844 stories from The Journal News
"Hair" does retain timeless fire, four decades on. Even if it's got tu go disco.
Playing Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom - producers with a scheme to swindle little old ladies with a surefire Broadway flop - are Bob Amaral and Joel Newsome.
These three brilliantly executed solo works by the author of "Waiting for Godot" come to us through the auspices of Dublin's Gate Theatre.
Somehow, though, these boys' all-too-familiar quest for fame and fortune manages never to sink into cliche.
It's fresh, smart and funny.
And those virtues are timeless.
Sam Shepard's "Kicking a Dead Horse," which opened last night at the Public Theatre, proves to be an all-too-literal reflection of its title.
The problem is that after a while you realize there isn't a human being on stage. All the characters are cardboard cutouts, so they can be more conveniently cut down by the playwright.
This production is part of City Center's Summer Stars series, which last year gave us Patti LuPone's "Gypsy." It certainly isn't on a par with that, and no one should consider taking it to Broadway.
But the show is amusing if somewhat dated summer entertainment for those who still respond to classic Broadway musicals.
If theater is meant to spark conversation, its mission is accomplished with Penguin Rep's latest production, Joel Drake Johnson's "The Fall to Earth."
It's riveting. Put it on your must-see list immediately.
The first season of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival started inauspiciously, under showery skies that, as the run continued, delivered deluges and forced performances indoors.
The title apparently lost its exclamation point in the translation from screen to stage.
"Saved" lost its focus as well.
"reasons to be pretty" is another LaBute play that demands to be seen.
Mary McCormack is not just another attractive blond actress - she's a smart actress. Smart enough to illuminate characters who don't make their attractiveness the most important thing.
Put down that martini and whip out your notebook: Cabaret singer Andrea Marcovicci has just taken the stage and there might be a pop quiz on the Great American Songbook.
