THE HANGOVER REPORT – Over at Paper Mill Playhouse, the exciting new musical GUN & POWDER stakes its claim to greatness

Over at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, I had the great opportunity to catch up with the epic new musical Gun & Powder. Concocted by the exciting up-and-coming … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jayne Atkinson and Tim Daly navigate romance vis-à-vis politics in Lia Romeo’s likeable two-hander STILL

Last night, Colt Coeur’s production of Still by Lia Romeo opened Off-Broadway at the DR2 Theatre just off of Union Square. Set over the course of a single fateful night, Romeo’s likeable … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Owen McCafferty’s timely new play AGREEMENT dramatizes the events leading up to the Good Friday Agreement

This spring, Irish Arts Center remembers the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 by hosting the import of Owen McCafferty’s Agreement. Originally staged at Lyric Theatre Belfast, the acclaimed play commemorates the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Irish Rep continues its Friel Project season with a pitch-perfect revival of PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME!

For its ambitious Friel Project season, Irish Repertory Theatre has to date presented superb productions of Brian Friel’s Translations and Aristocrats. Continuing that successful trend is the Off-Broadway theater company’s … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Two new agenda-driven plays, urgently acted: Nelson Diaz-Marcano’s LAS BORINQUEÑAS and Kia Corthron’s FISH

Over the course of the past week, I had the chance to catch two ambitious, agenda-driven plays that deal with issues primarily born from racial and socio-economic inequalities. Both world … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – John Patrick Shanley’s efficiently plotted rom-com BROOKLYN LAUNDRY completes the playwright’s unlikely retrospective season

This past weekend at New York City Center, I finally had the chance to catch up with Manhattan Theater Club’s Off-Broadway production of Brooklyn Laundry by John Patrick Shanley. Shanley’s latest play … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Magic and mentalism return to New York in its latest guise with Peter Brynolf and Jonas Ljung’s STALKER

Magic, illusions, and mentalism are absolutely no strangers to the fabric of New York’s live entertainment industry. For years new, acts from the likes of The Illusionists collective, Penn and … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Scoping out some downtown theater: Nicholas Brooke’s TEN TRANSCENDENTAL ETUDES and Raja Feather Kelly’s THE ABSOLUTE FUTURE

Before the onslaught of spring theater openings in Midtown, I was able this past weekend to catch some multidisciplinary experimental downtown theater. Here are my thoughts on two of them … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In TRAVELS, James Harrison Monaco pushes the boundaries of music theater and storytelling

Earlier this week, Ars Nova’s production of Travels by James Harrison Monaco opened Off-Broadway at the company’s cozy Hell’s Kitchen home base (for a while, the company was mounting shows at the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – At The Public, Clubbed Thumb remounts its acclaimed production of GRIEF HOUSE by Liza Birkenmeier

One of the highlights of last year’s Summerworks series — Clubbed Thumb’s essential summer mini-festival of adventurous new works — was Liza Birkenmeier’s Grief Hotel. Having been recognized at the Obie … Continue Reading →