Archive

Body Count

March 10, 2026

If the show’s point of view occasionally feels one-sided, that imbalance ultimately serves its chief purpose: entertainment. 'Body Count' may not function as a comprehensive treatise on contemporary sexual politics, but it is undeniably electric as a performance vehicle. Knowles’ Pollie is charismatic to the point of hypnosis—funny, sharp, wounded, and persuasive enough to feel utterly real. Her barbs may sometimes be a shade too neat, a shade too gleefully cruel, but they land with a sting that lingers. Long after the laughter subsides, one finds oneself turning the lines over again, wondering what uncomfortable truths might be hidden inside the joke. [more]

Chinese Republicans

March 8, 2026

Jodi Long, Jennifer Ikeda, Anna Zavelson and Jully Lee in a scene from Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Alex…

Unlike "Glengarry Glen Ross" which also begins at luncheon meetings in a Chinese restaurant but then took us to the office in its second act, "Chinese Republicans" is mostly set at the monthly luncheons with one flashback to Ellen’s first interview with Phyllis years before and a dream sequence. Each scene reveals new pieces of information but the play seems too schematic finding no other way to reveal what we need to know. The title needs to be taken on faith as very little is made of their all being Republicans (probably to fit in at the office.) Nevertheless, the language of the play is raw, the insults cutting and the humor biting. The play covers many women’s issues found in other fields: sexual harassment, corporate culture, prejudice and racism against Asians, generation gap, social justice, and the treatment of women in the business world. "Chinese Republicans" is a tight expose of how women particularly Asian American women are treated in the work place in the 21st century. [more]

The Mall The Mall The Mall

March 7, 2026

"The Mall The Mall The Mall" is a magical realist comedy about three teenagers traversing a suburban mall in search of stolen fandom merchandise. Along the way, they encounter a coterie of increasingly strange antagonists and have some surprisingly sincere moments of self-discovery. The script, from writer Philip Kenner ("BOYSTUFF," "Stand & Repent"), is quite sharp. The directing from James Wyrwicz ("Is This a Theater Of Love?," "I Love You Jesus Christ!") is wickedly funny, with blocking that brings out the humor of the script while letting the emotional beats still land as they should. Kurt Cruz’ sound design adds quite a lot of comedy as well. [more]

The Reservoir

March 7, 2026

Peter Maloney, Mary Beth Peil and Noah Galvin in a scene from the Atlantic Theater Company production of Jake Brasch’s “The…

Alcoholism and Alzheimer’s wouldn’t seem to have much in common. However, Jake Brasch cleverly links the two in his comedy drama "The Reservoir," the story of a recovering drunk on leave from college who goes home to discover his grandparents are sinking into old age, which he never noticed before. Rising star Noah Galvin who replaced Ben Platt in "Dear Evan Hansen" and then co-wrote and starred in the film "Theater Camp" has the role of a lifetime as Josh who never leaves the stage throughout the play and who experiences the year after he dropped out of NYU. Surrounded by some of the most well-known and experienced theater pros around (Heidi Armbruster, Peter Maloney, Mary Beth Peil, Matthew Saldívar and Chip Zien) he holds the stage even as his character relapses and regresses at the worse possible moment. [more]

Marcel on the Train

March 1, 2026

Maddie Corman, Ethan Slater, Max Gordon Moore and Alex Wyse in a scene from Marshall Pailet and Slater’s “Marcel on the…

Slater’s performance is a revelation of synthesis. Known for his buoyant athleticism in Broadway’s "SpongeBob SquarePants" and his chilling portrayal of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald in Classic Stage’s brilliant "Assassins," he here channels that dexterity into something at once lighter yet more harrowing. His Marceau moves with balletic precision: fingers unfurl like petals; wrists trace invisible architecture; the torso leans into unseen walls. Butterflies tremble from his cupped hands, a flower blossoms and droops along the line of his arm. Guided by movement consultant Lorenzo Pisoni, Slater achieves an embodiment so exacting it appears to suspend the laws of bone and gravity. [more]

