All stories by Elisabeth Vincentelli on BroadwayStars

Friday, October 18, 2013

‘Downton’ fans should eat up ‘The Winslow Boy’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A legal drama drives the story but Rattigan also throws in a subplot about a love that dare not express itself between feisty suffragette Catherine Winslow and arrogant barrister Sir...

SOURCE: The New York Post at 05:56PM
Thursday, October 17, 2013

Legal drama ‘The Winslow Boy’ goes a-courtin’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Broadway’s answer to Masterpiece Theater has just arrived in the form of “The Winslow Boy,” Terence Rattigan’s 1946 drama. The last Rattigan play by the Roundabout, “Man and Bo…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 11:19PM
Wednesday, October 16, 2013

‘Romeo,’ art thou kidding us? by Elisabeth Vincentelli

OMG, R&J! Last week St. Ann’s Warehouse gave us a “Julius Caesar” that’s purportedly being put on by inmates in a women’s prison. Now comes a Classic Stage Company production...

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:54PM

‘Model Apartment’ will surprise Margulies’ fans by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Discovering that playwright Donald Margulies is the author of “The Model Apartment” is a little like hearing that a cat gave birth to a rabbit. Margulies is best known for...

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:20AM
Friday, October 11, 2013

‘Janis Joplin’ doesn’t scream Broadway by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Enough of these baby­boomer-baiting tribute concerts trying to pass for Broadway musicals! Just months after the Beatles impersonators in “Let It Be” left town comes “A Night With Jan…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 12:42AM
Wednesday, October 9, 2013

All hail lady ‘Julius Caesar’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Theatergoers are usually told to turn off their cellphones — but rarely are they told their phones may be confiscated. And it’s even rarer to find the restroom stalls plastered...

SOURCE: The New York Post at 10:06PM

‘Bronx Bombers’ brings Yankees legends to life by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Eric Simonson’s created a niche market for himself: He writes plays about sports icons. “Lombardi” was about the inspirational Green Bay Packers coach, “Magic/Bird” about friendly …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:26AM
Tuesday, October 8, 2013

‘Anthem’ nothing to sing about by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In her 1938 sci-fi novella “Anthem,” Ayn Rand envisioned a groupthink society in which individualism has been forcefully eradicated. “We are nothing, mankind is all,” a member of thi…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:57AM
Monday, October 7, 2013

Bridgewater carries clunky Billie Holiday biomusical by Elisabeth Vincentelli

As its title indicates, the new musical “Lady Day” involves a whole lot of Billie Holiday songs. And since it’s an off-Broadway show rather than a regular tribute concert, a dusting of…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:02AM
Sunday, October 6, 2013

Hack score undermines Broadway version of ‘Big Fish’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There’s a huge gap between what you see and what you hear in “Big Fish.” Visually speaking, this new Broadway musical is inventive, playful and often downright magical. But then, w…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 08:49PM
Thursday, October 3, 2013

For a chosen few, feuding is fun by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Let the games begin! “Bad Jews” is packed with so many vicious arguments that sometimes you want to press your hands over your ears and block out the bickering. Luckily, those fights are…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 11:44PM
Wednesday, October 2, 2013

‘Film Society’ revival falls flat by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Jonathan Balton, the key figure of “The Film Society,” is an easygoing soul who tries to placate everybody. Don’t make waves — that could be his motto. But that’s not easy when you…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:08AM
Friday, September 27, 2013

Rare revival of ‘Natural Affection’ misses play’s hysterical violence by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Sexual dissatisfaction, loneliness, frustrated small-town dreams, alcoholism, tortured identity: In the 1950s, William Inge turned those unlikely themes into the Broadway hits “Come Back, …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:34PM
Thursday, September 26, 2013

Style counts more than words in ‘Glass Menagerie’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

This revival of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” arrives on Broadway from Cambridge, Mass., with the excitement usually reserved for “Breaking Bad” and cronuts: It’s gen…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 10:39PM
Wednesday, September 25, 2013

