1,783 stories by "ELISABETH VINCENTELLI"
It had all the elements of a great thriller. A con man abuses the trust of his friends and colleagues at a big newspaper, lies about everything from his upbringing to his résumé to his sou…
'the Ugly One" may be a new play, but it has the familiar vibe of a classic "Twilight Zone" episode. Translated from the German, Marius von Mayenburg's black-humored fable about appearances …
Poor Meena. The harried heroine of Kate Fodor's new play, "Rx," is in a funk, and no wonder: A published poet, she works in a soulless gray office as the managing editor for piggeries at Ame…
The three-piece orchestra in "Ionescopade" has barely started the overture " zany percussion, wacky noisemakers " and already the whimsy-meter is in the red.
You'd think you were at the Big …
John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" opened in London with a huge bang in 1956, upending staid British theater and helping usher the era of "angry young men" " smart, educated, working- or mi…
The new family drama "Russian Transport" isn't edgy or groundbreaking. Rather, it's a good old-fashioned delicacy: a solid yarn, well told.
Playwright Erika Sheffer can be guilty of using br…
Even before Oedipus asks his daughter to identify a stranger and she calls him "some jerk-off," you know you're in for a wink-wink take on Sophocles.
And so it goes, more or less, for five h…
Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Wit" offers a lucky " and brave " actress a complex, finely detailed role that's as demanding as it is rewarding. When the play first opened of…
Daniel Talbott's new off-Broadway play, "Yosemite," starts off great. We're in the woods, among leafless trees coated with a dusting of snow. A young man " he could be in his late teens " is…
A lot of off-Broadway theater makes extensive use of video nowadays. In January, the Gob Squad company offered the stunt-like "Super Night Shot," in which the actors screened footage of them…
Few actors play villains as expertly as Kevin Spacey. His gallery of memorable bad guys includes a sadistic movie producer in "Swimming With Sharks," a serial killer in "Seven" and a bullyin…
It's pretty clear the Roundabout company is in the theater business, because its latest Broadway show, "The Road to Mecca," would have a hard time getting made in Hollywood.
Forget about mu…
Over the past decade, Young Jean Lee has emerged as one of the most fascinating, unpredictable voices on the downtown scene. The Korean-American playwright mercilessly poked fun at Asian ste…
Video is used a lot in theater nowadays, but it's rarely as crucial to a show as it is to "LEO."
In this new solo piece, we see two simultaneous versions of author/performer Tobias Wegner: …
Few New York cultural institutions are as beloved as the Brooklyn Academy of Music. After opening in Brooklyn Heights in 1861, BAM moved to the edge of Fort Greene in 1908. Now in its 150th …
After much behind-the-scenes hoopla, the new revival of "Porgy and Bess" finally opened last night on Broadway. Those expecting a bang will have to do with a whimper.
To recap the fuss: Last…
Americans don't seem to stand a chance in China. In David Henry Hwang's comedy "Chinglish," an Ohio businessman unwittingly becomes embroiled in power plays among Guiyang officials. Poor, un…
Visually speaking, "Hypnotik: The Seer Will Doctor You Now" certainly catches our attention. The off-off-Broadway show takes place in a late 1920s/early 1930s nightclub called the Palace, so…
In the new comedy "Close Up Space," David Hyde Pierce plays a meticulous, high-strung book editor named Paul Barrow. Paul believes in exacting edits and le mot juste, so in his honor, let's …
Peter Pan may be the boy who wouldn't grow up, but Cathy Rigby is the woman who won't grow old. The gymnast-turned-actress has been playing Peter on and off in the beloved musical since its …
Alot of people whine that Broadway doesn't know how to make entertaining musicals anymore.
Happily, it turns out that Broadway still knows how to make 'em. With its catchy pop score, charmin…
Though "Farm Boy" is being promoted as the sequel to "War Horse," it feels more like a gentle epilogue.Those curious about the fate of the horse Joey and his human friend, Albert, after thei…
"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" is known for its great songs " and nutty book.
Revived on Broadway for the first time since its 1965 opening, the Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner musical has…
In 2009, Ireland was shaken by a wide-ranging, devastating report on the decades-long child abuse in Church-run institutions. One of the estimated 30,000 victims was Gerard Mannix Flynn, who…
The best thing about "Stick Fly" is its shameless reliance on soap-opera theatrics. Playwright Lydia R. Diamond multiplies heated arguments about race, class and gender, but the comedy that …
