All stories by Naveen Kumar on BroadwayStars

Thursday, November 10, 2022

‘Where We Belong’ Review: A Performer Wonders, What’s in a Name? by Naveen Kumar

In an autobiographical solo show at the Public Theater, Madeline Sayet grapples with her Indigenous ancestry and the responsibility that comes with her name.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:18PM
Friday, November 4, 2022

Review: In ‘Where the Mountain Meets the Sea,’ Missed Connections by Naveen Kumar

A father and a son recall parallel journeys that reflect shared experiences of otherness in Jeff Augustin’s play, performed with music by the Bengsons.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:06PM
Friday, October 21, 2022

‘A Little Life’ Review: A Collage of Unrelenting Torment by Naveen Kumar

Hanya Yanagihara’s best-selling novel comes to the BAM stage, and raises the question: How much suffering can the protagonist (and the audience) endure?

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:03PM
Thursday, October 20, 2022

‘The Gold Room’ Review: Gay Sexuality on Shuffle Mode by Naveen Kumar

Two men circling each other for a hookup talk through fantasies and everyday doubts in this play by Jacob Perkins.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:33PM
Tuesday, October 18, 2022

‘Hedda Gabler’ and ‘The Winter’s Tale’: 2 Takes That Shout Subtext by Naveen Kumar

Irreverence can be illuminating. But Bedlam’s energetic productions of classics by Ibsen and Shakespeare lose insight in the process.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:07PM
Tuesday, September 27, 2022

‘Sesame Street: The Musical’ Review: Everything’s A-OK by Naveen Kumar

Jonathan Rockefeller’s Off Broadway production blends the charm and wit of the show’s early days with more modern characters.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:07PM
Thursday, August 4, 2022

‘The Nosebleed’ Review: Reconciling the Ghosts in the Attic by Naveen Kumar

Aya Ogawa’s memoir-like excavation tests the boundaries of love and family obligation through intimate confession.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:37PM
Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Review: In ‘The Butcher Boy,’ an Anti-Coming of Age Story by Naveen Kumar

The new musical, based on the novel by Patrick McCabe, follows a boy in 1960s Ireland as he recounts a tale of boyhood mischief and alienation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:48PM
Friday, July 29, 2022

‘Happy Life’ Review: Ghosts in the Studio by Naveen Kumar

The playwright Kathy Ng imagines a world where mortality, eroticism and Hello Kitty collide in a spirited, if sometimes muddled, contemplation of loneliness and loss.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:42AM
Tuesday, July 12, 2022

‘Mister Miss America’ Review: A Fight for the Crown by Naveen Kumar

The first male contestant in his small-town beauty pageant is determined to win hearts, minds and the crown, in this solo play from the writer and performer Neil D’Astolfo.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:12PM
Monday, June 20, 2022

‘Hooded; or Being Black for Dummies’ Review: A Tragic Pageantry by Naveen Kumar

Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm’s ambitious and sometimes metaphysical comedy playfully tries to tackle thorny issues at 59E59 Theaters.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:07PM
Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Review: In ‘Queen,’ the Numbers Don’t Always Add Up by Naveen Kumar

Two ambitious scientists are concerned with honey bees in this heady and data-heavy new play, a production of the National Asian American Theater Company.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:33PM
Thursday, June 2, 2022

‘… What the End Will Be’ Review: Learning to Let Go by Naveen Kumar

The intergenerational comedy is a poignant reflection on sexuality, mortality and Black masculinity by the playwright Mansa Ra.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:48PM
Sunday, May 29, 2022

‘Zoey’s Perfect Wedding’ Review: The Bride’s Big Disaster by Naveen Kumar

For affluent and educated 30-something New Yorkers, a favored set of the playwright Matthew López, a chain-hotel reception is as tacky as it gets.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:37PM
Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Review: In ‘Exception to the Rule,’ Detention Is Sinister by Naveen Kumar

Teenagers bond after school in a sort of classroom purgatory. And, where is the teacher?

