Sunday, 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 10:18PMI am excited to introduce Maggie Sulc as our new Canadian reviewer. As you can see from her bio below, she has a great deal of experience in both theatre and writing. Even better, …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:18PMFriday, November 3, 2017
There are certain humans who seem to be their own species. In the case of circus performers, it would be homo sapiens amazingus. The Big Apple Circus is full of these wondrous folk, flying t…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:04PMMonday, October 23, 2017
In Steven Dietz's two-character play Lonely Planet, Jody (the subtle and smart Arnie Burton) owns a map store. He loves and is comforted by the factual information contained by map…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:24AMSaturday, October 21, 2017
I didn't stay for the second act of War Paint, and it's closing in early November, so I'll make this brief.My response to Patti LuPone's first solo: "I wish they had closed captioning."My si…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:12AMSaturday, October 14, 2017
Anyone who regularly reads Show Showdown knows that I am a huge fan of the Flux Theatre Ensemble. The Lesser Seductions of History, Dog Act, Hearts Like Fists, Jane the Plain, and Sans Merci…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:48PMSunday, October 1, 2017
In J.B. Priestley's 1937 play, Time and the Conways, it's 1919 and the Conways are giving a party for daughter Kay's 21st birthday. While the guests enjoy themselves elsewhere, various Conwa…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:33PMFriday, September 29, 2017
There is a unique satisfaction that comes from watching a solid revival of a well-made play from the early or middle 20th century. This is why I have long been a fan of The Mint Theater Comp…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:12AMWednesday, September 27, 2017
There is a certain gravitas that automatically attaches to a play about dementia starring Deanna Dunagan and Peter Friedman and produced at Playwrights Horizons. Because of this gravitas, it…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:48PMThursday, September 21, 2017
I saw John Doyle's production of As You Like It at the CSC at an early preview, and this isn't a review per se. It's just some thoughts.Yes, some of the performers do play instruments.I…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:54PMI'm late to the A Doll's House, Part 2 bandwagon, and I nearly missed it entirely. But a friend saw the show and raved, so I decided to finally check it out.And, yes, it's as good as ev…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:42AMSaturday, September 16, 2017
At the very start of I Am Antigone, Antigone says to us,I know what you’re thinking. Not her again. We’ve heard enough out of her. The fact is you’ve heard nothing from me at all. It�…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:18PMThursday, September 14, 2017
The New York Theater Workshop's Mary Jane doesn't open officially until September 25, but I suggest you get your tickets now, before they become unavailable or you have to pay way more …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:48PMMonday, August 28, 2017
The press info for Thomas Klingenstein's play, If Only, includes the following description:In 1860 Abraham Lincoln came to New York City where he befriended a well-educated ex-slave, and a y…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:33AMSaturday, August 26, 2017
Playwright Teresa Deevy lived from 1894 to 1963. The youngest of 13 children, she lost her hearing in her late teens, roughly at the same time that her family's financial situation became mu…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:04AMThursday, August 17, 2017
Waiting for Van Gogh's Ear to start is a pleasure, since it gives you time to really examine Vanessa Jame's open and elegant set. It's all black and white, with dramatic strips of …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:12PMWednesday, August 9, 2017
I was not a huge Barbara Cook fan. It would never occur to me to play a CD of hers. I certainly didn't consider her the premiere cabaret singer ever or the best interpreter ever.Yet every ti…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:48AMSunday, July 30, 2017
My latest essay is up at Art Times:I walked out on a production of the brilliant comedy Cloud Nine the other night. The problem? The performers were trying too hard to be funny.I r…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:33PMSaturday, July 29, 2017
It is telling that the line from which this play's title comes is "No pity in history." It's the 17th Century, during a civil war in Britain, and of course the war is not remotely civil…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:32PMSaturday, July 22, 2017
Tom Stoppard always offers scrumptious meals for the head, but not always for the heart. Arcadia, his brilliant play about literature, history, math, science, gardening, and sex, featur…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:48AMSaturday, July 15, 2017
Forty years ago, on July 13, 1977, I was at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, watching Threepenny Opera starring Ellen Greene, Philip Bosco, Caroline Kava, and Tony Azito. I was st…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:54AMSunday, July 9, 2017
What is a disability? Does it define a person? What does it mean to care about someone? To care for someone? What is trust? How is it earned?Sullivan, WilliamsPhoto: Joan MarcusThese are jus…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:36AMMonday, July 3, 2017
Marvin's Room lost me quickly. Perhaps it's because I've been dealing with bunches of doctors recently and they've been wonderful, but I found Marvin's Room's jokey, stupid physici…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:18PMWednesday, June 28, 2017
In spring of 1973, I saw a sweet new musical called Shelter written by Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford, who would later write I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road. I like…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:42PMSaturday, June 24, 2017
My latest essay is up at Art Times:The original title of this essay was “Is Broadway Committing Suicide? And Does It Matter?” But the more I thought about it, the more I came to admire B…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:33PMSaturday, June 17, 2017
I am not a fan of John Doyle's, as evidenced in my review of his production of Passion, so I didn't plan to see his production of Pacific Overtures at CSC. But three things changed…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:48AMMonday, June 12, 2017
Liz wins the Show Showtime “Predicting the Most Tony Wins Award of 2017,” with 15 correct (out of 24 categories). Sandra is first runner up, with 13. And Wendy brings up the rear with 12…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:48AMMonday, June 5, 2017
[spoilers throughout]Watching Clare Lizzimore’s play Animal is an odd experience. You never quite know what’s going on, because Rachel, the main character, is unraveling, and partially b…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:42AMSaturday, June 3, 2017
Earlier this year we lost David Bell, respected playwright and Show Showdown cofounder, way too young (he was in his early 40s). If you'd like to read reviews of his play, The Play About the…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:06AMMonday, May 22, 2017
In A.A. Milne's The Lucky One, currently playing at The Mint, we hear it again and again: "Poor old Bob." "Poor old Bob." "Poor old Bob."Bob's problem is simple: for years he has been wither…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:18PMFriday, March 31, 2017
Bette Midler and Dolly Levi would seem to be as perfect a match as, oh, Glenn Close and Norma Desmond or Angela Lansbury and Mame. But, rather than giving us Dolly Levi, Bette has chosen to …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 07:06PM 
