1,809 stories by "ELISABETH VINCENTELLI"
The tiny Bank Street Theatre is a freakishly appropriate place to watch the excellent new dark comedy "The Atmosphere of Memory." There's no stage to speak of; if you're sitting in the first…
If miscommunication is comedy gold, David Henry Hwang has set his new Broadway show, "Chinglish," in a veritable mine. Though he doesn't tap the vein to its full potential, there are still p…
If you want to score easy laughs, put a wacky dance in your play. Having characters trip on acid is another time-tested recipe.
"Better safe than sorry," Jesse Eisenberg must have thought, s…
Imagine the exact opposite of a joy ride: That would be "Cries and Whispers," the stage adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's 1972 movie.
Set in a literal house of pain, the show tracks the final …
There are two big circus trends nowadays. You can hit people over the head with a loud, garish, pseudo-poetic extravaganza such as Cirque du Soleil's recent "Zarkana" at Radio City Music Hal…
A big shadow looms over Stephen Karam's lovely, surprisingly funny new play, "Sons of the Prophet." It's that of Kahlil Gibran and his best-selling collection of vague, inspirational prose p…
The new Broadway anthology "Relatively Speaking" is subtitled "3 One-Act Comedies," and there's some truth to that: It is indeed made up of a trio of short plays -- by heavy-hitters Woody Al…
Hell hath no fury like a geek disappointed. Example No. 3,854: "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," the new solo piece by Mike Daisey.
With shows such as "The Last Cargo Cult" (about m…
It's a stormy night in Memphis on April 3, 1968, and Martin Luther King Jr. has only a few hours left to live.
Earlier that evening, he delivered his famous "I've been to the mountaintop" sp…
For her off-Broadway debut as a playwright, omnipresent actress Zoe Kazan ("Angels in America," "A Behanding in Spokane") has gone out on a limb with an extravaganza in which a telepathic ni…
In his new play, "The Lyons," Nicky Silver pulls off a neat trick: He's written a comedy fueled almost exclusively by letdowns. An old married couple endures despite decades of encrusted res…
No wonder Frank Langella makes off with the Roundabout's new revival of "Man and Boy": He's playing a crook, after all.
As Gregor Antonescu -- a silver-haired, silver-tongued speculator who…
Imagine you're a rock fan and the Rolling Stones are just making their New York debut after decades of playing Europe. Big deal, right?
That's what the Berliner Ensemble's belated bow is for…
Here's an alternative title for the new show "Motherhood Out Loud": "Love, Loss, and What I Gave Birth To." It's OK, marketers, you don't have to thank me.
Conceived by Susan R. Rose and Joa…
Not only is Adam Rapp prolific, but you never know what he's going to come up with next.
In the past 18 months alone, he delivered the censorship drama "The Metal Children"; combined three p…
During the first 45 minutes of "Lidless," it's hard not to feel little tremors of excitement: It really seems as if playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig is on to something.
And then she goes out…
Time plays a big part in Lanford Wilson's "Lemon Sky" -- but it also hasn't been kind to the show. When the largely autobiographical piece opened in 1970, it must have felt fresh and daring.…
If there were an award for Most Unpleasant Character in a Play, the male lead of Jeff Talbott's willfully provocative "The Submission" would win in a landslide. It's not often you see a show…
Fans of musical theater love to bicker, but there's one thing they agree on: A live orchestra, preferably a big one, is key to the experience.
Driving the point home, a commercial attacki…
Let's say you discovered Eugene Ion esco a couple of years ago, via the Geoffrey Rush-starring revival of "Exit the King." You got a taste of Ionesco's absurdist world, and you're curious to…
When it comes to life skills, Monty has his work cut out for him. He's baffled by the sheer number of toothbrushes and deodorants to choose from. Necktie knots bedevil him. A movie date ends…
It's only fitting that "Arias With a Twist" starts with its headliner abducted by aliens: This is a jaw-dropping UFO of a show.
A hallucinatory hybrid of performance art, cabaret and thea…
AN entire circus extravaganza is crammed on one itty-bitty stage, where a trained dog and a magician dazzle the audience with their tricks. Sharp knives are thrown and caught -- through clen…
As far as subjects for a play go, Mike McAlary is a pretty great choice. In the 1990s, the big-mouthed, big-hearted tabloid journalist embodied both tough-guy reporting and the gritty Gotham…
Some Broadway stars are so big, they don't have to wait for the right musical to come along: They can strike out on their own. And that's just what Hugh Jackman, Patti LuPone and Mandy Patin…
