VIEWPOINTS – Paul Taylor launches the inaugural City Center Dance Festival and Mark Morris’s timeless, undisputed masterpiece returns to BAM

This week, the works of a pair of legendary dance-makers graced the stages of two beloved New York performing arts institutions. Here are my thoughts. PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANYNew York … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Led by a sensational April Matthis, Claudia Rankine’s philosophical and confrontational HELP demands attention

Last night, Claudia Rankine’s Help opened Off-Broadway at The Shed in Hudson Yards. The production was actually in previews this time two years ago when the pandemic emphatically shut down … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Page 73 presents MAN CAVE, John J. Caswell, Jr.’s uneven but ultimately empowering psychological thriller

Last night at the Connelly Theater in the East Village, I attended Page 73’s Off-Broadway production of Man Cave by John J. Caswell, Jr. Set in the claustrophobic basement of … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Classical music roundup: Gustavo Dudamel connects to SCHUMANN with the NY Philharmonic & Handel’s RODELINDA returns to the Met

This past week, I paid a visit to the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, who gave a pair of satisfying – if not necessarily transcendent – performances. As … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Works & Process unveils Jamar Roberts’ A CHRONICLE OF A PIVOT IN A POINT IN TIME, a rigorous, devastating depiction of bodies under duress during the pandemic

Last night at the Guggenheim, I attended the second of two Works & Process performances investigating the pandemic works of choreographer Jamar Roberts. Mr. Roberts, a celebrated former Ailey dancer, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In a ferociously committed performance, Laiona Michelle uncannily channels the great Nina Simone in LITTLE GIRL BLUE

This past weekend, I also caught a performance of Little Girl Blue, which is in the midst of an open run at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages (after having previously premiered … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Huang Ruo’s BOOK OF MOUNTAIN & SEAS quietly mesmerizes, thanks largely to master puppeteer Basil Twist’s distilled artistry

This past week, composer and librettist Huang Ruo’s new opera Book of Mountains & Seas played to pack houses at St. Ann’s Warehouse (the production played its final performance yesterday). … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – For THE LIFE’S Encores! mounting, Billy Porter drastically alters the fiber of the musical, mostly for the better

This weekend, I attended the Encores! revival of The Life at New York City Center. The 1997 musical features music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Ira Gasman (the book … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Concluding where it began: SITI Company returns to the ever so relevant THE MEDIUM in its bittersweet farewell season

Last night at BAM Fisher, I caught a performance of SITI Company’s revival of The Medium. Originally staged in 1993, the show has the distinction of being the first – … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Memorable nights at the opera: A dark, prescient new DON CARLOS and a succinct but moving CONCERT FOR UKRAINE

Since returning to in-person performances this March (after a monthlong hiatus in February), the Metropolitan Opera’s programming has been on point. In addition to a heavenly revival of Richard Strauss’s … Continue Reading →