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…
Ray Anthony Foster, Danny DeVito, Lucy DeVito (Photo: Joan Marcus) I Need That! By Julia Polinsky A bright and cheerful, three-character, 100-minute/no-intermission play starring a famous tv/movie actor: sounds like a formula for a hit. The audience for the Roundabout Theatre’s new production of I Need That responds as it should, laughing…
Dominique Thorne; Some Kakoma (Photo: Matthew Murphy) Jaja’s African Hair Braiding Reviewed by Julia Polinsky On a hot summer day in 2019, a pre-pandemic time that now feels almost unimaginably remote, a group of women gather in a hair braiding shop in Harlem, a salon as brightly hot-pink and lively as scenic…
Leslie Odom, Jr., Kara Young (Photo: Marc J. Franklin) Purlie Victorious A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch Reviewed by Julia Polinsky Director Kenny Leon and the company of Purlie Victorious have brought to vivid life this in-your-face revival of Ossie Davis’s sixty-year-old play. Written in 1961, a century after the Civil…
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…
Arielle Jacobs and Jose Llana. (Photo: Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy, and Evan Zimmerman) Here Lies Love By Cammy Paglia The story of Imelda Marcos is taking Broadway by storm in the musical Here Lies Love. This show is a spectacle like none that has gone before. The concept, music and lyrics of…
Aisha Jackson, Morgan Whitley, Briga Heelan, Ashley Chiu, Gabrielle Beckford and Lauren Zakrin (Photo: Matthew Murphy) Once Upon A One More Time By Fern Siegel Betty Friedan is having a moment. And it’s on Broadway. Her book The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963, bravely challenged patriarchal orthodoxies about women, which deemed marriage, children…
Sophia Anne Caruso, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Millicent Simmonds (Photo: MurphyMade, 2023) Grey House Hokum and Horror mix uneasily in this eerie play By David Schultz Playwright Levi Holloway has a lot to unpack in this dense, psychological horror-infused tale. As directed by Joe Mantello, the familiar supernatural tropes are laid out in the outset. The…
Hiran Abeysekera (Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) Life of Pi By David Schultz Based on the Booker Prize-wining novel by Yann Martel, this unique tale has been given new life on stage. Playwright Lolita Chakrabarti has channeled all the inherent mystical magic of the book into a totally engrossing visual pageant. Directed…