All stories by Darryl Reilly on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Bob O’Hare: Unfinished Business …a love story by Darryl Reilly

The white-haired O’Hare’s appealing tenor voice with its regional cadences is expressive. His instrument is in the realm of a tuneful storyteller who mines laughs and emotions with vocal…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:57AM
Monday, April 16, 2018

Children of a Lesser God by Darryl Reilly

A regular on the television series "Dawson’s Creek" and currently appearing on "The Affair," the affable Joshua Jackson plays James. Mr. Jackson’s talents are not showcased in this produ…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:03PM
Friday, April 13, 2018

Happy Birthday, Wanda June by Darryl Reilly

War, guns, Vietnam, the excesses of capitalism, toxic masculinity, blind American patriotism and feminism are among the targets of Mr. Vonnegut’s characteristically overloaded satire. Such…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:30PM
Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Dutch Masters by Darryl Reilly

In 70 gripping minutes, Keller takes this familiar premise in a compelling direction. His biting dialogue reflects the divisive era during the mayoralty of the African-American David Dinkins…

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

Wicked Frozen by Darryl Reilly

Zoe Farmingdale’s book is a tart and good-natured treatment of the salvation of a high school misfit. The cheery, witty and melodious score has lyrics by Ms. Farmingdale and Toby Singer an…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:10AM
Friday, April 6, 2018

Goldstein by Darryl Reilly

Michael Roberts’ music is a tuneful assortment of melodies some of which have an appropriate ethnic flavor. Mr. Roberts’ lyrics range from inspired to rudimentary with the overall score …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:48PM
Monday, April 2, 2018

Leisure, Labor, Lust  by Darryl Reilly

Besides depicting the upper crust, the lives of the servants are harshly detailed with inspiration from social documentarian Jacob Riis’ muckraking journalism. There are searing descriptio…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:36AM
Friday, March 30, 2018

Dinner with Georgette by Darryl Reilly

Michel Foucault and Walt Whitman are quoted offstage at the beginning of "Dinner With Georgette." It’s riddled with pretentious nonsense masquerading as profundity and this bit is a harbin…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:03PM

92Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists Series: “Irving Berlin: American” by Darryl Reilly

This biographical survey concert fused together several strands. There were the zesty performances by Danny Gardner, Emily Hsu, Holly Butler, Richard Riaz Yoder, Jada Temple and Bryonha Mari…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:24AM
Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Rocktopia by Darryl Reilly

Eleanor Roosevelt gets the biggest round of applause during the projected cultural icons slideshow as Queen’s “We Are The Champions” is histrionically performed in "Rocktopia." It’s …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:04PM
Monday, March 26, 2018

Distant Observer: Tokyo/New York Correspondence by Darryl Reilly

Noted theater artist John Jesurun wrote the opening sequence. From 2014 to 2017, Mr. Jesurun engaged in a collaboration with Japanese playwright and director Takeshi Kawamura. They each wrot…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:46AM
Sunday, March 25, 2018

Grand Hotel, The Musical by Darryl Reilly

“We'll Take a Glass Together” is an exhilarating production number. Brandon Uranowitz’s animated youthfulness is up to the task of equaling the impact of Michael Jeter’s legendary tu…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:59AM
Wednesday, March 21, 2018

My Brilliant Divorce by Darryl Reilly

The lithe and silvery-haired Ms. Gilbert dazzles for 90 minutes as she addresses the audience directly with her warm and joyous presence. She tells jokes, sings, and dances, all while convey…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:55PM
Saturday, March 17, 2018

Shooter by Darryl Reilly

Mr. Graber’s trite scenario is rendered as a superficial by-the-numbers treatment and the presentation is overwrought.  Near the end there is an exchange between Jim and Gavin as they sit…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:53PM
Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Dogs of Rwanda by Darryl Reilly

Dan Hodge commandingly plays the American narrator who has written a book about his youthful experiences in Rwanda during its 1994 civil war and genocide. Mr. Hodge created the role in the 2…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:52PM
Sunday, March 11, 2018

