285 stories by "Aaron Riccio"
As the stakes grow increasingly life or death, the production's campy structure becomes less capable of supporting it.
The post Review: <em>The Lightning Thief</em> Struggles to …
This production's pacing is more deliberate than that of the film, leaving the characters with more room to breathe.
The post Review: <em>Moulin Rouge!</em> Is a Great American M…
The play reduces Medea's decisions to an act of madness, adding little to our understanding of the Medea mythos.
The post Review: In <em>Mojada</em>, Immigration Is an Ill-Fittin…
The play's always-at-arm's-length subtext makes it hard for us to appreciate or connect with the material on an emotional level.
The post Review: Agree or Disagree, <em>Mrs. Murray's M…
The play is positioned as a coping mechanism for Heidi Schreck and, by extension, the audience.
The post Review: <em>What the Constitution Means to Me</em> Is a Perfect Union of …
It provides a clear and winning way in which to wring magic from the old, and features several stunning illusions.
The post Review: Cirque du Soleil's <em>Kurios: Cabinet of Curiositie…
Oh yeah, we're still covering off-off-Broadway -- Trevor deserves a larger venue (and much larger audience) pronto . . . I'm looking at you, Second Stage! And rogerandtom breaks the fourth w…
Come join me over at the new site, won't you, as I talk about the ticking trust bomb at the suspenseful heart of Amy Herzog's quite enjoyable Belleville.
Enough has been said about how terrible Resident Evil 6 is, from the ridiculous story and the lack of horror to the spotty controls, awkwardly laid-out zones, poor scenarios (drivi…
Mary Kaye Schilling catches the always candid and often eloquent Steven Soderbergh on the eve of his retirement in an article for New York's February 4, 2013 issue, and for me, the most…
"Yes, but it is art?" is entirely the wrong question, if for no other reason than that it doesn't matter. We're talking about an entirely subjective thing here, and while we may get wrapped …
There's a mistaken belief out there that reality television is a cheap substitute for scripted programming: you don't have to write anything, the cast is generally replaceable after fifteen …
For the record, while I may be resuming regular posting here in the future (don't reset all your links), for the next few weeks, I'm going to be posting to http://thatsoundscool.wordpre…
In a recent issue of The New Republic, Adam Kirsch writes of the decline of the essay, describing even good writers such as John Jeremiah Sullivan (or, one would imagine, Michael Pollan…
Photo/Russ RowlandOnce upon a time, to borrow the banal storytelling mechanic used by playwright Lyle Kessler's pretentious philosophers, there was a critic who thought he'd seen more than h…
Crystal (America Ferrara) would like you to buy a new car, preferably within the next week. Because that's when her Saturn dealership is shutting down. And she works on a straight commission…
Is there anything more important in the theater than confidence? Without it, Robert Askins could never have written his Obie-award winning Hand to God (in which a boy's Satanic sock puppet t…
Photo/Carol RoseggGreed, despite what you may have heard, isn't good. Comedies about greedy men, on the other hand are. And while Red Bull (every bit as energetic as the drink) is best known…
Flux Theatre Ensemble @ The Secret Theatre44-02 23rd StreetLong Island City, NYthrough December 15, 2012Running Time: 100 minutes (no intermission)Photo/Isaiah TanenbaumIs there such a …
Photo/Carol RoseggIt's Christmas Eve, 1864, and Paula Vogel is shining a spotlight on three wise American men as they momentarily step back from the brink of their war and enjoy a moment of …
The Performers is about adult industry stars and their large endowments, but the Broadway stage must be cold or something, because these outsize-stars are shriveling up under the lights…
Photo/Benjamin Heller If How to Break were an actual hip-hop track, it would be defined by the solid chorus and rhythmic structure that bridges the dramatic beat(boxing) surrounding the…
Thirty plays an hour. Two to twelve new plays a week. All year long. Even with a revolving ensemble, that's a daunting task for any theater company, especially a non-illusory one like the Ne…
Photo/Sandra CoudertWriter/director Adam Rapp's latest play, Through the Yellow Hour, has once again transformed the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater: one enters through a narrow graffitied c…
Photo/Joan MarcusThe thing you need to know about Red Dog Howls, before you get frustrated or restless, is that Alexander Dinelaris is deliberately pacing his play in a fashion that wil…
