All stories by Joel Benjamin on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

The Look of Love (Mark Morris Dance Group) by Joel Benjamin

"The Look of Love" was filled with Morris’ least complex choreography, relying on repetition, walking, running and soft leg extensions along with simple arm gestures.  Considering the sop…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:56AM
Monday, March 25, 2024

Dongpo: Life in Poems by Joel Benjamin

Dongpo’s travels through life is set forth in the lovely poems—projected in Chinese script and in English—full of observations of nature, sad inner monologues and thoughts intimating t…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:45PM
Thursday, March 21, 2024

Doubt: A Parable by Joel Benjamin

In this Roundabout/Scott Ellis production, Amy Ryan’s Sister Aloysius (stepping in for the originally cast Tyne Daly) comes across as less absolute in her suspicions while Liev Schreiber�…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:23PM
Sunday, March 17, 2024

Fair Winds and Winds of War by Joel Benjamin

Kahn has a good ear for the subtleties of each character and the period.  However, "Fair Winds" doesn’t handle all the major themes smoothly and the use of the narrator sometimes feels li…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:42AM
Friday, March 8, 2024

Pontus Lidberg: “On the Nature of Rabbits” by Joel Benjamin

How the metaphor of rabbits fit into this was puzzling, yet the dreamlike (nightmarish?) rabbit imagery was the strongest visual idea and pervaded the work, from a toy stuffed bunny to grote…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:54PM
Wednesday, March 6, 2024

The Maid and The Mesmerizer by Joel Benjamin

Lynn’s dialogue is astute and subtle, following the heartbeat of this strange, but understandable couple lifting it out of soapiness and melodrama.  She has written a very modern drama. .…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:14AM
Sunday, March 3, 2024

A Sign of the Times by Joel Benjamin

This York Theatre Company production at the New World Stages, following a presentation at Goodspeed Musicals in 2016, shoehorns these songs into a book by Lindsey Hope Pearlman from a story …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:52PM
Thursday, February 29, 2024

This is not a time of peace by Joel Benjamin

"This is not a time of peace" has a stream of consciousness feel effectively handled by the director Jerry Heymann. There is never any confusion about who is who and what they represent des…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:05PM
Monday, February 26, 2024

Jelly’s Last Jam (New York City Center Encores!) by Joel Benjamin

Does the New York City Center Encores! new production of "Jelly’s Last Jam" hold up against the original Broadway production (1992-1993) which starred Gregory Hines (Tony Award), Savion Gl…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:04PM
Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Twyla Tharp Dance: Winter Season 2024 by Joel Benjamin

Like her masterful Sinatra solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov, “Brel” takes Cornejo from a strolling meditating figure (“Quand On N’A Que l’Amour”) to an anguished lover (“Ne Me Quit…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:53PM
Friday, February 16, 2024

White Wave: 2024 SoloDuo Dance Festival by Joel Benjamin

The host company, WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company ended the short, well-run program with the longest work, the three-part “Eternal NOW.”  It also had the most complex costumes, …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:56PM
Thursday, February 8, 2024

The Good Soldier Švejk and His Fortunes in the First World War by Joel Benjamin

The Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre (CAMT) is presenting “an innovative re-interpretation of a classic, combining live performances with puppets” at the resourceful Theater for …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:30PM
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Once Upon a Mattress (New York City Center Encores!) by Joel Benjamin

Of course, in true American musical theater form the elegant Princess has been transformed into the bedraggled and uncouth Winnifred (Foster, in her best goofy guise, proving her talent know…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:05PM
Thursday, January 25, 2024

Compagnie Hervé KOUBI: “Sol Invictus” by Joel Benjamin

This hotbed of virtuosity, indeed, made his troupe one gorgeous community of physically exuberant and fearless citizens.  Whether he communicated any deeper existential or human truths prob…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:35PM
Friday, January 19, 2024

Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE: Winter 2023-24 Season by Joel Benjamin

Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, the Brooklyn-based dance company founded in 1985 is back at the Joyce Theater presenting two works by Brown showing off the exuberance, sensuality and technical bri…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:13PM
Monday, January 15, 2024

Prayer for the French Republic by Joel Benjamin

Harmon meticulously fuses the domestic ups and downs of this bright, well-educated extended family with the overwhelming and unavoidable social upheavals that surround them whether it’s th…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:39PM
Friday, December 29, 2023

Momix: Fall 2023 Season by Joel Benjamin

How the ten dancers of Momix create so many beautiful and mysterious images is a credit to artistic director Moses Pendleton and his associate Cynthia Quinn who, along with the dancers, crea…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:29PM

The Gospel According to Chaim by Joel Benjamin

There are few issues that raise the ire of the religious as a member changing religions.  Apostate is the mildest term used for such a person. Mikhl Yashinsky’s "The Gospel According to C…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:25PM
Friday, December 22, 2023

Rachel Bloom: Death, Let Me Do My Show by Joel Benjamin

Dressed in a glittery, silver suit—costumes by Kristin Isola—Bloom immediately takes control of an audience who already admire her from her standup comedy and her bitterly funny TV show,…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:47PM
Monday, December 11, 2023

Export Quality by Joel Benjamin

Through a technologically astute production and fine acting, their intertwining stories unfold in a dramatic tapestry that reveals the sad business of mail-order brides.  Using an intricate…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:25PM
Thursday, December 7, 2023

An Axemas Story by Joel Benjamin

Despite its fairy-tale plot, Axemas isn’t really suitable for children because of language and sexual situations, but everyone else will find something amusing in this rag-taggle productio…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:30PM
Monday, December 4, 2023

Mind Mangler: A Night of Tragic Illusion by Joel Benjamin

"Mind Mangler: A Night of Tragic Illusion," starring the genial, but daffy, Henry Lewis, is part of the “gone wrong” franchise by Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields: "Peter Pan Goes…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:49PM
Friday, December 1, 2023

‘Til Death by Joel Benjamin

The secrets revealed seem more contrived and clichéd and take away from the moving story of Mary’s battle with cancer.   Nick behaves badly.  Lucy has a drug habit and Jason questions …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:04PM
Monday, November 27, 2023

Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent) by Joel Benjamin

Director Matthew “Motl” Didner manages to make what might have been just a well-staged concert of moving songs into a dramatic whole with a deep feeling for the ebb and flow of emotions …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 06:24PM
Sunday, November 19, 2023

Scene Partners by Joel Benjamin

It takes an artist of the stature and extraordinary talent of Wiest to keep Caswell’s fragmented play from flying off in all directions as it veers from reality to fantasy and from flashba…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:33AM
Friday, November 17, 2023

Harmony by Joel Benjamin

The musical "Harmony," the lovechild of pop music greats Barry Manilow (music) and Bruce Sussman (lyrics and book), has opened at a time when anti-Semitism has peaked once again and lessons …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:08PM
Thursday, November 2, 2023

Boris Charmatz: Somnole by Joel Benjamin

Far less mystical that he would have us believe, "Somnole" nevertheless is Charmatz’s honest exploration of his stated theme, although self-indulgence reared its ugly head too often.  The…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:41PM
Tuesday, October 31, 2023

King of the Jews by Joel Benjamin

How does a Holocaust-themed play land with such emotional impact as Leslie Epstein’s "King of the Jews" at the HERE Theatre?  Based on his novel of the same name, "King of the Jews" is a …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:01PM
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Room with a View by Joel Benjamin

The dancers performed their dystopian tasks with great dedication and the occasional display of actual technique.  They were all good-looking and clearly into what they believed was an icon…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:44PM
Tuesday, October 24, 2023

HopeBoykinDance: States of Hope by Joel Benjamin

The spine of the work wasn’t the choreography or dancing, but the lines spoken by the dancers as they walked about the stage; however, since the lighting by Crawford was shadowy and the da…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:03PM
Sunday, October 22, 2023

Scrambled Eggs by Joel Benjamin

Sometimes good intentions do not have the best results—at least in theater. Such is the case with "Scrambled Eggs" at the Gene Frankel Theatre.  Presented to bring immediacy to the issue …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:35PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards