1,800 stories by "Elisabeth Vincentelli"
I for one would love to see the production move to Broadway, if only so I can see it again. It's certainly superior to "The Apple Tree" and "Finian's Rainbow," two befuddling Encores! transf…
Someone's slipped Sarah Goodwin a chill pill . . . or 10. When we first met the prickly photojournalist heroine of Donald Margulies' "Time Stands Still" -- during the play's first run, in J…
You can't accuse Lisa Kron's new play at the Public Theater, "In the Wake," of lacking ambition. Set mostly during George W. Bush's first term, it touches on conservative and liberal politi…
Despite successful trips to the mainstream -- his play "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" scored a Tony nomination and "Die, Mommie, Die!" was turned into a movie -- Charles Busch is best e…
When you think about David Auburn, author of the math-and-madness hit "Proof," farce isn't the first thing that comes to mind. So his decision to overhaul "The New York Idea" -- an obscure …
The brilliant production of "Brief Encounter" that opened on Broadway last night should make all but the sourest puss believe in romance again. It's a spirited charm offensive that's just i…
In skinny black pants, tai lored white shirt and a black tie, Laurie Anderson looks like a cross between a Catholic schoolboy and a member of the Knack in her new show, "Delusion." But ther…
A lot of energy is spent setting up an explo sive situation in the family drama "Blood From a Stone." But despite the efforts of a strong cast led by Ethan Hawke -- giving his best performa…
While many downtown shows lose their edge when they move to Broadway, the new musical "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" has actually gained both scope and focus in the transfer.At the Public Th…
The new "Room 17B" is like an anthology of clown haikus -- a se ries of self-contained routines, each one brief, elegant and perfectly balanced. Presented by the physical-comedy company Par…
Giving a blank check to Bono, The Edge and Julie Taymor to create a musical seemed like a brilliant idea, once upon a time.U2's worldwide success and the director's track record (“The …
Ten-year-old Michael has been going through some changes lately. His par ents are distracted by their new baby, and they've all just moved to a ramshackle house. When Michael explores the g…
Gritty, tough-talking, blue- collar characters are hardly a rarity onstage. But most of the time their low cash balance is part of the background: It provides color and gives set designers …
You come to see Al Pacino, but you stay for Lily Rabe. As the Jewish moneylender Shylock, one of theater's most complex, reviled roles, Pacino has made the Public Theater "Merchant of Venic…
Over the years, "Driving Miss Daisy" has gained a reputation as an expansive period weepie that shamelessly goes for the tear ducts. Except this applies more to the movie: Alfred Uhry's sem…
Fraught reunions, marital discord, Russia, a supernatu ral allusion or two: Heidi Schreck's new show, "There Are No More Big Secrets," is built from promising blocks. It all starts when Gab…
I've had it with Sondheim -- or rather with Sondheimania. There's been so many events celebrating his 80th birthday this year that the cumulative effect is now the opposite of the desired on…
The head writer for "SpongeBob SquarePants," Steven Banks also moonlights as the dark and twisted Billy the Mime. Now, he tries to reconcile his sugar-and-spice sides in a new play, "Lookin…
The woefully inept drama "Dracula," which opened off- Broadway last night, is as close as we get to dinner theater in New York. There's no prime rib, but plenty of grating cheese. While it …
A linguist speaks several languages, including Esperanto -- but he can't communicate with his estranged wife. Oh, the irony! Said wife leaves her marriage and becomes a baker -- after a kin…
There's a reason candy canes have a twist of peppermint -- to cut the sugar. That's why the best Christmas classics, from "It's a Wonderful Life" to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," are so…
It's not often that you hear Schubert's melan choly song cycle "Win terreise" ("Winter Journey") in a down town theater. And not with classical musicians, either, but with three scruffy dud…
In the right hands, old-fash ioned farce can still kill, as the 2008 revival of "Boeing-Boeing" proved. The return of "Cactus Flower" -- another French comedy from the mid-'60s, this one ad…
"Wife to James Whelan" has just been extended. If you like an old-fashioned, well-crafted story, this is the show to see right now.
