Lori Belilove The Isadora Duncan Dance Company By R. Pikser Isadora Duncan was a dancer at the beginning of the 20th century who was, in many ways, part of the turmoil of the time. World War I, a struggle for domination among the European powers and which of them was going to be preeminent…
Captions: Ted Chapin, Co-host of Sondheim: Wordplay Photo Credit: Richard Termine Sondheim: Wordplay A Review by Deirdre Donovan Teaser: The 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists series takes a closer look at Sondheim’s preternatural gift for wordplay. Sondheim, anyone? The latest offering of the 92nd Street Y’s “Lyrics & Lyricists” series was entitled Sondheim: Wordplay, presented…
Nantucket Sleigh Ride at the Mitzi E, Newhouse, 150 W. 65th St. Nantucket Sleigh Ride By Eugene Paul There’s an artistic and philosophic argument going on in playwright John Guare’s Nantucket Sleigh Ride which is splashed all over the Mitzi Newhouse stage, up and down as well as sideways, and even back and forth in…
Photo by Joan Marcus The Cradle Will Rock By Eugene Paul The Cool, attractive, more an homage than a fiery presentation of Blitzstein’s original fury. There’s a story that, in 1937, when Kurt Weill saw The Cradle Will Rock, he is rumored to have said to a friend, “Have you seen my…
Isabelle Huppert The Mother By David Schultz French playwright Florian Zeller (The Father, The Mother, and forthcoming The Son) has attempted the same magic that made The Father such a heart wrenching theatrical experience a few seasons ago. Frank Langella perfectly captured the emotional disarray of a man on the precipice of…
Sara Means, Mark Evans photos Joan Marcus I Married an Angel Encores! At New York City Center by Julia Polinsky What theater aficionado doesn’t love a Rodgers and Hart score? Just knowing that Encores! was doing their dance musical, I Married an Angel, was enough to tip off anticipation. The cream on…
Andrea Burns Smart Blonde By Ron Cohen “Beloved Star of Stage and Screen.” Probably no one deserved the accolade more than Judy Holliday, whose innate intelligence, vulnerability and womanliness gave depth and magnetism to the dumb — or at least flighty — blonde persona that marked most of her roles. She catapulted…
Mark Jacoby, Sean Hudock, Sophia Blum, Seamus Mulcahy, Carey van Driest Vilna by Julia Polinsky Vilna! An Eastern European capital of Jewish culture, “owned” in turn by Lithuania, Germany, Poland… In the 1930s, Vilna was home to 80,000 Jewish residents, and their schools, university, theatres, concert halls, galleries, all gone in just a…
Kiss Me, Kate by Deirdre Donovan If you think that Cole Porter’s 1948 musical comedy Kiss Me, Kate is an entertainment for yesteryear, then hie you to Studio 54 where Scott Ellis’ crackling revival of the classic will make you change your mind in a New York minute. Starring Kelli O’Hara, Will Chase,…
Steve Rosen and David Rossmer The Other Josh Cohen by Julia Polinsky That NYC rite of passage — the break-in — sets up just how pathetic, geeky, and miserable is Josh Cohen’s life. (“Only the Beginning”) Before the house lights go down, even before everyone’s seated, a thief breaks into Josh’s apartment (terrific…