THE HANGOVER REPORT – Distilled Chekhov in Spanish: Guillermo Cacace’s intimate GAVIOTA gets to the heart of “The Seagull”

Last night at the flexible BAM Fisher space, I attended Gaviota, one of the offerings of this fall’s Next Wave Festival, courtesy of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Conceived and … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Musing the legacy and enduring popularity of Elevator Repair Service’s legendary production of GATZ

This fall at the Public Theater, Elevator Repair Service has remounted its storied staging of Gatz — allegedly for the final time before retiring the legendary production. I had seen the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Kenneth Branagh leads a lucid, traditional production of Shakespeare’s newly relevant KING LEAR

This past week saw another high profile opening — the much anticipated production of William Shakespeare’s King Lear headlined by stage and film star Kenneth Branagh at The Shed. Rob … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The new musical TAMMY FAYE arrives on Broadway eager to please but provides little illumination and point of view

Last week, the new musical Tammy Faye opened on the Great White Way at the gorgeously refurbished Palace Theatre (in the process of getting its much needed facelift, the landmark … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Finding musical escapism Off-Broadway: MAMA I’M A BIG GIRL NOW and KAFKAESQUE!

To further get my mind off of recent events, I’ve turned to musical theater (among other things) to find escape. In this pursuit, I came across two Off-Broadway offerings that … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Next Wave 2024 continues with Tiago Rodrigues’s provocative CATARINA AND THE BEAUTY OF KILLING FASCISTS

Last night at BAM Harvey Theater, I attended the opening performance of Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists, the latest offering of Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2024 edition of its … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The beguiling, refreshing new musical MAYBE HAPPY ENDING examines love through the eyes of robots

Once in a while, a musical comes along that breaks the mold of the tried and true and thoroughly captures the imagination. This week, an unlikely new Broadway musical has … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Heléne Yorke and Michael Zegen navigate the spiky terrain of modern dating in STRATEGIC LOVE PLAY

Also last night, Strategic Love Play by Miriam Battye (perhaps best known for lending her writing talents to hit television shows like Succession) opened Off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theater, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – James Monroe Iglehart shines as Satchmo in the by-the-books jukebox bio-musical A WONDERFUL WORLD

Last night, the new musical A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical opened on Broadway at Studio 54, a fitting venue for a show centered largely around music and the … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Strong women at the helm: Amy Berryman’s WALDEN and Jenny Lyn Bader’s MRS. STERN WANDERS THE PRUSSIAN STATE LIBRARY

This week, I encountered a pair of Off-Broadway plays by women playwrights that feature strong women characters at the helm. Read on for my thoughts. WALDENSecond Stage TheaterThrough November 24 … Continue Reading →