VIEWPOINTS – Quirky entertainments that gently upend performative conventions: Ikechukwu Ufomadu’s AMUSEMENTS and The Civilians’ ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS

Thus past week, I came across two quirky Off-Broadway shows that gently upended performative conventions – one as it relates to stand-up comedy, the other to musical theater. Read on … 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 →

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 – 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 →

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 →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Geoff Sobelle’s immersive FOOD is an absurdist, hallucinatory meditation on why we eat how we eat

This weekend at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s flexible BAM Fisher space, I caught the final installment of Geoff Sobelle’s astonishing trilogy of works exploring seemingly mainstay notions in our … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Qui Nguyen’s POOR YELLA REDNECKS buoyantly translates the immigrant experience via graphic novels and “Hamilton”

This week at New York City Center’s subterranean Stage I, I was also able to take in Manhattan Theatre Club’s Off-Broadway production of Poor Yella Rednecks by Qui Nguyen. A companion piece … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – David Adjmi’s gorgeously nuanced new play STEREOPHONIC bristles with music, authenticity

Last night, I caught David Adjmi’s new play Stereophonic at Playwrights Horizons. Set in California recording studios during the mid 1970s, the play depicts the painful creation of a rock … Continue Reading →