Friday, March 29, 2019
“Did you know that this play is called "Life Sucks"?” says a character in playwright Aaron Posner’s meta-theatrical Life Sucks. It’s a wild yet emotionally resonant work “sort of …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:34PMTuesday, March 26, 2019
“Everything is copy” was Nora Ephron’s maxim about the potential of all of one’s life experiences to be fashioned into narrative material if one has the cachet to be paid attention …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:56PMMonday, March 25, 2019
The death of a long inactive performer with a fine career during Broadway’s Golden Age understandably went unnoticed. He was my neighbor in the 1980’s.
The post Remembering Duane Bodin …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:50AMSunday, March 24, 2019
A searing epiphany at "The Day I Became Black"’s climax redeems its uneven mixture of confessional and stand-up. The show is written and performed by the engaging biracial young comedian a…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:27AMSaturday, March 16, 2019
It’s billed as “Two Ways” because this event is comprised of differing versions performed in repertory. There is the self-explanatory “Conventional Casting” and the “Reversed Cas…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 06:23PMWednesday, March 13, 2019
There’s stinging dialogue, solid construction and high powers of observation that accurately render the fractious literary milieu with Imran’s offstage agent a major figure. These all en…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:33PMTuesday, March 12, 2019
Suzy Conn’s zesty score is a fusion of her peppy music and well-crafted lyrics. “Quandary” is rhymed with “laundry” and among the 14 bright songs there’s a comical ode to Meryl S…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:06PMMonday, March 11, 2019
Dynamically presented and sensationally performed, "If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka" is playwright Tori Sampson's maddeningly overblown adaptation of a fable with music. A surfeit o…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:44PMThursday, March 7, 2019
Employing his rumbling deep voice, his thinning hair slicked back and veering from snarling cheeriness to reflective introspection, Jeremiah Kissel swaggering in a power suit gleefully give…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:22PMTuesday, March 5, 2019
Devilishly enigmatic and culminating in an eerie denouement, playwright Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas' stylized warring brothers yarn "Recent Alien Abductions" confidentially veers tonally, seemi…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:45PMMonday, March 4, 2019
Lanford Wilson’s celebrated humanistic style and spirit are wonderfully evoked by playwright Linda Faigao-Hall in her moving family drama "Dying in Boulder." Its articulate characters con…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:05PMTuesday, February 26, 2019
A scorching and ingeniously plotted exploration of feminism versus rape culture in the contemporary United States is achieved in "Good Friday." Playwright Kristiana Rae Colón’s audacious,…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:27AMMonday, February 25, 2019
In this madcap universe, passengers on a jet are caught in a space warp known as a “corn hole” that was caused by Amazon’s tampering with the atmosphere to speed up delivery times, Ama…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:14PMThursday, February 21, 2019
The show’s talented mastermind is Preston Max Allen. Mr. Allen’s rollicking score is a pounding collection of catchy pop and showtune melodies matched with sharp lyrics. Allen’s well-c…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:51PMTuesday, February 19, 2019
The iconoclastic gay British film director sadly died 25 years ago today at the age of 52 from AIDS. Encountering him from afar made a great impression on me.
The post Reflections of Derek …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:33AMSaturday, February 16, 2019
"The Whole World Was Watching: My Life Under the Media Microscope" is the autobiography of the South Carolina native journalist and television production figure Frank Beacham that was publis…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:57AMMonday, February 11, 2019
Filichia has had a long and storied career as a theater critic and author of several books on the topic. His having witnessed a multitude of productions, this immersion informs "God Shows Up…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:31AMWednesday, February 6, 2019
A delightful new collection of material from that flamboyant sage. There’s the script of his one-man show, unseen poems and pithy observations galore.
The post Book review: “And One …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:11AMMonday, February 4, 2019
Comprised of 27 short scenes in two parts that are each designated as being two acts and ranging from 1945 to 1954, "The Glen" is a stewpot of a play inspired by a real person’s life. Glen…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:33PMSunday, February 3, 2019
In three acts, we get idealized Norman Rockwell-style Americana. As in his dramas, O’Neill’s sense of structure is totally idiosyncratic. Ah, Wilderness! is shorter than his dramas but s…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:14PMThursday, January 31, 2019
The Brooklyn-born Quinn has been performing stand-up since the 1980’s and his seasoned wise guy New Yorker persona was once showcased on Saturday Night Live and in recent years in several …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:42PMThe young British actor Mark Farrelly brilliantly channels the 20th century cultural icon’s witty presence in his highly theatrical self-written solo show.
The post Quentin Crisp: Naked H…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:58AMTuesday, January 29, 2019
Playwright Stephen Belber offers an intricate character study comprised of a barrage of brief nonlinear scenes chronicling the eventful existence of a woman from childhood to the age of 62. …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:58PMSimilar to a flatly serious youth exploitation flick circa 1970, playwright Phoebe Nir’s utopia-in-the-wilderness yarn "Eco Village," is likeably inept. There’s a hallucinogenic drug din…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:54PMAt the center of "Secret Identity" is Keith Weiss who plays JT. The proverbially baby-faced Mr. Weiss is physically, emotionally and vocally entrancing. With his rumbling low voice and expre…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:58AMFriday, January 25, 2019
Amidst the flamboyance, Mr. Calderon significantly explores topical issues. The depiction of post-traumatic stress disorder, the eternal dramatic clash between brothers and the plight of the…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:04AMMonday, January 21, 2019
Though exhibiting its source material’s young adult sensibility, Ally Sheedy’s highly effective stage adaption is totally absorbing for adults as well. Ms. Sheedy shrewdly captures the s…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:57PMSaturday, January 19, 2019
“Emmenez Moi” was the stirring opening number performed by the French Ms. Constant as she majestically strode through Don’t Tell Mama’s cabaret room and onto the small stage. With he…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:16AMWednesday, January 16, 2019
An exhilarating trio of short plays by that noted cultural provocateur Neil LaBute make their New York City premieres in this edition of the LaBute New Theatre Festival 2019. Since 2013, t…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:17PMTuesday, January 15, 2019
A spirited cast and a talented director do their best to bring playwright Katelynn Kenney’s heartfelt but leaden "Wendell & Pan" to the stage. It’s an unsatisfying family secrets…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:48PMSunday, January 13, 2019
Whether being pushed in a wheelchair or hobbling around on a cane, Mark Peters is an excellent Lear. Mr. Peters forcefully captures all of the character’s pathos, humor and despair with hi…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:12AM 
