All stories by Elisabeth Vincentelli on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Dark delights in Camelot by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Watching the magnetic Tina Benko chatter about style and death in “Jackie,” you’ve got to wonder: How the heck did she memorize that crazy script, which jumps about without an obvious …

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Poorly plotted ‘Pool’ goes off the deep end by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In “The North Pool,” the white vice principal of a high school in Anytown, USA, asks a Syrian transfer student into his office for a little chat. The entire play consists of their conver…

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Tally a success for this old-fashioned ‘Folly’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

We’re so conditioned to be cynical nowadays that dark is considered edgy and romance dopey. But the Roundabout revival of “Talley’s Folly” that opened last night is proud to believe …

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Send in these clowns! by Elisabeth Vincentelli

For some people, clowns are one rung below mimes and air-guitar zeroes on the ladder of entertainment hell. Well, let the cranks stay home and let the rest of us laugh our heads off at “Ol…

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Gourd-geous ‘Cinderella’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

How do you come up with a new show that also feels comfortably familiar? On Broadway, the current answer is “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” — an actual premiere by the titans re…

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It’s not ‘homey’ sweet ‘homey’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Hot on the heels of Jesse Eisenberg’s “The Revisionist” comes another off-Broadway show depicting Americans in their late 20s as neurotic and immature. The couple in Amy Herzog’s “…

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

‘Revisionist’ needs rewrite by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There are times during “The Revisionist” when you almost have to pinch yourself. Is this actually happening? Are Vanessa Redgrave and Jesse Eisenberg really sharing a stage? They sure a…

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‘Passion’ an emotional letdown by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Imagine a luxury car, all sleek lines, buttery leather seats, exotic-wood dashboard. Then you step on the gas pedal, and find out it’s running on a measly four cylinders. That’s pretty …

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Mother knows best in Falco’s ‘Madrid’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In “The Madrid,” Edie Falco is Martha, a woman who abruptly leaves her job and family, and disappears. In other words, the star whose name is selling tickets plays someone who, technical…

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Irish play low on luck by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The Mint company is an expert in excavation, mining forgotten nuggets from the theatrical rubble. Usually choices are made on a case-by-case basis: an obscure American comedy here, an overlo…

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Friday, February 22, 2013

What would Jesus boo? by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The title of Lloyd Suh’s feeble new comedy accurately sums up its starting point. The 18-year-old Jesus (Justin Blanchard) runs away from home after a blowup with his dad — Joseph, not G…

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

‘Really Really’ big manipulation on campus by Elisabeth Vincentelli

If it’s sympathetic characters you crave, skip “Really Really.” This campus-set show presents its 21-year-olds as materialistic, selfish, narcissistic, manipulative and glibly coarse. …

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Monday, February 18, 2013

A brawl made for lightweights by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In the Irish hamlet of Innisfree, native son Sean Enright, the hero of the musical “Donnybrook!,” has the distinct feeling that he sticks out. And it’s not because he spent most of his…

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Much ado about two: the lovers sizzle onstage by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Watch out: There’s a hot new couple in town! Maggie Siff and Jonathan Cake are so irresistible in “Much Ado About Nothing” that they would make the most embittered divorced believe in …

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

‘Laramie’ lengthy but worthwhile ‘Project’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The 1998 attack on Matthew Shepard was so brutal, it shocked the nation. After meeting him at a bar one October night, two men took the openly gay University of Wyoming student to a remote a…

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Friday, February 8, 2013

Hawke watch by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Let’s not judge Ethan Hawke solely on the basis of “Clive”: For two decades, he’s been a frequent presence on New York stages, both intimate and large, venturing into classics and ch…

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Brecht to blech by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There are several good people involved in “Clive,” including director/star Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio, back onstage after years in the “Law & Order” trenches. For their sake…

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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Woman’s broad study of the Bard’s works by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Tina Packer’s survey of Shakespeare’s female characters, “Women of Will,” clocks in at almost three hours. And that’s the abbreviated “overview”: Starting in April, Packer will…

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Sunday, February 3, 2013

It’s a crime shame that ‘Vandal’ isn’t any better by Elisabeth Vincentelli

You can’t blame Hamish Linklater for playing it safe with “The Vandal”: This is the actor’s playwriting debut, after all. Don’t want to go crazy and take a big public spill. So for…

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Thursday, January 31, 2013

‘Little Flower’ power by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Two shows tied for the Tony for Best Musical in 1960. The one that City Center’s beloved Encores! series is reviving this week is definitely not “The Sound of Music.” Instead, we’re …

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‘Rage’ against the anticlimax by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The new off-Broadway piece “All the Rage” starts off with a diffident man in a pale-blue button-down shirt giving out a few words of welcome. He concludes his brief speech with a meek re…

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Monday, January 28, 2013

‘Fever’ not contagious by Elisabeth Vincentelli

America mostly knows Wallace Shawn as the cranky Vizzini from “The Princess Bride,” but for many New Yorkers he remains half of the cult movie “My Dinner with André” and a provocati…

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

A bloody good time in ‘House’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

From “Little Shop of Horrors” to “Carrie” and “Re-Animator,” horror musicals aren’t exactly new. But it’s safe to say none tops “The House of Von Macramé” in the hemoglo…

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Campus-violence drama ‘Collision’ crashes by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Some shows leave you scratching your head, wondering when they went wrong. At least “Collision” makes it easy: It goes south in the first minute. And it’s all downhill from there — a…

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Life’s too short to endure tedious ‘Times’ marathon by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Sunday’s performance of “Life and Times: Episodes 1-4” started at 2 in the afternoon and petered out shortly before midnight. If only its events were as epic! There are no Norse gods a…

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

A tougher, stronger America by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Crystal looks sharp in her black business suit and red pumps. Appearances are doubly important for her: She’s a car saleswoman and she’s dead broke. Projecting confidence means a lot. In…

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Monday, January 21, 2013

A feast in all senses by Elisabeth Vincentelli

By the time you take your seat, the cast of “Not by Bread Alone” is already onstage, kneading dough and splitting it into loaves at long tables. So begins a process — and a show — th…

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Scarlett’s Red-‘Hot’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Maggie is young and attractive, and she just wants to have sex with her hot husband — is that too much to ask? You can hardly blame her for being on edge: The man would rather spend his ti…

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

A seasoned love story by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The new off-Broadway show “Midsummer (A Play With Songs)” proves that you can still get a lot of great mileage out of boy-meets-girl. Hollywood has cranked out so many awful romantic com…

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Monday, January 14, 2013

Count on terrific ‘7’ by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Just like “Amour” — Michael Haneke’s austere movie about aging and death — could never have been made in America, “Opus No. 7” had to be imported from overseas. It’s not just…

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Sunday, January 13, 2013

‘Picnic’ a feast by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In William Inge’s bittersweet 1953 hit “Picnic,” a hunky charmer appears out of nowhere to unsettle the women of a small Kansas town — especially the local beauty, aimless and bored …

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