Thursday, January 12, 2012
“Chimera” suggests many worlds on one stage Chimera only needs a minute to make you question your grasp on reality. The multimedia show, now at HERE as part of the Under the Rada…
SOURCE: TDF at 03:43PMHello everyone. For no apparent reason, my site crashed today, deleting every post I’ve written in the last 18 months. All of them. Gone. I will keep you updated about what this means …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:35PM[#20-11; #30-21; #40-31] [Last year's countdown] The time has come… the time to get down with our baddest selves, to weep our most beautiful tears. It’s time to unveil the year&#…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 01:53AMWednesday, January 11, 2012
Director Gordon Edelstein discover new facets of Athol Fugard’s play By MARK BLANKENSHIP Reading scripts can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s like smelling your food instead of …
SOURCE: TDF at 02:40PM[#30-21; #40-31] [Last year's countdown] The countdown continues! Get ready for some devastating ballads and a few happy songs that are so happy you’ll probably freak with all the happ…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:26PMTuesday, January 10, 2012
[#40-31] [Last Year's Countdown] —- Welcome back! Let’s keep things rolling with some very, very cute boys. Oh, and some good songs, too… 30. “I Won’t Let You G…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 04:13PMMonday, January 9, 2012
Now that I’ve absorbed the music I bought with Christmas gift cards, I am ready to anoint my top 40 songs of 2011. As you know, this countdown is mandated by my DNA, so I am delighted …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 04:39PMThursday, January 5, 2012
A playwright finds visceral power in the evolution debate How the World Began is about heady ideas, but it’s aimed at our senses, our guts. Take the opening scene: Though the play, pre…
SOURCE: TDF at 11:12AMTuesday, December 20, 2011
My official music round up will come in early January, after I sort through the albums I get for Christmas. For now, though, I have call your attention to a pair of phenomenal new songs and …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:06PMYoung Adult was a happy upheaval of my presumed taste in movies. Typically, I think of myself as someone who dislikes bone-deep cynicism, who finds it cheap and lazy. Yet the cynicism in You…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:03PMTwo services push the theatre into online publishing And then suddenly, the theatre entered the world of online publishing. Until this year, scripts were largely absent from the booming fiel…
SOURCE: TDF at 11:54AMMonday, December 19, 2011
The “Stick Fly” star can’t worry if we agree with her character Welcome to Building Character, TDF Stages’ ongoing series about how actors create their roles — …
SOURCE: TDF at 12:55PMFriday, December 16, 2011
Over at Monkey See, I just explained why I’m all in on the Rock of Ages trailer. I truly believe this is going to be an amazing movie. The wigs alone will be worth the price of popcorn…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 02:26PMWay back in 2008, I reviewed the off-Broadway production of Rock of Ages. I still have the e-mail I sent my editor, where I asked to cover the show because I was "morbidly fascinated" to see…
SOURCE: WNYC at 01:00PMWednesday, December 14, 2011
So… The Artist: It’s a lovely silent movie about silent movies themselves, following George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a superstar who’s distressed to realize he has no plac…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:45PMTuesday, December 13, 2011
There was never a chance I was going to enjoy the movie Shame, but I was hoping I’d at least respect it. In case you haven’t heard, Shame is the NC-17 tale of Brandon Sullivan (M…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 02:16PMFriday, December 9, 2011
The “Ugly Betty” star tackles one of Chekhov’s most interesting characters He doesn’t have the most lines or the most stage time, but Epikhodov is one of the most int…
SOURCE: TDF at 12:48PMThursday, December 8, 2011
This week, two tiny tempests have been created by two holiday carols, and both dustups teach the same lesson. On Monday, news broke that a music teacher at a Michigan elementary school had s…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:07PMWednesday, December 7, 2011
This weekend, the New York Times Magazine will publish its Hollywood Issue, and the content went online early this morning. I’m pleased to say that I’m part of a fun “year …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:02PMMonday, December 5, 2011
I took deep breaths, counted to ten, and even slept on it… and Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey’s remake of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” still makes me angry. So…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 04:01PMFriday, December 2, 2011
Recently, my mom mailed me some odds and ends from my childhood—old photos, favorite books, bits of writing, etc. Imagine my amazement when I uncovered “Cinderella in ’88,&…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:41PMThursday, December 1, 2011
Hello everyone! Forgive my lengthy absence. Life has gotten wild recently. But I’m back today with Roommate Joe to discuss last night’s announcement of the Grammy nominees. Take …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:19AMWednesday, November 30, 2011
Director Jeff Calhoun brings a new musical to life For a director, the canvas of a new musical can be intimidatingly blank: There might be songs and scenes, but they need a world to exist in…
SOURCE: TDF at 10:56AMTuesday, November 22, 2011
Inside the fascinating structure of “Queen of the Mist” During the first act of Michael John LaChiusa’s new musical Queen of the Mist, it’s tempting to think we under…
SOURCE: TDF at 12:53PMMonday, November 21, 2011
The stars of “Lysistrata Jones” balance comedy and heart Welcome to Building Character, TDF Stages’ ongoing series about actors and how they create their roles — Ther…
SOURCE: TDF at 04:04PMMonday, November 14, 2011
Inside a new play’s vibrant development process All-American begins with startling intimacy. In near-silence, a father and daughter play football, running through a move called the 3-s…
SOURCE: TDF at 01:56PMFriday, November 11, 2011
Designer Jill BC DuBoff creates a sonic world A sound designer is both an artist and a technician, matching every aesthetic insight with a choice about how sound is produced. After al…
SOURCE: TDF at 01:55PMThursday, November 10, 2011
David Dean Bottrell has bounced from actor to playwright to screenwriter to actor and now, to director, as he makes his staging debut with the Colony Theatre's Travels With My Aunt. Meanwh…
SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 03:21PMWednesday, November 9, 2011
How Theresa Rebeck’s new play blends dark laughs and deep thoughts — It’s a comedy, sure, but there are serious questions rippling through Theresa Rebeck’s Seminar, n…
SOURCE: TDF at 12:14PMFriday, November 4, 2011
You all know that I love Beyonce’s music and that “Countdown” is a particularly beloved jam. That’s why I’ve been concerned by the lackluster sales of her recen…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:55PMThe story behind a fascinating character in a new dark comedy They’re called playwrights and not “playwrites” because plays are wrought, constructed, carefully made. Even i…
SOURCE: TDF at 11:19AM 