Hold on to Your Butts

February 28, 2026

Actors Kerry Ipema and Natalie Rich, joined by the live Foley artist Kelly Robinson, proceed to conjure Spielberg’s dinosaur epic. They marshal an arsenal of materials so defiantly homespun it borders on subversive: cardboard cutouts standing in for apex predators, skeletal wooden frames sketching out jeeps and laboratories, pocket flashlights pressed into service as cinematic chiaroscuro, and a scattering of objects manipulated with priestly concentration, shot for shot—all deployed with an almost ascetic economy of means that make the absence of machinery feel not like deprivation but like principle. [more]

Mother Russia

February 26, 2026

In Lauren Yee’s exuberant and stealthily devastating new comedy, "Mother Russia," history arrives not with a bang but with an order of fast food. Two young men, perched at the lip of a new world order, cradle their first-ever Filet-O-Fish sandwich from McDonald's as though it were a sacred relic. They tear into it with the devotional hunger of converts, pausing only to roll their eyes heavenward and lick tartar sauce from their fingers with an abandon that feels both comic and liturgical. Capitalism, Yee suggests, is best introduced as a condiment. [more]

The Waterfall

February 24, 2026

Not only does Phanésia Pharel’s "The Waterfall" have a great deal to say, it is also very revealing of immigrant views on the American Dream. A tour de force for two actresses, Taylor Reynolds’ production takes hold of you and never lets up for a moment. This captivating play says much about mother-daughter relationships as well as Haitian-American values. See it for Patrice Johnson Chevannes and Natalie Paul’s thrilling performances which fill the stage. [more]

The Monsters

February 22, 2026

Okieriete Onaodowan and Aigner Mizzelle in a scene from Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of Ngozi Anyanwu’s “The…

Written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu, author of "The Last of the Love Letters" (Atlantic Theater Company) and "Good Grief" (Vineyard Theatre), 'The Monsters" is a tour de force for two actors who have the chops for this very physical outing both emotionally and literally and luckily Aigner Mizzelle and Okieriete Onaodowan have what it takes. Aided by the choreography of Rickey Tripp, the fight direction of Gerry Rodriguez, and the work of MMA consultant Sijara Eubanks, the realistic fights mainly pantomimed with only one participant (except for Lil’s training sessions which include Big) make us believe we are seeing two people fighting. [more]

Hate Radio

February 22, 2026

The premise—a radio broadcast—might seem theatrically inert, yet Rau ingeniously implicates the audience by issuing each spectator a set of headphones. We are not merely watching propaganda; we are tuning in. If we need to gauge our own humanity while we watch the hideous display, all we need to do is look straight ahead - on the other side of where the actors play sits the other half of the St. Ann’s Warehouse audience. The isolation produced by the earphones intensifies the intimacy of the rhetoric. One hears the laughter, the rhythm, the coded exhortations as if they were meant for one’s own ear. The imaginative leap—who would listen to this? who would believe it?—collapses. The seduction of format, the familiarity of tone, do much of the ideological work. [more]

The Dinosaurs

February 21, 2026

Like Beth Wohl’s Liberation, Jacob Perkins’ "The Dinosaurs" follows a group of women who meet weekly to discuss a problem that interests them, in this case alcoholic addiction. Covering many years, the play gives six women with different stories a chance to talk candidly about their lives and travails. Beautifully written, the play, however, feels thin and repetitious and doesn’t seem to get anywhere. Directed by Les Waters, the six actresses led by Off Broadway stalwarts Kathleen Chalfant and Elizabeth Marvel create very different portraits, though at a brief 70 minutes we don’t learn that much about each one. [more]

