THE HANGOVER REPORT – John Patrick Shanley’s efficiently plotted rom-com BROOKLYN LAUNDRY completes the playwright’s unlikely retrospective season

This past weekend at New York City Center, I finally had the chance to catch up with Manhattan Theater Club’s Off-Broadway production of Brooklyn Laundry by John Patrick Shanley. Shanley’s latest play … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Terence Blanchard’s powerful contemporary opera FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES returns to The Met

This week, the Metropolitan Opera’s acclaimed production of Fire Shut Up in My Bones — a powerful contemporary opera by award-winning jazz musician Terence Blanchard (music) and Kasi Lemmons (libretto) — returned … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Magic and mentalism return to New York in its latest guise with Peter Brynolf and Jonas Ljung’s STALKER

Magic, illusions, and mentalism are absolutely no strangers to the fabric of New York’s live entertainment industry. For years new, acts from the likes of The Illusionists collective, Penn and … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Scoping out some downtown theater: Nicholas Brooke’s TEN TRANSCENDENTAL ETUDES and Raja Feather Kelly’s THE ABSOLUTE FUTURE

Before the onslaught of spring theater openings in Midtown, I was able this past weekend to catch some multidisciplinary experimental downtown theater. Here are my thoughts on two of them … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In her impressive NY PHIL debut, Karina Canellakis conducts with incisiveness and ample feeling

This week at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, conductor Karina Canellakis made a notable debut leading the New York Philharmonic. Currently the chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – A high profile week for dance: NEDERLANDS DANS THEATER returns to City Center and The Joyce presents MAX ROACH 100

This week was a high profile week in the dance world, highlighted by The Joyce Theater’s inspired celebration of the legendary drummer Max Roach, and the return of the world … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In TRAVELS, James Harrison Monaco pushes the boundaries of music theater and storytelling

Earlier this week, Ars Nova’s production of Travels by James Harrison Monaco opened Off-Broadway at the company’s cozy Hell’s Kitchen home base (for a while, the company was mounting shows at the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – At The Public, Clubbed Thumb remounts its acclaimed production of GRIEF HOUSE by Liza Birkenmeier

One of the highlights of last year’s Summerworks series — Clubbed Thumb’s essential summer mini-festival of adventurous new works — was Liza Birkenmeier’s Grief Hotel. Having been recognized at the Obie … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In its glorious Music Hall, maestro Ryan Bancroft leads CINCINNATI SYMPHONY with sensitivity and cohesion

This past Easter weekend, I ventured out west to attend a performance by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on its home turf. Led by American conductor Ryan Bancroft in his debut … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Sutton Foster and Aaron Tveit put their own stamp on the magnificent Broadway revival of SWEENEY TODD

One of the hit musical revivals currently gracing the boards of the Great White Way is the magnificent production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd at the Lunt-Fontanne … Continue Reading →