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…
Andrew Scott takes on the Herculean task of performing a one-man production of Anton Chekhov’s 1898 tragicomedy and succeeds in turning it into a mesmerizing virtuoso performance. Directed by Sam Yates, and created by Scott, along with Yates, Simon Stephens, and Rosanna Vize, Stephen’s adaptation in modern vernacular with anglicized names retains all of the…
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…
The best anti-depressant in the world is playing now at the Schoenfeld on 45th Street. Forget your Prozac, your Xanax, your anti-anxiety meds. Run, don’t walk, to see Buena Vista Social Club and let its magic blend of song, story, music, and dance wash the world out of your hair for two delightful hours. This…
The Greeks used a Trojan Horse to deceive their enemies. The British used a Trojan Corpse to fool the Nazis in WWII. The plot, dubbed “Operation Mincemeat,” was so successful, it played a key role in the Allied invasion of Sicily. The 1943 espionage scheme sounds absurd: MI5 plants fake papers on a British corpse…
Two elements overpower the current production of Redwood now playing at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. One is the extraordinary voice of Idina Menzel, and the other is the equally extraordinary projection design by Hana S. Kim. In Tina Landau’s hyper-emotional new play, the protagonist Jesse (played by Menzel) is an art gallerist, living in New York…
Helen Schneider, Lucca Züchner (Photo: Maria Baranova) Last Call By Julia Polinsky In 2025, it’s challenging to remember that the 1930s and 40s shaped the rest of the 20th century culturally as well as economically and politically. In Last Call, the world premiere play by Peter Danish now at New World Stages, remind us of…
Dakin Matthews (Photo: Hollis King) Henry IV By Deirdre Donovan Theatre for a New Audience’s (TFANA) revival of Shakespeare’s Henry IV opened the 2025 season at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center. Directed by Eric Tucker, and in a three-act adaptation written by Dakin Matthews, who also stars in the titular role, this production is heaven-sent. The…
Mia Barron, Abubakr Ali (Photo: Matthew Murphy) Dakar 2000 By Julia Polinsky Playwright Rajiv Joseph, who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and twice won the Obie, offer us Dakar 2000, a slick, twisty two-hander at Manhattan Theater Club’s City Center venue. Set in the last few days before Y2K, which at this point…
Theatre lovers beat the mid-winter blues at the 10th Annual Broadway Convention (BroadwayCon) at the New York Marriott Marquis, joining the theater community in celebration of live stage performance. The three-day event was packed with performances, in-depth panel discussions, workshops, and cast reunions. Here’s a recap of just two of the many events. Lin-Manuel Miranda:…