Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Hell’s Kitchen by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

"Hell’s Kitchen" is both ambitious and noble in its intentions. However, as of now the show on the stage of The Newman at The Public Theater is not there yet. With very few characters deve…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:43PM
Tuesday, November 28, 2023

United Nations: The Other West by Scotty Bennett

"United Nations: The Other West," written and directed by Bossert, is an outstanding example of the hybrid theatrical system he has created. This production is an extension of his 2022 "Unit…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:55PM
Monday, November 27, 2023

Amusements by Tony Marinelli

There are frequent breaks in thought such as “I forgot to mention at the top that I will be injecting my jokes with a bit of humor tonight as a way to keep them both engaging and fun.” T…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:56PM

Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent) by Joel Benjamin

Director Matthew “Motl” Didner manages to make what might have been just a well-staged concert of moving songs into a dramatic whole with a deep feeling for the ebb and flow of emotions …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 06:24PM
Sunday, November 26, 2023

School Pictures by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

Milo Cramer’s delightful solo musical "School Pictures," part of a festival of new one person shows running in repertory at Playwrights Horizons, is wildly inventive, hilarious funny, and …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:58PM
Saturday, November 25, 2023

Make Me Gorgeous! by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

As Kenneth/Kate Marlowe, Wade McCollum not only becomes the character but inhabits it. Required to act as narrator as well as performer in both male and female attire, McCollum is totally co…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:53AM
Friday, November 24, 2023

One Night Only: An Evening with Sutton Foster & Kelli O’Hara by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

The pairing of Broadway legends Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara proved felicitous just like the previous pairing of Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett, with each lady using her special gifts: …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:57PM
Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Waiting for Godot by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

Ironically there is no rapport or chemistry between Shannon and Sparks playing friends who have been traveling together for 50 years. As Estragon, in need of sleep and with shoes that don’…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:53PM
Monday, November 20, 2023

Spamalot by Joseph Pisano

Still, whatever faint accommodations he grants it, for Idle, structure is the enemy of joy, which every aspect of "Spamalot" is relentlessly intent on delivering, not only from a few well-pe…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:39PM
Sunday, November 19, 2023

Scene Partners by Joel Benjamin

It takes an artist of the stature and extraordinary talent of Wiest to keep Caswell’s fragmented play from flying off in all directions as it veers from reality to fantasy and from flashba…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:33AM
Saturday, November 18, 2023

Sad Boys in Harpy Land by Tony Marinelli

Tatarsky uses language in a fresh way, ultimately giving the sensation of having created her own. There are so many thoughts overlapping, and there are accompanying unintelligible sounds and…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:52PM

A Good Day to Me Not to You by Christopher "caz" Caswell

As a work of writing, "A Good Day to Me Not to You" is blisteringly funny and seems deceptively shapeless, almost like a meandering evening of stand-up comedy, until it comes together to a f…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:39PM
Friday, November 17, 2023

Harmony by Joel Benjamin

The musical "Harmony," the lovechild of pop music greats Barry Manilow (music) and Bruce Sussman (lyrics and book), has opened at a time when anti-Semitism has peaked once again and lessons …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:08PM

Arcadia by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

This being Bedlam famous for its experimental revivals, the second act is handled differently. The audience is asked to leave their seats in the amphitheater and when they return are given o…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:08PM
Thursday, November 16, 2023

Poor Yella Rednecks by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

Although playwright Qui Nguyen declared early in his earlier play "Vietgone" that “all characters appearing in this work are fictitious,” in his sequel "Poor Yella Rednecks" now at Manha…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:08PM

Ode to the Wasp Woman by Scotty Bennett

"Ode to the Wasp Woman," written and directed by Rider McDowell, is a play done in the style of film noir and true crime films of the 1950’s. The show focuses on the events leading up to t…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:52PM
Monday, November 13, 2023

Sabbath’s Theater by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

Philip Roth’s 1995 Rabelaisian novel "Sabbath’s Theater" would seem a strange choice for stage adaptation both as it is considered Roth’s raunchiest – if not filthiest – book and i…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:07PM
Sunday, November 12, 2023

I Need That by Joseph Pisano

A repetitively thin outlook on grief, "I Need That" ostensibly concludes with an image of healing, but I'm not sure why, or if it actually does. It's possible the famously prolific Rebeck ha…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:03AM
Thursday, November 9, 2023

The Frogs by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

MasterVoices acquitted itself well in this deliciously comic concert staging of "The Frogs." Why this Stephen Sondheim score is not better known or revived more often remains a mystery after…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:52PM

ON THE TOWN WITH CHIP DEFFAA… AT CONCERTS HONORING BETTY BUCKLEY AND TONY BENNETT by Chip Deffaa, Editor-At-Large

This fall, I saw two of the most rewarding tribute-type concerts I’ve seen in recent years—one a glittering (if overlong), star-filled salute to “the Voice of Broadway,” Betty Buckl…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:47PM
Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Stereophonic by Tony Marinelli

Not since Stephen Sondheim’s "Sunday in the Park with George" have “civilians” gotten so close to the creative individual’s “process” when attending a theater piece. David Adjmi�…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:25PM
Monday, November 6, 2023

Hell Dialogues by Scotty Bennett

The production was conceived in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a group of actors was performing "No Exit (Huis clos)." They decided to adapt the ideas of Sartre’s work into…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:06AM
Thursday, November 2, 2023

#UglyCry by Scotty Bennett

What is remarkable about Mack's performance is that she is reliving the grieving process with every performance. It is not a fictional story with an actor taking on a role; this is a powerfu…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:36PM

Boris Charmatz: Somnole by Joel Benjamin

Far less mystical that he would have us believe, "Somnole" nevertheless is Charmatz’s honest exploration of his stated theme, although self-indulgence reared its ugly head too often.  The…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:41PM
Wednesday, November 1, 2023

The Mysterious Case of Kitsy Rainey by Scotty Bennett

Mikel Murfi skillfully brings to life a handful of colorful characters in a rural town where Farnon is the cobbler. The transitions from one character to the next are done with shifts in pos…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:08AM
Tuesday, October 31, 2023

King of the Jews by Joel Benjamin

How does a Holocaust-themed play land with such emotional impact as Leslie Epstein’s "King of the Jews" at the HERE Theatre?  Based on his novel of the same name, "King of the Jews" is a …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:01PM

Redwood by Tony Marinelli

If an audience can willingly get past the contrivance that the distant relative Stevie meets over coffee, a young white man whose family generations ago once owned (and fathered!) slaves in …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:54PM
Saturday, October 28, 2023

Emergence: Things Are Not As They Seem by Christopher "caz" Caswell

Olson might very well be the three-way love child of Thomas Dolby, Bill Irwin, and Max Headroom. He carries the show with an unbridled, infectious, childlike enthusiasm, sharing what he know…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:02PM
Friday, October 27, 2023

Partnership by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

The three plays in the “Meet Miss Baker” Project, "The Price of Thomas Scott" in 2019, "Chains" in 2022 and now "Partnership" in 2023 are quite different. While Partnership is the only o…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:39PM
Thursday, October 26, 2023

David Dean Bottrell: The Death of Me Yet by Scotty Bennett

All eight stories are engagingly woven into a pattern that illustrates the things that help us understand what it is to encounter a fear of death or even a fear of living. David Dean Bottrel…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:11PM
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Room with a View by Joel Benjamin

The dancers performed their dystopian tasks with great dedication and the occasional display of actual technique.  They were all good-looking and clearly into what they believed was an icon…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:44PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater