Reviews Archives

  • Grand Horizons

    Jane Alexander, and James Cromwell Joan Marcus Grand Horizons                                    by Eugene Paul Carole Rothman, artistic director of 2ndStage has done us an enormous favor by braving the winds of juke box musicals currently sweeping  through town and bestowing  upon the Great White Way a mostly comedy – New Yorkers love to laugh – family…

  • A Soldier’s Play

    Jerry O’Connell    Blair Underwood   photos by Joan Marcus A Soldier’s Play                                               By Eugene Paul Playwright Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize play, A Soldier’s Play is finally getting its Broadway due in this gripping Roundabout Theatre production and I hope it runs as long as it did when the Negro Ensemble Company produced it back in…

  • Paradise Lost

    Paradise Lost                                                                                                               By Eugene Paul For the  actively –no pun intended – proselytizing Christian centered Fellowship for the Performing Arts, playwright Tom Dulack has rendered a staged version  of the great John Milton’s massive ten volume epic poem, “Paradise Lost”  which saw the light  of day and brought it to the English speaking…

  • The Journey

      The Journey                        By Eugene  Paul If you haven’t been to The Tank in  a while you’ll notice several improvements in signage which could enable you to navigate the unchanged  cramped  premises – you’re definitely Off Off Broadway – maybe Off Off Off. Which, inevitably has an impact on the plays presented.  Too…

  • Woman in Black

      Woman in Black                                  By David Schultz Author Susan Hill’s haunted gothic novel has been adapted for the stage yet again. It is hard to fathom that this worn-out creaky ghost story has been running for 30 years, and gone on an unfathomable 14 tours worldwide. A British television rendition ran in the…

  • Medea

                                                   photos, credit Richard Termine  Medea                                By David Schultz This ancient tragedy by Greek playwright Euripides was written in 431 BCE, and is his most well-known play. This shocking story of Mother Love mingled with demonic revenge has been given a shaky modern reboot for current millennials to ponder. Upon entering the cavernous hulking semi…

  • The Confession of Lily Dare

    Charles Busch               photos by Carol Rosegg The Confession of Lily Dare                              by Marc Miller Ruth Chatterton may be an unfamiliar name to a lot of latter-day theatergoers; so, for that matter, may be Wynne Gibson, and even Helen Hayes and Claudette Colbert. But they’re the guardian angels watching over The Confession of Lily Dare,…

  • Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven

    Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven                                      By David Schultz This highly respected playwright has a unique predilection for unusual titles. As these various past plays can attest…Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, and his most recent From Riverside to Crazy, which won the coveted…

  • My Name Is Lucy Barton

    Laura Linney   Photo by: Matthew Murphy My Name Is Lucy Barton By Fern Siegel Tony-nominated actress Laura Linney (The Little Foxes, Time Stands Still) can probably count on another nomination for her exquisite performance in My Name Is Lucy Barton, a solo play based on the Elizabeth Strout novel. As Lucy Brown recounts her nine-week…

  • London Assurance

    Caroline Strang and Ian Holcomb London Assurance                                                       By Eugene Paul With a New York assurance bordering on sorcery, director Charlotte Moore romps through one of the most delectable and enchanting  — and fiendishly difficult to perform – of theatrical endeavors,  the drawing room farce and comes up a winner all round  with Irish-American Dion…