All stories by Alexis Soloski on BroadwayStars

Thursday, November 21, 2019

A Christmas Carol review – Dickens on Broadway is a festive tearjerker by Alexis Soloski

Lyceum Theatre, New York Jack Thorne’s Broadway transfer of the Christmas classic is sentimental but moving and boasts a host of surprises Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol has always …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:42AM
Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Review: In ‘Love in Hate Nation,’ the Revolution Will Not Be Scrutinized by Alexis Soloski

Joe Iconis’s new musical celebrates women’s prison flicks and girl group harmonies. But his teen rebels could use a cause.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48AM
Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Get Ready for the Masterwork No One Has Seen by Alexis Soloski

“Fefu and Her Friends,” perhaps the finest work of the Cuban-American director and playwright María Irene Fornés, is finally getting a New York revival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:36PM
Friday, November 8, 2019

Cyrano review – Peter Dinklage sings through patchy musical update by Alexis Soloski

Daryl Roth Theatre, New York A new take on the romantic comedy boasts music from the National and a stellar turn from Glee’s Blake Jenner but there are stumbles throughout Before Peter Din…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM
Monday, November 4, 2019

Review: The Big Apple Circus Still Delivers by Alexis Soloski

Sure, there’s some awkward innuendo. But that doesn’t spoil the annual thrill of seeing a troupe so effortlessly diverse, international and adept.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:06PM
Friday, November 1, 2019

Review: ‘A Woman of the World’ Dwells in Possibility by Alexis Soloski

Rebecca Gilman’s one-woman show stars Kathleen Chalfant as Mabel Loomis Todd, who burnished herself with Emily Dickinson’s celebrity.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:36PM
Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Review: In ‘Monsoon Season,’ a Marital Squall Turns Ugly by Alexis Soloski

Bad things happen to bad people in Lizzie Vieh’s comedy, set in Arizona, about a couple who break up, crack up and make up.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:18PM
Thursday, October 24, 2019

‘What If They Went to Moscow?’ Review: Chekhov, Sliced and Spliced by Alexis Soloski

Christiane Jatahy’s surgical adaptation of “Three Sisters” takes the audience from stage to screen.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:18PM
Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Think He’s a Jerk? Then He’s Doing His Job by Alexis Soloski

As the self-involved, self-lacerating womanizer in the play “Linda Vista,” Ian Barford aims to offer the audience just enough reasons not to give up on him.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:48PM
Monday, October 21, 2019

American Utopia review: David Byrne starts making sense by Alexis Soloski

Hudson Theatre, New York The country is far from perfect, a Broadway audience will not chant the names of black Americans killed by police. The singer presses on More than a concert and less…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:36AM
Friday, October 18, 2019

Little Shop of Horrors review – gory musical blooms again off-Broadway by Alexis Soloski

Westside Theatre, New York Killer performances from Jonathan Groff and Tammy Blanchard bring a revival of the 1982 tale of a bloodthirsty plant to vibrant life The musical comedy our climate…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54AM
Tuesday, October 15, 2019

The Rose Tattoo review – Marisa Tomei is wasted in Broadway farce by Alexis Soloski

The American Airlines Theatre, New York A delightful turn from the Oscar winner isn’t enough to save this garbled and tiresome Tennessee Williams adaptation The Rose Tattoo, now co-starri…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24PM
Thursday, October 10, 2019

Review: In ‘Georgia Mertching Is Dead,’ a Road Trip Takes Detours by Alexis Soloski

Catya McMullen’s work is a memory play, a friendship play, a delayed coming-of-age drama and briefly a romantic comedy.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:42PM
Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Ten Years Later, Adam Gwon Is Looking to Kill by Alexis Soloski

The composer broke out with his touching musical “Ordinary Days.” He’s back with his biggest show yet, the ’70s-set tale of a treacherous burger cook with more than a resemblance to …

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:03AM
Sunday, September 29, 2019

'Our sexuality is wild' – Clare Barron, the dramatist pushing flesh to its limits by Alexis Soloski

Her plays are full of big, soulful, sexually charged parts for women. As Dirty Crusty hits Britain, the writer talks about binge-dating and casting off the shame she learned growing up Clare…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM
Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Review: In ‘Invention of Tragedy,’ Wordplay Over Plotlines by Alexis Soloski