‘Arguendo’ debates the right to dance naked by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The reenactment of Supreme Court oral arguments, verbatim — sounds like an evening of fun theater, right? OK, maybe not for everybody. It helps that the new play “Arguendo” is based on…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 12:30PM
Sunday, September 22, 2013

1930s comedy goes forth, does not prosper by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Some people are convinced that they’re destined to be artists despite all evidence to the contrary. If they and their enablers drive you nuts, you may want to drop by the off-Broadway com…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 08:15PM
Friday, September 20, 2013

‘Blue Dragon’ a cinematic show on an intimate scale by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Canadian director Robert Lepage has been in the news a lot here in the past three years — though maybe he didn’t get the kind of coverage he wanted. Mostly he got flak for his staging of…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:47PM
Tuesday, September 3, 2013

‘Ours’ is a surreal dream by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Before anyone’s spoken a word, you know Nikole Beckwith’s new comedy, “Everything Is Ours,” is going to be unusual. Just take a gander at the set, a brightly colored living room out …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:53PM
Thursday, August 29, 2013

A little right music for everyone to fall into by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It’s autumn: Do you feel a song coming on? Broadway sure does — and this season’s new musicals have something for every taste. Those craving a big ol’ traditional tuner can look forw…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:08PM
Monday, August 26, 2013

Once, twice, still a success by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There are two ways to score a Broadway hit: Load up on name stars and make a mint during a limited run, or bank on good bones that can get through years of cast changes. Anything involving …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 08:19AM
Thursday, August 22, 2013

Top ‘American Idol’ contestants take their acts to Broadway by Elisabeth Vincentelli

What do Fantasia Barrino, Constantine Maroulis and Clay Aiken have in common? “American Idol,” of course — but also Broadway: They’re just three of the former contestants who have su…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:09PM
Thursday, August 15, 2013

Journey from temple to tempo by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Much like its subject, the new Broadway musical “Soul Doctor” is terminally earnest and relentlessly sunny. Both also share a fish-out-of-water quality. The show’s central character w…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:27PM

‘Einstein’ a no-brainer by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Aptly enough, “Einstein” — the inept new drama about the father of the relativity theory — makes time slow to a crawl. When it finally ends, you’re not sure if you’ve been at the…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:26AM
Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A lovely ‘Labour’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

‘it’s the first time together and I’m feeling kinda horny/Conventional methods of makin’ love kinda bore me.” You may have guessed this lyric — crooned, R&B-style, in “Love’s…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:15AM
Saturday, August 10, 2013

Untangling the Fringe by By  elisabeth Vincentelli and Barbara Hoffman

Every summer, like a relative with too much luggage, it arrives on our doorstep: the New York International Fringe Festival, the ungainly cousin to the Edinburgh original. By the time Fringe…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 01:12AM
Thursday, August 8, 2013

It’s a mismatch made in heaven by Elisabeth Vincentelli

By the end of Broadway’s “First Date,” Zachary Levi has won over the entire audience — you can feel everybody, women and men, young and old, swooning. If someone happened to smuggle …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:13PM

Riveting to the end by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Part of Young Jean Lee’s appeal is that you never know what she’s going to do. The downtown playwright’s recent works include a look at African-American stereotypes (“The Shipment”…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:20PM
Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Play is a winner of our discontent by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Timing is everything in this free “Richard III.” The show runs 2 1/2 hours without intermission, which means you may want to hit the bathroom before it starts. Which in turn means a trip…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:48PM

Cold waters run deep by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Donna, of the new dramedy “Harbor,” gabs like one of the cool kids. She tosses off insults as if they were cute and endearing, and pleads, “Come on, don’t be a biatch.” Except that…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:48PM

Animating the stage by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It’s hard to believe there isn’t a metaphor lying around under “Rubble” — a comedy about a TV writer stuck in a pile of debris after an LA earthquake. After all, it’s by TV write…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:44PM
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Troubled waters run deep in 'Harbor' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Donna, of the new dramedy “Harbor,” gabs like one of the cool kids. She tosses off insults as if they were cute and endearing, and pleads, “Come on, don’t be a biatch.” Except Donn…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 07:00PM