Leave it to George S. Kaufman and collaborator Morrie Ryskind (the Marx Brothers’ "The Cocoanuts," "Animal Crackers," "A Night at the Opera" as well as the Gershwins’ "Strike Up the Band…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:05PMWhile the script describes the setting as simply a “rural place,” British and European productions apparently have set the play in medieval times. It is definitely pre-industrial as the …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:51PMWell-meaning and sincere," Occupied Territories" is both generic and stereotyped, offering a story television and the movies have been offering for years: the traumatic effect of a father’…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:50PMKing’s "Dolores Claiborne" would seem a strange choice for dramatization as the book is a monologue told entirely by its protagonist at a police interrogation over a murder on Little Tall …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:20AMBoycott gets to sing a bounty of scintillating songs including “It’s A Perfect Relationship,” “Is It A Crime?,” “I’m Goin’ Back” and her duets with Heuser in “Better Than…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:00PMIn Jonathan Silverstein’s production, Arnie Burton and Matt McGrath as two friends who handle their fears of an unnamed epidemic in opposite ways do not seem to connect as real friends wou…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:52PMDirector John Collins, founder of ERS, has set the play in an office or conference room with three long tables (in Jim Findlay’s design which eventually grows tiresome) and a great many …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:45AMIt is possible to enjoy Brian Friel’s "The Home Place" without knowing the background to this historical play set in rural Ireland in 1878 as a Chekhovian representation of a world about t…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:34PMWhile the acting is compelling, the threesome does not reveal many layers to their characters; they establish a persona and stick to it, without divulging any further information. As Mae, Ni…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:21PMWhile not all musicals from Shakespeare have worked and updates are particularly risky, "Desperate Measures" avoids all of the pitfalls and is a refreshing and satisfying work in its own rig…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:14PMDirector Ralph Lewis, apparently not trusting the material – or finding the play too dated – has staged a carnival-esque version (adapted by S.M. Dale in June 2016) which includes 16 son…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:37PMPart of the problem is the lack of innovation in Ray Roderick’s staging in this show which calls out for invention and clever handling of sets and props. Devin Vogel’s colorless stage de…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:40PMAlthough director Kimberly Senior who also piloted the Chicago production has staged the play with elegance, she never really turns up the heat so that there are not many sparks in Carter’…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:29AMThe central character is actually Mrs. Fisher who worries about her children and plots to open Amy’s eyes to her husband’s faults. Unfortunately, Annette O’Toole has been directed to p…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:42PMThe new story concerns Wayne Hopkins, an American boy whose parents die tragically and his Uncle Dave informs him that he is a wizard and must attend a special school in England. Wayne is so…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:53PMKnown as the Shakespeare play with the most song lyrics, the production also includes a deliciously bouncy new score by Stephen Schwartz in different musical styles from the 1920’s – 195…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:40PMChicago playwright Philip Dawkins makes a memorable New York debut with an involving and engrossing play which at the performance under review you could have heard a pin drop, so rapt was th…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:33PMThe play isn’t just about social climbers but those who want to game the system and live beyond their income, and their sense of entitlement rivals that of the 1990’s. However, this is 1…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:20PMNeil Pepe’s production of Simon Stephens’ "On the Shore of the Wide World" will not please all. The pace is consciously slow – like the life lived by these characters. However, the wai…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:28PMThis 1877 operetta, now celebrating its 140th anniversary, has been reduced to the nine major roles and the chorus has been eliminated. The result is a streamlined version that moves along a…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 06:35PMAlthough the plot has been reset in Loveless, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1929, it is an improvement over the original story as a romantic comedy: Shakespeare’s version ends wi…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:44PMAs Blixen, Pelletier is riveting as she wraps her cocoon around the unsuspecting but susceptible young man. Catlike and sinuous as she stalks him and the stage, she is cajoling, seductive, m…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:08PMThe newly reconstituted New York City Opera opened its second full season with a shared production of Puccini’s rarely performed "La Fanciulla del West" created in collaboration with the T…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:44PMPerformed by The Bats, the resident company of The Flea Theater, the world premiere of "Inanimate" is the inaugural production in their new home on Thomas Street, between Church and Broadway…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:40PMExquisitely produced by the Mint Theater, Jonathan Bank’s direction is leisurely and slow, which undercuts the theatricality of all but the last and the most satisfying one, 'The King of S…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:15PMWhile the three plays in Summer Shorts 2017: Festival of New American Short Plays – Series B have been given proficient productions each seems ultimately unsatisfactory. All seem like firs…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:38PMBruce Norris’ "A Parallelogram" endeavors to explore some sobering facts about the effect of the future on the present and responsibility to others. Unfortunately, the play ends up being l…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:19PMThe revival at the York is being seen in yet a new version of the show that began as a cabaret in 1981 and went to Broadway in 1985. Created by director Larry Alford, choreographer Wayne Alf…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:31PMAlthough the physical production has been well-thought-out, the script seems to have no interpretation other than a great deal of slapstick comedy which does not much register. The cast vari…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:50PM"Acolyte" by Graham Moore, Academy Award winner for his 2013 screenplay for "The Imitation Game," is a more substantial play than the other two. Based on an historical occurrence in 1954, it…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:35PMAside from the destructive nature of the storm and that the "Pegasus" eventually arrives at a desert shore, there isn’t much to be learned about climate change. We never know if Sleeper lo…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:36PM
