THE HANGOVER REPORT – A new holiday tradition: John Adams’ powerfully distilled EL NIÑO: NATIVITY RECONSIDERED is accessible yet revisionist

Last night at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, I attended my third Christnastime oratorio, John Adams and Peter Sellars’ El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered (you can read my joint review … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Exquisite puppetry vibrantly animates the devastating stage adaptation of LIFE & TIMES OF MICHAEL K

Earlier this week at St. Ann’s Warehouse, I had a chance to attend one of the final performances of the stage adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning Life & Times … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Drag infiltrates downtown theater: Sasha Velour’s THE BIG REVEAL and ONEOFUS’s SLEEPING BEAUTY

This holiday season, you’ll be able to find drag performances — with all their joy and defiance — infiltrating legitimate theater spaces, particularly those catering to downtown audiences. Read on … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – La Femme Theatre gives Tennessee Williams’ flawed but fascinating THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA a starry, pungent revival

Last night, La Femme Theatre Productions’ starry Off-Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana opened at the Pershing Square Signature Theater. Written in 1961, the play is … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Rousing dance-making: ALVIN AILEY electrifies in an Alonzo King piece; CALEB TEUSCHER’s crowd-pleasing “Bzzz” at The Joyce

This past weekend, I took in a couple of rousing dance performances that jolted audiences at New York City Center and The Joyce Theater, two of the city’s premiere dance … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jen Silverman’s slippery new play SPAIN investigates the power of art via propaganda and war

I recently had the chance to catch a performance of Second Stage Theater’s Off-Broadway production of Spain by Jen Silverman on its closing weekend at the Tony Kiser Theater. Set … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Song and Dance: Milo Cramer’s SCHOOL PICTURES and Jenn Freeman’s IS IT THURSDAY YET? artfully animate personal experiences

This past week, I took came across a pair of performances that artfully – through song and dance, respectively – animated personal experiences. Read on for my thoughts on them. … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The supremely silly SPAMALOT returns to Broadway, lifted by inspired casting and the general public’s need for escapism

Earlier this fall, the supremely silly musical Spamalot returned to Broadway at the St. James Theatre. The revival arrives in New York by way of the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., where … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Sacred music then and now: Trinity Wall Street’s soul-searching MESSIAH and an austere performance of David Lang’s THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL PASSION

On my continued pursuit to hear music in non-traditional spaces, I came across a pair of oratorios that are representative of sacred music — both then and now. These performances … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Awash in urgent music and dance, BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB finds thrilling new life as a stage musical

Last night, the highly anticipated musical incarnation of Buena Vista Social Club opened Off-Broadway at the Linda Gross Theater courtesy of Atlantic Theater Company. As a storytelling-driven adaptation of the … Continue Reading →