THE HANGOVER REPORT – In a number of notable debuts, a wonderfully game young cast takes on Tchaikovsky’s EUGENE ONEGIN at the Met

Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Opera brought back its production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, a revival distinguished by a handful of notable Met debuts. Overall, the performance seethed of Russian … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Bringing parodic joy to Broadway: Transporting SCHMIGADOON! to the Nederlander, TITANÍQUE docks at the St. James

This spring on Broadway — in what seems to be reactionary to the fraught times we live in — campy, parodic joy has become the mode du jour, as evidenced … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne strike comic gold in Roundabout’s bubbly revival of Noël Coward’s FALLEN ANGELS

Last night at Broadway’s newly refreshed Todd Haimes Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company unveiled a rare revival of Noël Coward‘s early-career play Fallen Angels. The production, which emphatically strikes comic gold, … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Burning down the house: Wallace Shawn harshly lifts the veil in THE FEVER, James Scruggs uncomfortably interrogates in OFF THE RECORD

This past week, I encountered a pair of caustic Off-Broadway productions that strove to reveal the vast inequities on which our society is built on, namely as it relates our … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – On Broadway, uneven portraits of misunderstood outlaws: Adrien Brody in THE FEAR OF 13, Jon Bernthal in DOG DAY AFTERNOON

With the arrival of the film-to-stage adaptations of The Fear of 13 and Dog Day Afternoon — the former an intimate documentary, the latter an Al Pacino vehicle — Broadway … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Nights at The Joyce: GIBNEY COMPANY continues to hone its identity, JOHNNY LOVES JOHANN finds joy in Bach through dance

Over the past few days, I found myself at The Joyce Theater mulling over a number of premieres from Gibney Company, as well as an inspired collaboration between unlikely musical … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Gina Gionfriddo’s hilariously, ruthlessly truth-saying dark comedy BECKY SHAW arrives on Broadway

Last week saw the Main Stem premiere of Becky Shaw, Pulitzer Prize finalist Gina Gionfriddo‘s ruthlessly and hilariously truth-saying dark comedy about a blind date gone haywire, and the aftermath … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY celebrates its landmark centennial with bespoke performances at City Center

For its centennial anniversary, the Martha Graham Dance Company performed six bespoke, beautifully-curated programs at New York City Center, wherein dance fans were able bask in Graham masterworks, as well … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – An Andrew Lloyd Webber renaissance: THE JELLICLE BALL and MASQUERADE re-animate warhorse musicals from fresh perspectives

Following Jamie Lloyd’s triumphantly stripped down re-imagining of Sunset Boulevard last season (featuring a knockout, Tony-winning performance by Nicole Scherzinger), the improbable Andrew Lloyd Webber renaissance continues this season with … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Flawed, entitled men exposed in harsh light: Nathan Lane in DEATH OF A SALESMAN, John Lithgow in GIANT

This spring, Broadway has brought us two compelling portraits of flawed and entitled white men, exposing them in harsh and unforgiving light. These would be Willy Loman, as played by … Continue Reading →