605 stories by "Joel Benjamin"
All four works"particularly the first three"had a certain offhanded similarity, a lack of formal movement ideas and construction, but all four choreographers are clearly students of the scho…
Of Passloff's eight works, the newest, "Frolic," (2018) to music by Erik Satlie ("Trois morceau en la forme de poire") came closest in spirit to her classical ballet origins, utilizing whims…
The four choreographers whose three works were represented at the Japan Society's Contemporary Dance Festival: Japan + East Asia flung themselves headlong into the modern world of dance with…
Translator Shane Baker has found excellent Yiddish equivalents for Beckett's language. He understands that Yiddish is a minor key tongue full of sadness, quicksilver tone changes, perfec…
Brock's work once prized effect over substance, but years of choreographing situation and character-based musicals ("Be More Chill," "Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark") have sharpened his artist…
A five-day journey to Bear's Ears National Monument in Utah in the company of other dancers, choreographers and Native Americans turned Gotheiner's mind to more serious pursuits resulting in…
The troupe attracted a wide-ranging audience to The Sam space at The Flea, even a few youngsters there to see their first live dance performance, and, with the exception of one section, "Thu…
That it involves the relatively new phenomenon of gay parenthood gives it an added impact. That it is written with a thorough understanding of the complexities of gay parenthood vs. cons…
Elice is no stranger to biographical musicals. His "Jersey Boys" is still running off-Broadway. Here he was inspired to divide the eponymous character into three personalities: t…
The flier for "Shadows," subtitled "A Dance Musical," calls it "a Gothic ghost love story," adding, "It's Twyla Tharp meets Stephen King."Â If only. "Shadows," written by Randall David Co…
Her quietly wry, gently self-deprecating autobiographical lecture demonstration, "Minimalism and Me," was the first half of a program devoted to her early works. These works more often than …
"Life X 3" was first seen in 2003 at the Circle in the Square. This revival is tauter and funnier. Perhaps this smaller venue refracts the play in a different way, but these four act…
Hall is not helped by an over-zealous production that, for some reason, turns the Signature's Irene Diamond Stage into a construction site, complete with drop cloths, ceiling netting and lot…
The New York Theatre Ballet performed the lovely, all-female, "Come to Me, Bend to Me" from that musical, a sweet look at pre-wedding preparations in the ancient village of Brigadoon. Th…
Designed by Johnny Tilders, the puppet Kong is phenomenal, a 20-foot tall, 2,000 pound marionette operated by the ten-person King's Company, members of the cast assigned to operating the arm…
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's wondrous fairytale, "The Little Prince" ("Le petit prince"), has been filmed as a musical, a cartoon, and a musical cartoon and even occasionally staged live, but…
Frank J. Avella's "Lured" at the Theater for the New City practices a bit of theatrical legerdemain. Ostensibly about the perils of being gay in today's Russia, Avella takes an unexpe…
Whiteside isn't exactly misused, but rather underused and under coached. No one should have laughed when he began his transformation into his female alterego. Whiteside, used to the …
Sonera opens the show with Prinze doing one of his sets at the Improv Club in New York City, 1976, beginning with one of his famous lines, "Looking good!" and continuing with his sardonic co…
Imported from London, with a number of the original cast members, "The Ferryman" takes place in rural County Armagh, in Northern Ireland in 1981, during a rise of violence of the IRA, right …
Elegantly inhabiting the small Triad stage, Holland's Linda is clearly a class act, with a smooth, rich, dark voice. Hearing her tale of their days in the twenties cruising the high poin…
The K-Arts Dance Company from Korea presented two performances of "Song of the Mermaid," an entertaining full-length ballet choreographed by its artistic director, Sunhee Kim. Song of th…
This M-34 production, under Rutherford's direction, doesn't rise to stratospheric heights. Quite the opposite: Rutherford's direction and writing turns Salome into a fascinating dome…
Henry's roommate and confidante, Gwen (a solid, appealing Leslie Hiatt) has her own heartache to deal with: Her wife, Diana, has left her, accusing Gwen of infidelity. Gwen and Henry…
Gill expertly writes each character as three dimensional, giving each complex backgrounds, making it clear that each benefits from knowing the others. A mundane Scrabble game is as revea…
