Hugn Dancy, Stockard Channing photos Joan Marcus By Deirdre Donovan Where to start? Maybe with Dane Laffrey’s convincing set that evokes a rustic cottage somewhere in the English countryside. Or with Bradley King’s lighting that bathes the interior with a pale, sober light. Or with the performance of Stockard Channing, confident yet vulnerable…
Zonya Love, Matt Servitto and Ilana Becker in ‘Emma and Max’ photos Joan Marcus Emma and Max By David Schultz The Flea Theater has the honor of producing underground filmmaker Todd Solondz’s first foray into playwriting. This subversive filmmaker has many fans that crave his dark, snarky vision of humankind. An acquired taste for…
Cast of Gloria. Photo: Joan Marcus By Fern Siegel Gloria Steinem is probably the most recognizable feminist in America. Her impact on politics and culture is profound. So it’s only fitting that her remarkable life be transformed into a play. After all, her story parallels the dramatic fight for women’s rights. The poignant and…
DeWanda Wise, Khris Davis Photo: Ahron R. Foster By Fern Siegel Set in September 1963, Fireflies posits the searing personal sacrifices in the struggle for civil rights. This powerful two-hander, with a stunning performance by DeWanda Wise as Olivia, the wife of a reverend and major civil-rights leader, takes a deep dive…
Glenn Close and Grace Van Patten photos by Joan Marcus By Ron Cohen The story of Joan of Arc has been told many times, many ways, but playwright Jane Anderson and Glenn Close bring a new and vital dimension as well as sublime emotional depth to the tale in the drama Mother…
Denny Dale Bess, Nathan James, Bjorn DuPaty by Edward Medina Travisville is a good play. An extraordinarily good play. The acting is stellar. The script is insightful. The direction is spot on. The production values are top notch. Travisville must be seen in this incarnation and in any other production that will inevitably…
By Barry Bassis Stars of cabaret sing the Great American Songbook Mabel Mercer (1900 -1984) was a legendary cabaret singer, who was admired by audiences and by other singers. Frank Sinatra said, “Everything I know about singing, I learned from Mabel Mercer” and called her “the best music teacher in the world.” She didn’t…
Sam Bolen, Jeremy Cohen Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg. Midnight at the Never Get by Deirdre Donovan Mark Sonnenblick’s new musical Midnight at the Never Get arrived at the York Theatre in early October with great expectations. It had attracted attention with successful runs at Don’t Tell Mama, the 2016 New York Music…
Matthew Billman photos Credit: John Vecchiolla By Edward Lieberman WBT’s 207th production is Phantom, by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit. At the outset it must be stated that this is NOT Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, although it shares its provenance with that show, both having been sourced from Gaston Leroux’s 1910…
Sullivan Jones (Credit: Carol Rosegg) By Ron Cohen He was a genius scientist whose dream of space travel sent an American to the moon. He was a genius scientist whose dream of space travel created the rockets for Nazi Germany that rained death and destruction on London and Belgium during the final year…