Nicholas Barasch (center). (Carol Rosegg) Francie Brady is an energetic, but ballistic teenager with a seemingly cheeky disposition. But behind the red hair and sparkling eyes lurks a troubled boy who claims: “They were all after me on account of what I done on Mrs. Nugent.” The Butcher Boy, a musical now at the Irish…
Anastasia Hille in Oresteia, Park Avenue Armory, 2022 Photo: Joan Marcus Oresteia By Deirdre Donovan Aeschylus’ Oresteia is the kind of work that makes most directors go weak in the knees. Not Robert Ickes. British writer-director Ickes has grabbed the bull by the horns and astonishingly reworked the tragic trilogy for contemporary sensibilities. His Oresteia, currently running in repertory with Hamlet at the Park Avenue Armory, is not only a successful realization of the…
The ensemble cast confronts danger in Into the Woods. (Matthew Murphy) Into the Woods By Fern Siegel “Are you certain what you wish is what you want?” asks the Baker in Stephen Sondheim’s masterwork Into the Woods. The interlocking stories of fairy-tale characters offering a treasure trove of psychological insights has its latest Broadway revival…
Jonathan Hadary, C.J. Wilson, Heather Burns, Marylouise Burke and Omar Metwally star in Brian Watkins’ Epiphany. (Jeremy Daniel) Epiphany By Fern Siegel There are epiphanies and the Epiphany. One is a sudden realization of the essential meaning of an idea or event. The other is an often-forgotten holiday celebrated on Jan. 6 that…
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jessica Hecht in The Orchard at the Baryshnikov Arts Center Photo: Maria Baranova The Orchard A Review by Deirdre Donovan Robots rule in The Orchard, the fascinating new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC). This new take on Chekhov’s masterpiece has the quality of soulfulness, not to mention a superb performance by Mikhail Baryshnikov as the old servant Firs….
(l-r) Beanie Feldstein, Ramin Karimloo Funny Girl By Fern Siegel Fanny Brice was a funny girl — a funny Jewish girl who worked in burlesque and was a headliner for the great Florenz Ziegfeld. A hit on radio, the multi-talented Brice was beloved by many at a time when ethnic humor was in…
Anyone Can Whistle by David Schultz Master Voices One Night Concert revived a rarely performed early Steven Sondheim musical at Carnegie Hall for ardent Sondheim lovers. The Sold-Out crowd was primed and outwardly effusive to experience the work in full glory. Musical conductor Ted Sperling marshaled a 22-piece orchestra and 60-person chorus…
Phylicia Rashad in Skeleton Crew Photos: Matthew Murphy Skeleton Crew by Deirdre Donovan Hat’s off to the Manhattan Theatre Club for bringing us Dominique Morisseau’s searing new drama, Skeleton Crew! With a superb cast led by Phylicia Rashad, this play about a tight-knit working family in uncertain times, is profoundly moving and altogether real. Set in Detroit, Michigan, during the economic recession of 2008, the play…
Reza Salazar, Kara Young, Ron Cephas Jones, Edmund Donovan (Joan Marcus) Clyde’s By Lynn Nottage Directed by Kate Whoriskey Reviewed by Julia Polinsky It’s such a relief to laugh in the theater again that it might escape you that, really, Clyde’s is a morality play: a demon and a boddhisattva wrestle for the…
(l to r): Michael Zegen ( Al Manners ) , Alex Mickiewicz ( Eddie Fenton ) , Don Stephenson ( Bill O’Wray ) Photo: Joan Marcus Trouble in Mind By Alice Childress Reviewed by Julia Polinsky Originally an off-Broadway success in the 1950s, the play was slated to move to Broadway, but the producers wanted…