8,501 stories from Backstage
Playwright Amy Fox's writing has a surface quirkiness that doesn't quite disguise a disturbing worldview.
It was the second preview of Frog & Peach Theatre Company's "As You Like It," and during the first half a dispiriting air of sluggishness hung over both the court of Duke Frederick and the f…
No doubt about it: John Lithgow is a formidable raconteur.
This small, delicious musical deserves a longer life. Catch the mirth and music while you can.
David M. Sanborn is an impressive performer, and his enactment of the Biblical story of King David in this one-man musical displays his triple-threat credentials as dancer, singer, and actor.
Though the first few rounds are a trifle sluggish, the Donmar Warehouse production of Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart builds into a thrilling bout between battling royalty.
Musicals Tonight! has put together a modest little charmer in its concert revival of this uncelebrated Cole Porter musical dating back to 1938.
The three characters in Kermit Frazier's "Kernel of Sanity" sure love to talk. Unfortunately, not a single moment rings true.
Director Peter Meineck's production is perfect for academic situations but also nourishing for regular theatregoers hungry for a classic nibble.
When I saw August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" 21 years ago, I thought, Wow. That's his best yet. After seeing Lincoln Center Theater's loving revival, I thought, Damn. That's his b…
It's rare to see any of Yeats' dramatic works revived; for this reason alone, either cycle of "The Yeats Project" falls into the must-see category. But for those looking for excellence in th…
As Broadway becomes increasingly hostile to the presence of serious musicals, one roots even harder for those that make it there to succeed. "Next to Normal," alas, still misses the mark.
There's a reason Ian Fleishman's brain is so often the object of his prospective boyfriends' lust. Written and acted by Dan Fishback, Ian's observations on everything from Judaism and gay ma…
Despite its high-impact music and visuals, the show's premise and focus on minutiae can seem dramatically inaccessible and insubstantial.
Instead of claiming that a talented performer could make reading the phone book interesting, I'd like to suggest substituting playwright Don Thompson's talky, dated play.
Although Raúl Castillo's comedy-infused family drama is perhaps overly ambitious in story and themes and sometimes sprawls, it's a work of great promise from a new theatrical voice.
Although Raúl Castillo's comedy-infused family drama is perhaps overly ambitious in story and themes and sometimes sprawls, it's a work of great promise from a new theatrical voice.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, would seem ripe for exploration. Unfortunately, the Axis Company's tantalizing, superficial Trinity 5:29 has an agenda other than Oppenheimer.
Despite occasionally coming across as a very elaborate form of therapy, Chris Rael's new James Joyce–inspired chamber musical has the goods to back up even its most self-indulgent pass…
Tyler Perry's The Marriage Counselor is a canny amalgam of raucous sitcom, soap opera, R&B/rock concert, and sermon.
This exuberant rock musical goes down easily in just over two hours, more or less the length of a real Sunday brunch.
Writer-performer Eisa Davis serves up an entertainingly edgy theatrical collage.
Only Tina Howe could take what is essentially an episode of Golden Girls and turn it into a tenderly sad and riotously funny meditation on age, family, and freedom of expression.
Like the cash cows "Mamma Mia!" and "Jersey Boys," "Rock of Ages" will appeal mainly to undiscriminating theatregoers who are more interested in hearing the tunes of their youth than in a cr…
