Off-Broadway Musicals Archives

  • I’ll Say She Is

    Kathy Biehl & Noah Diamond                                      By Marc Miller Those who revere the Marx Brothers—there are still quite a few of us, thank you—have always been curious about I’ll Say She Is. The first Marx musical, written by no one you ever heard of (book and lyrics, Will B. Johnstone; music, Tom Johnstone), landed on…

  • Anything Goes

                                                                     Photos by John Vecchiolla Anything Goes                          By Edward Lieberman The  WBT’s 206th production is the rollicking Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, featuring an outstanding cast, precision tap dancing, gorgeous costumes and a great orchestra: in short everything you would want in a show . . .  except, alas, for a coherent plot. But even…

  • Dear Evan Hansen

                         By Rachel Goddard Anxiety-ridden, angsty, and desperate for purpose; Generation Y is captured perfectly by the title character of Dear Evan Hansen. Evan Hansen is a senior in high school and if severe anxiety and awkwardness weren’t enough; he is absolutely friendless. It’s the first day of his senior year in high school…

  • Ruthless, The Musical

    to R: PAUL PECORINO, TORI MURRAY and KIM MARESCA            Photo: Carol Rosegg                           By Edward Rubin January 23, the day of the Great Blizzard here in New York, closed all Broadway shows and most off Broadway, but not Ruthless where the actors, most likely already in costume, would not abandon the stage so easily.  …

  • 1776 at New York City Center Encores!

    JOAN MARCUS/©2016 JOAN MARCUS Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams push for independence — and are played by, from left, John Behlmann, John Larroquette and Santino Fontano in “1776.” The show informs the Broadway hit “Hamilton.”                                          by Julia Polinsky Delightful. Engaging. Sometimes thrilling. How many ways are there to say the Encores! production…

  • Man Of La Mancha

    Paul Schoefler, and cast Photos by John Vecchiolla                                             By Eugene Paul   There’s an apocryphal story that in 1960, Dale Wasserman, who wrote his non-musical teleplay “I,Don Quixote”, went to a fortune teller to advise him about allowing director Albert Marre to develop it into a musical for the stage.  The fortune…

  • Southern Comfort

                                                by Eugene Paul   They’re going to have a bit of a problem over at Southern Comfort. Well, kind of a joyous one. And after all they’ve been through, well, why not:  who’s going to get the nomination for best leading actor?  That’s always fun.  That and best leading actress.  Fun, too. …

  • Always . . . Patsy Cline

    Erin McCracken as Patsy Cline             Photos by John Vecchiolla                                  By Ed Lieberman The Westchester Broadway Theatre’s latest production is Always . . .Patsy Cline, a tribute to the famous country singer, whose life was tragically cut short in a plane crash in 1963, at the age of 30. Cline, who was the first woman…

  • Maurice Hines- Tappin’ Thru Life

                                                                         Photos by Carol Rosegg                                    By Julia Polinsky   Charming, elegant, confident, delightful, and engaging: pick an adjective that basically says, “How Cool Was THAT,” and it’ll apply to Maurice Hines in Tappin’ Thru Life.  At 72, you’d think he could be content to sit back and enjoy the fruits of a long…

  • Hamilton

    by Michall Jeffers What more can possibly be said about Hamilton, the toast of the town? The show has been praised to the heavens, and only the prospect of winning a billion dollars has created more of a frenzy for tickets. It s original, educational, exhilarating, and acclaimed. It has shattered records for the amount…