158 stories from Scheck on the Arts
Those impish wags from [title of show] are back to their meta-theatrical tricks in their new, similarly whimsically titled new musical. Starring Hunter Bell, Susan Blackwell, Heidi Blickenst…
Rising British playwright Matt Charman reveals a fascination with the darker aspects of ‘50s era American society in Regrets, now receiving its world premiere from the Manhattan Theatr…
The last time I checked, incest between a brother and sister was still considered relatively abhorrent.
So it naturally comes as a surprise that the Cheek by Jowl production of John …
Jesus Christ Superstar, which began its life as a concept album, has always been more fun to listen to than actually watch. But the new Broadway revival--imported from the Stratford Shakespe…
Whenever there’s a new revival of Death of a Salesman people marvel at the fact that it seems so newly relevant. But it’s not that society is changing but rather that Arthur Mill…
The simple act of storytelling is a time-honored theatrical tradition. But it can also a hackneyed one. Case in point: An Iliad, the new one-man show—well, technically two man, but mor…
Not that I’m in any rush, but whenever death comes for me I hope it takes the form of the Lady from Dubuque.
As elegantly personified by Jane Alexander in the Signature Theatre…
On its surface, Tribes is concerned with a young deaf man’s sudden decision to embrace sign language rather than rely on lip-reading. But that description doesn’t do justice to N…
The original musical version of Carrie was a notorious flop upon its 1988 Broadway premiere--it closed after five performances at a loss of millions of dollars, nearly destroyed the reputati…
Tyrannical bosses should be more careful about mistreating their employees. Their victims may very well develop into talented playwrights who will later skewer them in viciously funny fashio…
With partisan politics injecting itself into scientific debate with dismaying frequency these days, Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo has a disturbing modern resonance. While the Classic Stage …
Although the stage seems bare for The Wooster Group’s production of Eugene O’Neill’s Early Plays, it actually contains an awful lot of baggage. The troupe is well known for…
It may be heretical to say, but seeing Athol Fugard’s landmark 1961 drama Blood Knot again, even in a superbly realized revival such as the one being presented by the Signature Theatre…
It’s ironic that John Osborne’s classic drama Look Back in Anger is now as much of a period piece as the “well-made plays” it was attempting to usurp. This work--whic…
Beware sexy Russian men bearing gifts. That seems to be the primary message of Russian Transport, the new play by Erika Sheffer being given its world premiere by the New Group. This uneasy b…
Margaret Edson has just written one play in her life, the brilliant Wit, now receiving its Broadway premiere a mere seventeen years after it was first produced and went on to win nearly ever…
Reunited with his American Beauty director, Sam Mendes, Kevin Spacey pulls out all the stops with his devilishly entertaining turn in the title role of the Bridge Project’s production …
The plays of Athol Fugard often require heavy lifting on the part of an audience. That’s particularly true of his 1987 drama The Road to Mecca, now being given its Broadway premiere in…
Composer Stephen Sondheim will probably be appeased when he sees The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, the reconceived revival of the classic opera by George and Ira Gershwin and, oh yes, lib…
The Chinese language is all that one seems to be hearing lately. Not only did presidential candidate Jon Huntsman resort to Mandarin while rebuking Mitt Romney during a recent debate, but Da…
David Hyde Pierce somehow always manages to project a vaguely uncomfortable, awkward quality in his characters. It feels totally appropriate for Close Up Space, the uncomfortable, awkward ne…
In what surely must be purely coincidental timing, Farm Boy has arrived for a holiday engagement at 59E59 Theaters. Michael Morpungo’s “sequel” to his War Horse has opened …
The cavernous St. Ann’s Warehouse provides the perfect theatrical environment for Misterman, Irish playwright Enda Walsh’s one-person play starring Cillian Murphy in his U.S. sta…
Good luck scoring an invitation to the most exclusive social reception in town. It’s being held at the palatial and luxurious Fifth Avenue townhouse belonging to the very wealthy Mrs. …
The near demise of commercial off-Broadway has resulted in a plethora of unsuitable Broadway productions of tiny shows that look awfully wan in big theaters. The latest example is Lysistrata…
