VIEWPOINTS – Stratford Festival, Day 4: PRIVATE LIVES & LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

If the previous day at the festival was a day of extremities, my fourth day of theatergoing at Stratford was notable for its levity, despite some unorthodox subject matters (i.e., … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Stratford Festival, Day 3: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR & THE CRUCIBLE

Day Three of the Stratford Festival was a day of extremes – from the giddy comedic heights of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor to the depressing tragedy of Arthur … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Stratford Festival, Day 2: NATHAN THE WISE & THE FRONT PAGE

Day Two of my Stratford Festival immersion started to more distinctly flesh out certain curated themes of this year’s offerings, notably the notions of the oppression of the “other” and … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Stratford Festival, Day 1: THE NEVERENDING STORY & OTHELLO

This week, I embarked on my (mostly) annual trip to Stratford, Ontario, where the play’s almost always squarely the thing. The lovely town is the home to the the world renowned Stratford … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge bring SEA WALL / A LIFE to breathtaking and heartbreaking life, again

I had some misgivings when it was announced that Sea Wall / A Life was transferring from Off-Broadway’s Public Theater to the Great White Way. Commercially, the move makes sense. The involvement of … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – The Acting Company’s NATIVE SON and MEASURE FOR MEASURE make for a lopsided pairing

Down at the Duke on 42nd Street, The Acting Company is currently presenting a pair of Off-Broadway productions in repertory – Nambi E. Kelley’s stage adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son and a … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MIDSUMMER: A BANQUET, a thoughtfully-presented immersive dinner theater production of the Bard’s popular comedy

This past weekend at at Café Fae, I attended Midsummer: A Banquet, Food of Love and Third Rail Projects’ immersive dinner theater staging – yes, there is such a thing! – of Shakespeare’s … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Lincoln Center’s MOSTLY MOZART FESTIVAL necessarily evolves into an eclectic festival of riches

This weekend marks the conclusion of this year’s Mostly Mozart Festival, courtesy of Lincoln Center. With the demise of the Lincoln Center Festival a few years ago, the institution’s other performing … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Electrifying vocals redeem Jim Steinman’s woefully uneven BAT OUT OF HELL

This week, a slightly downsized version of Jim Steinman’s London hit musical Bat Out of Hell opened at New York City Center for a limited run of five weeks (a bit shorter than … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Apocalyptic summer theater, outdoors: Shakespeare in the Park’s CORIOLANUS & Classical Theatre of Harlem’s THE BACCHAE

One of the many pleasures of living in New York is the opportunity to catch high quality outdoor performances (particularly of classical works) in one of its various outdoor parks, … Continue Reading →