1,783 stories by "ELISABETH VINCENTELLI"
Richard Nelson's new play, "That Hopey Changey Thing," couldn't be more topical. It's set from 7 to 9 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2010, and within the first two minutes, we get jokes about Cuomo, Gilli…
Moliere's dark comedy "The Misanthrope" is one of the most cynical and twisted works in the canon, and deserves to be better known in America. Maybe we need a Hollywood update to show new a…
The last time Belgium's Jan Lauwers and his Needcompany were in town, it was six years ago with the remarkable "Isabella's Room." This visually beautiful, deeply moving evocation of grief an…
Lillian Hellman's 1939 melodrama "The Little Foxes" centers on the greedy machi nations of an Ala bama family at the turn of the last century. The thrilling, eye-opening production that ope…
Many '80s artifacts are best gone for good: Fond memories of REO Speedwagon, shoulder pads and "ALF" are better than the reality. The same is true of Christopher Durang's "Beyond...
While Tennessee Williams is acknowledged as a master, his later plays are theater's answer to the madwoman in the attic: Producers and directors either ignore them entirely, or tread ginger…
Of all the "Saturday Night Live" alums, Colin Quinn isn't the one you'd picture doing a solo show on Broadway. Will Ferrell, sure. But Quinn? He anchored "Weekend Update" for a couple of ye…
In the early '80s, the late mono loguist Spalding Gray created a show called "Interviewing the Audience" in which he did just that. He brought random theatergoers onstage and got them to op…
The most exciting mo ment in "That Championship Season" comes when Jason Patric's character, Tom, falls down a flight of stairs. For a couple of seconds, you're involved in what's happening…
Ibsen's "John Gabriel Bork man" is nowhere near as popu lar as his "Hedda Gabler" and "A Doll's House." Yet crowds are flocking to this obscure 1896 play at BAM. What gives? One reason is t…
You can take Donny and Marie Osmond out of Vegas, but you can't take Vegas out of them. Or is that Branson, Mo.? No matter: The siblings' holiday concert at the Marquis delivers everything …
Save for a precious few exceptions, the fall theater season has been disappointingly bland. And so Thomas Ostermeier's cold, cerebral “The Marriage of Maria Braun” comes as a rel…
The story of Persephone, ab ducted queen of the under world, is one of the most potent in Greek mythology -- so much so that it's inspired a steady stream of writers and artists over the ce…
'Spirit Control" gets off to a nail- biting start. Air-traffic controller Adam Wyatt (Jeremy Sisto) is helping a passenger land a small plane after the pilot passes out. Problem is, the pan…
Let's face it: You don't go to "Timon of Ath ens" expecting much -- if you go at all. Widely assumed to be co-written by Shakespeare and fellow playwright Thomas Middleton, this uneven trage…
An early scene in the new off- Broadway play "The Whipping Man" demonstrates the devastating power of words. We're in April 1865 and the war has just ended. A young Confederate soldier, Cal…
Doug is a living nightmare for health-insurance companies: He's more than accident-prone -- he's a lightning rod for calamities. In Rajiv Joseph's uneven play "Gruesome Playground Injuries,…
Central Asia is a hair-pulling mess. And as we see in "The Great Game: Afghanistan," it's been a mess for a long time. Covering the years 1842 to the present, this London import tracks a si…
Shared space plays a big part in Adam Rapp's new "Hall way Trilogy." It even extends to the Rattlestick Theatre itself, where the stage now runs along the entire side of the house. Hallways…
A waitress silently prepares for work. Her black-and-white uniform in place, she counts her teeth. No. 31 is AWOL, but she finds it somewhere behind her neck, and slides it back in place. T…
