THE HANGOVER REPORT – BRIGHT STAR sparkles magnificently on Broadway

A refreshing breeze just blew through Broadway, and I’m not talking about spring. That’s because the enchanting, open-hearted original new musical Bright Star opened last night at the Cort Theatre. … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – DISASTER! strikes Broadway against all odds

Disaster! by all accounts shouldn’t work – but it does. Against considerable odds, Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick’s 1970s disaster movie mash-up cum jukebox musical spoof made the huge leap … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – David Harrower’s BLACKBIRD finally lands on Broadway, and it’s devastating

Tonight marks the opening night of David Harrower’s devastating two-hander Blackbird on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre. Like many other plays, the Strindberg-esque Blackbird – a play that harrowingly depicts … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Forest Whitaker audaciously gives a low-key performance in the Broadway revival of O’Neill’s HUGHIE

Last night, a rare revival of Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie opened at the Booth Theater in a pungent, haunted production starring a low-key Forest Whitaker and directed by Michael Grandage. At … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Manhattan Concert Productions’ glorious 25th anniversary staged concert of THE SECRET GARDEN was a night for the ages

In the spring of 1991, a beauty of a musical opened at the St. James Theater, Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon’s lush adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel The Secret … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – As an opera, Kurt Weill’s flawed and dated LOST IN THE STARS was ahead of its time

What is opera vis-à-vis musical theater? Which form is more on the cutting edge of serious music theater? Is there even a difference between them? Famed German American composer Kurt … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Stephen Karam’s astonishing THE HUMANS opens on Broadway, and it’s easily the best play of the season

Earlier tonight, Stephen Karam’s extraordinary family drama The Humans opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre. When I saw an early preview performance of the play last fall at the … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – MTC’s winter season gives us two personal, beautifully-acted portraits of unmoored, headstrong lives

This winter, Manhattan Theatre Club is offering audiences a pair of compelling, albeit flawed, plays from two of our most respected playwrights. What these plays have in common is that … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – The legacy of Jerome Robbins burns brightly

Legendary director-choreographer Jerome Robbins is responsible for some of the most iconic stage pictures in musical theater history. Just try to imagine Broadway without the image of three sailors exuberantly … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Christopher Wheeldon’s brilliant THE WINTER’S TALE warms and chills the heart

There have been some memorable ballet adaptations of Shakespeare plays: Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Frederick Ashton also adapted the play into the classic … Continue Reading →