Small Craft Warnings/Theater Review by David Rooney

If a case were to be made for reassessment of this 1972 barroom dirge set on the Southern California coast, it won't be in this apathetic staging.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A Perfect Future/Theater Review by David Rooney

To invest in characters partly defined by their political persuasions, it's necessary to buy them on some level.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'Microcrisis': Just Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor and Their Money by David Rooney

Vacant ethics and global economic woes provide the background of “Microcrisis,” a dynamic but sometimes painful-to-watch show at Here Arts Center.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Kristoffer Diaz is going to the mat for art by David Rooney

Wrestling fan Kristoffer Diaz draws on pop-culture sources for his plays.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Elf -- Review by David Rooney

"Elf" comes up short.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Qualities of Mercy and Strength by David Rooney

“THE only thing that matters is the theater!” That passionate declaration was made not by Katharine Cornell, Ethel Barrymore or some other grande dame of the stage. It was spit o…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A Free Man of Color -- Review by David Rooney

While the thematic expansiveness of John Guare's first new Broadway play in 18 years is audacious, George C. Wolfe's extravagant staging and Jeffrey Wright's mannered lead performance make a…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'Personal Enemy': 1953 Politics, Paranoia and a Family Torn Apart by David Rooney

“Personal Enemy,” the play John Osborne wrote in 1953 with Anthony Creighton, deals with anti-Communist paranoia and homosexual persecution.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'Apple Cove': In-Laws Are Core Issue for This Adam and Eve by David Rooney

Lynn Rosen’s comedy “Apple Cove” is many things, just not as funny or clever as it should be.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'Mimic': Confession of a Multi-Voiced Madman by David Rooney

In “Mimic,” at the Irish Arts Center, Raymond Scannell’s tragic tale about a life gone off the rails is punctuated by bursts of melody, sound effects and impersonations.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'The Sneeze': Chekhov Meets Vaudeville in an Adaptation of His Early Works by David Rooney

“The Sneeze” offers an uneven look at a collection of Chekhov pieces presented by the Pearl Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Diary of a Madman -- Theater Review by David Rooney

Anyone unconvinced as to the manifold skills at Geoffrey Rush's disposal might want to consider the purposeful intensity of his Oscar-nominated performance in "The King's Speech" alongside t…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Broadway's 'Memphis' Headed to Movie Theaters by David Rooney

"Memphis" will be the first ongoing Broadway show to beam a live performance into movie theaters nationwide, taking a cue from New York's Metropolitan Opera and London's National Theatr…

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'Pieces': Parents Die, and Twins Turn Creepy by David Rooney

In “Pieces,” an ineffectual psycho-chiller at the Brits Off Broadway festival, no horror film sound effect goes unheard.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

ArtsBeat: Theater Talkback: Confessions of a Critic With No Fringe on Top by David Rooney

I have been showered with unexpected attention during more than one show because of the gleaming beacon of my fur-free head.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

That Championship Season by David Rooney

Kiefer Sutherland Makes Broadway Debut in Dated Drama 'That Championship Season'

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Awkwardness as the Avenue to Success by David Rooney

The director Sam Gold navigates the mess of human suffering and the uneasy line between humor and pain.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Amid Fringe Festival Upstarts, an Oscar Nominee by David Rooney

Caleb Deschanel, a lauded cinematographer, directs a one-act play Off Off Broadway for the New York International Fringe Festival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

'Colin Quinn Long Story Short' -- Review by David Rooney

The History Channel meets Comedy Central in "Saturday Night Live" alumnus Colin Quinn's whip-smart dissertation on the rise and fall of the world's great empires.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'A Bright New Boise': Father, Son and Secret Converge Amid Glue Guns by David Rooney

In a craft store in Idaho, a search for meaning in Samuel D. Hunter’s play “A Bright New Boise,” at the Wild Project.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'The Annihilation Point': The End Is Near; Let’s All Exit Laughing by David Rooney

In “The Annihilation Point,” audience members are tagged with a Reproduction Candidate number and led into a time-travel transit station.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

'American Idiot' Theater Review by David Rooney

Billie Joe Armstrong Electrifies an Already Exhilarating Musical

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Theater Review | 'My Scandalous Life': Putting Oscar Wilde on the Back Seat by David Rooney

In “My Scandalous Life,” Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde’s lover, takes center stage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Gruesome Playground Injuries by David Rooney

Review

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Lord of the Dance 3D -- Film Review by David Rooney

A vanity production so self-inflated they needed an extra dimension to contain it, Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance 3D won't win many new fans for the high-stepping dancer.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