All stories by Laura Collins-Hughes on BroadwayStars

Thursday, June 4, 2020

No Tony Awards Show? Make Your Own With These Great Moments. by Ben Brantley, Jesse Green, Michael Paulson, Alexis Soloski, Elisabeth Vincentelli, Laura Collins-Hughes, Scott Heller and Eric Grode

Miranda’s rap. Rylance’s poems. Jackman’s pelvis. And a brassy reunion for Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury. Now set your clock for “Turkey Lurkey Time.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Thursday, May 14, 2020

On Second Viewing, First Impressions Don’t Always Hold by Laura Collins-Hughes

Watching familiar plays online can be a comfort — and sometimes a revelation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:24PM
Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Can Physical Comedy Work on Zoom? Bill Irwin Wants to Find Out. by Laura Collins-Hughes

His 10-minute, two-character play will test the possibilities of a new form that puts faces, more than bodies, at the center of the action.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:36PM
Sunday, May 3, 2020

A Thousand Goodbyes for McCarter Theater’s Emily Mann by Laura Collins-Hughes

A virtual send-off for the artistic director and playwright drew more attendees than could have fit under a tent. “I liked this better,” she said.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:32PM
Thursday, April 23, 2020

10 Playwrights Script a Web Series. Is It Theater? by Laura Collins-Hughes

“Homebound” is one company’s attempt to give structure and meaning to the worries and what-ifs of the strange new present. But these aren’t plays, the artistic director says.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:32PM
Wednesday, April 22, 2020

A Cast Album I Love: ‘Twelfth Night’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

We continue our cast album series with more recommendations for wonderful musicals to listen to at home

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Tuesday, April 7, 2020

‘The Addams Family’ Musical Was Panned. Then It Became a Hit. by Laura Collins-Hughes

A rare show that retooled and flourished after its New York debut, the musical, a decade later, has endured in schools and through international productions.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18AM
Thursday, April 2, 2020

Missing the Theater? Trade Playbills for These Novels by Alexis Soloski and Laura Collins-Hughes

Two theater critics suggest some of their favorite books about the theater, giving us portals to a world that is now forbidden.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:54AM
Monday, March 30, 2020

As Theaters Stare Down Uncertainty, Ars Nova Buys Itself Time by Laura Collins-Hughes

In committing to paying its people during a three-month shutdown, the theater gives itself breathing room to prepare for when it can open again.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:36PM
Thursday, March 26, 2020

The Fourth Wall Is My Laptop Screen by Laura Collins-Hughes

When theaters closed by the pandemic stream their shuttered plays online, watching sharpens the longing for the real thing.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:48PM
Thursday, March 12, 2020

Where to Celebrate Sondheim in New York by Laura Collins-Hughes

What’s a birthday celebration without tribute concerts, new commissions and revivals of three classics? Here’s how to join the party, live.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:06AM
Wednesday, March 11, 2020

‘Conscience’ Review: The Woman Who Stared Down the Red Scare by Laura Collins-Hughes

The hero of Joe DiPietro’s new comic drama is Margaret Chase Smith, a U.S. senator who had the rare courage to stand up to McCarthyism.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:06PM
Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Review: A Crisis of Borders in ‘72 Miles to Go…’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

In Hilary Bettis’s play, a family separated by deportation wants to live regular American lives but discovers how mercilessly difficult that is.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54PM
Thursday, March 5, 2020

Review: In ‘Mr. Toole,’ Trying to Remember Teacher by Laura Collins-Hughes

Vivian Neuwirth’s play is a fictionalized recollection of the life of the novelist John Kennedy Toole, who died before his Pulitzer-Prize winning classic “A Confederacy of Dunces” was …

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:32PM
Thursday, February 27, 2020

In a Battle for Female Personhood, These Plays Are on the Front Lines by Laura Collins-Hughes

“Grand Horizons” and “Dracula” assert the full humanity of women, a matter not as settled as we might like to think.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:36AM
Tuesday, February 25, 2020

How They Learned to Drive. And Why They’re Driving Again. by Laura Collins-Hughes

The writer Paula Vogel, the director Mark Brokaw, and the actors Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse on returning to a wrenching play two decades later.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:32AM
Sunday, February 23, 2020

‘She Persisted’ Review: A Musical About Women Who Triumphed by Laura Collins-Hughes

The feminist rallying cry inspired Chelsea Clinton’s children’s book about the likes of Harriet Tubman and Sally Ride. Now it’s a cheerful stage adaptation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:42PM
Thursday, February 20, 2020

‘Mack & Mabel’ Review: Lights! Camera! Passion! by Laura Collins-Hughes

Jerry Herman’s buoyant score is the highlight of this Encores! production about a troubled silent-movie-era romance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:12PM
Tuesday, February 18, 2020

‘Spamtown, USA’ Looks at a Bitter Strike Through Children’s Eyes by Laura Collins-Hughes

Minnesota’s Children’s Theater Company will present a play inspired by little-told stories of the wrenching Hormel strike: from kids on all sides of the dispute.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:48PM
Sunday, February 16, 2020

‘TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever’ Review: It’s No Valentine by Laura Collins-Hughes

James Ijames’s satire reconsiders a story that reaches back to our shared past, with an eye toward demolishing it in favor of a better future.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:03PM
Thursday, February 13, 2020

‘Unmasked’ Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber Reveals and Remembers by Laura Collins-Hughes

This multimedia concert and career retrospective forgets that the best way to honor the composer is to have a good time with his music.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:24PM
Wednesday, February 12, 2020

‘House Plant’ Review: A Bizarro Breakup and What Comes After by Laura Collins-Hughes

In Sarah Einspanier’s fever-dream play, one half of a couple heads to Hollywood. The other gets an odd, and oddly familiar, new roommate.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:42PM

Lip-Syncing Her Abduction, Matter-of-Factly by Laura Collins-Hughes

Deirdre O’Connell has a peculiar challenge performing the recollections of Lucas Hnath's mother in his play “Dana H.” Give credit to earbuds and Epsom salts.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18AM
Tuesday, February 11, 2020

‘Darling Grenadine’ Review: A Retro Cocktail With Little Kick by Laura Collins-Hughes

Roundabout Underground presents a flawed but tuneful musical about a young Manhattan couple challenged by addiction.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:24PM
Sunday, January 26, 2020

‘Thunder Rock’ Review: A Beacon That Fails to Light the Way by Laura Collins-Hughes

It’s no surprise that this play about disillusionment, with its message of hope wrapped in warnings about nationalism and isolationism, was a choice for this season.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:54PM
Friday, January 24, 2020

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Hires a Resident Intimacy Director by Laura Collins-Hughes

Sarah Lozoff is joining one of the nation’s leading regional theaters for all 11 of its productions in its 2020 season.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:03PM
Monday, January 20, 2020

For 13 Years, He Has Humanized the Villain of ‘Oklahoma!’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

Patrick Vaill took his final Broadway bow as Jud Fry, after performing in Daniel Fish’s production of the musical since college.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:33PM
Sunday, January 19, 2020

‘Emojiland’ Review: There’s a Rom-Com in Your Phone. With Music. by Laura Collins-Hughes

Everybody’s on hand, from a variety of Smileys to Nerd Face, and from Princess to Pile of Poo.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:24PM
Friday, January 17, 2020

At Under the Radar, Avant-Garde Shows Leap Outside Reality by Ben Brantley, Jesse Green and Laura Collins-Hughes

The Public Theater’s festival has included 12 featured offerings, four cabaret acts and six pieces of developmental work. Here’s what our critics saw.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:33PM
Thursday, January 16, 2020

‘Distances’ Review: Fumblingly Picking at the Knot of Race by Laura Collins-Hughes

In this experimental play, a white talk-show host and a black science fiction writer have a challenging conversation. Plus dancing.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:06PM
Sunday, January 12, 2020

‘Maz and Bricks’ Review: Marching for Rights, With Signs of Romance by Laura Collins-Hughes

Set in Dublin during the run-up to Ireland’s vote to repeal its abortion ban, this play by Eva O’Connor too easily pairs up two damaged souls.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54PM

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