Off-Broadway Archives

  • The Mother

    Isabelle Huppert   The Mother                                                                       By David Schultz French playwright Florian Zeller (The Father, The Mother, and forthcoming The Son) has attempted the same magic that made The Father such a heart wrenching theatrical experience a few seasons ago. Frank Langella perfectly captured the emotional disarray of a man on the precipice of…

  • I Married an Angel

    Sara Means, Mark Evans                        photos Joan Marcus   I Married an Angel Encores! At New York City Center                               by Julia Polinsky What theater aficionado doesn’t love a Rodgers and Hart score? Just knowing that Encores! was doing their dance musical, I Married an Angel, was enough to tip off anticipation. The cream on…

  • Smart Blonde

    Andrea Burns   Smart Blonde                                   By Ron Cohen “Beloved Star of Stage and Screen.” Probably no one deserved the accolade more than Judy Holliday, whose innate intelligence, vulnerability and womanliness gave depth and magnetism to the dumb — or at least flighty — blonde persona that marked most of her roles. She catapulted…

  • Vilna

    Mark Jacoby, Sean Hudock, Sophia Blum, Seamus Mulcahy, Carey van Driest   Vilna                              by Julia Polinsky Vilna! An Eastern European capital of Jewish culture, “owned” in turn by Lithuania, Germany, Poland… In the 1930s, Vilna was home to 80,000 Jewish residents, and their schools, university, theatres, concert halls, galleries, all gone in just a…

  • The Other Josh Cohen

    Steve Rosen and David Rossmer   The Other Josh Cohen                                   by Julia Polinsky That NYC rite of passage — the break-in — sets up just how pathetic, geeky, and miserable is Josh Cohen’s life. (“Only the Beginning”) Before the house lights go down, even before everyone’s seated, a thief breaks into Josh’s apartment (terrific…

  • Menopause The Musical

    Clockwise from center: Megan Cavanagh, Roberta B. Wall, Donna J. Huntley and Debby Rosenthal (Photos by John Vecchiolla)   Menopause The Musical                               By Edward Lieberman Not much mystery here: the title says it all!  The show revolves around four characters, purportedly portraying four different female personality types: a “Professional Woman,” played by Donna J….

  • Surely Goodness and Mercy

    Surely Goodness and Mercy                                  By Ron Cohen As her title suggests, Chisa Hutchinson has written a lovely blessing of a play in Surely, Goodness and Mercy. For those not up on the Old Testament, the title is taken from the final lines of Psalm 23 of David: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow…

  • Seawall-A Life

    Seawall/A Life                           by Arney Rosenblat Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal and Tony Award nominee Tom Sturridge made their Public Theater debuts in an unforgettable and incredibly intimate evening of theater.  Sturridge in his third collaboration with Tony and Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night) performs…