All stories by Laura Collins-Hughes on BroadwayStars

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Review: In High-Tech ‘Orchard,’ It’s Hard to See the Forest for the Trees by Laura Collins-Hughes

Jessica Hecht, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Chekhov himself too often get overwhelmed by this ambitious Arlekin Players Theater adaptation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:42PM
Friday, June 10, 2022

‘Quince’ Review: A Mexican American Tale That Explains Too Much by Laura Collins-Hughes

The new play, about a 15-year-old girl and her impending quinceañera, creates a fitting party vibe. If only the script didn’t clarify every cultural reference.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:07PM
Tuesday, June 7, 2022

In ‘Buggy Baby,’ Shadows Creep In by Laura Collins-Hughes

Josh Azouz’s vivid, nightmarish play at Astoria Performing Arts Center in Queens is a hallucinatory tale about two refugees and a talkative infant.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:07PM
Thursday, June 2, 2022

Review: In ‘A Kid Like Rishi,’ Hazy Uncertainty Shrouds a Teen’s Killing by Laura Collins-Hughes

A cast of three recount the gripping drama of the death of a teenager by the Dutch police in 2012.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:18PM
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Review: In ‘Romeo & Bernadette,’ It’s Off to Brooklyn for This Tale of Joy by Laura Collins-Hughes

In this sweet, spoofy romp of a musical comedy, Romeo awakens from a 400-year slumber and follows a Juliet look-alike to Brooklyn.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:42PM
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ Review: A Life Too Simplified by Laura Collins-Hughes

This New York City Children’s Theater adaptation of Maya Angelou’s celebrated memoir faces the challenge of faithfully telling a story that encompasses a great deal of pain.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:07PM
Thursday, May 19, 2022

Broadway Set Designers on Their Appealing Sets by Laura Collins-Hughes and Vincent Tullo

Live theater summons energy no digital performance can match. Set designers for five of this season’s plays explain how they built eye-catching environments that crackle with it.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:07AM
Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Why the Tonys Need an Award for Best Ensemble by Laura Collins-Hughes

Theater has always been a team sport. But this Covid-stalked Broadway season has made clear that a prize for the entire cast should be added.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:33AM
Friday, May 13, 2022

Broadway Guide: What to Know About Tickets, Shows and Covid Protocols by Laura Collins-Hughes

From new shows like “Macbeth” and “A Strange Loop” to long-running Tony Award winners, a rundown of everything you need to know.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:06PM
Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Comic or Graphic, Shows About Abortion Surface a Stark Divide by Laura Collins-Hughes

Decidedly anti-sensationalistic, Alison Leiby’s shrewd and funny personal monologue plays downtown. Uptown, a staged reading focuses on a gruesome case.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:06PM

‘The Vagrant Trilogy’ Review: Palestinians in Exile, Yearning for Home by Laura Collins-Hughes

Mona Mansour’s rich trilogy, now at the Public Theater, follows a displaced Palestinian family.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:03AM
Friday, May 6, 2022

Marjan Neshat on Her ‘Kind of Miraculous Season’ Onstage by Laura Collins-Hughes

Now starring in “Wish You Were Here,” the Iranian-born actress has made her mark in three works by playwrights of Middle Eastern descent.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:18AM
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Review: Billy Crystal Carries the Tune in ‘Mr. Saturday Night’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

In a mishmash new musical based on his 1992 movie, he charms the audience as a has-been comic reconnecting with family.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM
Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Review: ‘For Colored Girls’ Returns, Leading With Joy by Laura Collins-Hughes

Camille A. Brown’s revival of Ntozake Shange’s 1976 Broadway landmark brings exuberant life to a play that celebrates Black women’s solidarity in the face of pain.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:07PM
Friday, April 8, 2022

‘Penelope’ Review: Adrift Between Ithaca and Progress by Laura Collins-Hughes

A new musical-comedy retelling of “The Odyssey” from the York Theater Company tries to center a powerful woman but feels like a show about and for men.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:03PM
Tuesday, April 5, 2022

‘Garbageman’ Review: Just a Couple of Straw Men by Laura Collins-Hughes

In Keith Huff’s new play, two friends head to the Jan. 6 insurrection, but this production substitutes unfunny cartoonishness for the characters’ humanity.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:06PM
Sunday, April 3, 2022

‘Balkan Bordello’ Review: A Tragic Tale Reborn for a Time of War by Laura Collins-Hughes

In this international production, you can check into the Balkan Express Motel, if you dare, and fulfill an ancient generational curse.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:18PM
Thursday, March 17, 2022

Review: ‘The Medium’ Is Less a Message and More a Museum Piece by Laura Collins-Hughes

This early 1990s play, based on the life of Marshall McLuhan, is being revived by the company that created it.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:18PM
Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Review: In ‘Book of Mountains & Seas,’ Puppets Embark on Mythic Quests by Laura Collins-Hughes

Huang Ruo and Basil Twist’s new choral-theater piece at St. Ann’s Warehouse borrows from traditional Chinese tales.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:54PM
Monday, March 14, 2022

‘Man Cave’ Review: Things That Go Bump in the American Night by Laura Collins-Hughes

John J. Caswell Jr.’s play is a political drama wrapped in the spooky pleasures of the horror genre.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:42PM
Sunday, March 13, 2022

Review: ‘A Song of Songs’ Makes a Sacrament of Remembrance by Laura Collins-Hughes

Grief for a lost love is the unhealed wound at the core of this play by Agnes Borinsky, which takes a disquieting turn into the underworld.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:03PM
Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Review: ‘The Chinese Lady’ Casts a Long Look at Hate by Laura Collins-Hughes

Lloyd Suh’s play is a riff on the arrival of the real Afong Moy, possibly the first woman from China in the United States, and a lens on contemporary racism.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:33PM
Wednesday, March 2, 2022

I Love London Theater. But Not London Theatergoing. by Laura Collins-Hughes

While full of fine shows, a long-awaited binge was also full of stress about how loosely audiences followed rules about staying healthy in a pandemic.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:07AM
Tuesday, March 1, 2022

‘Out of Time’ Review: Once Sidelined, Now Taking Center Stage by Laura Collins-Hughes

Five Asian American actors, all over 60, deliver monologues that touch on grief and heritage, on adult children and cultural cancellation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:33PM
Friday, February 25, 2022

‘The Daughter-in-Law’ Review: Sons and Wives by Laura Collins-Hughes

In this D.H. Lawrence play, a production by the Mint Theater, men are trouble, “pure and simple.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:42PM
Thursday, February 24, 2022

With ‘Cyrano,’ James McAvoy Is Savoring a ‘Purer Form of Storytelling’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

The actor will be making his New York stage debut with Jamie Lloyd’s Olivier Award-winning production, coming in April to the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:33AM
Thursday, February 3, 2022

Artistically in Sync, and Reunited for ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

Arin Arbus and John Douglas Thompson are collaborating on their fifth play, a Theater for a New Audience production that begins previews Saturday.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18AM
Monday, January 24, 2022

Review: ‘Just for Us’ Reaches Across the Chasm by Laura Collins-Hughes

The return of this brisk, smart provocation of a monologue is a cheering development, all the more so because it’s a belly-laugh funny show.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:33PM
Sunday, January 23, 2022

Taylor Mac Enfolds Everyone in "The Hang," an Operatic Opportunity for Communion. by Laura Collins-Hughes

This opera, by Mac and Matt Ray, is as much a celebration of theater itself as it is an example of the communion humans crave but have been deprived of.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:33PM
Tuesday, January 18, 2022

‘This Beautiful Future’ Review: Love Glows in War’s Shadow by Laura Collins-Hughes

Theaterlab stages a gimlet-eyed romance involving a girl and a young Nazi soldier in Occupied France by the playwright Rita Kalnejais.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:48PM
Monday, January 17, 2022

After ‘Clyde’s,’ Lynn Nottage Just Has Two Shows Onstage. ‘Whew!’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

With one play closed, Nottage can focus on “MJ” on Broadway and “Intimate Apparel” at Lincoln Center Theater. And maybe even catch her breath.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:42PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards