All stories by Joel Benjamin on BroadwayStars

Saturday, September 8, 2018

The Gospel at Colonus by Joel Benjamin

The complexities of this Greek tragedy are shoe-horned into a Gospel service with songs ranging from the thoughtful ("The Invocation") to the formal ("Creon Comes to Colonus") to the awe-ins…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:50PM[SHARE]
Friday, August 17, 2018

The Sarasota Ballet: Summer 2018 by Joel Benjamin

The Sarasota Ballet, under the direction of Iain Webb, a former leading dancer with the Royal Ballet, has, to the benefit of the dance world, been collecting works by the British master chor…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:55PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, August 7, 2018

This Ain't No Disco by Joel Benjamin

"This Ain't No Disco" is a compressed, zany look at the years in the 1970s that Studio 54 ruled the social whirl of New York City, complete with debauchery, drugs, loud music, semi-nudity an…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:41PM[SHARE]
Monday, August 6, 2018

MOMIX: 2018 Season by Joel Benjamin

It's easy to see why MOMIX is one of the most popular dance troupes in the world.  Beauty, strength, ingenuity combine in often ingenious choreography.  A generous program of short wor…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:41PM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 2, 2018

My Life on a Diet by Joel Benjamin

Hence:  "My Life on a Diet," a comically rich stroll through her career in TV, theater and film.  Written by Taylor and her late husband, Joseph Bologna and originally directed by Bolo…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:28AM[SHARE]
Monday, July 30, 2018

Tevye Served Raw by Joel Benjamin

Three actors"Yelena Shmulenson, Allen Lewis Rickman (Velvel in the Coen Brothers' "A Serious Man") and Shane Baker ("the best-loved Episcopalian on the Yiddish stage today")"manage the feat …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:58AM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 28, 2018

Fiddler on the Roof (The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene) by Joel Benjamin

Steven Skybell's Tevye warms up from a salt-of-the-earth, everyday philosopher to the much put-upon tragic existential hero upon whom God"to whom he speaks frequently"has heaped much tsouris…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:55PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 16, 2018

Batsheva " The Young Ensemble: "Naharin's Virus" by Joel Benjamin

Naharin is known for having "invented" a movement language called Gaga.  Frankly, I've never been able to distinguish Gaga from any other movement palette.  If Gaga means disconnected …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:10PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Sean Dorsey Dance 2018 by Joel Benjamin

Sean Dorsey is a transgender and queer choreographer whose movement palette in "The Missing Generation" is a gentle, swirling combination of twisty, floor-bound, organic movements with a ric…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:07AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 24, 2018

Women/Create! A Festival of Dance 2018 by Joel Benjamin

Jennifer Muller, of Jennifer Muller/The Works, whose artistic history includes a long association with José Limon, provided "Shock Wave," a world premiere to a cello-heavy score by Gordon W…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:42PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 21, 2018

Philadanco! (The Philadelphia Dance Company) by Joel Benjamin

The theme running through the four works presented, three of them New York premieres, was of sadness and anger.  Even "Folded Prism" by Thang Dao, an abstract dance work, had an unsettled…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:32AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 18, 2018

Manufacturing Mischief by Joel Benjamin

Noam Chomsky, Karl Marx, Ayn Rand, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and a "Tiny" Trump all on stage at the same time, verbally jousting with each other?  Pedro Reyes' "Manufacturing Mischief" at the…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:06PM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 16, 2018

All I Want Is One Night by Joel Benjamin

Part of 59E59's Brits Off-Broadway 2018 festival, Jessica Walker's "All I Want is One Night" takes place in an odd combination of cabaret and antique shop.  Theater B in the 59E59 Theater…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:07PM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 3, 2018

Our Lady of 121st Street by Joel Benjamin

The current staging of "Our Lady" at The Pershing Square Signature Center, directed by Phylicia Rashad, magically now comes across as an addled, profane sitcom.  It's entertaining and at …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:13PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 29, 2018

There's Blood at the Wedding by Joel Benjamin

Packed into Theodora Skipitares' "There's Blood at the Wedding" are multiple takes on how authorities have abused their powers, too often killing innocent people.  By theatricalizing and …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:41PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 25, 2018

Paradise Blue by Joel Benjamin

In many ways Dominique Morisseau's "Paradise Blue" shares similarities with August Wilson's brilliant, if long-winded, Pittsburgh based plays.  "Blue" is part of Morisseau's Detroit Proje…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:40PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Parsons Dance Company 2018 by Joel Benjamin

The new work, "Microburst," was a quartet performed to classical Indian music composed and played live by Avirodh Sharma.  Brilliant and audacious, "Microburst" took the four dancers, all…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:16PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Alternating Currents by Joel Benjamin

Despite the complexity of the interactions of the people of Electchester and the poor folk at Pomonok, Kraar manages to end on a promising note.  "Alternating Currents," produced under th…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:27PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 7, 2018

The Iceman Cometh by Joel Benjamin

Denzel Washington, the raison d'être of this production (coming way too soon after several recent stagings), gives a boisterous, almost pleasant performance as Theodore Hickman, aka Hicke…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:23PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 3, 2018

The Alice-in-Wonderland Follies by Joel Benjamin

Inspired by Lewis Carroll's two Alice books and cleverly choreographed by Keith Michael, the "Follies" was preceded by Byer's usual pre-show, uplifting audience-participation talk on the won…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:33PM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 26, 2018

Mlima's Tale by Joel Benjamin

Structured like Arthur Schnitzler's wicked "La Ronde," "Mlima" begins with a harrowing hunting scene.  Mlima, the giant elephant, is portrayed with dignity and astonishing physical vitali…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:01PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 23, 2018

Martha Graham Dance Company: Spring Season 2018 by Joel Benjamin

"Ekstasis," danced by PeiJu Chien-Pott, her hair loose, her costume a tight tube of form-fitting jersey (designed by Graham, herself), stood still as eerie clacking percussion and quiet wood…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:27AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 19, 2018

Ballet Hispánico: Spring Season 2018 by Joel Benjamin

The dancers displayed a new depth of expression, particularly in the world premiere "Espiritus Gemelos," a sensitive, beautifully acted duet about a brief same sex encounter performed by Chr…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:23PM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 8, 2018

Symphonie Fantastique by Joel Benjamin

Twist's "Creator's Note" in the program alludes to Wassily Kandinsky's musical metaphorical paintings and Twist's youthful attraction to the possibility of using abstract puppetry in combina…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:37PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 30, 2018

A Walk in the Woods by Joel Benjamin

The two talented, delightfully understated actors have taken on these roles with energy and sincerity.  Manning makes Honeyman both simple and complex at the same time while Van Treuren m…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:49PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 29, 2018

Escape to Margaritaville by Joel Benjamin

The ups and downs of the road to true romance provide the show with its ties to the Buffett songs.  Tully opens the show with "Somethin' 'Bout a Boat," to show his romantic nature and "It…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:17PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 23, 2018

Hal & Bee by Joel Benjamin

Baker's lines are spiky and colorful, often dark, sometimes banal, but his portrait of these two and the two lesser characters is always illuminating and full of real emotion.  The fade-o…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:06PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 14, 2018

An Ordinary Muslim by Joel Benjamin

The trouble is that there is nothing new or daring or particularly interesting about the play despite its intriguing subject matter.  It is an old-fashioned play"think warmed over Cliffor…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:28PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Locked Up Bitches by Joel Benjamin

All the good jokes get lost in the onslaught of cast members vying for their moments and looking for the audience's approval, which admittedly was offered freely.   "Bitches" becomes c…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:56PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo: Homelife & The Zoo Story by Joel Benjamin

Lila Neugebauer has directed these two one-acts to bring out their naturalism. In the past, "The Zoo Story" was usually performed with an odd, surreal quality.  Neugebauer has given the c…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:08PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Katie Goodman's Broad Comedy by Joel Benjamin

Songs jostle with playlets, usually with topical references.   This is a good lineage to be part of and "Broad Comedy," the bumpy new show at the SoHo Playhouse, succeeds mostly due to…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:59PM[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