All stories by Frank Scheck on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

'Tomorrow' is only day-to-day by Frank Scheck

With all the relationship dramas and mu sicals playing out on city stages, it's a wonder couples' therapists have anything left to do. New case in point: the York Theatre Company's "Tomor…

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Monday, March 28, 2011

Macbeth doesn't cast much of a spell by Frank Scheck

That Shakespeare describes the three witches in "Macbeth" as "hirsute" wasn't lost on the Theatre for a New Audience, since the meddlesome crones in its new revival are played by shaggily be…

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Literature wit brains by Frank Scheck

Considering its main characters are Martin Luther, Doctor Faustus and Hamlet, "Wittenberg" seems about as exciting a prospect as audi ting a graduate school lecture. But the Pearl Theatre's …

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Written by Shakespeare? It's Bard to tell by Frank Scheck

There's a fascinating mystery unfurling onstage at the Classic Stage Company, and it has little to do with the play itself. The issue is whether "Double Falsehood" is really a long-lost w…

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Odd couple by Frank Scheck

It’s hard not to be excited about the return of “Marie and Bruce,” particularly with Marisa Tomei and Frank Whaley in the title roles. Wallace Shawn’s scathing comedy about a failing…

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Monday, March 21, 2011

Just the music is of note by Frank Scheck

No matter how much ten der loving care's been lavished upon it, the 1951 musical "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" stubbornly refuses to bear fruit. The Peccadillo Theater Company's new revival has…

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Relatively wonderful by Frank Scheck

There aren't many plays that can simul taneously pull off rau cous comedy, poignant emotion -- and the most memorable encounter with a bear since "The Winter's Tale." But "Kin," which ope…

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Saturday, March 19, 2011

‘Cheers’ to new Gomez by Frank Scheck

Roger Rees is on a roll. The Welsh actor, writer and director will slip into Gomez Addams’ spooky shoes in Broadway’s “The Addams Family” starting on Tuesday. It’s a high-profile r…

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Friday, March 18, 2011

Ibsen: unorthodox -- and intriguing by Frank Scheck

It's not often that a produc tion of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" begins with a Purim party. But that's the case in "A Doll House," presented by 24/6: A Jewish Theater Company. Transplant…

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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Teddy's tale shocking, but grin and bear it by Frank Scheck

The terror suspect is considered a threat to society -- "the mastermind of a global conspiracy" responsible for thousands of crimes, including bombings and mass murder. He also happens to…

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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The 'Spy' that talked too much by Frank Scheck

There's not much to do in limbo except talk. And talk. And talk. And that's exactly what the three historical characters in "Spy Garbo" do. By the end of this long-winded evening of philosop…

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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Nerve Griffin by Frank Scheck

'Let's talk about the 'Real House wives,' " says Kathy Griffin, con spiratorially. And for the rest of her shamelessly titled "Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony," which opened its very brief run on…

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No EMTs Required by Frank Scheck

“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” may never get around to officially opening on Broadway. But no fewer than three new Spider-Man musicals opening this week are willing to go where that $65…

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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Murky Irish stew by Frank Scheck

Any doubts that the Irish are in love with words are quickly dispelled by "Mimic." The sheer torrent of language that Raymond Scannell spews out in his one-man show will leave you numb and b…

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Monday, March 7, 2011

Little pleasure in 'Treasure' by Frank Scheck

The swashbuckling pirates of "Treasure Island" burst into song often enough to make it feel like a musical. But despite repeated choruses of "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum," this new adaptati…

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Monday, February 28, 2011

Baby drama's misconceived by Frank Scheck

Having a baby? You might want to avoid "40 Weeks," the Debbie Downer of pregnancy plays. The couple are Angie (Megan Hart) and Mark (Jorge Cordova), who are having a tough go of it financ…

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Playwright tries to make name for himself by Frank Scheck

The name "Abulkasem" may not mean anything to you now, but it will mean much after you've seen "Invasion!" Maybe too much, because this satirical Swedish import packs a whole lot of ideas…

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Monday, February 21, 2011

Some pour dramatics by Frank Scheck

If there's one thing we can learn from "A Perfect Fu ture," it's that politics and heavy drinking don't mix. Nor does it make for particularly interesting theater. David Hay's new play…

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Sunday, February 20, 2011

When Mr. Right beds Ms. Left -- oy vey! by Frank Scheck

If "The Body Politic" is to be believed, political op eratives engage in some pretty kinky foreplay. Republican Spencer Davis and Democrat Trish Rubenstein like to play a game of "politic…

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Less than compelling by Frank Scheck

No one plays intense, irascible char acters better than Mandy Patinkin. The former "Criminal Minds" actor is perfectly cast in Rinne Groff's "Compulsion," inspired by writer Meyer Levin's ob…

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Another dysfunctional family? We kin dig it by Frank Scheck

As Leo Tolstoy famously ob served, "Every unhappy fam ily is unhappy in its own way." For the three siblings in Melissa Ross' "Thinner Than Water," unhappiness takes the form of constant arg…

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Props to the clown by Frank Scheck

A sheet of paper, a chair, some rubber balls, fruit and a suitcase. That's about all the props Jamie Adkins needs to create theatrical magic in his family-friendly "Circus Incognitus." A …

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Not so Wilde about it by Frank Scheck

He was the man Oscar Wilde went to prison for: his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, the handsome, overprivileged son of the Marquess of Queensbury whom Wilde and others affectionately called Bosi…

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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Dead man walks, tale feels stale by Frank Scheck

Death-row dramas have been a theatrical staple since the '30s, and "When I Come To Die," Nathan Louis Jackson's new take, adds little that's fresh. Damon Robinson (Chris Chalk), in prison…

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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Disappearance comedy gets slightly lost by Frank Scheck

Who, younger readers may wonder, was Michael Rocke feller? Back in 1961, former Gov. Nelson's 23-year-old son went to Papua New Guinea on an anthropological expedition and never returned.…

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Monday, February 7, 2011

Better take a detour! by Frank Scheck

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby would be spinning in their graves at the thought of "The Road to Qatar!" -- a lame musical comedy in the style of their classic "Road" movies. Based on its creators'…

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Sunday, February 6, 2011

'Witch' casts a spell by Frank Scheck

JACOBEAN drama is so rarely performed on these shores that any halfway decent production is bound to attract serious theatergoers. So it's doubly satisfying that the enterprising Red Bull Th…

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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Catch her in the eye by Frank Scheck

The best way to ap preciate "Molly Sweeney" may simply be to shut your eyes. As he did in "Faith Healer" a few seasons back, Brian Friel uses three intersecting monologues, this time tell…

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

These views on news a clever ruse by Frank Scheck

If the news makes you want to cry, there's an antidote in town: "NEWSical the Musi cal." This new edition of the topical musical revue does for current events what the late, lamented "Forbid…

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Friday, January 21, 2011

Death takes a holiday by Frank Scheck

The character at the heart of "Carnival Round the Central Figure" doesn't look at all well. Lying in a hospital bed, his mouth slack, he has a ghastly pallor and dark eyes that make him l…

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Sings a merry Carol by Frank Scheck

Anyone who's seen Carol Channing in one of her recent appearances -- say, at the Kennedy Center Honors -- knows that she's remarkably spry for an almost-90-year-old. But she's even more dyna…

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