Halcyon Days by Darryl Reilly

One sits there for two hours numbed by the experience of watching the talented cast often vigorously playing for laughs that aren’t there. They are Rand Guerrero, Ralph Guzzo, William Lane…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:16PM
Friday, March 9, 2018

Speed Queen by Darryl Reilly

Hilariously impersonating Marlene Dietrich while playing an accordion, singing and trotting about, is one of the grand highlights of performer Phoebe Legere’s "Speed Queen."  Spanning fro…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:19PM
Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Breitwisch Farm by Darryl Reilly

Esperance Theater Company’s artistic director Ryan Quinn directed the production. Mr. Quinn’s inventive staging is vigorous and aesthetic yielding in visually charged sequences that ener…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:53PM
Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Folk Wandering by Darryl Reilly

They’re friends in the present. Someone picks up yellowed newspaper articles from the past.  Then we’re in New York City’s Lower East Side in 1911. We meet the spunky 13-year-old Rose…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:09AM
Friday, March 2, 2018

92Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists Series: “Lenny’s Lyricists” by Darryl Reilly

"Candide"’s giddy overture was of course the euphoric opening number of the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists Series: "Lenny’s Lyricists." This was a splendid concert celebrati…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:32AM
Thursday, March 1, 2018

The Loneliest Number by Darryl Reilly

Author Lizzie Vieh’s brilliant play "The Loneliest Number" initially appears to be a slight off-beat comedy about a swinging couple’s encounters but after its first third evolves into a …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:03AM
Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Time No Line by Darryl Reilly

In the moving and affirmative final sequence, journal entries from 1989 to 1990 are projected as text that details deaths of friends. Kelly is on the floor silently drawing shapes with white…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:57PM
Sunday, February 25, 2018

High Noon by Darryl Reilly

Conceived by the Axis Company, this treatment oddly renames the characters which is just one of its many baffling qualities that perhaps seeks to comment on the present. It’s really "High …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:51AM
Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Platonov, or A Play with No Name by Darryl Reilly

Director Jessica Burr’s fast-paced yet thoughtful staging includes over-lapping dialogue, rapid entrances and exits all over the space and striking visual flourishes. Ms. Burr’s tremendo…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:43PM
Friday, February 16, 2018

Pete Rex by Darryl Reilly

The homeowner Pete is wearing gym shorts and a T-Shirt and is a biology teacher with an Associate’s Degree who wanted to be a paleontologist. Bo is his childhood best friend. Pete has brok…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:02AM
Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Harriet’s Return: Based Upon the Legendary Life of Harriet Tubman by Darryl Reilly

Employing an authentic and strong Southern dialect, Ms. Meadows sounds and looks like she really is a person in the 1840’s. This vocal expertise combined with Meadows’ altering of her ph…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:55PM
Saturday, February 10, 2018

Hey, Look Me Over! New York City Center Encores! at 25 by Darryl Reilly

Writer-performer Bob Martin recycles his sweater-clad disaffected “Man in the Chair” character from his 2006 Broadway musical "The Drowsy Chaperone." The conceit is that he’s a disgrun…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:00PM
Thursday, February 8, 2018

Against the Hillside by Darryl Reilly

The production is not helped by William Carden’s heavy-handed direction.  Scene transitions are punctuated by sound designer and composer Shane Rettig’s blaring, pulsing and overwhelmin…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:00PM
Wednesday, February 7, 2018

A Portrait of Maureen Stapleton by Darryl Reilly

Darryl Reilly, Critic Maureen Stapleton by Raphael Soyer (1968) This striking portrait of Maureen Stapleton was painted by Raphael Soyer in 1968, a pivotal year in her life and career. It’…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:05AM
Tuesday, February 6, 2018

The Cult Play by Darryl Reilly

Mr. Cusumano has crafted a scenario that though familiar is gripping.  The timeless craving for lost souls seeking a purpose in life by handing over their existence to charlatans is freshly…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:35PM
Sunday, February 4, 2018

The New York Pops: Heart and Soul by Darryl Reilly

“September” by Earth, Wind and Fire was gorgeously mashed up with Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” and was the soaring opening number of The New York Pops’ exhilarating rhyth…

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