Off-Broadway Archives

  • Himself And Nora

    Matt Bogart                photos by Matthew Murphy                                      by Eugene Paul If you’re going to write a play about the arguably most complicated figure in Western literature, James Joyce, you are asking for it.  And just to make things interestinger , tackling Joyce’s language alone has been a migraine ever since the first publication of…

  • The Other Mozart

    Sylvia Milo wrote and stars in The Other Mozart, directed by Isaac Byrne, at HERE Arts Center. (© Charlotte Dobre)                                          By: Eric Grunin The setup is simple and familiar: an actor presents herself as an historical figure, and tells us her life story. In this case, it’s author-performer Sylvia Milo as Maria Anna Mozart,…

  • When We Were Young And Unafraid

    Cherry Jones as ‘Agnes’      photo by Joan Marcus                                                         by Eugene Paul Playwright Sarah Treem is just so good she ought to be a Broadway staple.  “Oh, a Sarah Treem play? Let’s go.” More, she ought to be in every rep, every regional, every little theater in the land.  She’s so good, she makes little…

  • Much Ado About Nothing

    Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater                       by Eugene Paul In this city of miracles, something of a miracle is happening in Central Park and the adumbrations at the Delacorte are many.  A.  Performances continue to be free, an impossible dream for the dreamer, Joe Papp, a continuing  benison to millions of visitors old and new,…

  • They Call Me Q

                                           QURRAT ANN KADWANI                  By  R. Pikser St. Luke’s Church, located across Eighth Avenue from the big Broadway houses is just barely off Broadway.  The church has fitted its basement into an elegant theater space with comfortable chairs on risers and a small stage that still manages to have three wings.  The tannish color…

  • Time Of My Life

    L-R: Russell Dixon, Ben Porter, and Sarah Parks                               By Eugene Paul “How else can we hope to cram a life time of events into two or three hours?” asks playwright Alan Ayckbourn in his eloquently terse essay, “Time Was…”, a lovely little gift in the Ayckbourn Ensemble program that accompanies this greater gift, a…

  • Farcicals

    Back L-R: Sarah Stanley, Kim Wall, and Bill Champion; Front: Elizabeth Boag                                                   By Eugene Paul Ah there, first off, we need once again to remind us that Alan Ayckbourn, noted Alan Ayckbourn is here with a passel of his plays. Not all seventy-eight, heaven forfend, no, just four, and of the four, two are…

  • Heathers – The Musical

                                                         by Deirdre Donovan  cast of Heathers                                   photos by Chad Batka Popularity is the name of the game in Heathers: the Musical, which is still running strong following its opening on March 31st at New World Stages.  The titular Heathers—Heather Chandler, Heather McNamara, and Heather Duke— are champion put-you-downers who are determined to remain on…

  • ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES

    Bill Champion and Kim Wall        Photos by Andrew Higgens by Eugene Paul Sitting in front of me were two breathlessly beautiful, makeup free girls, the older one, at least sixteen, extravagantly overdressed, advising her younger companion from her copious notes.  Students, I thought.  How wise, how even brilliant of their teacher to have sent them…

  • Mary Poppins

    l to r: Michelle Moughan (as Jane Banks), Leo Ash Evens (as Bert), Brandon Singel (as Michael Banks) and Lauren Blackman (as Mary Poppins)        Photos by John Vecchiolla                                               By Edward Lieberman Mary Poppins hitched a ride on the East Wind to Elmsford last week, and promised to stay until the wind changed. Which is a…