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Saturday, December 21, 2024

In ‘Mrs. Stern’ and ‘Racecar,’ Humans Keep Repeating Their Worst Mistakes

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Pernicious patterns figure heavily in two thought-provoking plays on small Manhattan stages.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:06

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

‘Annie’ Review: Whoopi Goldberg Is a Holiday Gift as Miss Hannigan

by Laura Collins-Hughes

In a just sweet enough production with a strong cast, the “View” host delivers a performance that reaffirms her savvy as a comic actor.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 17:32

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Adam Lambert Is Finding the Fun, and the Fear, in ‘Cabaret’

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Making his Broadway debut as the show’s Emcee, the singer is reveling in what he calls “a thinking piece of musical theater.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:06

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Broadway Tickets: Where to Get Affordable and Last-Minute Tickets

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Box-office sales, discount booths, same-day rush: Here’s everything you need to know about nabbing seats to plays and musicals in Manhattan.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:42

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Broadway Shows to See This Fall: ‘Our Town,’ ‘Gypsy’ and More

by Laura Collins-Hughes

A guide to every show on Broadway, including new musicals, Tony winning-dramas, quirky hits and veterans like “Hamilton” and “Chicago.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 07:18

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Elf on Broadway Review: Grey Henson Is on the Nice List

by Laura Collins-Hughes

The musical, starring Grey Henson, has gotten Buddy delightfully, entirely right. But he is trapped inside a creaky adaptation.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 20:24

Saturday, November 16, 2024

11 Broadway Shows to See Before They Close This Winter

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Many Tony Award-winning musicals and starry plays (Robert Downey Jr., anyone?) are wrapping up their runs in January. Catch them while you can.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 22:36

Friday, November 15, 2024

Murder as Family Tradition in ‘Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists’

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Tiago Rodrigues’s play is intentionally a work of provocation, but it is also stylized to create a helpful distance from events and ideas.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:36

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

‘Strategic Love Play’ Review: A Slightly Dark, Not-Quite-Romantic Comedy

by Laura Collins-Hughes

In this first-date comedy, Michael Zegen and Heléne Yorke play people who might just be willing to settle for each other.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 18:31

Saturday, November 9, 2024

In ‘Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!,’ Alina Troyano Explores How Art Can Live Inside Others

by Laura Collins-Hughes

In “Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!,” Alina Troyano and her former student Branden Jacobs-Jenkins explore the ways art made by one person can live inside others.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:42

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Two Climate Change Plays Keep the Flames of Hope Alive

by Laura Collins-Hughes and Elisabeth Vincentelli

“Hothouse,” at Irish Arts Center, fends off despair with loopiness; “In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot,” at Playwrights Horizons, is a fuzzy world lacking depth.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 12:31

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Review: Delia Ephron’s ‘Left on Tenth’ Treads Lightly

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher star in this quasi romantic comedy adapted from Ephron’s memoir, which went deeper into her illness and grief.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 21:02

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

In ‘Vladimir,’ a Russian Reporter’s Fight Is an Apt Election Season Tale

by Laura Collins-Hughes

The writer Erika Sheffer takes a big swing in a Manhattan Theater Club production examining “the point at which a society finds itself on the brink.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 12:54

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Time-Traveling, or Wishing to, in ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Adapted from the offbeat 2012 film, this new musical about loneliness and the longing for do-overs is promising but still needs to find its shape.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 22:12

Monday, September 30, 2024

Disoriented in America: Two Political Plays Reflect a Changed Country

by Laura Collins-Hughes

The Off Broadway plays “Fatherland” and “Blood of the Lamb” explore the grief, anger and fear of no longer recognizing the country you love.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:18

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Laura Donnelly, ‘Hills of California’ Star, Is Not Some Delicate Flower

by Laura Collins-Hughes

But she did “burst into tears” reading Jez Butterworth’s rewrite of his new Broadway play, which left her with 10 days “to create an entirely new character.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 07:54

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Kate Mulgrew Walks the Creative and Emotional Plank in ‘The Beacon’

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Holding tightly to the Dublin accent of her character, the actress talks about starring in Nancy Harris’s feminist thriller at Irish Rep.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:18

