All stories by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI on BroadwayStars

Thursday, June 13, 2013

'Venice' menace to musicals by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The most popular young-adult novels these days " "The Hunger Games," "The 5th Wave" " feature hotties entangled in love triangles while trying to survive in a dystopian, dangerous world. Now…

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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Elderly Brits fall on hard times in 'Autumn' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It's hard to pin down "A Picture of Autumn": You can see it as either a funny drama or the most depressing comedy of the season. Above all, the show that opened off-Broadway Monday night is …

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Guare's triple-header boasts only one hit by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The best sits right next to the worst in "3 Kinds of Exile," the new project by John Guare. The show is made up of three distinct works that share a theme " the experiences of a trio of East…

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Forget the troubles, get 'Happy' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

With plays like "Fat Pig" and movies like "In the Company of Men," Neil LaBute made a career out of antagonizing audiences. His usual MO is to expose our baser instincts by throwing unpleasa…

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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Cheers for comic Lynch-pin by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There's something to be said about typecasting. What's wrong with an actor zeroing in on a type and playing brilliant variations on that theme? Nobody accuses a violin virtuoso of not playin…

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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

'Tutors' gets B for effort by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There are two or three good plays fighting it out within "The Tutors." But they cancel each other out, and the show that opened last night at Second Stage Uptown ends up merely promising, ra…

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Putting the 'Fun' in funereal by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Like old-fashioned dramas, the new "Somewhere Fun" is staged in three acts with two intermissions. It also boasts two charismatic powerhouses in the leads: Kathleen Chalfant and Kate Mulgrew…

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Monday, June 3, 2013

Sounds 'Heaven'-sent by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The most important part of any musical is the score. And "Far from Heaven" " about prejudice and repressed desire in 1957 Connecticut " boasts a gorgeously lush and evocative score. Composer…

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Friday, May 31, 2013

Opera mash-up a jukebox zero by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A jukebox opera isn't a bad idea. The Met pulled it off last year with "The Enchanted Island," which borrowed plotlines from a couple of Shakespeare plays and stuffed them with baroque arias…

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Just a pale 'Chalk' outline by Elisabeth Vincentelli

You can see why theater companies are drawn to "The Caucasian Chalk Circle": Writing at the end of WWII, Bertolt Brecht brought together elements from an old Chinese tale and the Judgment of…

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Friday, May 24, 2013

Bar-stool bores 'Weir' out their welcome by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Men hang out in a homey pub. They exchange gruff jokes, down drink after drink, and soon enough start trading tales. Naturally, "The Weir" takes place in Ireland " where else would camarader…

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Sermon without a theme by Elisabeth Vincentelli

'Basilica" is the rare new play that spares us the self-inflated problems of the white, big-city middle class. Set in gritty south Texas, the show deals with the travails of the blue-collar …

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Slayed by a love song by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Oh no, not another immersive, sung-through rock musical! But "Murder Ballad" first opened at Manhattan Theatre Club last fall, the same time the Russian-inflected "Natasha, Pierre & the Grea…

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Shakespeare in the Park goes for laughs with sitcom star Jesse Tyler Ferguson by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Shakespeare in the Park doesn't have summer to itself anymore. Pretenders have popped up with all kinds of gimmicks: site-specific environments. Shows where the audience follows the cast as …

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Broadway beauty Benanti commands 'Attention' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

One of the things that makes Broadway star Laura Benanti so much fun to watch is the discrepancy between her unassuming behavior and what happens when she starts singing. Benanti is one of t…

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

'Builder' not masterful by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A midlife crisis has devastating consequences in "The Master Builder." This should surprise no one since the 1892 play is by Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian not known for rom-coms. But the product…

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Friday, May 17, 2013

Colin Quinn tackles the Constitution in his new stand-up show by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The program for "Colin Quinn Unconstitutional" claims the show is "a new comedy." That's a bit misleading. Sure, there's a director (Rebecca A. Trent) and basic staging: a lectern, a kind of…

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'Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812' returns at Kazino with its brilliance intact by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Last fall's most exciting sensation wasn't a big Broadway musical but a scrappy outsider sneaking in under the radar. At first glance, "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812" looked lik…

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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Sleazy stripper saga survives off-B'way by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Nomi Malone is back! In the 1995 camp classic "Showgirls," Elizabeth Berkley's psycho stripper climbed to the topless top of the Strip. Now at long last, Nomi's made her way to a pole near u…

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Gov't drudgery leaps from C-SPAN to the stage by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Immersive and site-specific shows are hot right now, and "City Council Meeting" hits both of those sweet spots. Devised by Mallory Catlett, Jim Findlay and Aaron Landsman " all regulars on t…

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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Pall in the 'Family' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The last time Philip Seymour Hoffman teamed up with playwright Bob Glaudini, they scored an unlikely hit with 2007's "Jack Goes Boating" " an affectionate depiction of so-called losers looki…

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There's life & magic in 'Death of Walt Disney' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Broadway these days is specializing in famous people played by even more famous people: Tom Hanks as the tabloid columnist Mike McAlary, Bette Midler as super-agent Sue Mengers and Holland T…

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Mutiny on the 'Bunty': Bollywood satire by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Life and showbiz got uncomfortably close in "Bunty Berman Presents . . .," a likable but overlong new musical set in the demented world of Bollywood movies. As it happened, Erick Avari, the …

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These 'Toes' sure twinkle by Elisabeth Vincentelli

According to current conventional wisdom, 1936's "On Your Toes" could never cut it again on Broadway. After all, it features a goofy fun plot, songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and l…

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Richard Foreman's 'Old-Fashioned Prostitutes' is yet another incomprehensible brain teaser by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There's no right or wrong way to approach "Old-Fashioned Prostitutes (A True Romance)." Since the late 1960s, Richard Foreman has been creating cryptic, bizarre shows that can be compared on…

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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Smothering 'Others' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It's not fun being the newbie at a party where the other guests already know each other. You watch them chat about their jobs, laugh at old anecdotes, exchange updates about relationships " …

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Sunday, May 5, 2013

Lady's good man-ners by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Drag queens and female impersonators have always had a place in theater. Just look at this year's Tonys, where several Best Actor nominees " Billy Porter in "Kinky Boots," Bertie Carvel in "…

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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Gladiators, corporate-style by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In Mike Bartlett's off-Broadway hit "Cock" " alternatively titled, for weaker hearts and newspapers, "The Cockfighting Play" " a man couldn't make up his mind between his boyfriend and his f…

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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Alzheimer's? Forget it by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The Transport Group has had great success matching shows with unusual settings " placing the basketball musical "Lysistrata Jones" in an actual gym, letting the gay-male bitch-a-thon "The Bo…

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

'Pippin': Pip pip hooray! by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Talk about going out with a bang! Broadway's ending its season with a sensational revival of "Pippin" " a thrilling piece of eye-popping razzle dazzle filled with daredevil acrobatics. Steph…

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

A sassy and sure Bette by Elisabeth Vincentelli

For her first Broadway appearance since "Clams on the Half Shell" 38 years ago, Bette Midler split the difference between playing it safe and taking a risk. Instead of trotting out her hits …

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All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off