieve a more glorious ensemble sound than the ensemble sound produced by the students of the Sinatra School…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:01PM

Five Theatrical Plays About Gambling by Jack Quinn

While gambling may not be the main character in each of these plays, its role in each one adds to the drama, causing the story to unfold further and further. It adds to the drama, entertainm…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:48AM
Monday, March 25, 2024

Dongpo: Life in Poems by Joel Benjamin

Dongpo’s travels through life is set forth in the lovely poems—projected in Chinese script and in English—full of observations of nature, sad inner monologues and thoughts intimating t…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:45PM
Saturday, March 23, 2024

Pharaoh by Scotty Bennett

This show, as conceived by Shulman, creates a unique theatrical experience combining narrative text with Kathakali, a form of traditional Indian dance exquisitely performed by Kalamandalam J…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:07PM
Thursday, March 21, 2024

Illinoise by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

While "Illinoise" does not seem bigger than its individual parts nor transcend them, it is both satisfying and moving. Peck’s inventive and derivative choreography at the same time seems t…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:53PM

Doubt: A Parable by Joel Benjamin

In this Roundabout/Scott Ellis production, Amy Ryan’s Sister Aloysius (stepping in for the originally cast Tyne Daly) comes across as less absolute in her suspicions while Liev Schreiber�…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:23PM
Wednesday, March 20, 2024

ON THE TOWN WITH CHIP DEFFAA … CATCHING THE VIVINO BROTHERS AT THE IRIDIUM by Chip Deffaa, Editor-At-Large

I’ve always loved their work, from the very start of their careers. Jimmy (on guitar) and Jerry (on tenor sax) have worked with some of the biggest names in the business--Tony Bennett, Bru…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:11PM

The Effect by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

Soutra Gilmour’s setting is a sort of empty runway with the audience sitting on either side. The other props are two black chairs at either end for the two doctors. Scenes are created enti…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:07PM
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Medea (Fusion Theatre) by Scotty Bennett

This production could be more balanced in the performances, with some characters being solidly played and others being line-readings lacking body movements that add to the dialogue. There ar…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:23PM
Sunday, March 17, 2024

Bedlam’s The Assassination of Julius Caesar as Told by William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

The play is treated like a rehearsal (a conceit also used by Bedlam in their incomprehensible and lame "Henry IV" workshop in Brooklyn in 2023) with the director (Andrew Rothenberg who also …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:54PM

Fair Winds and Winds of War by Joel Benjamin

Kahn has a good ear for the subtleties of each character and the period.  However, "Fair Winds" doesn’t handle all the major themes smoothly and the use of the narrator sometimes feels li…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:42AM
Thursday, March 14, 2024

STUDENTS LAUNCH GO-FUND-ME CAMPAIGN TO SAVE PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM AT NEW YORK’S FAMED PROFESSIONAL PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL by Chip Deffaa, Editor-At-Large

I think the city’s top performing-arts schools—Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts, and the Performing Arts; PPAS; and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts—are among the…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:47PM

ON THE TOWN WITH CHIP DEFFAA: AT “THE CONNECTOR” by Chip Deffaa, Editor-At-Large

What a terrific, beautifully layered performance Ben Levi Ross gives in “The Connector”—a moving, original new musical from Jason Robert Brown, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Daisy Prin…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:13PM
Monday, March 11, 2024

Tuesdays with Morrie by Scotty Bennett

Seadog Theater’s current revival of "Tuesdays with Morrie," with exceptional direction by Erwin Maas, is a beautifully orchestrated presentation starring Len Cariou as Professor Morrie Sch…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:51PM
Sunday, March 10, 2024

The Ally by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

Itamar Moses’ 'The Ally" is a play of ideas not only torn from today’s headlines but tomorrow’s as well. Ostensibly dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian question on college campuses to…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:42PM

Existentialism by Tony Marinelli

The text created by Bogart in collaboration with Maddow and Zimet is a collage of assembled passages from the works of Sartre and de Beauvoir, amongst others. Maddow and Zimet don’t often …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:05PM
Saturday, March 9, 2024

Brooklyn Laundry by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

John Patrick Shanley has become our poet of lonely, desperate working class people trying to make a connection despite their inadequacies and hang-ups in such plays as "Danny and the Deep Bl…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:53PM
Friday, March 8, 2024

Pontus Lidberg: “On the Nature of Rabbits” by Joel Benjamin

How the metaphor of rabbits fit into this was puzzling, yet the dreamlike (nightmarish?) rabbit imagery was the strongest visual idea and pervaded the work, from a toy stuffed bunny to grote…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:54PM

Maiden Voyage by Scotty Bennett

Under Alex Keegan's skillful direction, the characters are allowed to develop their understanding of who they are and how they fit in an organization traditionally run by men. The captain is…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:23PM
Thursday, March 7, 2024

by Chip Deffaa, Editor-At-Large

On March 4th, 2024, I witnessed the best major-club debut I’ve seen in years. And I kept thinking, as I watched David Marino sing, “The good old days are now…” The post appeared f…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:22PM
Wednesday, March 6, 2024

The Maid and The Mesmerizer by Joel Benjamin

Lynn’s dialogue is astute and subtle, following the heartbeat of this strange, but understandable couple lifting it out of soapiness and melodrama.  She has written a very modern drama. .…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:14AM
Monday, March 4, 2024

The Script in the Closet by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

Playwright Joyce Griffen’s idea of farce in her new play "The Script in the Closet" is a series of 48, mostly very short scenes in which to keep the plot going she continually introduces n…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:50PM
Sunday, March 3, 2024

A Sign of the Times by Joel Benjamin

This York Theatre Company production at the New World Stages, following a presentation at Goodspeed Musicals in 2016, shoehorns these songs into a book by Lindsey Hope Pearlman from a story …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:52PM
Thursday, February 29, 2024

This is not a time of peace by Joel Benjamin

"This is not a time of peace" has a stream of consciousness feel effectively handled by the director Jerry Heymann. There is never any confusion about who is who and what they represent des…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:05PM

The Seven Year Disappear by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

While "The Seven Year Disappear" may challenge and confuse many theatergoers, people used to performance art may get the in-jokes. Jordan Seavey whose play "Homos, or Everyone in America" wa…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:08PM
Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Deadly Stages by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

While we could use a good murder mystery stage play, "Deadly Stages" is too derivative to suit the bill. The cast work hard mostly playing multiple roles, but the play seems to have attempte…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 06:47PM
Monday, February 26, 2024

The Life & Slimes of Marc Summers by Joseph Pisano

Christopher Rhoton's Double Dare-inspired set belies these weightier autobiographical details, offering enough of a time-warping simulacrum to help middle-aged members of the audience shed a…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:59PM

Jelly’s Last Jam (New York City Center Encores!) by Joel Benjamin

Does the New York City Center Encores! new production of "Jelly’s Last Jam" hold up against the original Broadway production (1992-1993) which starred Gregory Hines (Tony Award), Savion Gl…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:04PM

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