All stories by Naveen Kumar on BroadwayStars

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 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
Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Review: Three Generations Awaiting Justice in ‘Cullud Wattah’ by Naveen Kumar

Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s play follows one family of women affected by the water crisis in Flint, Mich.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:06PM
Saturday, September 25, 2021

Review: Sounds and Styles Playfully Collide in ‘Only an Octave Apart’ by Naveen Kumar

This show brings together two convention-inverting artists: the cabaret star Justin Vivian Bond and the opera singer Anthony Roth Costanzo.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:54AM
Wednesday, August 4, 2021

‘There’s Still So Much to Unearth’ in ‘Pass Over’ by Naveen Kumar

Namir Smallwood and Jon Michael Hill talk about returning to the roles of two men trapped by existential dread and what it means to land on Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:42AM
Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Sing Street review at New York Theatre Workshop – ‘soaring and joyous’ by Naveen Kumar

There are sonic pleasures aplenty for fans of pop’s new wave in Sing Street, a stage adaptation of John Carney’s 2016 film

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:38AM
Wednesday, October 30, 2019

From Annie to Tina Turner, by Way of a Rock Star Turn by Naveen Kumar

How Adrienne Warren learned to stop fighting herself and interpret the musical role of a lifetime.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54AM
Tuesday, October 1, 2019

The Great Society review at Vivian Beaumont Theater, New York – ‘overstuffed yet tedious’ by Naveen Kumar

Not every success story gets a sequel. The Great Society, Robert Schenkkan’s follow-up to his Tony-winning play All the Way, renders President

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 10:00PM
Friday, May 31, 2019

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune review at Broadhurst Theatre, New York – ‘Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon crackle’ by Naveen Kumar

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune opens with the title characters – played by Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon –

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:44AM
Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Ink review at Samuel J Friedman Theatre, New York – ‘James Graham’s prescient and absorbing play’ by Naveen Kumar

Is Rupert Murdoch a hero or a villain? First seen at the Almeida Theatre in London in 2017, ahead of a West

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 10:00PM
Monday, April 22, 2019

All My Sons starring Annette Bening and Tracy Letts review at American Airlines Theatre, New York – ‘never takes flight’ by Naveen Kumar

Annette Bening and Tracy Letts both come out swinging in this new Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s 1947 indictment of the American

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 09:00PM
Thursday, April 18, 2019

Hillary and Clinton review at Golden Theatre, New York – ‘Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow bring political royalty to life’ by Naveen Kumar

America’s recent past is on trial in Lucas Hnath’s Hillary and Clinton, which finds the couple in a New Hampshire hotel room

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:30PM
Wednesday, November 28, 2018

A Playwright Who Won’t Let Anyone Off the Hook by Naveen Kumar

He’s got two incendiary plays opening in New York. He’s been dressed by Gucci and Thom Browne. But Jeremy O. Harris still has to finish graduate school.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:18AM
Sunday, June 24, 2018

When the Actors Are Students, and They’re Armed by Naveen Kumar

As school shootings mount, educators face the question of how to present gunfire on stage amid students’ fears that their school could be next.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:04PM

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
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