605 stories by "Joel Benjamin"
Terri Hooley (a game, genial Glen Wallace) is both the main character and the narrator of "Good Vibrations: A Punk Rock Musical" at the sparkling Irish Arts Center. Â How he morphed from T…
"Rock & Roll Man," the new jukebox/biographical musical at the New World Stages has a great deal going for it. The story of legendary Rock & Roll impresario Alan Freed is told in a s…
New York City Center Encores!'s new production of the musical, directed by Chay Yew, stars another Tony Award winner, the sensational Ruthie Ann Miles, as the determined Margaret Johnson wit…
Spencer Aste in a scene from his one-man show "Wake Up" at the Axis Theatre (Photo credit: Regina Betancourt) Joel Benjamin, Critic Is Spencer Aste a hardworking actor who sold and used d…
"Dancing Spirit" was a gentle ballet choreographed by Ronald K. Brown to a suite of music by Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis, Radiohead and War. First one dancer, then two and then the entir…
The major work of the evening was "Sor Juana," choreographed by Michelle Manzanales ("in collaboration with the Company") and performed to a selection of period music including a composition…
Eerie and irritating in equal measure, Levi Holloway's "Grey House" at the Lyceum Theatre dredges up the classic plot device of many horror films:Â strangers stumbling into a den of oddba…
Eboni Booth's "Primary Trust" at the Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels Theatre is a genial, gentle tale of a genial, gentle young man and his difficulty negotiating the speed bumps of …
Abortion, pro or con? Â The Blessed Unrest theater company has taken on this thorny issue. Steven Wangh's "Misconceptions""an ironically perfect title"unfolds in the form of a series of in…
"shadow/land" by Erika Dickerson-Despenza is a play about the August 2005 disaster, Hurricane Katrina. It is the first episode of a ten-part magnum opus. "shadow/land," though, is more than …
Under the direction of Chad Austin, Droxler uncannily becomes not only Williams (and all of Williams cinematic characters who each serve up different helpful advice), but also his father Ed;…
When Mary-Mitchell Campbell's baton brought out the first notes of the "Oliver!" overture from the Encores! Orchestra, the memorable tunes just flowed and didn't stop until more than two hou…
Auburn (Pulitzer Prize winner for Proof) has a knack for writing complex female characters. That knack hasn't failed him in "Summer, 1976." Diane, the lustrous Laura Linney, is an al…
The Company soon loses its way as bunk beds self-destruct, lines get mangled, Peter Pan flails about in failed attempts to fly and crocodiles and mermaids parade about on skateboards. If thi…
A short documentary film about the fabulous actress, composer, pianist and wife of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Hazel Scott, preceded the new ballet, "Sounds of Hazel," choreographed by Tiffany…
Silliness and whimsy can often be admirable qualities in a play, but not when taken to the degree playwright Julia Izumi has in her new work, "Regretfully, So the Birds Are," a co-production…
Perhaps it's the difficulty of finding dancers who can perform the intricate, body isolation moves so emblematic of Fosse's very individual style, but to those who know and experienced his b…
The Israeli Artists Project, dedicated to bringing the art and artists of Israel to American audiences, has mounted a production of Anat Gov's "Best Friends," a zippy portrait of three best …
"Ãgua," making its American debut, created in 2001 during a residency in Brazil, is a work of great beauty, humor and creativity "and dishearteningly, an overlong dance/theater work. …
"Dear World," the not terribly successful 1969 Jerry Herman musical based on Jean Giraudoux's "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1945), was basically a vehicle for the brilliant Angela Lansbury.Â�…
What makes "Elyria" intriguing is how its American location affects the hidebound ritual social rules of its Southeast Asian characters. That all the characters emerged from an African d…
Hands down Emily Feldman's "The Best We Could (a family tragedy)," at the Manhattan Theatre Club, wins the most ironic title of the year. Not one character does the best he or she could …
Garner is a wonderful actor, shifting easily and subtly from one character to another, her voice, posture and gestures are just right. She avoids being maudlin and thereby makes her narrativ…
"Pictures from Home," a stark, but eventually moving vision of a family, is based on the photo memoir of the same name by Larry Sultan. Â Sharr White, the playwright, has taken Sultan's ex…
Pairing The New York Pops with Broadway star Heather Headley brought out the best in each. The energy zipping between the orchestra's music director Steven Reinecke and Headley was palpa…