Mac Wellman’s ode to theater does away with character and basic grammar. Here, language baffles and delights.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:54PM
Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Sunday review – Jack Thorne's book group drama is an empty misfire by Alexis Soloski

The Linda Gross Theater and the Atlantic Theater Company, New York The Tony-winning writer of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stumbles with a navel-gazing show about an unconvincing group …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AM
Wednesday, September 18, 2019

All hail Tina Fey: the funniest comic of the 21st century by Alexis Soloski

From skewering Sarah Palin to handing us Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, here are 10 of the SNL legend’s most hilarious moments The 50 best comedians A nice girl with an anarchic bent and a tongue …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:42PM
Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The 50 best theatre shows of the 21st century by Michael Billington, Alexis Soloski, Catherine Love, Mark Fisher and Chris Wiegand

A hip-hop history lesson, a dizzy Dahl musical and a continent-hopping barbershop … we pick the finest new works of theatre since 2000 Jez Butterworth: the sage behind our No1 Continue rea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18PM
Monday, September 16, 2019

Theatrical Moles Put Out Their Paws for a Visit by Alexis Soloski

Washington Square Park has certainly seen its share of eccentrics. But a parade of fur-clad, claw-footed Frenchmen turned a head or two.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:48PM
Thursday, September 12, 2019

‘You Oughta Know’: The Road to Making a ’90s Anthem a Broadway Hit by Alexis Soloski

In the new musical “Jagged Little Pill,” Alanis Morissette’s song about romantic betrayal has become a showstopper.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:06AM
Monday, September 9, 2019

Singing Meat Loaf in His Underwear? He’d Do Anything for That by Alexis Soloski

Bradley Dean blasted the producers of “Bat Out of Hell: The Musical” when they canceled the tour. But that didn’t keep him from the rock-god thrill of his career in the New York run.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:54PM

Can Derren Brown Be Fooled? Yes. Often. by Alexis Soloski

As one of the world’s best magicians he’ll fool you, too, even though magic isn’t really his thing.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:18AM
Sunday, September 8, 2019

Review: In ‘Bad News!,’ an Evening of Show and Tell by Alexis Soloski

JoAnne Akalaitis’s show at N.Y.U. Skirball assembles messenger speeches from Ancient Greek drama, with a nod to the present.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:12PM
Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Review: ‘Kids in the Hall,’ Rehashed for Adults in a Theater by Alexis Soloski

Kevin McDonald, once part of the Canadian comedy troupe, plays for audience nostalgia in ‘Kevin McDonald: Alive on 42nd Street.’

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:54PM
Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Woke up Broadway: the difficulty of updating stories for the stage by Alexis Soloski

The uptick in hauling older scripts, from Tootsie to Moulin Rouge, to the stage has left playwrights with many hurdles Here is a question from Tootsie, the Broadway musical about an out-of-w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03AM
Monday, August 12, 2019

Wild oversharing comic Phoebe Robinson: 'I do dumb things. That's who I am!' by Alexis Soloski

Is the fringe ready for the brash standup who used to get paid in nachos and chicken wings? We meet one half of 2 Dope Queens as she fills her shoes with sweat What does Phoebe Robinson want…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PM
Thursday, August 8, 2019

Review: In ‘Bat Out of Hell,’ Paradise by the LED Light by Alexis Soloski

A post-apocalyptic Peter Pan story with book, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman is a masterpiece of overstatement. But try not to sing along.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:03PM
Monday, August 5, 2019

‘Native Son’ Review: A Big Story Made Smaller by Alexis Soloski

This fluid and nonlinear adaptation of Richard Wright’s novel is brisk, but its theatrics upstage its implications.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:32PM
Sunday, August 4, 2019

Review: In 3 Short Plays, the Art of Making Up and Breaking Up by Alexis Soloski

The second program of “Summer Shorts 2019,” at 59E59 Theaters, is a patchy evening including a contribution by Neil LaBute.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:36PM

At These High-End Dinner Theaters, Classics Come With Crudités by Alexis Soloski

An adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” makes a picnic of pentameter, and decadent dining accompanies William Blake in “The Devouring.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:36PM