The cast of Our Class (Photo: Jeremy Daniel) Our Class By Deirdre Donovan Those theatergoers who missed Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek’s Our Class at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) last winter have a second chance to see the award-winning play at Classic Stage Company. Directed by Ukrainian-born, Jewish director Igor Golyak, and with many in the cast…
Biko Eisen-Martin, Michael Rishawn, and Kara Young in Table 17. Photo: Daniel J. Vasquez Table 17 By David Schultz Playwright Douglas Lyons gives this savvy modern-day update of a rom-com unexpected dimension and heft. In a mere 80 minutes, and with a superb three-member cast, Table 17 dissects a fractured romantic relationship with precision. With…
Theatergoers can now rendezvous with Mary Todd Lincoln at the Lyceum Theatre as Cole Escola’s hit comedy Oh, Mary! transfers from its downtown digs to the Great White Way. Brilliantly directed by Sam Pinkleton, and starring Escola in the eponymous role, it is an uproariously funny show that delivers a wild and wooly version of…
The new Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress, starring Sutton Foster, stacks up to two hours of pure theatrical fun. Deftly directed by Lear deBessonet, this production arrives on the heels of its popular run at New York City Center’s Encores!, retaining some of its original cast members and adding a few fresh faces….
Max Wolkowitz, Marilyn Caserta. (Photo: Dorice Arden Madronero) The Sabbath Girl By Fern Siegel Romantic comedies work best when opposites attract. That’s the case for The Sabbath Girl. Finding love is hard — overcoming cultural and religious differences is harder. But as the new musical, now off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters suggests, love is the great…
After two sold out runs downtown, this probing drama has moved to Broadway. Director Michael Herwitz marshals this two-hander with an undercurrent of suspense that quickly intensifies as the evening progresses. Written by 26-year-old playwright Max Wolf Friedlich, this 80-minute roller coaster ride jolts audiences from the first scene, as Jane (Sydney Lemmon), shakily aims…
The competition of all competitions is underway at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC) this summer. Under the arrangement of the Really Useful Group, and the inspired direction of Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, a talented 23-member cast are strutting their stuff in Cats: The Jellicle Ball. This is a radical revisiting of the musical…
Chesney Mitchell and John Collins (Photo: Russ Rowland) It’s Not What It Looks Like By Deirdre Donovan With the dog days of summer settling in, it’s refreshing to visit John Collins’ thoughtful two-hander, It’s Not What It Looks Like at the SoHo Playhouse, the winner of its 2023 Lighthouse Series. Directed by Vincent DeGeorge,…
The cast of Empire, with Kaitlyn Davidson center in red (Photo: Matthew Murphy) Empire By Fern Siegel The Empire State Building, completed in 1931, is 102 stories high – and a stunning example of Art Deco architecture. The sheer majesty of the structure has awed generations. Lewis Hines famously shot photos of its construction…
Ana Villafañe, Holland Taylor (Photo: Daniel Rader) N/A By Deirdre Donovan Who’s afraid of the political machine? Not Mario Correa. In his new play, N/A, directed by Diane Paulus and inspired by real people and events, he crafts two tough-as-nails congresswomen: N, the first woman Speaker of the House, and A, the youngest woman ever…