605 stories by "Joel Benjamin"
Jones has become known for applying his wide-ranging choreography and sharp mind to storylines that take on chunks of history"including some shockingly modern history. He displays his sh…
The intellectual level of "Hurricane"'s characters may not be as high as George, Martha, Nick and Honey's. Nevertheless they reveal their inner psychological turmoil, secret fears, secre…
"James & Jamesy in the Dark" is apparently the product of a long trial and error rehearsal process according to the aforementioned program notes. The self-involving process, unfortu…
You'd need a ten ton truck to haul away all the slings and arrows slung and shot at Donald Trump in "Me the People: Fire & Fury Edition," the red-hot political revue currently on stage …
"beep boop," Richard Saudek's hour-long sad-sack romp through modern man's constant love/hate bout with technology, is at HERE, the avant-garde arts center in SoHo. Its deft combination of m…
The complexities of this Greek tragedy are shoe-horned into a Gospel service with songs ranging from the thoughtful ("The Invocation") to the formal ("Creon Comes to Colonus") to the awe-ins…
The Sarasota Ballet, under the direction of Iain Webb, a former leading dancer with the Royal Ballet, has, to the benefit of the dance world, been collecting works by the British master chor…
"This Ain't No Disco" is a compressed, zany look at the years in the 1970s that Studio 54 ruled the social whirl of New York City, complete with debauchery, drugs, loud music, semi-nudity an…
It's easy to see why MOMIX is one of the most popular dance troupes in the world. Beauty, strength, ingenuity combine in often ingenious choreography. A generous program of short wor…
Hence: "My Life on a Diet," a comically rich stroll through her career in TV, theater and film. Written by Taylor and her late husband, Joseph Bologna and originally directed by Bolo…
Three actors"Yelena Shmulenson, Allen Lewis Rickman (Velvel in the Coen Brothers' "A Serious Man") and Shane Baker ("the best-loved Episcopalian on the Yiddish stage today")"manage the feat …
Steven Skybell's Tevye warms up from a salt-of-the-earth, everyday philosopher to the much put-upon tragic existential hero upon whom God"to whom he speaks frequently"has heaped much tsouris…
Naharin is known for having "invented" a movement language called Gaga. Frankly, I've never been able to distinguish Gaga from any other movement palette. If Gaga means disconnected …
Sean Dorsey is a transgender and queer choreographer whose movement palette in "The Missing Generation" is a gentle, swirling combination of twisty, floor-bound, organic movements with a ric…
Jennifer Muller, of Jennifer Muller/The Works, whose artistic history includes a long association with José Limon, provided "Shock Wave," a world premiere to a cello-heavy score by Gordon W…
The theme running through the four works presented, three of them New York premieres, was of sadness and anger. Even "Folded Prism" by Thang Dao, an abstract dance work, had an unsettled…
Noam Chomsky, Karl Marx, Ayn Rand, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and a "Tiny" Trump all on stage at the same time, verbally jousting with each other? Pedro Reyes' "Manufacturing Mischief" at the…
Part of 59E59's Brits Off-Broadway 2018 festival, Jessica Walker's "All I Want is One Night" takes place in an odd combination of cabaret and antique shop. Theater B in the 59E59 Theater…
The current staging of "Our Lady" at The Pershing Square Signature Center, directed by Phylicia Rashad, magically now comes across as an addled, profane sitcom. It's entertaining and at …
Packed into Theodora Skipitares' "There's Blood at the Wedding" are multiple takes on how authorities have abused their powers, too often killing innocent people. By theatricalizing and …
In many ways Dominique Morisseau's "Paradise Blue" shares similarities with August Wilson's brilliant, if long-winded, Pittsburgh based plays. "Blue" is part of Morisseau's Detroit Proje…
The new work, "Microburst," was a quartet performed to classical Indian music composed and played live by Avirodh Sharma. Brilliant and audacious, "Microburst" took the four dancers, all…
Despite the complexity of the interactions of the people of Electchester and the poor folk at Pomonok, Kraar manages to end on a promising note. "Alternating Currents," produced under th…
Denzel Washington, the raison d'être of this production (coming way too soon after several recent stagings), gives a boisterous, almost pleasant performance as Theodore Hickman, aka Hicke…
Inspired by Lewis Carroll's two Alice books and cleverly choreographed by Keith Michael, the "Follies" was preceded by Byer's usual pre-show, uplifting audience-participation talk on the won…
