The woman behind me kept murmuring, “Oh, my God, oh, my God.” She was responding to the parade of indignities and setbacks being visited upon our protagonist in The Fear of 13, Lindsey Ferrentino’s docudrama at the James Earl Jones. She was also perhaps more involved than she’d otherwise have been because that protagonist was…
A deliriously camp send-up that gleefully rewrites pop culture history, Titanique finds Céline Dion commandeering the Titanic’s legacy with a jukebox score and a wink that never fades. Yet for all its riotous invention and winning performances, this Broadway transfer can feel like a tidal wave of gags—so relentless at times that audiences may find…
“What’s a Jellicle Cat?” In 1982, when Cats first prowled onto Broadway, the answer was strange but straightforward. In Cats: The Jellicle Ball, that question lands very differently. Still drawing from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, this revival trades the junkyard for the Ballroom, reimagining the…
The walls of the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway are shaking, as the overpowering revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman takes the stage. Directed by Joe Mantello, featuring a formidable ensemble, this landmark production reminds us why critic Kennth Tynan called it the greatest American play ever written. This cavernous Broadway theatre is…
In August 1972, a Chase Bank robbery gone wrong quickly turned into one of the biggest media circuses in New York City history. Although the vault was half-empty, the robbers, John (“Sonny”) Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile, did collect monies — until a teller tripped an alarm and the police arrived. The robbers then took eight…
It’s a rare occurrence when you sit in a theatre and hear audible gasps from audience members around you, in response to what’s happening onstage. Such was my experience at the end of the first of act of Giant, the devastating new award-winning import from London now on Broadway. The gasps of horror came in…
RJ Higton and the Company (Photo: Christopher Duggan) Gotta Dance! With American Dance Machine UPDATE: APRIL 2026 By Julia Polinsky on April 1, 2026 Need an anti-depressant? Take two seats at Gotta Dance! and you’ll feel better immediately. This greatest-hits compilation of superb, iconic dance numbers from Broadway and Hollywood musicals has just opened at…
In 1956, Brooks Atkinson wrote, “Broadway is used to heart. It is not accustomed to evocations of the soul.” What is more soul-exposing than a piece that explores illness and death, in an intimate staging, where the audience itself becomes the beating heart of the show? Night Side Songs explores the life of Yasmine Holly (Brooke…
The ladies’ dresses are long and flouncy, the men’s vests bright and ornate, the cello and viola are sawing away in the pit, the lyricist is rhyming “reign” with “a-gain,” and the chorus is singing about injustice, class distinction, and, oh yes, love. Hooray, operetta’s back in town! The form’s been considered obsolete for nearly…
As four sisters gather on the anniversary of their father’s death for a jesa, a Korean ritual to honor the dead, tensions mount. Their emotions run the gamut from reverence to regret, rage to resentment. After all, family harmony is often more myth than reality. For many, turmoil is just beneath the surface. It only…