Directed by Robert O’Hara, this all-Black revival of La Cage aux Folles is an Encores! production, so you know the drill: a little under-rehearsed (and who can cavil at that with less than 2 weeks to put it all together). Maybe a script in hand; a little cramped, with the orchestra right there on the…
Among this year’s newly released books on New York City theater are three works by award-winning playwrights published by Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and the second volume of a reference series on Broadway plays with themes of crime and murder. Dominique Morisseau, Confederates (New York, TCG, 2026, paperback, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-63670-252-0) – A powerful and…
Shakespeare Downtown is now inviting everyone for its 10th anniversary season of free outdoor summer performances of the classics. This year’s offering, at Battery Park’s historic Castle Clinton National Monument, is a limited engagement of Chekhov’s 1897 masterwork Uncle Vanya, directed and translated by the company’s co-founder Geoffrey Horne. Complimentary tickets are available at the door at…
Political theater doesn’t get much more political than Building the Wall, Robert Schenkkan’s 2017 two-hander now in timely revival at Urban Stages. Schenkkan, author of the Pulitzer-winning The Kentucky Cycle and other notable plays, many of them political, proffers a hot topic, the warehousing and mistreatment of immigrants, and sets up a tense encounter between…
Few lyricists have captured the complexities of love with as much grace, wit, and emotional insight as Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and Every Kind of Light: The Love and Lyrics of Alan & Marilyn Bergman proved a fitting tribute to their extraordinary legacy. Presented as part of the 92nd Street Y’s “Lyrics & Lyricists” series,…
A heartbreakingly excellent performance from Stephen Spinella and heavily timely subject matter infuse Jerome, John J. Caswell, Jr.’s new play now at Playwrights Horizons. It’s June; Pride Month is here, and LGBTQ-forward theater is everywhere. But Jerome can’t seem to make up its mind whether it’s a love story, a soap opera, a comedy, a…
On Broadway, where celebrity casting is often used to sell a show, Celebrity Autobiography turns the concept inside out. This long-running comedy sensation invites a rotating roster of stars from stage, screen, sports, and politics to perform selections from other celebrities’ unintentionally hilarious memoirs, creating an evening where every performance—and every laugh—is a surprise. Inspired…
It’s no mean trick to take a Charles Dickens’ novel and distill it to its essence. But that’s the genius of the Guildford Shakespeare Company, which is presenting David Copperfield as part of 59E59’s Brits Off Broadway celebration. The semi-autobiographical novel charts the life of young David, from his opening line — “Whether I shall…
In Kip Williams’ electrifying new adaptation of Jean Genet’s The Maids at St. Ann’s Warehouse, the playwright’s fever dream of class resentment and fractured identity is thrust headlong into the social media age with startling immediacy and theatrical bravado. Fueled by storming performances from Phia Saban, Lydia Wilson, and Yerin Ha, this turbo-charged Donmar Warehouse…
The People Versus Lenny Bruce, now playing at Theatre Row, should’ve been called Martin Garbus Reflects on the Lenny Bruce trial and Other Stuff. Even though Lenny Bruce’s name was in the title, clearly Martin Garbus, Bruce’s trial attorney, was the star. In fact, Martin Garbus, 92, is still practicing law. He’s best known for…