It is telling that the line from which this play's title comes is "No pity in history." It's the 17th Century, during a civil war in Britain, and of course the war is not remotely civil…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:32PMTom Stoppard always offers scrumptious meals for the head, but not always for the heart. Arcadia, his brilliant play about literature, history, math, science, gardening, and sex, featur…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:48AMForty years ago, on July 13, 1977, I was at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, watching Threepenny Opera starring Ellen Greene, Philip Bosco, Caroline Kava, and Tony Azito. I was st…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:54AMWhat is a disability? Does it define a person? What does it mean to care about someone? To care for someone? What is trust? How is it earned?Sullivan, WilliamsPhoto: Joan MarcusThese are jus…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:36AMMarvin's Room lost me quickly. Perhaps it's because I've been dealing with bunches of doctors recently and they've been wonderful, but I found Marvin's Room's jokey, stupid physici…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:18PMIn spring of 1973, I saw a sweet new musical called Shelter written by Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford, who would later write I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road. I like…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:42PMMy latest essay is up at Art Times:The original title of this essay was “Is Broadway Committing Suicide? And Does It Matter?” But the more I thought about it, the more I came to admire B…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:33PMI am not a fan of John Doyle's, as evidenced in my review of his production of Passion, so I didn't plan to see his production of Pacific Overtures at CSC. But three things changed…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:48AMLiz wins the Show Showtime “Predicting the Most Tony Wins Award of 2017,” with 15 correct (out of 24 categories). Sandra is first runner up, with 13. And Wendy brings up the rear with 12…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:48AM[spoilers throughout]Watching Clare Lizzimore’s play Animal is an odd experience. You never quite know what’s going on, because Rachel, the main character, is unraveling, and partially b…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:42AMEarlier this year we lost David Bell, respected playwright and Show Showdown cofounder, way too young (he was in his early 40s). If you'd like to read reviews of his play, The Play About the…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:06AMIn A.A. Milne's The Lucky One, currently playing at The Mint, we hear it again and again: "Poor old Bob." "Poor old Bob." "Poor old Bob."Bob's problem is simple: for years he has been wither…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:18PMBette Midler and Dolly Levi would seem to be as perfect a match as, oh, Glenn Close and Norma Desmond or Angela Lansbury and Mame. But, rather than giving us Dolly Levi, Bette has chosen to …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 07:06PMI won the lottery for Sunset Boulevard last Sunday matinee. The tickets were $55 each. I was thrilled when the box office woman handed me C2 and C4 in the orchestra. While they're arguably "…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:48PMBest Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, Lonnie Price's documentary on the making of Merrily We Roll Along, is jammed with treasures, such as footage of auditions, rehe…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:18PMBy the time you read this, the York Theatre Company production of Dear World will be over. Part of the York's Musicals in Mufti series (their version--in many ways better--of Encores!),…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 07:54PMFrom public/political discussions and debates, you might think that sexual boundaries between adults and minors--and sexuality itself--are clear, defined, and unambiguous. They're not, as vi…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:32AMPerhaps it wasn't fair to see Wallace Shawn's mildly compelling dystopian play Evening at the Talk House so soon after seeing Caryl Churchill's wildly compelling dystopian play Escaped …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:03AMCaryl Churchill's brilliant, bizarre, puzzling, horrifying, and strangely sweet Escaped Alone packs the punch of a major dystopia into its lean 55 minutes. It also allows us to meet, enjoy, …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:48PMMy latest essay is up at Art Times:Good acting is a matter of opinion. A performance that you perceive as brilliantly emotional, I might perceive as overacting. A performance that strikes me…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:06PMThe Sherwood Forest in the Flux Theatre Ensemble's delightful production of Adam Szymkowicz's Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood has its full complement of merry men--except most of them…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:03PMSo much depends on where you begin a play. Do you start when character A is behaving well? Or when character B is? Do you start at the foundation of their relationship or in media res? In Yo…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:32PMDue to some health issues, it has been two and a half months since I've seen a play--what a gift that the first one back was August Wilson's superb Jitney, beautifully directed by Ruben Sant…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:12PMIt was late summer 1974 and Debbie Reynolds was returning to the musical Irene for a brief stint before taking it on the road. (Jane Powell had been her replacement.) My friend R and I …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:42PMDue to some health challenges, I only saw 42 shows in 2016--my lowest total in decades. Yet it was still difficult to carve my best list down to 10 entries.I remain in awe of the breadt…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 06:33AMI can't be 100% certain what William Shakespeare would think of the current election season, but, as Director Michael Sexton and the good people of the Red Bull Theater show in their dynamic…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:42PMOkay, so here's an awkward thing: what happens when you're a reviewer, and you're not feeling well, and you fall asleep during a show? That happened to me the other night at The Resisti…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:12PMI wasn't even planning to see this brief production of Sunday in the Park With George, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and benefiting City Center. It's not my favorite Sondheim show, and my life ha…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 06:42PMPerhaps it's time for me to make a template for my reviews of Mint Theater Company productions:Thanks once again to the invaluable Mint for reintroducing the world to yet another fabulous pl…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:03AMWho are the real actors of NYC? After watching the lightly entertaining, largely painless new musical, The Real Actors of NYC, I'd have to say that the answer is: Klea Blackhurst and Lorinda…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:48AMOn Monday, September 26, 2016, The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation presented their IT Awards. Winners are marked with asterisks.OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE** The Golfer,Gemini CollisionWorks…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:19PM
