First Nighter: Mark Rylance in 'Farinelli and the King,' John Hollingworth's 'Multitudes,' Zinie Harris's 'How to Hold Your Breath' by David Finkle

Since William Congreve wrote that "music hath charm to soothe a savage breast," people have assumed he was right. The composer Claire van Kampen has decided to demonstrate its tru…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 4:19am on March 3, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Ivo van Hove's "View From the Bridge" View, David Hare's "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" Gaze by David Finkle

London--What can ordinarily be objectionable about Ivo van Hove's too often juvenile look-at-me directing is that he thinks it's innovative to play up a script's subtext. That, of course, i…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 8:04pm on February 24, 2015☆⚑

"Hamilton" as Superb Edutainment by David Finkle

Lin-Manuel MIranda's new musical has extra-special potential.

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 4:15pm on February 23, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Stoppard's Hard Problem Neatly Solved, Last of the De Mullins Deftly Revived, Homer's Odyssey in 60 Minutes by David Finkle

Almost immediately after Tom Stoppard's new and intellectually thrilling play, The Hard Problem, at the National Theatre's Dorfman, begins, the just-about-peerless playwright has his charact…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 6:47pm on February 22, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: James McAvoy Rules 'The Ruling Class,' A Feminized Treasure Island,' 'Di and Viv and Rose' on Friendship by David Finkle

When Peter Barnes decided the ruling English class was nutty, he created Jack Gurney and wrote The Ruling Class, a hellzapoppin satire during most of which Gurney (James McAvoy) contends he'…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 8:22pm on February 20, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Nick Jones's "Verité," Stephen Adly Guirgis's "Between Riverside and Crazy" by David Finkle

Nick Jones could have fooled me. And did with Verité, his new comedy(?) at Lincoln Center's Claire Tow. But he didn't fool...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:42pm on February 18, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Ronald Keaton Makes an Imposing 'Churchill' by David Finkle

When I was at college, a favorite pastime of mine was sitting around with a bunch of other procrastinators keen on determining the most important person of the 20th century. I maintained it…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 6:55pm on February 15, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Nathan Lane, Brian Dennehy in O'Neill's "Iceman Cometh" by David Finkle

Can a great play also be not entirely good? And before you answer that, please put aside any objections about the adjective...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:27pm on February 12, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: "The Events" Proves Less Than Riveting by David Finkle

In the program for The Events, now at the New York Theatre Workshop, is a note about the production's provenance that goes in...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:02pm on February 12, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Joel Drake Johnson's Sly Rasheeda Speaks, Craig muMs Grant's Paradox of the Urban Cliché by David Finkle

Joel Drake Johnson is a sly one. At first, his Rasheeda Speaks -- directed by Cynthia Nixon with her own sly touch in a very impressive directing debut -- looks as if it's going to be a str…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 6:59pm on February 11, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Christine Bianco Lights Up Application Pending by David Finkle

Beauty and humor aren't so common a combination that a theatergoer can afford to get blasé about it. That's what Christina Bianco dispenses in large quantities throughout the Greg Edwards-A…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 2:12pm on February 11, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: John Cariani's Love/Sick, Brian Dykstra's Selling Out by David Finkle

Sometimes playwright John Cariani looks at the world -- actually the worlds of love and relationships -- through rose-colored glasses. Just as often he views those worlds through lenses tint…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 2:06pm on February 10, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Joe Pintauro's 'Snow Orchid,' Benjamin Scheuer's 'The Lion' by David Finkle

If forgiveness is divine, what is the inability to forgive? Joe Pintauro's hard-nosed Snow Orchid, at the Lion, doesn't provide an answer. Instead, through the up-close-and-extremely-perso…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 6:23pm on February 8, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: T. Oliver Reid Heats the Met Room, "Texas in Paris" Warms the York by David Finkle

For some time Broadway has been the place for swellegant black revues, the most recent being last season's superlative...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:06pm on February 5, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: The Gershwins' "Lady Be Good" Gets Tommy Tune'd Up by David Finkle

What's happening at City Center this weekend is what frequently happens when the Encores! series is in swing: The most entrancing musical number to be seen anywhere in Manhattan is right the…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 3:16pm on February 5, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Diana Ross, 70 Going on 22, Glamorously Re-Opens Brooklyn's King's Theatre by David Finkle

Diana Ross -- Miss Ross to you, Diane to family and (Motown) friends -- heart-stoppingly opened Brooklyn's restored King's Theatre last night (February 3) by entering from the back of the va…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 4:32pm on February 4, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Schilling, Dinklage, Edwards Spend "A Month in the Country" by David Finkle

If you go by Ivan Turgenev's A Month in the Country, revived at Classic Stage Company, you might conclude the revered...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:43am on January 30, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: John Tiffany's 'Let the Right One In', Parallel Exit's 'Everybody Gets Cake!', Poe in 'Nevermore' by David Finkle

If you ask me, the prolific John Tiffany and the prolific Steven Hoggett are responsible for the best play ever presented about the Iraq War. So when I learned they were bringing Let the Ri…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 8:18pm on January 25, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Hugh Leonard's "Da," Aaron Mark's "Another Medea," Damon Chua's "Film Chinois" by David Finkle

In Da, now revived by the Irish Repertory Theatre during its DR2 season, Hugh Leonard deals with a couple of irrefutable

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:00am on January 23, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Halley Feiffer's 'I'm Gonna Pray for You So Hard' Needs More Prayer by David Finkle

Although we may loathe the very suggestion, it's undoubtedly true that to some extent, we all eventually become our parents. Halley Feiffer believes we do to the most extreme extent.

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 8:43pm on January 22, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Tony Danza, Honeymoon in Vegas Pay Off by David Finkle

Tony Danza on stage -- or anywhere, for that matter -- is just about impossible to dislike. This show-biz given is both a boon and a problem for Honeymoon in Vegas, the genuinely entertainin…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 11:59am on January 16, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Broadway's Richard Thomas, Anna Chlumsky, Café Carlyle's Cheyenne Jackson and the Duplex's Ben Rimalower by David Finkle

One of the Broadway season's very highest lights, the George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart You Can't Take It With You remains brightly illuminated now that replacements Richard Thomas and Anna Chlums…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 5:49pm on January 15, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Gyllenhaal, Wilson Illuminate Nick Payne's 'Constellations' by David Finkle

Nick Payne's Constellations arrives at the Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman after winning the 2012 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play and receiving a clutch of rave revi…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:07pm on January 13, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Sam Harris' Expertly Baked Ham, Victor L. Cahn's Sly Villainous Company by David Finkle

If you were to ask me who the best male pop singer in the country is, I would immediately say Sam Harris. After seeing Ham, the adaptation of his beautifully written and often humorous memoi…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:40pm on January 12, 2015☆⚑

First Nighter: Sting in "The Last Ship," Barney Josephson and "Café Society Swing" by David Finkle

In his first-rate autobiographical musical The Last Ship, Sting--also Gordon Sumner, son of a ship builder--has come...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 10:10pm on December 21, 2014☆⚑