“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 11:59AMThe 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 01:55PMMr. 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 10:53PMDan 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 11:52PMOne 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 11:16PMHilariously 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 11:19PMEsperance 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 09:53PMThey’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"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 11:32AMAuthor 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 12:03AMIn 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 11:57PMConceived 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 12:51AMDirector 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 03:43PMThe 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 01:02AMEmploying 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 03:55PMWriter-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 10:00PMThe 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 11:00PMDarryl 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 11:05AMMr. 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“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 11:53PMThe first act is a faithful and skillful hour-long condensation of "The Seagull." The second act is a clever hour-long vaudeville-style amalgam of "The Cherry Orchard," "Uncle Vanya" and "Th…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:33PMClassic movies such as "It’s a Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street" and "Moonstruck" are citied in the play and author June Daniel White is clearly inspired by and seeks to emulate th…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:46PM“I never met a peanut butter junkie” is one of the many sharp zingers in Fran Handman’s romantic park bench meetup, "A New York Encounter" (directed by Elowyn Castle) between an older …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:03PMPlaywrights Kevin Armento and Bryony Lavery take the well-known facts that have been explored in documentaries and in the feature film "Battle of the Sexes" and shovel on a cascade of imagin…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:51PMWhether bantering with the audience, displaying energetic dance moves, reciting factual details or performing Bobby Darin’s signature songs, the boyish Groff was sensational. “Splish Spl…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:09PMSoviet born actor Ilia Volok is quite personable and definitely commands the stage; his performance is heroic but it is so intense and his accent is often intrusive. Comical and sensitive po…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:11PMMurky, glacial and hypnotic, "Sheila" is a dreamy reunion drama among two 28-year-old women who haven’t seen each other in 10 years. It recalls the sort of off-beat female-centric play dir…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:20AMMs. Orlandersmith skillfully organizes the material into short monologues that are revelatory, insightful and often tinged with humor. Visually striking with her animated facial features a…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:59PMDull, smug and interminable," The Undertaking" is a multimedia play written by Steve Cosson that explores the meaning of death. Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp and Greek mythology are trotte…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:45AMWith the support of film director, screenwriter and playwright Neil LaBute, the St. Louis Actors’ Studio has held an annual festival of one-act plays since 2013. This is the third year t…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:58PMDarryl Reilly, Critic Harold Pinter “He’s a fucking fine actor,” said Harold about the actor who had just ruined an otherwise excellent production. “It’s a fucking hard job, acting…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:33AM