Matt Charman, playwright, is on the rise. His first play, A Night at the Dogs, which opened at the Soho Theatre in London, won the prestigious Verity Bargate Award for new writers. Richard Eyre directed his The Observer and he’s been produced at the National Theatre in London. He’s won awards in Britain, he’s currently writing a screenplay for Universal/Working Title Film and an original drama for the BBC. [Read more...]

Andrew Lloyd Webber is returning with a vengeance. His Phantom of the Opera sizzles along in its 25th profitable year at the Majestic, his revived Jesus Christ Superstar set up shop at the Neil Simon on March 16, and the London transported revival of  Evita just opened at the Marquis, all on Broadway. [Read more...]

Don’t let the title of Amy Herzog’s play 4000 Miles put you off. My first impression after hearing it was  that it was probably another play about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan.  But no, happily it refers to the bicycle journey young Leo (Gabriel Ebert) has made in order to visit his grandmother Vera (Mary Louis Wilson) . [Read more...]

In a New York time before mine, there was something called “The Round Table” and it consisted of scalawags and wits who bonded between 1919 and 1929;  a group of bright wags who met daily for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel for nutritional sustenance and the sharing of commentary on the day.  [Read more...]

Let’s face it, on entering the New York Theatre Workshop to see Dennis O’Hare’s adaptation of Homer’s Iliad, I was unprepared.  All I remembered of my long ago quick read of a summary of the original was that it was an epic poem about the Trojan War. I had trouble remembering whether it was Athena who stabbed her brother, whether  Hector was husband to Andromache or Hecuba, and  whatever happened toParis, who kidnapped Helen, thus starting the catastrophic war that lasted ten years.   [Read more...]

Edward Albee has a lot of explaining to do. In the lobby of the newly opened Pershing Square Signature Center way out west on 42nd Street, there is a wall devoted to photos and quotes from the life of this prize winning playwright.  They indicate his state of mind as his play The Lady From Dubuque returns to New York for the first time since its very short run in 1980.  Here are some samples.   [Read more...]

Jonathan Bank, the Producing Artistic Director of the tiny Mint Theatre in New York, has been offering us little remembered gems from the past for many seasons now. And he serves a dual purpose in doing so.  Not only does he mount these once popular hits with impeccable taste and style, he also gives us a vivid glimpse into just what theatre audiences of a bygone age were paying attention to at the time of their original productions. [Read more...]

Even the lower standards set for success in today’s musical theatre are hardly met by the currently reconceived revival of the musical Carrie.  It’s always a pleasure to welcome back to the New York stage the golden throated Marin Mazzie, and in the character of “Margaret White”, the demon mother from hell, she has found herself a challenge and a half. [Read more...]