Were there magical moments on New York stages in 2020? The question is debatable – just like the definition of “theater” is being debated – since nobody has been performing on any actual stages on Broadway, or Off-Broadway, or (with rare exception) Off-Off Broadway, for the last nine months. It was clearer the first year […]
Review: An Irish Carol 2020 with original Keegan cast members
No, this isn’t just A Christmas Carol with an accent; it is a riff on the familiar Dickens structure, transported to the equally familiar stage world of an old Irish bar. The ghosts and visitations are traded for recriminations and memories; the supreme miser Scrooge for the grumpy old owner David; the near-penniless Cratchit for […]
Review: The Snow Queen from Imagination Stage
Aimed at young audiences, but appropriate for children of all ages, The Snow Queen is a magical first for Imagination Stage – the theatre’s first foray into online production. Billed as an “at-home theatre experience,” The Snow Queen offers a rich and engaging tale, told by four energetic actors, who breathe life into this Han […]
Review: From Feinstein’s/54 Below, the return of Sondheim Unplugged
“Being Alive”and “Losing My Mind” – are there any better Sondheim songs to sing at the close of a year full of loss, unrequited yearning and obsession? That they are sung by performers who have moved me for years– Telly Leung and Natalie Douglas – makes me happy that Sondheim Unplugged is back. After shutting […]
Review: “Intimo” – Moody, Masterful Flamenco From GALA Hispanic Theatre
An old-fashioned black-draped dressing mirror is the only prop in the moody, elemental, but by no means elementary “Fuego Flamenco XVI: Intimo,” presented by GALA Hispanic Theatre. The mirror’s undraping and re-draping bracket the hour-long dance-theater piece by two superb dancers and four accomplished, passionate musicians. The overall emotional sense of the work is one […]
Review: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Never will you see anything like it again.
All hail Ma Rainey. The real-life Mother of the Blues gets star power treatment of such high wattage it can scarcely be measured. Peerless acting, a tight ensemble, cinematography burnished to a warm, heraldic bronze, class-act direction, music that heals the hunger inside and costumes that fit the characters like kidskin gloves all work together […]
Review: A Very Pointless Digital Holiday Spectacular, just right for 2020 sendoff
You’ve got to hand it to Pointless Theatre- the above title alone is just about perfect for 2020, even if it started out as a simple twist on the company’s clever name. As we are all in need of a little pointless cheer these days, I must tell you that it cheers me no end […]
Review: Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce Pandemic! with not a twinkle of treacle
What kind of weird holiday show is this? That was my initial reaction – not my usual reaction to a show by Taylor Mac, which is more often: Wow ( to Hir, and A 24 Decade History of Popular Music certainly, with more mixed feelings about The Fre, and Gary A Sequel to Titus Andronicus). More […]
Review: A Protest In 8: Strategize, Organize, Mobilize from Theater Alliance
A daughter confronts her police officer father. An absurdist game show tries to determine who is the most Black. A candidate for district attorney confronts her traumatic past. A sex worker encounters a magical restaurant. These are just a few of the snapshots from Theater Alliance’s virtual play festival, Strategize, Organize, Mobilize: A Protest In […]
Review: This Is Who I Am, a pie that binds
“During peacetime, when we need metaphors, we raid the language of war. But the idiom of wartime is food: cannon fodder, carnage, slaughterhouse. Buildings and people are pancaked, sandwiched, sardined,” writes Annia Ciezadlo in Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War. “Perhaps it is because the destruction reminds us of the knowledge […]
Review: I Hate It Here: Stories from the End of the Old World
Do you remember the old Firesign Theatre? On their records (do you remember records?), an absurd scene would dissolve into another absurd scene, until you dissolved in laughter. To put a period on our annus horribilis, Ike Holter’s I Hate It Here uses the Firesign Theatre motif. Absurd scenes dissolve into other absurd scenes. But […]
Broadway: Happy Hanukkah. The Folksbiene Chanukah Spectacular
Joel Grey sings “Give My Regards to Broadway” – in Yiddish. And he’s not alone among the 50 performers of the Folksbiene Chanukah Spectacular, a fast-moving, entertaining 80 minutes that is ostensibly a celebration of the Festival of Lights. It is available for free online through December 12th, which is the third day of Hanukkah […]
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