First Nighter: "A NIght With Janis Joplin" Gets Only a Piece of Her Heart by David Finkle

Comparisons may be odious, but in some cases, like this one, they're inevitable. Whenever performers--such...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 1:25am on October 11, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: All-Female "Julius Caesar" Works Except When It Doesn't by David Finkle

Does a week go by without a newspaper report somewhere on the subject of prisoners staging a Shakespeare play as part of...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:50am on October 10, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Dee Dee Bridgewater Is Billie Holiday in Lady Day; Clint Holmes Is Himself in Stop This Train by David Finkle

Sometime in the winter of 1958, I had the chance to hear Billie Holiday on her closing night at Boston's venerated Storyville. For reasons I can't recall, I chose not to go. She died less …

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 10:36pm on October 3, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Jon Robin Baitz's "Film Society" Well Projected at the Beckett by David Finkle

Jon Robin Baitz is the rare example of a playwright whose every play--with possibly one or two exceptions--is even better than...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 10:25pm on October 1, 2013☆⚑

The Public Theater and Public Works Stir Up a Memorable Tempest in the Park by David Finkle

Extending Joseph Papp's bow to the Public.

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 10:54am on September 30, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: "Massive Attack V Adam Curtis" Explains Today's World But Not Really by David Finkle

Massive Attack, by the way, was seen from time to time when the three screens at the end of the hall were backlit. (There

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:57pm on September 29, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: "Massive Attack V Adam Curtis" Explains Today's World But Not Really by David Finkle

Within minutes of Massive Attack V Adam Curtis beginning at the Park Avenue Armory, where it plays through Friday (October 4),...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:57pm on September 29, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Tennessee Williams's Memorable "Glass Menagerie," William Inge's Forgettable "Natural Affection" by David Finkle

As far as I know, the only remains of Laurette Taylor's performance in The Glass Menagerie as Amanda

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 6:20pm on September 26, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Tennessee Williams's Memorable <i>Glass Menagerie</i>, William Inge's Forgettable <i>Natural Affection</i> by David Finkle

It was when Tennessee Williams took him to see <em>The Glass Menagerie</em> that William Inge decided to become a playwright -- very much influenced, as it turned out, by his pal.

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 6:20pm on September 26, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: In "Arguendo" Elevator Repair Service Makes a Good Argument for Unbridled Enjoyment by David Finkle

Although I can't say I followed everyone of the ins and outs of Elevator Repair Service's Arguendo, at the Public, I had

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 3:46pm on September 25, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: In "Arguendo" Elevator Repair Service Makes a Good Argument for Unbridled Enjoyment by David Finkle

Although I can't say I followed everyone of the ins and outs of Elevator Repair Service's Arguendo, at the Public, I had...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 3:46pm on September 25, 2013☆⚑

First NIghter: Basil Twist in Manhattan, IPA in Brooklyn by David Finkle

Anyone looking around New York City for something to do this weekend might want to check out the Japan Society in Manhattan

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:20pm on September 20, 2013☆⚑

First NIghter: Basil Twist in Manhattan, IPA in Brooklyn by David Finkle

Anyone looking around New York City for something to do this weekend might want to check out the Japan Society in...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:20pm on September 20, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: As Opera, Anna Nicole Goes Bust by David Finkle

In a way you can't fault underfunded New York City Opera general manager and artistic director George Steel for scheduling Anna Nicole, now at BAM, as the opening for what could be the revam…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 4:08pm on September 18, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: As Opera, <i>Anna Nicole</i> Goes Bust by David Finkle

In a way you can't fault underfunded New York City Opera general manager and artistic director George Steel for scheduling <em>Anna Nicole</em>, now at BAM, as the opening for wh…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 4:08pm on September 18, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Ethan Coen's "Women or Nothing" Doesn't Add Up to Enough More Than Nothing by David Finkle

If you think Broadway boulevard comedies are a thing of the past, you'd better think again. Ethan Coen--the half of the...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:32am on September 17, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Ethan Coen's "Women or Nothing" Doesn't Add Up to Enough More Than Nothing by David Finkle

If you think Broadway boulevard comedies are a thing of the past, you'd better think again. Ethan Coen--the half of the cinema's

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 12:32am on September 17, 2013☆⚑

Seasons Come, Seasons Go, But Theater is Forever by David Finkle

What lies ahead on the road to Broadway, off- and off-off always looks bright in the Fall.

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 11:02am on September 16, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Anne Washburn's "Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play" Does Go On and On and... by David Finkle

"I've never actually seen an episode of The Simpsons," Gibson (Gibson Frazier) admits in the first section of Anne Washburn's

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 1:55am on September 16, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Anne Washburn's "Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play" Does Go On and On and... by David Finkle

"I've never actually seen an episode of The Simpsons," Gibson (Gibson Frazier) admits in the first section of Anne Washburn's...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 1:55am on September 16, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: David Staller Tells Bernard Shaw's "You Never Can Tell" Rather Well by David Finkle

David Staller is likely the current world authority on George Bernard Shaw. For quite some time, under the auspices of the

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:29pm on September 15, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: David Staller Tells Bernard Shaw's "You Never Can Tell" Rather Well by David Finkle

David Staller is likely the current world authority on George Bernard Shaw. For quite some time, under the auspices of...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:29pm on September 15, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Regina Taylor Confronts the Computer Age Poorly, Matt Charman Does It Better by David Finkle

Whatever Regina Taylor is trying to get across in stop. reset., at the Pershing Square Signature Center's Romulus Linney

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:58pm on September 8, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Regina Taylor Confronts the Computer Age Poorly, Matt Charmian Does It Better by David Finkle

Whatever Regina Taylor is trying to get across in stop. reset., at the Pershing Square Signature Center's Romulus Linney,...

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 7:58pm on September 8, 2013☆⚑

First Nighter: Lucy Thurber's Five <i>Hill Town Plays</i> Progress From Must-See to Less-Need-to-See by David Finkle

There's nothing wrong in presenting a cycle about a character progressing from damaging childhood to escape from psychological entrapment adulthood. Indeed, it's a great idea. But the over…

SOURCE: Huffington Post at 6:57pm on September 5, 2013☆⚑