All stories by Robert Israel on BroadwayStars

Monday, October 30, 2017

Theater Review: “Kiss” and Don’t Tell by Robert Israel

The bottom line is that we simply aren't given a requisite sense of the play's embrace of tragedy.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 10:18AM
Sunday, September 17, 2017

Theater Preview: The Bard and Tennessee Williams by Robert Israel

"Both poet/playwrights wrote with the same swings between tragedy and farce we live with now in America."

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:06AM
Saturday, September 16, 2017

Theater Review: “Men on Boats” — A Trip with its Ups and Downs by Robert Israel

Men on Boats is a sometimes rollicking, at other times tedious, one-act play.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 05:24PM
Saturday, August 19, 2017

Theater Review: “Out of the Mouths of Babes” — Memories of a Cad by Robert Israel

Israel Horovitz's latest play delivers some fine moments of comedy as well as some dark revelations about female neediness.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 02:42PM
Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Fuse Remembrance: Sam Shepard — An Appreciation by Robert Israel

Throughout Sam Shepard's oeuvre one can find ample evidence of his struggles with demons, some of them distinctively American.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:24AM
Monday, July 10, 2017

Theater Review: “Mad Dash” — Fresh Ink Theatre Beats the Clock by Robert Israel

Fresh Ink Theatre is to be applauded for taking risks, for daring to mix it all up, for giving audiences a taste of what theater, shelter-skelter version, can be.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:06AM
Thursday, June 1, 2017

Theater Review: “Ripcord” — Bittersweet Geriatrics by Robert Israel

Yes, Ripcord is candied, but there's just enough astringency blended in to make the sugar sufficiently tangy.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 12:48PM
Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Theater Review: “The Bridges of Madison County” — Waterlogged by Robert Israel

The talented SpeakEasy Stage ensemble offers enough harmonious pizazz to make up for the musical 's erotic fizzle.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:42AM
Friday, March 17, 2017

Visual Arts Feature: The Photographs of Henryk Ross — An Eye on the Banality of Evil by Robert Israel

In the remarkable images of Henryk Ross, Nazi evil is exposed through a kind of heroic voyeurism.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 12:54PM
Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Theater Review: “Grand Concourse” — You Gotta Have Faith by Robert Israel

Grand Concourse does wondrous things: it encourages us ponder our own growth toward faith while emphasizing with the struggles of others.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 01:12PM
Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Film Review: “Fences” — The Tragedy of Walls by Robert Israel

This excellent film version of the play Fences meets (even exceeds) the considerable demands of August Wilson's script.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:54AM
Friday, December 9, 2016

Book Review: Poet Philip Levine — The Kernel of Life by Robert Israel

These posthumous volumes provide ample proof that poet Philip Levine was far more than a proletariat troubadour.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 03:06PM
Saturday, October 29, 2016

Theater Review: “Tiger Style!” — Theatrical Silly Putty by Robert Israel

Tiger Style! blows by like a whirlwind -- wordy, frivolous, and ultimately unsatisfying.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 10:12AM
Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Fuse Theater Preview: Melinda Lopez — A Life in the Theater by Robert Israel

“Theater is my pathway to sanity,” Melinda Lopez explains.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:22AM
Friday, September 30, 2016

Theater Review: “The Plough and the Stars” — Life Under Pressure by Robert Israel

This is a galvanic production that stirs the spirit and demands that we reflect on what the script says about our own time, our own struggles.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 03:21PM
Thursday, September 29, 2016

Theater Preview: Conor Lovett on Music and Samuel Beckett in “Here All Night” by Robert Israel

“If you’ll excuse me for being cheeky, it’s a collaboration between the players on stage and Beckett’s works.”

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:16AM
Friday, September 23, 2016

Fuse Theater Review: Machine de Cirque — A Captivating Contraption by Robert Israel

Yes, another circus show has come to town with players who display breath-taking athleticism in all its cheeky glory.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:54AM
Saturday, September 17, 2016

Fuse Stage Feature: TW Festival’s David Kaplan on Beyond Success — Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams by Robert Israel

Once Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams achieved success, they wanted to take on themes in their plays that challenged audiences.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 10:03AM
Monday, September 5, 2016

Fuse Theater Review: “Company” — What We Sing About When We Sing About Love by Robert Israel

There's a lot of love in the Lyric Stage Company’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 Tony Award winning show, Company.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 06:01PM
Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Fuse Stage Review: “Songs for a New World” — In the Key of Passion by Robert Israel

Summer theater musicals often accentuate the frivolous, but the GSC production of Songs for a New World demands more.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:13AM
Thursday, June 30, 2016

Fuse Stage Interview: 7 Doigts De La Main Serves Up “Cuisine & Confessions” by Robert Israel

“Circus artists aren’t the best actors,” Shana Carroll notes, “it’s not their thing."

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:30AM
Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Fuse Preview: Liz Callaway to Perform “Tapestry” with the Boston Pops by Robert Israel

Audiences for Liz Callaway can expect to hear faithful interpretations of these now familiar hit songs, but also expect the unexpected.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 06:18PM
Friday, April 22, 2016

Fuse Theater Review: “Historia de Amor” at ArtsEmerson — Daring and Unsparing Theater by Robert Israel

Based on a graphic novel, the brilliant Historia de Amor is unrelenting in its darkness. It’s as if we’re swimming in a pool of India ink.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:39AM
Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Fuse News: 20th Annual IRNE Awards — A Celebration of Theatrical Excellence by Robert Israel

Let no one accuse the Boston theater community of being moribund.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 03:54PM
Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Fuse Theater Review: “Bootycandy” — Bawdy and Sweet by Robert Israel

Bootycandy is sharp-witted and entertaining -- but thoroughly sugary.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 06:18PM
Monday, March 14, 2016

Fuse Theater Review: “How I Learned What I Learned” — August Wilson’s Indelible Lessons by Robert Israel

August Wilson's dramatized autobiography, thanks to the magnificent actor Eugene Lee, is a stirring experience.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 12:16PM
Saturday, February 27, 2016

Fuse Music Feature: At 76, Singer Mavis Staples Continues to be an Antidote to Despair by Robert Israel

Mavis Staples' voice and stage presence still exude power, still plumb emotional and spiritual depths.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:15AM
Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Fuse Book Review: Stanley Fish Invites Readers to “Think Again” — With Chutzpah by Robert Israel

The New York Times columns selected for Think Again are engaging, provocative, maddening, humorous, and insightful.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:06AM
Sunday, January 10, 2016

Fuse Theater Review: “Via Dolorosa” — An Innocent Abroad in Israel by Robert Israel

Via Dolorosa is essentially a work of reportage: it would have been more effective if it had taken the form of a travel essay rather than a performance piece.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 03:03PM
Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Fuse Theater Review: “Buyer & Cellar” — In Barbra Streisand’s Enchanted Village by Robert Israel

This one-man comic extravaganza about the dizzying spell of celebrity is a welcome respite from the annual bombardment of holiday joyrides.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:56AM
Monday, November 16, 2015

Fuse Theater Review: Isango Ensemble’s “uCarmen” — A Captivating Version of a Classic by Robert Israel

A bewitching South African version of Bizet's opera -- performed with a distinctive blend of spunk and sass.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:56AM

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