All stories by Naveen Kumar on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

The Broadway Review: A revival that makes sense and sizzle out of ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ by Naveen Kumar

The first Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s notorious bomb explodes with heart and sophistication. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 07:12PM
Friday, October 6, 2023

Review: In ‘Bite Me,’ Taking Aim at Familiar Teenage Tropes by Naveen Kumar

Eliana Pipes’s new play is too pat to convincingly explore the societal imbalances resulting from race, class and gender.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:43PM
Thursday, September 21, 2023

‘9 Kinds of Silence’ Review: A Soldier’s Battle Is Within by Naveen Kumar

In Abhishek Majumdar’s tense play at 122CC Theater in Manhattan, every sound underscores what’s left unsaid after a shellshocked veteran’s homecoming.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:43PM
Tuesday, August 15, 2023

How the regional theater crisis will be felt on Broadway by Naveen Kumar

Producers Sue Frost and Aaron Glick, playwright Douglas Lyons and more predict possible benefits and challenges caused by the ripple from America’s theaters.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:40AM
Thursday, August 10, 2023

Review: ‘The Shark Is Broken’ offers fan service without teeth by Naveen Kumar

Transferring from London’s West End, the comedy relies on nostalgia and fandom.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:00PM
Tuesday, August 1, 2023

‘Let’s Call Her Patty’ Review: Rhea Perlman as an Uptown Matriarch by Naveen Kumar

Rhea Perlman stars as a quintessential Upper West Sider in Zarina Shea’s snapshot of affluent, self-flagellating motherhood

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:37PM
Friday, July 21, 2023

Review: ‘Flex’ Hits the Right Rhythms on the Court and Off by Naveen Kumar

The writer Candrice Jones and the director Lileana Blain-Cruz show a mastery of the game in this play about a girls’ basketball team in rural Arkansas.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:19PM
Friday, July 7, 2023

Theater District pedicabs have become a safety hazard and a risk to industry-related businesses by Naveen Kumar

Congestion, dangerous driving, price-gouging and more are a growing problem.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 07:32AM
Thursday, June 22, 2023

‘The Light in the Piazza’ Review: When It Comes to Love, They’re Outsiders by Naveen Kumar

A meet-cute on an Italian excursion sends a mother and daughter on parallel journeys of self-discovery in an Encores! staging of the 2005 musical.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:33PM
Thursday, June 15, 2023

Review: ‘The Whitney Album’ Looks to Theater to Remake a Painful Past by Naveen Kumar

Eschewing a conventional narrative, Jillian Walker’s soulful show seeks to heal deep wounds through ritual and celebratory singalongs.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:07PM
Thursday, June 8, 2023

Demystifying achievement in sound design by Naveen Kumar

Three sound designers weigh in on how to determine excellence in their field.

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Sunday, June 4, 2023

Review: In ‘Love + Science,’ a Meet Cute Becomes a Medical Mystery by Naveen Kumar

In 1980s Manhattan, two medical students find themselves at the forefront of the AIDS crisis in David J. Glass’s new play at New York City Center.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:32PM
Friday, June 2, 2023

For Her New Play, Tori Sampson Revisited Her ‘Black Power Household’ by Naveen Kumar

“This Land Was Made,” at the Vineyard Theater, is rooted in the playwright’s personal connection to a political movement’s awakening.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:48PM
Thursday, May 25, 2023

‘Primary Trust’ Review: Sipping Mai Tais, Until Bitter Reality Knocks by Naveen Kumar

In Eboni Booth’s new play, William Jackson Harper performs with astonishing vulnerability as a man alone and adrift.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:36PM
Monday, May 22, 2023

Review: In ‘Bees & Honey,’ Love Is Both Sweet and Sticky by Naveen Kumar

In this play by Guadalís Del Carmen, a couple’s shared heritage is integral to their meeting and the ups and downs of their daily relationship.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:24PM
Thursday, May 4, 2023

