All stories by David Finkle on BroadwayStars

Monday, March 10, 2014

First Nighter: Steven Boyer Amazes in Robert Askins's Awe-Inspiring "Hand to God" by David Finkle

Since it's impossible to stay on top of absolutely everything on view from one year to the next in burgeoning New...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:16PM

Lloyd Webber and Rice: Two Musicals Closing Fast by David Finkle

Two musical turkeys, roasted and underdone.

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 08:47PM
Friday, March 7, 2014

First Nighter: The Met's New 'Wozzeck' with Matthias Goerne Confidently Stepping In by David Finkle

The first performance of the new Wozzeck production at the Metropolitan Opera House turned into one of...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 06:30PM
Thursday, March 6, 2014

First Nighter: LBJ Bio "All the Way" With Bryan Cranston Goes All the Way by David Finkle

Missing for deliberate reasons or reasons of chronology from All the Way, Robert Schenkkan's sure-fire hit at the Neil Simon, are...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:53PM
Tuesday, March 4, 2014

First Nighter: Consumer Guide to London Theatre Now by David Finkle

London--If you're heading this way with theatergoing in mind, here's a short list of what's on offer in the next couple...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 04:56AM
Monday, February 24, 2014

To Philip Seymour Hoffman, With Gratitude and Anger by David Finkle

Was he really "the greatest actor of his generation"?

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 06:46PM
Wednesday, February 19, 2014

First Nighter: Andrew Lloyd Webber's So Low 'Stephen Ward' and Solo 'Tell Me on a Sunday' by David Finkle

Andrew Lloyd Webber rules Brittania's West End and, as will come as a surprise to few, has for just about 40 years. Right now, three of his musicals are at hand. The Phantom of the Opera is …

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 07:45PM
Tuesday, February 18, 2014

First Nighter: Bikeman, Thomas F. Flynn's Captivating 9/11 Memoir by David Finkle

Because of the hell into which he was thrown with thousands, Flynn conjures moments reminiscent of Dante's Inferno. There are even echoes in his lines of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. And w…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:28PM
Thursday, February 13, 2014

First Nighter: Margulies's 'Dinner With Friends' Served Piping Hot; 'Vera,' An Oscar Wilde Oddity by David Finkle

I admire Margulies's nuanced understanding the dynamics of friendships. He's put "Dinner" is his title, and he plays with it by devoting two scenes to Karen and Gabe preparing food…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 10:09PM
Monday, February 10, 2014

First Nighter: Britten's Billy Budd an Absolute Brooklyn Academy of Music Must-Hear by David Finkle

Standing ovations are so prevalent they are meaningless. The consensus is that ticket buyers paying so much for a seat rise at curtain calls in order to convince themselves they've just gott…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 04:02PM
Sunday, February 9, 2014

The Many Great Gals of Charles Busch by David Finkle

"The Tribute Artist" continues a comic canon.

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 10:44AM
Friday, February 7, 2014

First Nighter: Little Me Big and Christian Borle Even Bigger by David Finkle

When Little Me opened in November 1962, its major pluses were Sid Caesar, the Carolyn Leigh-Cy Coleman score and the rarely-miss Neil Simon gags. Revived at City Center this weekend, it can…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 04:32PM
Thursday, February 6, 2014

First Nighter: "Bronx Bombers" Fields Yogi Berra Well Enough by David Finkle

Eric Simonson, who gets his kicks writing plays about sports figures, is jumping the gun on Valentine's Day by sending a...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:30PM
Thursday, January 30, 2014

First Nighter: CSC's 'A Man's a Man' Somewhat Mouse-y by David Finkle

Brian Kulick certainly attempts to get around the inherent problems with all manner of theatrical notions in a new translation by Gerhard Nellhaus, with Duncan Sheik's music carrying Brecht'…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 10:28PM
Monday, January 27, 2014

First Nighter: Rude Mechs Live Down to Their Name With Stop Hitting Yourself by David Finkle

Before I get to an outright pan of the immoderately irritating Stop Hitting Yourself -- created by Austin's Rude Mechs and now squatting in the Lincoln Center Theater at the Claire Tow -- I'…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 10:46PM

Bob Fosse Dances Through a New Biography by David Finkle

Sam Wasson looks at a enormously gifted man's chronic lack if assurance.

