Writer
When I’m not enjoying my favorite role being a Bubbe, or walking on the beach, I’m an ardent theater-going skeptic thoughtfully observing and considering the show unfold in a darkened theater. Love the collective electric energy of the audience and what it adds and how it influences each presentation. II is my firm belief that exceptional writing is the essential foundation of any great production. A well constructed script with keen character development will excite me whether its spoken, sung or otherwise expressed. I know exactly what it takes to make that live magic happen, having spent 45 years as a television technical director at CBS) – a wonderful career choice driven entirely by the fact that network TV actually pays the bills. I deeply respect the hustle of the writers and actors who pour their hearts into making the magic happen every performance.
Marin Ireland’s well-intended play, pre-existing condition, has landed at The Greenwich House Theater. Running through January, the play brings awareness to struggles that victims of domestic abuse face. pre-existing condition begins with us meeting an unnamed character (more about that later) who, six months earlier, was hit by her boyfriend. She’s not sure what she’s…
Human Things, a new play from Joshua Owen now at the West End Theatre, leaves us with questions. Not necessarily the ones the author intended. The story follows a young couple, Margaret (Rebecca Robles) and Greg (Ben Rosenfield), who have been isolated on a remote South Pacific island for a couple of years. There is…
The People Versus Lenny Bruce, now playing at Theatre Row, should’ve been called Martin Garbus Reflects on the Lenny Bruce trial and Other Stuff. Even though Lenny Bruce’s name was in the title, clearly Martin Garbus, Bruce’s trial attorney, was the star. In fact, Martin Garbus, 92, is still practicing law. He’s best known for…
Here’s an idea. Let’s take Beaches, an iconic, cult classic movie, replace the award-winning soundtrack, and put it on stage, without its famous stars! After all, it’s a slam dunk, adapting a Broadway show from a film. Oh, that’s right, it’s NOT. Examples? Despite stars Mary Tyler Moore and Richard Chamberlain, Breakfast at Tiffany’s was…
The Unknown, now in performances at Studio Seaview, is an 80-minute monologue, a one-act psychological thriller written with Sean Hayes in mind. The plot is loosely based on an experience of playwright David Cale thirty years ago. It follows Elliot, a lonely, single, gay playwright struggling with writer’s block. He goes to a friend’s remote…
Call Me Izzy is about Izzy, a woman from rural Louisiana imprisoned in an abusive marriage. Only a couple weeks out of high school, she married Ferd who was 5 years her senior; her uncaring parents were happy to be rid of her. Ferd, who speaks with his fists, is a quick tempered man who…
Susannah Flood, Anthony Edwards (Photo: Joan Marcus) The Counter by Lydia Sue Keidel Meghan Kennedy’s The Counter, now at the Laura Pels theater, tells the story of an unlikely friendship unfolding at a diner in a small town in upstate New York where time appears to have stood still. The Counter starts slowly, establishing the…
Bring your tissues! The Notebook, Nicolas Sparks’ breakout romantic novel, which later became a blockbuster film, is now retold as a Broadway musical. This optimistic tearjerker is true to the book except it uses three pairs of actors portraying the same couple at different stages of their lives. It’s told from the point of view…
Cara Ricketts, Thomas Jay Ryan, and Tony Roach in Arden of Faversham. Photo: Carol Rosegg Arden of Faversham By Lydia Keidel Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The Red Bull Theater presents a bloody, dark, comic Elizabethan noir thriller. Arden of Faversham is playing for a limited run (ending April 1st) at the Lucille Lortel Theater….