1,091 stories from Show Showdown
Is it fair to have high expectations of a preview? Medium expectations? Any expectations? What if the preview ticket is full priced? Discounted?Previews live in a gray area, particularly in …
A story I once heard kept haunting me during Manhattan Theatre Club's presentation of David Ives' Venus in Fur: when Michelangelo worked on the Sistine Chapel's The Last Judgment, the Pope's…
I know that walking out on a show should probably disqualify me from reviewing it, so I will only comment on what I saw of Burning. To be completely transparent, I've walked out on a number …
Jim Bauer and Ruth Bauer's musical The Blue Flower, currently in previews at Second Stage, has an awful lot going for it. Its sweeping, romantic plot covers both world wars, and its complex…
When I first heard the commotion regarding the new Broadway adaptation of Porgy & Bess--directed by Diane Paulus, with a new book by Suzan-Lori Parks and musical adaptations by Deirdre Murra…
Composer Steven Sondheim really, really hates the idea of the new version of Porgy and Bess on Broadway (opening on January 12, 2012). In summary, he disagrees with the decision to dub it Ge…
I discovered Lee Lessack at a performance in the late 90's, upstairs at Eighty Eights, the best-of-its-generation New York piano bar that didn't live to see the new millennium. I left enamor…
Is it the fall season, or is it just me? Truly--and I don't mean to be overly dramatic about this, even though arguably this is exactly the place for it--I can't figure out why this season f…
Several years ago, a friend insisted I had to see Gashole. I actually misread his e-mail invitation as Gash Ole. Turns out, it was not a Mexican drag act. I was too sick to go to the theatre…
I think Liz stole my best lines in her review of Follies last week"my damn procrastination foils me again! Seriously, though, my colleague and I share much of the same impression of the show…
As I traveled to the Clurman Theatre to see the Keen Company's revival of Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky, I took a mental tour through other Wilson plays I've seen: Hot L Baltimore, Balm in Gile…
Tom Dudzick may be the most successful playwright whose work you've never seen. His first play, Greetings, opened off-Broadway in 1994 during a blizzard. Even though Clive Barnes called the …
.. I'd probably be fired from my day job because I'd constantly be seeing shows that were before my time. Whoops, I guess that's not really an answer, though. Oddly enough, I think one of th…
I never understand the fascination with Ethel Mermen. Her brassy voice on recordings never really impresses me and, yet, she is one of Broadway's most treasured icons(I know. I know. It's he…
Add Follies to my list of shows that I wish I'd seen in their original productions.Mind you, I very much enjoyed the revival, which is currently running at the enormous Marquis theater. It m…
There's something in the water in Montreal. They pump out body-defying acrobatics wrapped in tongue-in-cheek excess like a virus. Despite the shared core, two Canadian exports leaped into to…
Where do I start? Okay, here's where I start:The record-breaking performance of A Chorus Line. This review/description by Frank Rich will tell you why. I get goosebumps just reading about it…
There are so many shows I wish I'd seen, either because I missed brilliant performances by actors I admire (thus, just last season, The Merchant of Venice) or shows I've been told I would ha…
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Photo: Steven MenendezThe four musicians are elegant and graceful. The bass player is cool and contained. The piano and drum players banter with the singer. The trumpet player may be her lov…
DISCLAIMER:Man and Boy is in previews and opens officially on October 9.One of my favorite things about attending Roundabout theater productions is that I never have any idea what the shows …
Photo credit: Sal Cacciato Caption: Don DiPaolo and Therese PlaehnIt seems we never leave high school. In the revival of Stephen Belber's Tape, the indelible mark of former school days perme…
While I am always happy to see original, innovative musicals succeed Off Broadway, I've been a lot less happy in the past few seasons to see how such shows fare once they've been moved to Br…
There's no way I could limit myself to one "star in the making." New York theatre is just too full of riches. I did however manage to limit myself to seven. Lemp and KautzSarah Lemp and Jame…
