Randy Graff Archives - TheaterScene.net

Randy Graff

Mr. Saturday Night

May 6, 2022

Anyone else may find this decent show to be a tired affair which just about sustains its two-and-half-hour running time. The memory-piece book by Crystal, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel is based on their screenplay which ranges from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. It intends to be a loving tribute to a bygone show business era and fitfully succeeds at that. The schmaltz-laden dramatic writing never really rises above the rudimentary, rendering the events and conflicts with patness and clichés. Still, it offers choice roles that are marvelously performed by the other cast members. [more]

The Babylon Line

December 19, 2016

Aaron Port (Josh Radnor), a down on his luck writer, is reduced to teaching Adult Ed classes in middle class/middle brow 1960’s Levittown, Long Island. Richard Greenberg ("Take Me Out," "Our Mother’s Brief Affair") in his new play, "The Babylon Line" at the Mitzi E. Newhouse, has Port frequently speak directly to the audience, doling out information and setting the scene, from the vantage point of 2015. Although it’s an awkward device it does come in handy, particularly at the end when a number of plot strands come together. Port’s frustration with his career is exacerbated by having a successful friend, Jay, confront him en route to his teaching assignment. [more]

Broadway by the Year: The Broadway Musicals of 1991-2015

June 26, 2015

Hobbling on crutches and with one injured leg encased in a large boot, all due to a recent automobile accident, Sahr Ngaujah made a dramatic entrance from the wings onto the stage of The Town Hall to appear at "Broadway by the Year: The Broadway Musicals of 1991-2015." Joined by the accomplished guitarist Ricardo Quinones, the charismatic Mr. Ngaujah passionately sang “Sorrow, Tears of Blood,” from 2009’s "Fela!" In which he starred. It was a galvanizing episode that came near the end of a concert that had been packed with powerhouse sequences. [more]

Broadway by the Year: The Broadway Musicals of 1965 – 1989

May 26, 2014

"For many of us this was our golden age," said creator, writer and host Scott Siegel in his introduction that for many present devotees of the art form that this evening's presentation was very meaningful as this was the era in which they came of age seeing many of these shows in their original productions and they are quite appreciative of them. [more]