THE HANGOVER REPORT – Anthony Davis’s fascinating X: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X makes its belated premiere at the Metropolitan Opera

This fall, Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X made its long-awaited debut at the Metropolitan Opera (the production is a co-presentation with Detroit Opera, Lyric Opera … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Heartfelt if predictable: Alicia Keys’ affecting semi-biographical HELL’S KITCHEN breaks no new ground

This past weekend, The Public Theater’s highly anticipated new musical Hell’s Kitchen opened Off-Broadway at the Newman Theatre (note that the production’s downtown run is currently completely sold out, although there is … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Going to extremes: Downtown theater is alive and well with the outrageous, interactive IN HELL WITH JESUS/ TOP 40 and IT’S THAT TIME OF THE MONTH

This past week, I had the opportunity to take in a pair of outrageous and interactive avant-garde productions. Based on what I experienced, I can happily attest that the city’s … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Akram Khan’s JUNGLE BOOK REIMAGNED brings articulate physicality and apocalyptic reckoning to Rudyard Kipling’s tales

This week for three performances only at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Akram Khan presents his dark version of Rudyard Killing’s The Jungle Book. Indeed, the choreographer’s interpretation … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Romantic comedies with intellect: Sparkling revivals of Elizabeth Baker’s PARTNERSHIP and George Bernard Shaw’s ARMS AND THE MAN

This past week at Theatre Row, I had the opportunity to catch up with two sparkling Off-Broadway revivals of plays – both romantic comedies – written circa the turn of … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Women waywardly finding their purpose: Dianne Wiest in SCENE PARTNERS and Lameece Issaq in A GOOD DAY TO ME NOT TO YOU

Opening last night were two new Off-Broadway plays with more than passing similarities. More specifically, both works portray women at later stages in their lives as they waywardly search for … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – At TFANA, Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks lead Arin Arbus’s thoroughly satisfying revival of WAITING FOR GODOT

Last night at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, I caught Theatre for a New Audiences’s new production of Samuel Beckett’s seminal play Waiting for Godot. Originally scheduled to open … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – A contemplative theatrical fusion: WATCH NIGHT embraces opera, poetry, and dance to create a timely tapestry

Last night, I made my way to the brand new Perelman Performing Arts Center — also known simply as PAC NYC — to catch one of its inaugural commissions Watch Night. … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman’s HARMONY finally arrives on Broadway, formulaic but with high voltage timeliness

Last night, the new musical Harmony by Barry Manilow (music) and Bruce Sussman (book and lyrics) opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The show finally arrives on the Great White … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Scoping out the Fringes: Gems at LA MAMA PUPPET FESTIVAL and Heartbeat Opera’s lively drag riff on THE GOLDEN COCK(erel)

This past weekend – in the midst of some high profile fall theater openings – I had the urge to scope out the fringes of New York’s vibrant performing arts … Continue Reading →