First Nighter: Ars Nova's "Underground Railroad Game" Perhaps More Gamey Than Game by David Finkle

First Nighter: Nilo Cruz's Touching 'Bathing In Moonlight' Needs More Light by David Finkle

The matriarch of the four-member household (Edward Pierce designed the appealing set) is Martina (Priscilla Lopez), who's

First Nighter: Nilo Cruz's Touching 'Bathing In Moonlight' Needs More Light by David Finkle

Emily Mann's direction is often tentative, perhaps due to her sensing Cruz has as yet not completed his sympathetic, ultimately

First Nighter: Nilo Cruz's Touching 'Bathing In Moonlight' Needs More Light by David Finkle

First Nighter: Shelagh Delaney's "A Taste of Honey" Tastily Revived by David Finkle

An intriguing take on these revivals is that they're both English plays of the 1950s, but there's a chasm between them--a

First Nighter: Shelagh Delaney's "A Taste of Honey" Tastily Revived by David Finkle

First Nighter: Kecia Lewis, Rebecca Naomi Jones Make "Marie and Rosetta" a Rockin'-Good Gospel Time by David Finkle

As Christopher Akerlind's lights rise, Rosetta in a glittering white gown has her eyes closed, while Marie in peach frock

First Nighter: Kecia Lewis, Rebecca Naomi Jones Make "Marie and Rosetta" a Rockin'-Good Gospel Time by David Finkle

Little time passes between one reprise and the next from either or both of the gospel sisters. The joy with which they deliver

First Nighter: Kecia Lewis, Rebecca Naomi Jones Make "Marie and Rosetta" a Rockin'-Good Gospel Time by David Finkle

First Nighter: Isabelle Huppert Humiliates Herself Again (and Again) in "Phaedra(s)" by David Finkle

A question does come to mind about an enterprise that has evidently made top European grades and, for one stop, has played

First Nighter: Isabelle Huppert Humiliates Herself Again (and Again) in "Phaedra(s)" by David Finkle

First Nighter: Sarah DeLappe's Nifty "The Wolves," Honor Molloy's Numbing "Crackskull Row" by David Finkle

N.B.: Because the mid-West locale is contemporary and because these are today's teenagers and because DeLappe has a great

First Nighter: Sarah DeLappe's Nifty "The Wolves," Honor Molloy's Numbing "Crackskull Row" by David Finkle

For the rest of the hysteria-charged 75 minutes, directed with (misplaced?) conviction by Kira Simring at the Cell, you learn

First Nighter: Sarah DeLappe's Nifty "The Wolves," Honor Molloy's Numbing "Crackskull Row" by David Finkle

First Nighter: Parodist Gerard Alessandrini Has His Happy "Spamilton" Go at Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton" by David Finkle

Just before this thigh-slapper Alessandrini has Sondheim (Dewan Crawley) warn. a la "Children Will Listen" from Into the

First Nighter: Parodist Gerard Alessandrini Has His Happy "Spamilton" Go at Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton" by David Finkle

Each of the four men performs on a lofty level, too. Aside from the wiry Rosales, who does join in larger numbers but mostly

First Nighter: Parodist Gerard Alessandrini Has His Happy "Spamilton" Go at Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton" by David Finkle

First Nighter: "The Layover," Leslye Headland's New Play Proves a Welcome Stay-Over by David Finkle

Mostly, though, they're imprisoned in their families. She's stuck caring for the father with whom from time to time she can

First Nighter: "The Layover," Leslye Headland's New Play Proves a Welcome Stay-Over by David Finkle

That Dex is doing more than thinking about Sherrie while she moons over him is revealed when she learns Fred's $16,000-plus

First Nighter: "The Layover," Leslye Headland's New Play Proves a Welcome Stay-Over by David Finkle

<![CDATA[]]>

First Nighter: N. C. Hunter's "A Day By the Sea" in a Tough, Touching Mint Theater Company Revival by David Finkle

Pendleton, who may be the busiest person in New York City's theater life, is attuned to Hunter's Chekhovian blend of disillusionment

First Nighter: N. C. Hunter's "A Day By the Sea" in a Tough, Touching Mint Theater Company Revival by David Finkle

As all Hunter's characters gather In larger groups or in twos or threes, their foibles, worries and animosities are displayed

First Nighter: N. C. Hunter's "A Day By the Sea" in a Tough, Touching Mint Theater Company Revival by David Finkle

<![CDATA[]]>

First Nighter: The Berkshires's See-Worthy "Merchant of Venice" and "An American Daughter" by David Finkle

Nonetheless, when a Shylock is portrayed with the finesse that Epstein displays, the quality of mercy for everything else

First Nighter: The Berkshires's See-Worthy "Merchant of Venice" and "An American Daughter" by David Finkle

Not one of the playwright's most convincing manuscripts, An American Daughter is marred by the stage time given over to Judith

First Nighter: The Berkshires's See-Worthy "Merchant of Venice" and "An American Daughter" by David Finkle

<![CDATA[]]>

First Nighter: Three for the Good Show at Summer Shorts Series B by David Finkle

Sydney only learns how severely Deja has been offended when she discovers a poem in which Deja expresses herself fully in

First Nighter: Three for the Good Show at Summer Shorts Series B by David Finkle

Queen, the third and middle one-act, is most notable for the performances that Casandera M.J. Lollar and Saverio Tuzzolo

First Nighter: Three for the Good Show at Summer Shorts Series B by David Finkle

<![CDATA[]]>

First Nighter: You Better Believe That the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Trevor Nunn-T. S. Eliot "Cats" is Now and Forever by David Finkle

As most longtime fans know, the blockbuster tuner was inspired by T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The

First Nighter: You Better Believe That the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Trevor Nunn-T. S. Eliot "Cats" is Now and Forever by David Finkle

It's undoubtedly coincidence that Cats arrives on cats' feet just after the national political conventions have concluded