Off-Broadway Archives

  • Major Barbara

    Dan Daily, Hannah Cabell and Richard Gallagher                                      by Deirdre Donovan When you see the folks from the Salvation Army ringing their bells this year for donations to the poor, you just might muse upon Shaw’s young ambitious heroine Major Barbara, the titular character from George Bernard Shaw’s play of the same name.  It is…

  • The Oldest Boy

    by Eugene Paul Sarah Ruhl, whose bewitching, off-beat plays, The Clean House and In The Next Room both produced by Lincoln Center, resulted in the commissioning of a new play by Ruhl, has responded at last despite a spate of other works that have taken her precious time. The Oldest Boy is that curious result,…

  • Billy & Ray

      Larry Pine , Vincent Kartheiser,                             photos by Carol Rosegg                                       By Michall Jeffers  It’s hard for us to imagine a time when film noir was considered daring and even dangerous. We’ve seen so many parodies of men in fedoras with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, growling “Stick with me, Baby.” Billy & Ray…

  • Wiesenthal

    Tom Dugan in Wiesenthal.  Photo credit: Carol Rosegg.                                             By Eugene Paul He keeps a mug at the water cooler and another one on his desk, the other end of the long, disheveled office, and another sort of half way between on a shelf of the stuffed book cases covering the office wall. He’s always sipping at…

  • Ruddigore

    Sarah Caldwell Smith in the role of Rose Maybud and Daniel Greenwood in the role of Richard Dauntless — sing “Happily coupled are we” backed by the Bridesmaids Chorus – RuddigoreAct 2                           by Deirdre Donovan The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP) resurrects Ruddigore, for a rousing 40th year celebration at NYU Skirball Center. …

  • Indian Ink

    Rosemary Harris and Bhavesh Patel                        photos by Joan Marcus                                           By Gene Paul Set designer Neil Patel’s elaborate Indian frame around the entire proscenium captures a certain exotic aura which enhances the tranquil,  pale blue  house – or is it a hotel? – within, its intricately arched windows saying this is India, 1930.  A travel…

  • Secondary Pitch

    Phoebe Leonard, Larry Phillips, Peter Buck Dettman, Ryan Dusek                                                           by Eugene Paul Stephen Dowd, yes, THE famous Stephen Dowd, has just finished hanging his famous #28 shirt, expensively framed,  on the wall of the shitty little apartment he is sharing with his two brothers, Paul the Grouch and Kevin the idiot. After all, he…

  • Six Passionate Women

                                                            by Deirdre Donovan Years before Mario Fratti and Maury Yeston’s collaborated on the Broadway musical Nine, Fratti had already done its theatrical spadework with his Six Passionate Women, written in 1977.  Like Nine, this earlier venture is a thinly-veiled study of Italian film maker Federico Fellini.  And though it doesn’t have the gorgeous music…

  • L.A. Unified

    David Newer                                     photos by Lisa Silberman.                                               by Deirdre Donovan  An actor turned substitute teacher makes the grade with his new autobiographical solo show at the 2014 Unified Solo Theatre Festival. The 2014 United Solo Theatre Festival turns five this fall and has over 130 productions criss-crossing the boards at Theater Row (September 18 through November…

  • Next to Normal

    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….