Monday, January 30, 2012
Let's play a word-associationgame. I say, "Petula Clark." And you say?My guess isthat you say--no, sing--"Downtown." Or perhaps, "Don't Sleep inthe Subway, Darling." On the other hand, …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:51PMSunday, January 22, 2012
Raushanah Simmons, Ingrid Nordstrom Photo: Justin HocheSomething there is that doesn't love a wall. So begins Robert Frost's well-loved poem "Mending Wall," and so also begins Erin Bro…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:36AMTuesday, January 17, 2012
Steve Kazee and Cristin MiliotiPhoto: Joan MarcusI am very grateful that I saw Once (based on the movie of the same name) at the New York Theatre Workshop rather than on Broadway. (Thank you…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:52PMMonday, January 16, 2012
There are two components to a review of the recording of a musical: the discussion of the musical itself and the discussion of its presentation on the CD. Since four of us on this blog have …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:20PMFriday, January 13, 2012
Ian Spring, and Melissa Ullom inDavid Parson's Round My WorldPhoto: Krista BonuraLet's cut to the chase: David Parsons' piece Caught is stunning, impressive, and magical. I see it at least o…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:56PMSunday, January 8, 2012
NancyWhen it comes to Scott Siegel's Broadway Ballyhoo: A Show Tune Hootenanny, currently playing late Thursday nights at Feinstein's, there's good news and there's bad news. The good n…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:06AMFriday, January 6, 2012
If you have never seen Marilyn Maye, really, what are you waiting for? She's an amazing jazz singer, a brilliant interpreter, and funny to boot. She's a delight to spend an evening with. She…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 06:12PMThursday, January 5, 2012
Heidi Schreck and Adam LeFevrePhoto: Carol Rosegg After her life in New York falls apart, Susan Pierce (Heidi Schreck) ends up in Plainview, KS, teaching science to high schoolers whose town…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:00PMFriday, December 30, 2011
2011 continued my personal trend of seeing many more Off-Off-Broadway shows and considerably fewer Broadway Shows, with Off-Broadway holding steady. In fact, of over 70 shows, only eight wer…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:37AMSaturday, December 17, 2011
Is it too much to say that Stephen Sondheim is our Shakespeare? I don't think so. His range of topics is epic; he's endlessly surprising; his work is deep and textured enough for dozens of i…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 06:00PMReviewing Barbara Cook is as easy as one, two, three.1. Barbara Cook is an incomparable interpreter of theAmerican Songbook.2. Barbara Cook lives her songs as freshly and honestly thehundret…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:32PMMonday, December 12, 2011
What happens when jazz and musical theatre singers and siblings Ann Hampton Callaway (Swing) and Liz Callaway (Baby) decide to explore the music of the sixties and early seventies? You get t…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:32PMSunday, December 4, 2011
Anton Chekhov considered The Cherry Orchard to be a comedy. Its first director, Stanislavski, believed it was a tragedy. Since its first production over a hundred years ago, directors have b…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:11PMTuesday, November 22, 2011
[spoilers below]I'm not exactly sure what Thomas Higgins is trying to say in his intriguing play Wild Animals You Should Know (currently at the Lucille Lortel Theatre). He's clearly interest…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 07:30PMOnce upon a time, it was considered risky for performers to play homosexual characters because people might think that they were homosexual. Once upon a time, homosexual characters were path…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:01PMMonday, November 14, 2011
Why would King Lear do something as foolish as give up his kingdom? What if he were secretly aware that he has early signs of dementia? Sam Waterston seems at first to take this approa…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:19PMSunday, November 13, 2011
There are few things as purely joyful as watching an excellent version of a superb show. The New York University Tisch Drama Stageworks production of Violet fits that description perfectly, …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:22PMFriday, November 11, 2011
The CD of the Sweet Bye and Bye is a complete and total treat. The people at the invaluable PS Classics have not only presented us with the world premiere recording of a musical by Vernon Du…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:07PMMichael John LaChiusa is unique among musical writers. He often writes the book and the lyrics and the music for his shows, and his interests are wide and varied: perception, fame, sex, lack…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:05PMWednesday, November 9, 2011
Is it fair to have high expectations of a preview? Medium expectations? Any expectations? What if the preview ticket is full priced? Discounted?Previews live in a gray area, particularly in …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:37PMTuesday, September 27, 2011
As I traveled to the Clurman Theatre to see the Keen Company's revival of Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky, I took a mental tour through other Wilson plays I've seen: Hot L Baltimore, Balm in Gile…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:44PMThursday, September 22, 2011
Where do I start? Okay, here's where I start:The record-breaking performance of A Chorus Line. This review/description by Frank Rich will tell you why. I get goosebumps just reading about it…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:38PMSome of the Show Showdowners, myself included, are going to answer this question. We'd love to hear your answers too. Just click on "comments" below. Thanks!
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:45PMTuesday, September 20, 2011
Photo: Steven MenendezThe four musicians are elegant and graceful. The bass player is cool and contained. The piano and drum players banter with the singer. The trumpet player may be her lov…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:01PMWednesday, September 14, 2011
There’s no way I could limit myself to one “star in the making.” New York theatre is just too full of riches. I did however manage to limit myself to seven. Lemp and KautzSarah Lemp an…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:31PMTuesday, September 13, 2011
Laila Robins, J. Smith-Cameron and Maryann PlunkettPhoto by Joan MarcusWhile watching Richard Nelson's Sweet and Sad at the Public Theatre, I found myself thinking of how much I admire Tony …
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:15PMWednesday, September 7, 2011
The "him" that Kate Baldwin loves is the amazing Sheldon Harnick, lyricist of such classic shows as She Loves Me, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Apple Tree, and honored guest on this CD. And w…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:09PMMonday, August 29, 2011
One of the best things about seeing a musical Off-Off-Broadway is hearing unmiked voices--when you can hear them. Unfortunately, only some of the cast members in the Sweet&Tart-Art of Wa…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:25PMWednesday, August 24, 2011
Ryan Worsing, Charlotte d'Amboise, and Michael Cusumano (Photo: Jeremy Daniel)
With its 6138th performance on August 22, Chicago became the fourth longest running show in Broadway history.&n…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:17PMWednesday, August 10, 2011
Gershwin Hotel
After watching the Amoralist production of HotelMotel, a pair of one-acts on site at the Gershwin Hotel, I was left with two questions. For Pink Knees on Pale Skin, written a…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:00PMThursday, August 4, 2011
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Cheyenne JacksonPhoto: Kerry LongIf you are at all interested in musical theatre you must see One Night Stand, a documentary about four short musicals that are written,…
SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:31PM 
