Thursday, June 7, 2018
I love meaningful musical theatre. I adore Sondheim. Caroline, Or Change is one of my favorite shows. But sometimes an old-fashioned, well-done, energetic, deeply silly musical is the perfec…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:06PMWednesday, June 6, 2018
As a reviewer, I get invited to dozens of shows each month, and it can be difficult to decide which to see. Sometimes the choice is almost random. I picked This Is Modern Art becau…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:36AMWednesday, May 30, 2018
I saw Liza Birkenmeier's the hollower three days ago and I have been avoiding writing a review because I don't know what to say. Well, yes, I know that the cast is excellent. And, yes, …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:12PMFriday, May 25, 2018
About 15 minutes into Hello Dolly, I thought, "I love this stupid show." By the end of the first act, I had eliminated "stupid." Hello Dolly has a silly plot, yes, and so…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:32PMWednesday, May 23, 2018
Lily Thorne treads familiar ground in her new play, Peace for Mary Frances. Estranged members of a family gather due to the death of a parent. Old grudges are revisited, old wounds are reope…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:48PMTuesday, May 15, 2018
LIZ: Were I to take awards seasons seriously, I’d join with the city’s professional theater critics in wringing my hands over the purported death of Broadway at the end of this weirdly i…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 06:04PMSunday, May 13, 2018
Before the Internet, daily-newspaper theater critics would see shows on opening night and write their reviews immediately after. Although these reviews often determined the fate of the show,…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:32PMWhen I wrote my first review of the fabulous APAC production of Follies, I was short on details. Then someone on the often-infuriating but also often-invaluable All That Chat…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:32PMWednesday, May 9, 2018
After all that's been written about Hamilton, one might think that there's nothing left to say. Turns out there's at least 400 pages' worth, as shown in Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbu…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:48PMMonday, May 7, 2018
How much did I enjoy the APAC production of Follies? I've already purchased my ticket to see it again.APAC (Astoria Performing Arts Center) has an excellent reputation and many awards, as we…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:04PMFriday, May 4, 2018
No doubt: the York Theatre Company is on a roll. Its last show, Desperate Measures, received a bouquet of nominations for best musical (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, etc.) and will soon o…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:24AMFriday, April 27, 2018
I have identified the problem with the musical Chess. It's bad.You've got Florence, who loves bad boy chess player Freddie and has probably been his lover in the past. Does the show do …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:54PMSunday, April 22, 2018
So, I could rave about the writing (joyfully wonderful and silly rhymes by David Ives) or the acting (from a strong, talented, attractive ensemble) or the design (charming) or the direction …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:48PMMonday, April 16, 2018
If there is an afterlife, I hope Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., has had the opportunity to look down and watch the Wheelhouse Theater Company's excellent production of his hilarious, incisive farce, Ha…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:54PMWednesday, April 11, 2018
Edward Albee was not exactly fond of his mother. The headmaster of a boarding school Albee attended was quoted in the New Yorker as saying, “[He] dislikes his mother with a cordial an…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:26PMMonday, March 19, 2018
My latest essay is up at Art Times. I would love to hear what you all think about the issues discussed.Periodically, old shows with iffy depictions of women are revived on Broadway. Peo…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:59PMThursday, March 8, 2018
What if the most heroic thing any of us can do is simply to survive?[spoilers, arguably, but this is not a plot-driven show]In Good for Otto, David Rabe gives us a microcosm of a small town-…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:00PMTuesday, February 27, 2018
[spoilers throughout]Yes, curse words sung operatically by incredibly talented people are startlingly funny. And arguments about who's cheating on who, complete with hair-pulling, are also g…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 07:22PMMonday, February 19, 2018
A year ago, a new cabaret space opened at the Yotel on 42nd Street and 10th Avenue (entrance on 10th): The Green Room 42. My first foray there was on February 14th, its first anniversary, fo…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:43PMSunday, February 4, 2018
While watching the Gallery Players' highly entertaining production of William Finn's odd but engaging musical, A New Brain, I found my own old brain full of questions. First, about A New Bra…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:00PMSaturday, January 27, 2018
Who assassinated Malcolm X? The answer remains a matter of debate in some quarters and may never be totally resolved until the New York Police Department releases the files on the case, whic…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:21PMSaturday, January 20, 2018
My latest piece is up at Art Times. It's about how we can help women in the arts get more power.Almost as far back as I can remember, people have been labeling various time periods as “The…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:03PMThursday, January 18, 2018
Sex. It's a tricky thing, is sex.Throughout history, including now, cultures have sought to tame sex's complexity via rigid rules, assumptions, and limitations (particularly for women), with…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:00PMMonday, January 8, 2018
You may have heard of director Gerald Freedman. You may not have. But you've certainly heard of his work: Freedman assistant-directed the original West Side Story and Gypsy. He dir…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:02PMSaturday, December 23, 2017
Robert O'Hara's new comedy Mankind, which he also directs, doesn't officially open at Playwright's Horizon until January 8, so it's way too early to review it. But I do have a comment o…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:24PMMonday, December 18, 2017
It's that time of the year again. I've limited myself to 10 best shows, since that's the number everyone likes, and I've included "honorable mentions" as well. Shows that I reviewed are link…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 06:33PMWednesday, December 13, 2017
The Public Theater's Mobile Unit is presenting a highly entertaining, streamlined version of The Winter's Tale through December 17. It's a lovely evening in the theater, if not quite Sh…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:33PMTuesday, November 21, 2017
You just never know how something is going to hit you. Last night I saw the National Theatre Broadcast of Follies with five friends. Among us, we have easily seen 80 live performances o…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:12PMMy latest essay is up at Art Times:Many years ago, I had the magical experience of being there when my nephew Charlie, who was around six years old at the time, saw his first musical. It was…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:12PMMonday, November 13, 2017
There are still some seats left for Nellie McKay: The Big Molinsky--Considering Joan Rivers at Joe's Pub on November 17 at 11:30. They're only $15, with a $12 cover (the fries are delis…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:36PMSunday, November 12, 2017
There's good news and there's bad news.Good news: Shame of Thrones: The Rock Musical: An Unauthorized Parody (what would be the point of an authorized parody?) largely succeeds in getti…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:18PM 
