All stories by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 25, 2015

This isn't your garden-variety tale of adultery by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI

Irish novelist Edna O'Brien wrote a plum part for Brenda Blethyn in "Haunted," an oblique, wordy play about a waning marriage. The actress returned the favor by grounding the piece with rea…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Opposites distract during awkward date by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI

A waitress silently prepares for work. Her black-and-white uniform in place, she counts her teeth. No. 31 is AWOL, but she finds it somewhere behind her neck, and slides it back in place. T…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Kitsch-mas with the Osmonds by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI

You can take Donny and Marie Osmond out of Vegas, but you can't take Vegas out of them. Or is that Branson, Mo.? No matter: The siblings' holiday concert at the Marquis delivers everything …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Piano paean can be a pain by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI

It's not often that you hear Schubert's melan choly song cycle "Win terreise" ("Winter Journey") in a down town theater. And not with classical musicians, either, but with three scruffy dud…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Respect the unexpected by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI

How tepid was Broadway this year? The most talked-about show didn't even open. While waiting -- and waiting, and waiting -- for "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" to take flight, we watched a …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Get all wound up at provocative Coil fest by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI

Just when Broadway and off- Broadway go into their post- holiday hibernation, Performance Space 122 steps in with out-there productions aimed at the head, the guts and the heart. No wonder …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Fangs for nothing, 'Dracula' by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI

The woefully inept drama "Dracula," which opened off- Broadway last night, is as close as we get to dinner theater in New York. There's no prime rib, but plenty of grating cheese. While it …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Hotel-room stage a Williams wake-up call by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Location, location, location: That motto applies not only to real estate but to theater. Tennessee Williams' one-act play "Green Eyes" may be slight, but staging it in an actual hotel room -…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Heavy 'Stone' sinks by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A lot of energy is spent setting up an explo sive situation in the family drama "Blood From a Stone." But despite the efforts of a strong cast led by Ethan Hawke -- giving his best performa…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

'Desert' blooms by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Misery springs eternal. We've seen dozens of fictional families clash be cause of a Big Traumatic Past Event, but that didn't deter Jon Robin Baitz ("The Substance of Fire," TV's "Brothers …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Swindler you can bank on by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Ibsen's "John Gabriel Bork man" is nowhere near as popu lar as his "Hedda Gabler" and "A Doll's House." Yet crowds are flocking to this obscure 1896 play at BAM. What gives? One reason is t…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Star's not quite write by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A charismatic, seductive tycoon is key to Scott Brooks' new comedy, "ScreenPlay." Had a charismatic, seductive leading man been cast, this wan Hollywood satire might have gone somewhere. Unf…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

You won't want to leave 'Room' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The new "Room 17B" is like an anthology of clown haikus -- a se ries of self-contained routines, each one brief, elegant and perfectly balanced. Presented by the physical-comedy company Par…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

One person's political journey is another's schlep by Elisabeth Vincentelli

After the critical success of his epic "The Lily's Revenge" last year, all eyes were on Taylor Mac. Amid a cast of 40, the strikingly made-up and costumed writer-performer blossomed in the …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Moliére timely, but defanged by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Moliere's dark comedy "The Misanthrope" is one of the most cynical and twisted works in the canon, and deserves to be better known in America. Maybe we need a Hollywood update to show new a…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Pairs: when it doesn't sizzle by Elisabeth Vincentelli

When you think about David Auburn, author of the math-and-madness hit "Proof," farce isn't the first thing that comes to mind. So his decision to overhaul "The New York Idea" -- an obscure …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Tabloid tycoon's tale back by popular demand by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The key character in "What the Public Wants" is a driven media tycoon who reaches millions via dozens of publications. Through them, he seeks to entertain the many and influence the mighty.…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

It doesn't milk Williams' work for all it's worth by Elisabeth Vincentelli

While Tennessee Williams is acknowledged as a master, his later plays are theater's answer to the madwoman in the attic: Producers and directors either ignore them entirely, or tread ginger…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Civil War-era drama goes out on a limb by Elisabeth Vincentelli

An early scene in the new off- Broadway play "The Whipping Man" demonstrates the devastating power of words. We're in April 1865 and the war has just ended. A young Confederate soldier, Cal…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Pain brings limited gain by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Doug is a living nightmare for health-insurance companies: He's more than accident-prone -- he's a lightning rod for calamities. In Rajiv Joseph's uneven play "Gruesome Playground Injuries,…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Apartheid tale a vital revival by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Although Encores! productions such as "Gypsy," "Chicago" and "Finian's Rainbow" have made it to Broadway, fans of the long-running City Center series know such transfers are beside the poin…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Can 'Spidey' fly? by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Giving a blank check to Bono, The Edge and Julie Taymor to create a musical seemed like a brilliant idea, once upon a time.U2's worldwide success and the director's track record (“The …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

The unveiling of 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

What did come as a bit of a shock was the open glee with which some critics took down the show. It's as if they were happy the musical wasn't good, and I'm not sure that's an appropriate fra…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

WASP-y 'Black Tie' doesn't have much sting by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The prolific A.R. Gurney has made a specialty of documenting a certain slice of America: Northeast-based, white, middle-class families bound by a strong sense of kinship and precisely delin…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Staged Q&A session is a Gray area by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In the early '80s, the late mono loguist Spalding Gray created a show called "Interviewing the Audience" in which he did just that. He brought random theatergoers onstage and got them to op…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

French stars on stage in New York by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It's not every day that we get a former Bond Girl on a New York stage -- a Bond Girl who isn't Diana Rigg, that is.

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Get a rush from star's insanely good turn by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There are star vehicles, and then there's "The Diary of a Madman," which is like a gold-plated, diamond-encrusted Ferrari for Geoffrey Rush. And the Australian actor -- a leading contender …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Spoiling 'The Diary of a Madman' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Neil Armfield's production is unusually gorgeous. And yet something in the program, of all places, really bugged me.

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Football follies by Elisabeth Vincentelli

As a lifelong soccer fan, I'd never really paid much attention to American football. This all changed when I belatedly became obsessed with "Friday Night Lights." And clearly I'm not the onl…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

French Quarter tale only half-good by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Tennessee Williams would have turned 100 on March 26, and the past months have been jammed with revivals. Except we're not seeing his hits but late-period curios like “The Milk Train D…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 05:58PM[SHARE]

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