Contributing Writer
Brian Dennehy and Nathan Lane photos by Richard Termine By Eric Grunin The magnificent production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh now at BAM is a must-see for any lover of the play, the playwright, Nathan Lane, Brian Dennehy, or great acting in general. I have never in my life seen so many fine…
Joe Assadourian (© Bella Muccari) Funny, skillful, and short, this monologue gives you more truths about the justice system in an hour than any cable drama gives you in a whole season. The Central Park Five, the group falsely arrested in 1989, spoke after the performance Joe Assadourian, writer and sole performer of The Bullpen was…
Benjamin Sheff and Carman Napier in Next to Normal (photo by Bella Muccari) by Eric Grunin If you saw Alice Ripley give the performance of a lifetime in Next to Normal, you might wonder if the tremendous impact of the show wasn’t perhaps dependent on having such a force of nature for its power….
Cast of Pump Boys and Dinettes photos by Joan Marcus By: Eric Grunin So far this season, the Encores! Off-Broadway project has given us Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick…Boom! and Randy Newman’s Faust. For the final presentation of their second season we have Pump Boys and Dinettes, at once the least ambitious and most fulfilled of…
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo photos by Joan Marcus By: Eric Grunin Once upon a time in New York, a talented composer who wanted to use music to tell stories had a fair chance of making it happen. Once, because stable neighborhoods are healthy neighborhoods, rents were regulated to discourage speculators. Once, on the…
Sylvia Milo wrote and stars in The Other Mozart, directed by Isaac Byrne, at HERE Arts Center. (© Charlotte Dobre) By: Eric Grunin The setup is simple and familiar: an actor presents herself as an historical figure, and tells us her life story. In this case, it’s author-performer Sylvia Milo as Maria Anna Mozart,…
Daniel Radcliffe photos by Johan Persson The Cripple of Inishmaan By: Eric Grunin Let’s get the most important thing out of the way first: this is an excellent production of a very good play, and you should all go see it. Don’t be scared off by the tragic aspects, because in all likelihood you’ll…