‘shadow/land’ Review: What the Storm Washes Away by Naveen Kumar

In the play, at the Public Theater, a mother and daughter endure the devastation of Hurricane Katrina inside the bar that connects them to their pasts.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:02PM

‘Hong Kong Mississippi’ Review: The Bluesman Next Door by Naveen Kumar

Wesley Du explores complex intersections of identity in a coming-of-age story about a Chinese American boy who finds escape in Black music.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:12PM
Friday, April 7, 2023

‘Smart’ Review: A.I. in the Living Room by Naveen Kumar

Three women seeking companionship turn to an Alexa-like digital presence in this family drama at Ensemble Studio Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:42PM
Monday, March 20, 2023

Review: ‘The Good John Proctor’ Imagines Girlhood BFFs by Naveen Kumar

The play, directed by Caitlin Sullivan at the Connelly Theater, focuses on two girls in the year leading up to the action depicted in “The Crucible.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:55AM
Friday, March 10, 2023

Review: In ‘Misty,’ a Restless Artist Grapples With a Gentrifying City by Naveen Kumar

At the Shed, Arinzé Kene mixes spoken word, music and comedy to tell a story of racial tension and male identity in a changing London.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:14PM
Monday, March 6, 2023

Review: In ‘The Best We Could,’ the Players Follow Directions by Naveen Kumar

The playwright Emily Feldman structures this work like a personal GPS that plots the course of a family.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:28PM
Friday, March 3, 2023

‘1 + 1’ Review: She Just Wants to Be His Plaything by Naveen Kumar

Stale views of gender dynamics power Eric Bogosian’s play about an aspiring actress caught in the clutches of a duplicitous man.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:27PM
Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Review: In ‘Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!,’ He’s Too Hot to Live by Naveen Kumar

Reich, a comedian and writer, transforms into the avatar of Gen Z disaffection in his taut, biting solo show at Greenwich House Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:58PM
Wednesday, February 8, 2023

‘Lucy’ Review: There’s Something About the Babysitter by Naveen Kumar

A workplace comedy set at home, this cleverly detailed production explores child care as both labor and primal instinct.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:54PM
Thursday, January 26, 2023

‘Memorial’ Review: An American Story, Set in Stone by Naveen Kumar

The national controversy surrounding Maya Lin’s design for the Vietnam War Memorial is the subject of Livian Yeh’s nimble, process-driven play.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00AM
Monday, January 23, 2023

‘Sugar Daddy’ Review: The Grief Comes Out in Laughs by Naveen Kumar

In his show about mourning his boyfriend, the comedian Sam Morrison confronts overwhelming loss with punch lines and panache.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:55PM
Thursday, December 15, 2022

Review: A Solo ‘Great Expectations’ That Calls for Endurance by Naveen Kumar

The British comedian Eddie Izzard plays every part in this relatively straightforward adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic story.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:18PM
Sunday, December 11, 2022

‘Some Like It Hot’ makes a modern case for a screen gem by Naveen Kumar

Transforming beloved IP into compelling musical theater is an inexact science, but the transformation part is nonnegotiable. As the discard pile of recent VHS-inspired flops can attest, audi…

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 10:02PM
Friday, December 9, 2022

Review: In ‘La Race,’ a Fight Back From the Margins by Naveen Kumar

Bleu Beckford-Burrell’s play about a City Council campaign aims to catalog a gamut of social ills and how Black women rise to meet them.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:24PM
Thursday, November 17, 2022

‘The Bandaged Place’ Review: A Dance With His Devils by Naveen Kumar

Evocative choreography and warm performances hold together Harrison David Rivers’s play about the slippages between desire and trauma.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:06PM
Thursday, November 10, 2022

‘Where We Belong’ Review: A Performer Wonders, What’s in a Name? by Naveen Kumar

In an autobiographical solo show at the Public Theater, Madeline Sayet grapples with her Indigenous ancestry and the responsibility that comes with her name.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:18PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic