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by Richard Seff

Gerard Alessandrini, creator, writer and director of the Forbidden Broadway series of small revues designed to skewer the Broadway of its current season, has announced that the series will end.  The latest, called Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab, will be the last. If this turns out to be true, it’s good to be able to report that Rehab is among the top five of the Forbiden shows which first appeared in l982. (more…)

A Man for All Seasons and 13: A New Musical
by Richard Seff

I came to the Roundabout’s revival of A Man for All Seasons late in its run, on November 5^th. I was away when it opened on October 7^th, and was only vaguely aware of its critical response, but my feeling was it had been moderately received, and was perceived by most to be plodding and dull. My general impression was that even Frank Langella, its Tony winning star, had been dismissed as less than successful in playing Sir Thomas More. The lovely thing about live theatre is that if you enter the building with an open mind and a willing heart, magic is available each and every time. (more…)

Irma La Douce, A Body of Water, Romantic Poetry
by Richard Seff

Mel Miller has been bringing Musicals Tonite to New Yorkers since 1998. What are they?  They are a sort of watered down version of Encores!, which means only that they are staged concert readings produced on a tiny budget in a small theatre, with minimum lighting and scenic effects, and orchestrations for one, two or sometimes three instruments. The cast is made up of Equity performers, but the star wattage is dim - that is not to say that the talent onstage is dim, but it’s only rarely that a name recognizable to the public is up there. However, that’s half the fun. (more…)

To Be or Not To Be and Two Rooms
by Richard Seff 

It’s always risky to chance turning a great movie into a first rate stage play. It rarely works. About the best of the lot that comes to mind is Applause out of All About Eve, but even that one isn’t in the same class as Mama. If imagination is injected, things get better. 39 Steps, currently a hit on Broadway, takes a classic Hitchcock melodrama, twists it and turns it until it becomes a riotously funny spoof. (more…)

Enter Laughing, What’s That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling and A Tale of Two Cities

by Richard Seff

Oh rapture, oh joy! It is a pleasure to be able to report that, very early in the new season, New York has a genuine hit. (more…)

by Richard Seff

An odd little evening at 59E59, one of the most user friendly theatres in New York, proved a small treat. This theatre sponsors several festivals in summer, and this one was called Summer Shorts 2. (more…)

• The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Bash’d, Damn Yankees and Broadway’s Rising Stars
• by Richard Seff

 Two Chris Durang plays in a week! Mr. Durang is raking it in from these two early plays alone.   Proof that one’s children can be of help in one’s older age. (more…)

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• Summer Therapy
• Beyond Therapy, Couple of the Century, Rafta, Rafta and Reasons to Be Pretty
• By Richard Seff

There’s not a lot going on in New York right now. No, that’s not true; this is the city that never sleeps, and there are plays, cafés, musicals opening all the time, even during the July-August off/season.  (more…)

• Defending the Caveman
• by Rob Becker
• Performed and directed by Cody Lyman
• Produced by Theater Mogul and Nederlander of Bethesda
• Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

On stage at the Bethesda Theatre, two prehistoric cave paintings serve as historic reminders that even though we think we’ve changed, our DNA programming hasn’t. One shows males hunting bison; the other, a naked female fertility goddess. (more…)

• Wrapping Up the Season
• Macbeth, Boeing Boeing, Top Girls, Cry-Baby, Hot ‘n Cole
• and the Awards: Richard Seff, Theatre World, and the Tonys
• By Richard Seff

The 2007-08 season in New York is now history and considering the deplorable condition in which the world outside finds itself, it was a remarkably healthy one. The numbers were good, the number of new plays was outstanding, the quality of musical revivals was remarkable, the quality of new musicals not so hot. But all of the entries offered roles to the multi-talented folk who perform and do other creative things to make audiences happy. (more…)