314 stories from sceneonstage.com
Writer, composer and leading actor of the record 16-Tony Award-nominated "Hamilton," Lin-Manuel Rivera, will likely sweep his personal categories on June 12 and have been thanked by his dire…
The principal difference between a stage play and a radio play is that a certain amount of the exposition is " or should be " shown on the stage while it is all told on the radio. Even thoug…
What better place to spin a yarn about shipwrecks, pirates, sex and violence and such than in what's known in modern parlance as a dive bar? While William Shakespeare did not set "Pericles" …
French dramatist Jean Anouilh (1910-1987) claims to have written "Becket" "by chance," after reading an account of twelfth-Century English history in which some 30 pages were devoted to the …
If you require Broadway Musical Pizzazz " brassy production numbers and high-kicking chorines " you might as well pass on "She Loves Me". But if attractive characters, a tender love story an…
There is an interesting one-act play dwelling within "For Worse," Deborah Rennard's two-hour, two-act play now world-premiering at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch. The title deri…
The time stamp on "Hughie," Eugene O'Neill's late-career one act play, reads: "between 3 and 4 a.m." In "Guys and Dolls," Sky Masterson basks in "a couple of deals before dawn," but the earl…
Presley, Paul and Prince do not look much like brothers, but thanks to "Ropes" playwright Bárbara Colio, translator (from the Spanish) Maria Alexandria Beech, three sterling performances …
“A Bronx Tale" must have been a tremendous source of satisfaction for Chazz Palminteri over the years. Crafted by him from the true story of his 1960s youth, the piece originated as hi…
I was fortunate to attend a recent performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" on Broadway with someone who had never before seen the play or movie. Experiencing it with her, re-discovering afresh …
There's more to "Nureyev's Eyes" than meets the eye. David Rush's prize-winning play, at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ, is based on the real-life bond that developed in the 19…
In previous columns I have characterized "Nothing On" as one of the worst plays ever written. A few reviews also recommended attendance. Such is the case with the current Broadway production…
It's about ten minutes into "The Substance of Bliss" before we learn what Paul (Christopher Daftsios) and Donna (Susan Maris) are doing out on their patio at 2AM, other than bickering over c…
Suspension of disbelief refers to one's acceptance of actions or statements in a fiction which defy reality. Stuff that would be highly unlikely to occur as portrayed or would, at least, be …
April 23 of this year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, a milestone being marked by a surge in the already generous number of productions worldwide. Queen Eliz…
The subtitle of "The Pirates of Penzance or, The Slave of Duty," applies to the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (NYGASP), whose 40-year devotion to the Savoy Opera of its namesakes has…
“Marathon '33” opened on Broadway on December 22, 1963. Produced by Actors Studio and written and directed by June Havoc (with input from Lee Strasberg), the play was about Ms. H…
About twenty percent of "The Count (Basie) Meets the Duke (Ellington)" consists of 1930s and later tidbits and anecdotes about the musical giants' relationships with their music, their colla…
Tradition holds that Queen Elizabeth, enamored of Falstaff from the Henry IV plays, asked Shakespeare for a play depicting the character in love. The playwright is said to have knocked out "…
No one was more skeptical than I when Two River Theater announced an all-male "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum," a musical comedy shot through with gags, innuendo and bodily d…
Soon after "The Producers" opened to ecstatic reviews in 2001, a New Yorker magazine cover depicted an audience in fits of laughter with one angry-faced theatergoer among them: Adolph Hitler…
Phoenix Productions' "Peter Pan" is the first Count Basie Theatre show following the announcement of the venue's ambitious expansion plans. Uplifted (literally and figuratively) by Jennifer …
The revival of "Sylvia," its first on Broadway, is like a three-quarter carat diamond nested in Elizabeth Taylor's engagement ring's setting. It's pretty enough, but really, what's it doing …
Don't you love a play that sprinkles mysterious hints throughout about plot and characters before resolving its loose ends in the final scene? With an ending you wouldn't reveal to someone w…
The Broadway musical "Spring Awakening" broke new ground in 2006. Back on Broadway a scant six years from the original's closing, the revival digs even deeper. The Deaf West production, impo…
