Charming, tuneful, heartwarming, eye-filling, and predictable (but it doesn’t matter), Real Women Have Curves proves that everything old can be new again. And that’s just fine, thank you! This musical version of Real Women Have Curves has had a couple of lives before it became a Broadway musical. It started out as a play, written…
Set in Illinois, Purpose revolves around the fictional Jasper family, and its rich history in politics and culture. The plot unfolds during a family dinner that exposes deep-seated tensions and long-hidden secrets. The play explores themes of legacy, the struggle for individual identity within a family rooted in activism, and the challenges of trying to…
Attention Gilbert & Sullivan purists: though you may be passionate about the original, you won’t be able to resist the current giddy reinvention of The Pirates of Penzance, their immortal operetta that premiered in New York in 1879 to protect its copyright from piracy (forgive me), a fate that had befallen their earlier HMS Pinafore….
Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor Is The Villain draws an exhilarating, troubling portrait of teenage girls as they once were, are now, and may forever be. Set in 2018, and dealing with the mass of new, increasing, and disturbing #MeToo accusations at all levels of society, the play is, in some ways, a period piece. In…
First things first: you do not need to be at all familiar with the Netflix series to enjoy Stranger Things: The First Shadow, now on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre. You know zip, zero, nothing? That’s fine, because the Broadway show stands on its own. It may not be an origin story to you, just…
George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s new play, Good Night, and Good Luck, an adaptation of their 2005 film, arrives on Broadway with plenty of buzz. Directed by David Cromer, this production doesn’t disappoint, largely due to Clooney’s charisma and his affecting portrayal of the revered broadcast journalist, Edward R. Murrow. Describing Good Night, and Good…
First, this Smash is a departure from the NBC series. The theatrical focus is on the making of Bombshell: The Marilyn Monroe Musical, not the who-will-play-Marilyn frenzy that accompanied the maligned TV show or what New York termed “appointment hate-watch.” That’s a plus — as this Smash is a musical comedy, a tart valentine to…
Betty Boop was a Jazz Age creation, known for her sexy body, high-pitched voice and flirty charm. Inspired, in part, by two 1920s jazz singers, Helen Kane and Baby Esther, she made her debut in 1930 in the Fleischer Studios’ Talkartoons. And such is her appeal, she’s remained a public figure for almost 100 years….
Ever heard of “cinetheatre”? You’d better get used to the term describing this groundbreaking new theatrical form. It’s making a dramatic impact on the Broadway stage this season, and it’s a harbinger of a whole new technological trend to come. You have to see it to believe it. It’s too complicated to describe. But bear…
Are there two Kieran Culkins? The one who shows up in the first act of the uneven revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross is, let’s say it, something of a disaster. He’s slower and softer than everyone who has preceded him, throwing Mamet’s galloping but precise rhythms totally off. Intermission passes, and the Culkin…