Writer
Fern Siegel is a journalist who has written for MediaPost, Huffington Post, The New York Times and BBC Radio. She believes Sondheim and Gershwin make America great.
Michael Esper, Corey Stoll, Sarah Paulson (Photo: Joan Marcus) Appropriate By Fern Siegel Appropriate opens with the deafening sound of cicadas. It’s an unusual choice, given that male cicadas chirp as a mating call. But there is no connection in this Arkansas plantation home. The Lafayette children have come to auction off their father’s estate…
Cabaret has seen several revivals since its Broadway debut in 1966. The Kander-Ebb musical, set in early 1930s Weimar Berlin, was based on “I Am A Camera,” the 1951 play by John Van Druten, which in turn, was based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1939 novel “Goodbye to Berlin.” The show’s provenance is important, because history matters….
Shaina Taub (Photo: Joan Marcus) Suffs By Fern Siegel Suffs is to women’s rights and the suffragette movement what Hamilton was to the founding father. It bursts with energy, sass and smarts. And that’s thanks to Shaina Taub, whose talent is extraordinary. As Alice Paul, a young suffragette passionate about a woman’s right to vote,…
Cole Thompson, Paolo Montalban, Jo Ellen Pellman, Kennedy Kanagawa and Mike Cefalo. (Photo:Russ Rowland) White Rose By Fern Siegel It s easy to protest if your life isn t in danger. When it is, standing up to tyranny takes a special brand of courage. Such courage defined a group of real-life university students, led…
Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Caroline Grogran (Photo: Ashley Garrett) Arcadia By Fern Siegel Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia is a lively meditation on the importance of “wanting to know” how the world operates – from carnal to artistic pleasures. The British playwright is famous for creating plays of intellectual vigor, and Arcadia, now off-Broadway at the West End Theater,…
Raffi Barsoumian and Mary Wiseman (Photo: Carol Rosegg) Translations By Fern Siegel British rule in Ireland has been long and contentious, and Ireland did not become a fully independent nation until 1949. But the colonial legacy left by its former rulers was pronounced, especially in the context of language. That point underscores…
Harmony ensemble: Blake Roman, Steven Telsey, Zal Owen, Danny Kornfeld, Eric Peters and Sean Bell. (Julieta Cervantes) Harmony By Fern Siegel Harmony, the new musical by Barry Manilow (music) and Bruce Sussman (book and lyrics) strikes a beautiful, yet mournful chord. The true story of the famed Comedians Harmonists — and…
Mary Beth Fisher and Bubba Weiler. (Photo: Liz Lauren) Swing State By Fern Siegel Sad, lonely, desperate people provide ample fodder for drama. That’s true for Swing State, now off-Broadway at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre. Its four-person cast populates a small town in Wisconsin, where playwright Rebecca Gilman examines the tensions and traumas…
Colin Donnell, Ian Shaw, Alex Brightman (Photo: Matthew Murphy) The Shark Is Broken By Fern Siegel The Shark Is Broken is a literal reference to the mechanical shark in Jaws, directed by a young Steven Spielberg. The play rests on a slim premise — three men in a boat — discussing life, art and…
Laura Bell Bundy, Eric McCormack (Photo: Joan Marcus) The Cottage By Fern Siegel “Take charge, you said,” Sylvia tells Beau, as she holds up a short, leather whip. “Context, darling.” The laugh line, which accompanies one of the many physical jokes in The Cottage, is delivered in an arch manner, befitting a sexual romp…