All stories by David.nice on BroadwayStars

Friday, March 2, 2018

Fanny and Alexander, Old Vic review - agile but shallow Bergman adaptation by David.nice

Three strong performances weakened by miscasting elsewhere and restless soundtrackCould an epic cinematic masterpiece be turned successfully into a three-act play? Confession first: Ingmar B…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:05AM
Thursday, January 25, 2018

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Kneehigh on tour review - sweetest musical Chagalliana by David.nice

Wilton's Music Hall first stop for Emma Rice's fresh reincarnation of endung love storyTime flies so much more beguilingly in Daniel Jamieson and Emma Rice's 90-minute musical fant…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:06AM
Wednesday, December 13, 2017

The Twilight Zone, Almeida Theatre review - from hokum to humanity by David.nice

Perfectly modulated ensemble and production vary the strains of a classic TV seriesDirector Richard Jones watched all 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone as research for this Almeida productio…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:36AM
Thursday, October 19, 2017

The Lady from the Sea, Donmar Warehouse review - Nikki Amuka-Bird luminous in a sympathetic ensemble by David.nice

Ibsen's great human comedy weathers a sea-change from fjord to Caribbean islandWhat a profoundly beautiful play is Ibsen's The Lady from Sea. It stands in relation to the earlier, relat…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:36AM
Saturday, September 30, 2017

After the Rehearsal/Persona, Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Barbican - van Hove reconfigures Bergman by David.nice

Two dramas about acting and being, illusion and reality, form an inseparable wholeThree tall orders must be met in any successful transfer of an Ingmar Bergman text from screen to stage. Fir…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:18AM
Saturday, September 23, 2017

Wings, Young Vic review - Juliet Stevenson goes high and low by David.nice

Arthur Kopit's poetic drama about post-stroke aphasia and facing up to death astoundsNow look here, Giles Coren: immersion in a great play well acted can send you out of the theatre fee…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:42AM
Thursday, September 7, 2017

Follies, National Theatre review - Imelda Staunton equal first in stunning company by David.nice

Glitter and be sad as Sondheim''s former showgirls gather for a momentous reunionOf Sondheim’s half-dozen masterpieces, Follies is the one which sets the bar impossibly high, bot…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:48AM
Saturday, August 12, 2017

Proms 34 & 35 review: Oklahoma!, John Wilson Orchestra - music triumphs, words and drama suffer by David.nice

Lopsided results in faithful reconstruction of Rodgers and Hammerstein's groundbreakerOnly one thing could equal the wow factor of seeing and hearing a youngish Hugh Jackman launch into…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:33AM
Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Coming Clean, King's Head Theatre / Twilight Song, Park Theatre reviews - gay-themed first and last plays falter by David.nice

Kevin Elyot's 1982 debut has value, but his swansong should have stayed in the darkLike his smash-hit My Night With Reg, Kevin Elyot's first and last plays have a role to play in the hi…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:06AM
Thursday, June 1, 2017

La Strada, The Other Palace review - Fellini's tragicomedy becomes a noisy romp by David.nice

Lively song and movement, but the special pathos of the film is smotheredHitting the essence of a Fellini masterpiece in a different medium is no easy task. Try and reproduce his elusive bra…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:54AM
Thursday, May 25, 2017

The Mikado review - Sasha Regan's all-male operetta formula hits a reef by David.nice

Familiar company faces can't quite compensate for an odd choice of settingMen playing boys playing girls, women and men, all female parts convincingly falsettoed and high musical standa…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:12AM
Thursday, May 4, 2017

Three Comrades, Sovremennik review - well-oiled Russian take on 1920s Berlin by David.nice

Classic Moscow adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's no-hope novel creates a worldTime runs on different lines in Russian theatre to our own. 83-year-old Galina Volchek co-founded Moscow…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:31PM
Saturday, March 18, 2017

Roman Tragedies, Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Barbican by David.nice

Acting becomes being in Ivo van Hove's six-hour Shakespeare epicIt felt good to be encountering Shakespeare at his most political with a world event to smile about, for once (hailing, o…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:24AM
Friday, March 3, 2017

Othello, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse by David.nice

Kurt Egyiawan's Moor takes arms against a sea of production troubles, but in vainThere's no reason why ruffs and candles shouldn't mesh with bursts of contemporary speech, song and ligh…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:54AM
Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Hamlet, Almeida Theatre by David.nice

Andrew Scott, predictably unpredictable, is subject to Robert Icke's slow-burn clarityHow often do you leave a production of Shakespeare's most layered drama in tears, thinking "what an…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:12AM
Friday, February 17, 2017

Richard III, Schaubühne Berlin, Barbican by David.nice

More or less a one-man show, but the denouement justifies everythingHated the Schaubühne Hamlet (same lead actor, same director as this latest Shakespeare auf Deutsch); loved Ivo van Hove's…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:54AM
Friday, February 10, 2017

Beware of Pity, Complicite & Schaubühne Berlin, Barbican by David.nice

Zweig's tale of moral equivocation becomes a tense radio-play with optional visual extrasProlific, fitfully great Austrian writer Stefan Zweig's two biggest popular biographies, Marie A…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:18AM
Saturday, December 24, 2016

Christmas Book: When Broadway Went to Hollywood by David.nice

Ethan Mordden's latest opinionated guide has plenty of entertainment valueTinseltown's relationship to its more sophisticated, older New York brother is analogous to Ethan Mordden's eng…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:24AM
Sunday, December 18, 2016

Mary Stuart, Almeida Theatre by David.nice

Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams electrify as four Schiller queensTwo rich, full December Saturdays of unsurpassable theatre, four great plays that grow more meaningful with passing time, a…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:33PM
Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Once in a Lifetime, Young Vic by David.nice

Moving pictures and crisp talk as Richard Jones tackles a Broadway comedyAn amplified crunch in the dark, sound without vision, kicks off this take on Moss Hart and George S Kaufman's light …

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:18AM
Friday, November 4, 2016

The Nest, Young Vic by David.nice

THE NEST, YOUNG VIC Moralising made real in Conor McPherson's version of a German hitMoralising made real in Conor McPherson's version of a German hitDo we see enough in the UK of conti…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:36AM

The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, Hampstead Theatre by David.nice

THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Tony Kushner's revision of a 2010 New York drama contains multitudesTony Kushne…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:36AM

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