Saturday, October 15, 2011
Marcus Hummon's generic musical feels like a bad concept album onstage. Every song sounds like the one before it, and the repetitive lyrics disguise any hint of a compelling story.
SOURCE: Backstage at 12:00PMFriday, October 14, 2011
Bruce Graham's new play is more about philosophy than football. It ultimately fails to score a touchdown, proving to be as indecisive as its protagonist.
SOURCE: Backstage at 04:18AMTuesday, October 11, 2011
Stacey Weingarten and David Levinson's depressing musical feels like an attempt to recreate "Les Misérables," and despite some pleasant voices, the show never fully takes flight.
SOURCE: Backstage at 05:14AMMonday, October 10, 2011
James Lantz paints a stereotyped view of middle America. Though the leading actors deliver moving performances, the characters feel like tools to prove a point.
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:49AMCarl Kissin and Rob Baumgartner Jr.'s cliché-laden musical takes us through trite, fluffy dating scenarios. However, the charismatic performers, peppy score, and generally insightful …
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:35AMMac Wellman is known for his experimental theater making, but "3 2's; or AFAR" takes obscurity to a new level. The piece never makes a semblance of sense.
SOURCE: Backstage at 04:07AMFriday, October 7, 2011
Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis' score provides generally easy listening, but the story of a community of transgender individuals in Georgia is hard to hear at times. The complicated c…
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:40AMTuesday, October 4, 2011
Anyone who is or has a mother, a stepmother, a foster mother, or anything in between will be able to relate to and enjoy this insightful piece, conceived by Susan Rose and Joan Stein.
SOURCE: Backstage at 07:00AMFriday, September 30, 2011
It may never be Broadway bound, but thanks to a little magic and imagination, Tom and Jack Megan's fun and endearing new musical appeals to the inner child in all of us.
SOURCE: Backstage at 04:40AMThursday, September 29, 2011
With a dysfunctional score and cartoonish characters, "Man of Rock" proves that first-time musical writers Ken Flagg and Daniel Heath need more than just a good song to write an entertaini…
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:34AMPowerful vocalists cannot save this haphazard musical, featuring a gospel-inspired score by Bill Wright and Dionne McClaine-Freeney, from a weak plot, redundant songs, and stereotypical ch…
SOURCE: Backstage at 04:39AMWednesday, September 28, 2011
The poignancy of Brandon Walker's new play has almost everything to do with Michael Stephen Clay's performance as William Turner and not the spotty script and direction.
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:04AMFriday, September 23, 2011
Director Stephen Brackett keeps the suspense coursing through Chad Beckim's simultaneously moving and humorous piece about a wronged man embarking on a new life.
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:25AMTuesday, September 20, 2011
Language and understanding are core concepts of Broadway-bound "Chinglish." But when a quarter of the play is in Mandarin, how does the performance translate for both actors and audiences?
SOURCE: Backstage at 04:04AMThe Gallery Players' "The Drowsy Chaperone" and T. Schreiber Studio's "Balm in Gilead" took home the top prizes—for outstanding production of a musical and outstanding production of …
SOURCE: Backstage at 01:43AMFriday, September 16, 2011
Fourteen-year-old actor Khadim Diop makes this 'Seed' grow to its full potential, and while the play drags at points, playwright Radha Blank's Harlem-set drama grabs the heart.
SOURCE: Backstage at 08:00AMPlaywright Sharyn Rothstein delivers a subtly engaging drama, and she doesn't patronize her audience with her intellectual topical content, while director Ron Canada keeps the action churn…
SOURCE: Backstage at 02:57AMThursday, September 15, 2011
While it's refreshing to see women working in the male-dominated political world, playwright Victor L. Cahn still resorts to gender stereotypes, and Eric Parness' rickety direction inhibit…
SOURCE: Backstage at 05:52AMMonday, September 12, 2011
While the performers' comic interpretations of O'Neill's stage cues please at points, the gags become stale, as none of the plays make sense without the playwright's sharp dialogue.
SOURCE: Backstage at 08:00AMThis silly, somewhat random layover in the fictional Eastern European country of Lapsburgh is theatrical cotton candy. It's undeniably funny but also a tad unruly, and there's little subst…
SOURCE: Backstage at 08:00AMFriday, September 2, 2011
Books and birds flood J. Stephen Brantley's action-packed drama with unnecessary metaphor, while sharp dialogue and some standout performances can't save the play from its own allegory.
SOURCE: Backstage at 04:29AMFriday, August 26, 2011
Erin Krom and Nikki Van Cassele deliver moving performances as Daisy and Violet Hilton, the Depression-era conjoined twins, but the production's sloppy music direction muffles what should …
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:27AMMonday, August 22, 2011
With four authors, this clichéd New York–centric work has a surprisingly cohesive tone; however, the vignette form impedes character and plot development.
SOURCE: Backstage at 04:54AMFriday, August 19, 2011
Mariah MacCarthy's lesbian take on "Romeo and Juliet" has talented lead actors and some funny moments, but the show is too long for its own good.
SOURCE: Backstage at 05:39AMPlaywright Sofia Johnson shows promise in her intriguing and deeply honest work about teenage peer pressure, and the concise production boasts an outstanding cast.
SOURCE: Backstage at 01:33AMThursday, August 18, 2011
Series B must unfortunately refer to the caliber of the second cycle of the Festival of New American Plays. The actors make a valiant effort, but the drama is sub-par.
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:01AMGreg Kotis and Mark Hollmann's metaphorical musical is the hot ticket this Fringe for good reason. Their satirical romp through the primordial soup rocks out with unexpectedly lovable char…
SOURCE: Backstage at 02:07AMTuesday, August 16, 2011
Arlene Hutton patronizes her audience with this surface-level children's play, and director Mark Lutwak's succinct production never teaches the lessons it should.
SOURCE: Backstage at 06:33AMDirector Sherri Eden Barber delivers a compassionate production of this choppy, sometimes lagging, slice-of-life drama by Josh Koenigsberg.
SOURCE: Backstage at 04:31AMSet in an airport terminal, this mess of a musical lacks concrete action and sympathetic characters. As the monotonous songs drag on, it feels like a long wait for a flight.
SOURCE: Backstage at 03:13AMLes 7 Doigts de la Main is certain to leave a trace, or a blazing trail, with this high-energy, inventive twist on circus arts.
SOURCE: Backstage at 03:06AM 
