What happens in our present cultural climate when four well-meaning white actors try to present a culturally-sensitive, authentic play about the first Thanksgiving? It’s a clever premise and one that is quite hilariously realized in a production of Larissa Fasthorse’s “The Thanksgiving Play” at the Helen Hayes Theatre.
Read More(REVIEW) Following their 2017 success on Broadway with “The Play That Goes Wrong,” the British comedy group “Mischief” returns to Broadway this month with a new show that also explores how a live performance can fall apart on the stage. “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” is a classic re-staging of J.M. Barrie’s iconic fairytale about the boy who never grew up where everything that can go wrong—does. The mishaps begin innocently enough: a forgotten line, a malfunctioning stage light, but as the evening progresses, things go (quite hilariously) from bad to worse.
Read More(REVIEW) A new musical opens this month at Nederlander Theatre celebrating (and poking fun at) a piece of American culture not often seen on the Broadway stage—the rural farming communities of middle America. “Shucked,” a musical from Nashville songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, takes place in the fictional Midwest area of Cobb County, a rural community of farmers who are content with life within their own community.
Read More(REVIEW) Broadway has long been pulled between commercial, “theme-park” shows and philosophical, artistic works. The former tends to draw larger box office returns, and the latter greater critical acclaim. Occasionally a show is able to achieve success in both categories and this spring one such Oliver Award-winning production transfers from London to the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre by the title of “Life of Pi.”
Read More(REVIEW) For those among you wondering how many retellings of the Cinderella fairytale is too many, we may have finally hit a breaking point. The latest retelling of the classic Brother’s Grimm story opens on Broadway this month at the Imperial Theatre as a brand-new musical. This new incarnation is entitled “Bad Cinderella,” a title that, despite the promising list of people involved in the show, is not ironic.
Read More(REVIEW) In the late 1970s, Fosse conceived and staged a musical completely his own. It lacked a narrative arc or cohesive theme, consisting of a series of vignettes told mostly through dance (with a little bit of singing mixed in). The spectacle, entitled “Dancin’,” opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in 1978 and ran for over four years. This month, “Dancin’” returns to New York City under the direction of Wayne Cliento, a cast member of the original 1978 production.
Read MoreOriginally staged in 1998 at Lincoln Center, Jason Robert Brown’s “Parade” returns to Broadway this month at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre as the musical event of the season. Set in the deep-south state of Georgia fifty years after the Civil War, “Parade” tells the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish-American factory superintendent falsely accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old factory worker. It stars Tony-Award winning actor Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen, The Book of Mormon) as Frank and Micaela Diamond (The Cher Show) as his wife Lucille.
Read MoreOriginally set in 19th-century Norway, a new production of “A Doll’s House” – adapted by Amy Herzog and directed by Jamie Lloyd – opens this month at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway. The story of “A Doll’s House” is centered around an exploration of the power dynamics between a husband and wife. This production is a bold departure from the dense, maximalist visuals that ordinarily accompany a play set within an affluent Victorian home. Instead, the play is performed with no costumes, sets, props or effects apart from simple lighting, a few wooden chairs and a hidden turntable in the stage floor.
Read MoreThe Spring 2023 Broadway season kicks off this week at Studio 54 with a touching tribute to the messy, complicated and beautiful relationships between parents and their children. Inspired by Larry Sultan’s photo memoir of his aging parents, “Pictures From Home” tells the story of how Sultan crafted his deeply personal memoir through eight years of photographing and observing the surroundings, marriage and lives of his retired father Irving and semi-retired mother Jean. The show is nearly perfect in its construction and presentation, and it’s one not to be missed or overlooked by theater-goers this spring.
Read More(REVIEW) “Everybody in New York hates cops. Even cops hate cops,” says Pops, a retired police officer and the protagonist of “Between Riverside and Crazy,” a 2014 play making its Broadway debut this season at Second Stage’s Helen Hayes Theatre. The play is about the complex relationship between the New York Police Department and the African-American community in New York City. While the story has a lot of potential, it can’t seem to get many plot lines off the launch pad.
Read MoreMost people familiar with modern art in New York City are probably familiar with painters Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. This season, Warhol and Basquiat appear on Broadway, portrayed as artists collaborating on a series of paintings that reflect the convergence of their contrasting approaches to art in “The Collaboration.”
Read MoreSix-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald returns to Broadway this holiday season in “Ohio State Murders,” a dark tragedy about the racially motivated murder of a new mother’s infant African-American daughters. “Ohio State Murders,” is directed by Kenny Leon. This play is a short seventy-five minutes on stage, but McDonald gives a tour-de-force performance as Alexander that is spell-binding to witness.
Read More“Some Like it Hot,” a new musical comedy opening this week at the Shubert Theatre, is returning to the feel of a classic Broadway musical. And they have the full brass orchestra, tap-dancing ensemble, big-budget sets and glittering costumes to prove it.
Read MoreThere is no better way to spend a winter evening in New York than at a Broadway show. Thirty-six Broadway shows will perform during the Christmas break, but I will save you some trouble and narrow down the best options. These five have something for everyone, offering a variety of genres, lengths and prices.
Read MoreA new genre of music debuts on Broadway this season at the Circle in the Square Theatre in the form of “KPOP,” a musical inspired by the cultural phenomenon of Korean dance and pop music. While “KPOP” is full of the energetic dancing and singing that has come to define K-pop, the musical lacks a clear, compelling storyline and generally falls flat when the dancing stops.
Read MoreFollowing the success of jukebox musicals such as “Jersey Boys” (The Four Seasons), “Aint’ Too Proud” (The Temptations), “Tina” (Tina Turner), and “The Cher Show” (Cher), which tell the life story of a songwriter through their own music and lyrics, Neil Diamond is up next on Broadway with “A Beautiful Noise,” a summation of his struggles with marriage, loneliness and success as told through his large collection of music. Directed by Michael Mayer, “A Beautiful Noise” falters artistically with that narrative arc.
Read MoreJefferson Mays returns to Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre this Christmas season in a one-man adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Broadway is joining in the nostalgia this year with a brilliant, unforgettable adaptation of the quintessential Christmas novel. This new adaptation is a triumph. Mays’ approach to storytelling is innovative and captivating, and the play remains faithful to Dickens’ book in every way.
Read More“& Juliet” is a retelling of William Shakespeare’s iconic play “Romeo & Juliet.” Several pop-dance numbers into the first act, the new jukebox musical at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, I was genuinely having fun. The music was nostalgic, the cast was energetic and the audience was into it, but my excitement didn’t last.
Read More“Kimberly Akimbo,” the story of Kimberly Levaco, a 16-year-old from New Jersey with a rare aging disease that makes her look 72, opened last week at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. This new musical has no shortage of energy, laughs or heartfelt moments, but it is a largely forgettable show and comes across more as a vehicle for a fifth Tony nomination for lead-actress Victoria Clark than a serious attempt to be Broadway’s next big thing.
Read MoreMike Birbiglia returns to Broadway this month with his latest solo show, “The Old Man & The Pool” at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center. This is Birbiglia’s fifth solo show in New York. His last production, “The New One,” ran at the Cort Theatre in 2018 and was filmed for Netflix. Birbiglia does not fail to disappoint in this new show.
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