500 stories by "Jacob Malizio"
Set on the remote edge of a small Idaho town, LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD centers on a razor-tongued aunt and her long-estranged nephew who find themselves suddenly back in each other's lives " t…
As played by a glorious Laurie Metcalf in Samuel D. Hunter's keen-eyed, compassionate play "Little Bear Ridge Road," which opened on Thursday night at the Booth Theater, she is also one of t…
Little Bear Ridge Road is a quietly triumphant debut for Hunter, an American playwright who sees the country we truly inhabit, rather than the one we like to imagine we do.
The post Little B…
Moments of big emotion in "Little Bear Ridge Road" don't fall flat, exactly, but they don't play to Hunter's strengths as a writer; he's better in small, askew gestures.
The post Laurie Metc…
Little Bear Ridge Road, which runs about 95 minutes (with no intermission), serves as a showcase and masterclass of Metcalf's acting abilities and command of the stage. Over and over again, …
In Little Bear Ridge Road, Metcalf racks up the hits with ease, though the production feels more like watching home run derby than a full game. I couldn't escape the nagging sensation, as I …
The Orion's Belt comments prefigure all sorts of big discussions to come about cancer and meth addiction and child abuse. They are the same tropes that other, lesser playwrights stick in the…
This production, directed with superb acerbity by Joe Mantello, marks the playwright's overdue Broadway debut, and it doesn't disappoint. The play is a multifaceted gem, exquisitely shaped a…
Hunter is a master at creating these types of indelibly flawed characters, and his sensitive writing is beautifully complemented by Joe Mantello's typically precise direction and the superb …
Now that I am done telling friends to grab tickets to Little Bear Ridge Road, let's tell you about Samuel D. Hunter's latest drama, which opened on Thursday at the Booth Theatre. Little Bear…
1970s, Ohio. Lizzie gathers a group of women to talk about changing their lives, and the world. What follows is a necessary, messy, and bitingly funny exploration of what it means to be free…
If there is a show that can make the case for a Tony Award for best ensemble, it's this one. White directs the actors like a conductor leading an orchestra: Each one gets to shine in at leas…
Since seeing it earlier this year, I've found myself mentally comparing everything else onstage to Liberation, and frankly, not many other shows compare. Liberation is a must see.
The post T…
Both times I've seen the play"Off Broadway this spring, now returning in a larger space on Broadway"I've felt unprepared for the emotional wallop it lands, the way that Wohl's work becomes c…
"Liberation" is a brilliant, well-acted, and sobering account of the women's rights movement, complicity, and the lens through which we view our caretakers " namely, our mothers.
The post An…
When Bess Wohl's "Liberation" opened Off Broadway all the way back in February, it would have been ridiculous to grace it with best-of superlatives. Now that "Liberation" has opened on Broad…
Whitney White's direction elicits a triumph of ensemble acting whose equipoise is a perfect realization of the play's own themes. The actors work so well together, and so unselfishly, that i…
While Wohl's script is packed to the brim with thoughtful moments of beauty, comedy, and heartbreak, Liberation wouldn't be nearly as affecting and, sadly, relatable without its stellar cast…
There is something different about Liberation's Broadway production. Bess Wohl's play still features the same tight ensemble as in its Off-Broadway premiere earlier this year, and it is stil…
Liberation, which premiered off-Broadway earlier this year, is a welcome original play on Broadway that relies not on marquee Hollywood names for buzz but a slate of strong performances, whi…
RAGTIME is a sweeping musical adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's novel that follows three fictional families in pursuit of the American Dream at the dawn of the 20th Century: Black pianist Coalho…
As the plot follows the intersecting fortunes of those three characters' families, each seeking to redeem the country's promise at a time of tumultuous change, old-fashioned musical-theater …
From the moment the chorus rises from the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater during the opening number of Ragtime, you know you're in for something special"a big Broadway musical with what…
It's a thrilling experience, though on the Vivian Beaumont Theater's vast stage this pageant of a musical feels a bit skimpy. Not that the musical needs opulent sets, but it does call for st…
Ragtime culminates with two huge 11 o'clock numbers, from Henry and Levy, a Tony-winner and Olivier-nominee whose names are rightfully big draws to the show. Yet the showstopping vocal momen…