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:06PM
Tuesday, May 17, 2022

‘Will You Come With Me?’ Review: Love in the Age of Revolution by Naveen Kumar

Set around protests in Istanbul that began in 2013, this play follows a couple as they circle, approach and retreat from each other over the years.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:42PM
Friday, April 29, 2022

Review: An evasive ‘Macbeth’ strains for coherence by Naveen Kumar

Lust for power can defy logic. Why does anyone succumb to greed or ambition? Where Shakespeare probes primal urges through poetry and dirty deeds, director Sam Gold seems to question the ver…

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 04:00PM
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Review: ‘Mr. Saturday Night’ gets swallowed in ego by Naveen Kumar

Billy Crystal is roving the stage, leading an “oy vey!” call-and-response. There is no exclamation more apt for “Mr. Saturday Night,” the moth-eaten cardigan of a new musical now in …

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:00PM
Sunday, April 24, 2022

Review: A ‘Funny Girl’ that isn’t overshadowed by you-know-who by Naveen Kumar

Playing the part of a marquee idol is daunting on its own. Playing one made famous by Barbra Streisand may seem like a fool’s errand, doubtless one reason “Funny Girl” hasn’t been on…

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:00PM
Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Review: ‘How I Learned to Drive’ makes a bracing return by Naveen Kumar

It’s been 25 years since Paula Vogel’s landmark drama about sexual assault and its reverberations first debuted Off-Broadway. Since then, private transgressions, like those that Li’l B…

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:00PM
Thursday, April 14, 2022

Review: ‘American Buffalo’ proves another man’s trash isn’t always a treasure by Naveen Kumar

It may be that “American Buffalo” belongs in the junk shop where it’s set — a token of bicentennial Americana with questionable lasting value. Like the novelty coin at its center, Da…

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:00PM
Sunday, April 10, 2022

Review: In ‘Birthday Candles,’ the cake is too sweet by Naveen Kumar

There are some things in life you can count on. Birthdays will tick by like clockwork, a good cake recipe won’t fail and the young will chase their future while elders reminisce. But combi…

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Monday, April 4, 2022

Review: ‘Take Me Out’ is playing in the wrong ballpark by Naveen Kumar

A star athlete comes out as gay, and the narrator asks, “Why now?” Greeting that question with a shrug, the revival of “Take Me Out” from Second Stage is a down-the-middle throwback …

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:00PM
Monday, March 28, 2022

Review: A luxe ‘Plaza Suite’ misses the laughs by Naveen Kumar

People have long ponied up for the promise of elegance, familiarity and a bit of gracious pandering, on Broadway as on Central Park South. Throw in the allure of celebrity, and a revival of …

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:00PM
Thursday, March 24, 2022

‘Help’ Review: Blindfolds (and Kid Gloves) Off. Let’s Analyze Whiteness. by Naveen Kumar

Claudia Rankine’s heady new play dares white audiences to deny the realities of their social advantages.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:33PM
Friday, March 18, 2022

Review: In ‘What You Are Now,’ Memory Is a Dangerous Thing by Naveen Kumar

In Sam Chanse’s affecting play, a daughter tries to understand her mother, who resists any reminder of her escape from the Khmer Rouge.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:42PM
Monday, March 14, 2022

Comedy Undercut ‘The Life.’ Billy Porter Looks for Its Humanity. by Naveen Kumar

The actor is directing an Encores! revival of the 1997 musical, updating it to confront hard truths about racism, poverty and carceral injustice.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:54PM
Thursday, March 10, 2022

‘This Space Between Us’ Review: A Do-Gooder Faces a Chorus of Resistance by Naveen Kumar

Peter Gil-Sheridan’s comedy for Keen Company raises a range of topical issues but fails to cover new ground.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:24PM
Wednesday, February 16, 2022

‘Wolf Play’ Review: What Keeps a Family From Falling to Pieces? by Naveen Kumar

Hansol Jung’s new play looks at the broken adoption of a little boy who is plucked from South Korea and moved to one American home, then shunted to another.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:35AM
Wednesday, December 8, 2021

‘Is There Still Sex in the City?’ Review: Candace Bushnell Dishes Hot Details by Naveen Kumar

In her one-woman Off Broadway show, the “Sex and the City” author invites audiences behind the scenes of her life with a wink and a cocktail.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:06PM
Friday, November 26, 2021

Review: Getting a Moral Fix From ‘Approval Junkie’ by Naveen Kumar

The radio and television journalist Faith Salie stars in a one-woman show about the perils of striving for achievement and affirmation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:06AM

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