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Working on a Sri Lankan-Australian Epic, He Learned His Family’s Past

by Laura Collins-Hughes

As the acclaimed “Counting and Cracking” makes its North American debut, the playwright describes the work as “my soul on a plate.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:18

Friday, September 6, 2024

Kara Young Is Charming in Rom-Com ‘Table 17’ Following Her Tony Win

by Laura Collins-Hughes

The Tony winner leads a top-notch cast in Zhailon Levingston’s alluringly designed production of Douglas Lyons’s hopeful new play.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 19:32

15 Shows to See on Stages Around the U.S. This Fall

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Matthew Broderick stars in “Babbitt” in Washington, D.C., and five companies nationwide will stage Eboni Booth’s Pulitzer-winning play “Primary Trust.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:42

28 Broadway and Off Broadway Shows to See This Fall

by Laura Collins-Hughes

New York stages are welcoming Robert Downey Jr., Adam Driver, Audra McDonald and more this season.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:42

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Two New Musicals Poke at the Seamy Underbelly of the American Dream

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Kristin Chenoweth stars in “The Queen of Versailles” in Boston, while a new “Gatsby” musical in Cambridge takes Myrtle seriously.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:02

Monday, July 29, 2024

‘Six Characters’ Review: Making the Case Against a White-Centric Theater

by Laura Collins-Hughes

At Lincoln Center Theater, Phillip Howze’s daring new play offers a hefty critique but takes aim at more targets than it can accommodate.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 21:18

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Review: Sprinkling Magic Under a Night Sky

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Fun is the main point of Carl Cofield’s stylish outdoor staging of Shakespeare’s comic fantasy for the Classical Theater of Harlem.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:02

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

‘Pre-Existing Condition’ Review: Recovering From a Traumatic Relationship

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Marin Ireland’s play opens with Tatiana Maslany in a rotating cast of stars, and “What Became of Us” continues its own experiment with changing casts.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:02

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Jessica Lange and Paula Vogel on Breaking, and Keeping, the Family Contract

by Laura Collins-Hughes

In the Tony-nominated “Mother Play,” the writer conjures warm memories and thorny ones, not to judge her mother, but to understand — and to forgive.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:36

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

‘What Became of Us’ Review: Reflections on a Family’s Immigration Tale

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Shayan Lotfi’s topical play about a family building a new life in a new country leaves the details vague, deliberately.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 15:48

Thursday, May 30, 2024

What if the Disabled Characters Were Just Going About Their Day?

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Madison Ferris and Danny J. Gomez star in the meet-cute “All of Me” — proof that depictions of disability onstage don’t have to be “a buzz kill,” as Ferris puts it.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 11:36

Book Review: ‘The Playbook,’ by James Shapiro

by Laura Collins-Hughes

In “The Playbook,” James Shapiro offers a resonant history of the Federal Theater Project, a Depression-era program that gave work to writers and actors until politics took center stage.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:18

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

‘The Lonely Few’ Review: Rocking Out and Falling in Love

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Lauren Patten and Taylor Iman Jones star in an achingly romantic, softly sexy new musical by Rachel Bonds and Zoe Sarnak.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:24

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Review: In ‘Invasive Species,’ the Acting Bug Bites, Dramatically

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Maia Novi stars in her play about a Hollywood-struck actress from Argentina who stops at Yale’s drama school and an inpatient psych ward on her way.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 22:36

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Betty Buckley Is Not Wedded to the Same Old Songs

by Laura Collins-Hughes

The actress is back in concert mode at 76, and doing new material. She’s also looking forward to a bold new take on “Sunset Boulevard.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 12:36

Saturday, May 4, 2024

‘The Keep Going Songs’ Review: Vexed by Grief and Worried About the Planet

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Abigail and Shaun Bengson muse on death in their latest work, but its looseness makes it hard to get a handle on.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:32

Thursday, May 2, 2024

Jessica Lange on Her Role in ‘Mother Play’ and a Tony Nomination

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 11:02

Monday, April 29, 2024

A Starry Cast Navigates ‘Uncle Vanya’ and ‘Every Emotion Under the Sun’

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Steve Carell, William Jackson Harper, Alison Pill and Anika Noni Rose discuss the new translation of Chekhov that brought them to the farm.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:12

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Review: A New ‘Great Gatsby’ Leads With Comedy and Romance

by Laura Collins-Hughes

This musical adaptation, now on Broadway, is a lot of Jazz Age fun. But it forgot that Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel endures because it is a tragedy.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 22:32

Monday, April 22, 2024

Review: ‘Grenfell’ Sees Tower Fire Through Residents’ Eyes

by Laura Collins-Hughes

At St. Ann’s Warehouse, this documentary play about a London fire is blood-boiling and aggrieved.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 11:36

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

‘Agreement’ and ‘Philadelphia, Here I Come!,’ Two Irish Imports

by Laura Collins-Hughes

“Agreement,” at Irish Arts Center, and “Philadelphia, Here I Come!,” at Irish Repertory Theater, have a timeless feel, rooted in their eras and resonant in ours.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 10:54

Monday, March 11, 2024

‘Corruption’ Review: Onstage, a Scandal’s Human Drama Is Muffled

by Laura Collins-Hughes

A new play by J.T. Rogers goes behind the scenes of the shady “news-gathering” that rocked Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire over a decade ago.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 22:18

Sunday, March 10, 2024

‘Dead Outlaw’ Review: Not Much of a Bandit, but What a Corpse

by Laura Collins-Hughes

The creators of “The Band’s Visit” return with this mischievous ghost story of a musical based on an odd slice of Old West history.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 20:02

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Review: In ‘Brooklyn Laundry,’ There’s No Ordering Off the Menu

by Laura Collins-Hughes

John Patrick Shanley’s new play, starring Cecily Strong and David Zayas, is a romantic comedy with a penchant for the resolutely dismal.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 21:24

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Review: Seeking Purpose Among the Dead in ‘Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance’

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Dael Orlandersmith’s slender new solo play is a meditation on living that seems also like a curveball response to loss.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:12

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

‘Bark of Millions’ Review: Taylor Mac’s Rock Opera at BAM

by Laura Collins-Hughes

If Taylor Mac and Matt Ray’s four-hour rock opera were aiming to succeed on aural gorgeousness and visual spectacle alone, there would be no cause to quibble.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 22:18

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Review: In ‘Jonah,’ Starring Gabby Beans, Trust Nothing, and No One

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Gabby Beans shines as a time-hopping protagonist tracing her trauma in Rachel Bonds’s slip-slidey new Off Broadway play.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 21:42

Two Theater-Making Couples Reflect on Mortality and Renewal

by Laura Collins-Hughes

A meditation on mortality and renewal, “The Following Evening” presents mirror images of two married pairs of theater makers.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:06

Sunday, January 28, 2024

‘Days of Wine and Roses’ Review: Romance on the Rocks

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James are superb as a midcentury-modern couple free-falling into addiction in Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s musical.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 21:06

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Review: In ‘Aristocrats,’ an Irish Dynasty Confronts Reality

by Laura Collins-Hughes

A once-powerful clan gathers for a family wedding and muddles through the facts and fiction of their past and present.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 12:54

Friday, January 12, 2024

Three Festival Shows Explore Toxic Society

by Laura Collins-Hughes, Naveen Kumar and Juan A. Ramírez

“Queens of Sheba” and “Volcano” at Under the Radar, and “Bacon,” at International Fringe Encore Series, expound on identity, captivity and violence.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 16:12

Thursday, January 11, 2024

At UTR and Exponential, Four Soul-Enriching Experiments in Theater

by Laura Collins-Hughes and Elisabeth Vincentelli

Buckle up for “Open Mic Night” and “Search Party” at Under the Radar and two wildly adventurous works at the Exponential Festival.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:06

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Julia Jordan Set Aside Playwriting to Win Gender Parity in Theater

by Laura Collins-Hughes

After years of fighting to win parity and recognition for women in theater, Julia Jordan said: “Everybody gets produced now. There’s much more competition. In a good way.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 14:12

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

New Year, New Show: An Original ‘& Juliet’ Star Heads Home

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Melanie La Barrie, who brought the role of Angélique from the West End to Broadway, flew back on New Year’s Eve with “Hadestown” on the horizon.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:06

Thursday, December 21, 2023

‘Real Women Have Curves’ and ‘Heart Sellers’: Snapshots of Immigrant Lives

by Laura Collins-Hughes

A musical adaptation of “Curves” and a play about two Asian women becoming friends both look at immigrants’ experiences, with mixed results.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 15:42

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Review: ‘Madwomen of the West’ Is Comedy as Comfort Food

by Laura Collins-Hughes

In Sandra Tsing Loh’s zany play, the stage is star-studded but familiarity alone can’t sustain this story about a group of old college friends.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 11:54

Thursday, December 7, 2023

Review: In ‘The Salvagers,’ a Battered Family Finds Strength

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Harrison David Rivers’s new drama, featuring a strong cast, is having its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theater.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 12:48

Monday, December 4, 2023

‘Walk on Through’ Review: Dispatches, in Song, From a Museum Novice

by Laura Collins-Hughes

In his new show, Gavin Creel sings about the wonders of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but sticks too close to the surface.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 19:18

Thursday, November 30, 2023

A Wood-Carved Protagonist, Enduring the Brutality of War

by Laura Collins-Hughes

A stage adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s novel “Life & Times of Michael K,” about a man’s struggles during a fictional South African conflict, includes actors alongside a puppet version of Michael K.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:24

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

‘Amid Falling Walls’ Review: Songs of Resilience From the Holocaust Era

by Laura Collins-Hughes

A new musical from National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene stitches together music written and performed in Eastern Europe in the 1930s and ’40s.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:18

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

‘Waiting for Godot’ Review: Old Friends Falling in and Out of Sync

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks star in Arin Arbus’s pandemic-delayed production at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 21:18

Thursday, November 9, 2023

‘Mysterious Case of Kitsy Rainey’ Review: A Trilogy’s Bittersweet End

by Laura Collins-Hughes

At Irish Arts Center, the actor delivers the final installment of his solo plays about the cobbler Pat and his eccentric beloved.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 12:06

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Tales That Crackle With Vitality, With or Without a Puppeteer

by Laura Collins-Hughes

La MaMa Puppet Festival and other stage works this fall highlight the power of storytelling through puppetry.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 14:06

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

‘Merry Me’ Review: A Loopy Sex Comedy Focused on Female Pleasure

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Hansol Jung’s new play riffs on Greek dramas, the Restoration comedy “The Country Wife” and Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America.”

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:03

Searching for Brian Friel, and His Mythical Ballybeg

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Irish Repertory Theater’s season-long survey of the playwright’s work prompted our reporter to seek out the Irish town that inspired the imaginary site of so many of his plays.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 05:25

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

‘Helen.’ Review: A Restless Heroine Tired of Abiding by Gender Roles

by Laura Collins-Hughes

At La MaMa, Caitlin George’s new play uses comedy to counter the legend of Helen of Troy.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:43

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

‘All the Devils’ Review: Patrick Page Investigates Evil

by Laura Collins-Hughes

In this Off Broadway production, the actor is most fascinated by human fallibility and Shakespeare’s nuanced understanding of it.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 13:33

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Garry Hynes Brings Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy to Life

by Laura Collins-Hughes

At NYU Skirball, Druid’s marathon production depicts the beginning of a free Irish state through the voices of the working class.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 12:33

Thursday, September 28, 2023

‘Melissa Etheridge: My Window’ Review: Musings on Life and Music

by Laura Collins-Hughes

On Broadway, this rock concert spliced with memoir has gained a striking intimacy.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 21:25

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Review: In Theresa Rebeck’s ‘Dig’, a Plant Shop Nurtures Weary Souls

by Laura Collins-Hughes

Theresa Rebeck’s play, a Primary Stages production at 59E59 Theaters, is a beautifully acted dramedy exploring the truth and warped perceptions of it.

Linked From The New York Times Subscription at 12:13

Wednesday, September 20, 2023