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 12:07PM
Tuesday, January 21, 2014

First Nighter: Loneliness of Long Distance Runner a Bracing Race by David Finkle

Depending on how the individual observer assesses Colin's choice, he can be considered either as declaring his independence or as self-destructively tossing it aside. Either way, Sillitoe's…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 10:33PM
Monday, January 20, 2014

First Nighter: The Public Theater's Under the Radar Plusses and Minuses by David Finkle

The annual event -- this is the 10th year -- is supposed to focus on the new and experimental. Maybe yes, maybe no, but certainly there are helpful hints about whom and what to look for in …

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 02:37PM
Friday, January 17, 2014

First Nighter: Frank Langella Fights the King Lear Storm and Conquers by David Finkle

Frank Langella is doing a completely respectable King Lear at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey in William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. But wait. Better be more specific, s…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:41AM
Thursday, January 16, 2014

First Nighter: Three Overly Similar Entries From Manhattan's January Festivals by David Finkle

If it's true that great minds think alike, it may be equally true that minds a notch or two below great also think alike.

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:51PM
Sunday, January 12, 2014

First Nighter: "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" Is Beautiful Where It Counts by David Finkle

Before we get to what's wrong with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at the Stephen Sondheim, let's establish what's...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:06PM
Thursday, January 2, 2014

First Nighter: The Gotham Chamber Opera's Top-Notch "La descente d'Orphée aux enfers" by David Finkle

Much of the intense charm of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's La descente d'Orphée aux enfers (Opheus's Descent...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 06:29PM
Wednesday, January 1, 2014

First Nighter: The Met's New "Die Fledermaus" Far Too Batty by David Finkle

Die Fledermaus back again as the Metropolitan Opera's New Year's Eve gala confection? Directed by Jeremy Sams,...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 02:48PM
Monday, December 23, 2013

Jim Simpson and The Flea Theater Champion OOB by David Finkle

The Flea builds a new theater...and community.

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 12:11PM
Tuesday, December 17, 2013

First Nighter: Five-Actor "Christmas Carol," One-Actor-Singer "Love, Linda," Four-Actor "Handle With Care" by David Finkle

Okay, I admit it, I entered A Christmas Carol at St. Clement's thinking, Oh no, not another one! Which just goes to show...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 05:57PM
Saturday, December 14, 2013

First Nighter: Robert Wilson's "Life and Death of Marina Abramovic," Martha Clarke's "Cheri" by David Finkle

The one thing you can safely say about The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic at the Park Avenue Armory is that it is what...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 05:55PM
Thursday, December 12, 2013

First Nighter: Conor McPherson's 'The Night Alive' Is Mostly Alive by David Finkle

The Night Alive suspense then builds on whether Aimee will be able to extricate herself from Kenneth's sinister demands, which include stealing money Tommy has hidden beneath floorboards. W…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 09:06PM
Tuesday, December 10, 2013

First Nighter: London's Latest Private Lives Comes Cheerfully to Movie Screens by David Finkle

Some plays need to look as if they're being performed with absolutely no effort whatsoever. They must seem merely tossed off. That's the fun of them. Perhaps the most famous example is Priva…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:07PM
Thursday, December 5, 2013

First Nighter: Bacharach Revue Awkwardly Asks 'What's It All About?' -- Steve Tyrell Smoothly Answers by David Finkle

Truth is, Tyrell's effortlessly infallible phrasing has the effect of making what he does appealingly conversational. The emotion he's experiencing is a component of his seemingly off-handed…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 09:58PM
Wednesday, December 4, 2013

First Nighter: Daniel Kitson Strides Again at St. Ann's Warehouse by David Finkle

Daniel Kitson is not only a marvelous story-teller. He may be our foremost meta-storyteller, and possibly because...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:54PM
Monday, November 25, 2013

First Nighter: Terrence McNally's "And Away We Go" Love Letter to Actors by David Finkle

Theater and opera crazo Terrence McNally loves writing about his passions, especially anything to do with their...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 04:52PM

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