MANO A MANO

February 20, 2026

To enter the performance space of Paul Pinto’s "MANO A MANO" is to find oneself seated not before a proscenium, but around a giant Arthurian round table, a scenic choice that immediately dismantles the distance between the observer and the observed. One is not merely an audience member; one is a guest at a grim, historical banquet where the main course is the fractured psyche of the British Isles. Pinto, a playwright-composer-performer of singular, manic energy, has crafted a libretto that functions as a rhythmic autopsy of masculinity, tracing a lineage of "headless alpha males" from the Trojan War to the contemporary boxing ring. [more]

The Tragedy of Coriolanus (Theatre for a New Audience)

February 19, 2026

Resized 500 Mickey Sumner as Tullus Aufidius and McKinley Belcher III in 5 The Tragedy of Coriolanus (Hollis King)

Tata’s staging is also problematic making almost every scene look like every other. The mob scenes have been reduced to five actors (other than the lead characters) which does not suggest any threat whatever. Afsoon Pajoufar’s unit set is an attempt to create a Roman building and then put scaffolding around it to suggest modern renovations. However, using it for almost every scene which is just under three hours becomes monotonous and uninspired. The acting doesn’t help much with each actor seemingly having chosen one single character trait so that all are one-note in this blank-verse drama. Only Roslyn Ruff as Volumnia, the title character’s mother, shows any variety or range. (Volumnia has always been the best role in the play.) [more]

The New York Pops: ‘If I Ain’t Got You: The Best of R&B”

February 17, 2026

Guest stars Aaisha Jackson and Avery Wilson with Maestro Steven Reineke and The New York Pops in “If I Aint’ Got You: The…

For Jackson, this concert marked her Carnegie Hall debut, and it was a thrilling one. Known to Broadway audiences for her luminous Daisy Buchanan in "The Great Gatsby" and for a career that moves fluidly between musical theater, concert work, film soundtracks, and voiceover, she sang with a sense of arrival rather than introduction—her sound clear, warm, and emotionally legible even at its softest. Wilson returned to The New York Pops after first appearing with the orchestra at its 41st Birthday Gala in 2024, and he sang with the confidence of someone who already understands how to live inside this ensemble. A Grammy-nominated artist with roots in Broadway ("The Wiz"), R&B, and contemporary recording, he brought an easy authority to the stage—rhythmic, grounded, and unforced. [more]

The Other Place

February 16, 2026

Going along with leaving much unsaid, Zeldin in his direction has kept things rather slow and leisurely so that the play’s 80 minutes seems much longer. Also much of the backstory is missing: what does Chris do for a living as we are told he is very rich? As his friend Terry is described as his contractor, does that make him a builder or has Terry only been hired to do the renovation on the house? The house incidentally has been made unrecognizable with walls removed to let in the light - though the view outside is still in darkness until the trees are torn down, including the tree from which Adam hanged himself. How has Annie been living since leaving the hospital? She has refused to take Chris’ money so that is not an explanation. And is his offer of money an expiation for some unnamed guilt? [more]

Remembering Scotty Bennett

February 16, 2026

He never turned down a review request except when he had already accepted the assignment from another publication or if he was a close friend of someone associated with the production. We attended the theater together twice as colleagues ("Ode to the Wasp Woman" at the Actors Temple Theatre on Nov. 6, 2023 and "The United States vs. Ulysses" at the Irish Arts Center on May 1, 2025). At dinner both times, Scotty proved he was not only knowledgeable about the theater and other fields, he had seen and remembered everything. He also was a great raconteur with many stories from his varied life and career to tell. [more]

Just Desserts: A Musical Bake-Off

February 15, 2026

Lauren Nicole Sherwood, Tori Jade Lopez, Klea Blackhurst, JP Sarro and Gina Lamparella in a scene from the new musical…

"Just Desserts" is an entertaining satire on competitions, “a musical bake-off.” With witty songs and colorful characters this show with book and lyrics by Barbara Campbell and music by Brad Ross features a high-powered cast led by cabaret and musical theater veteran Klea Blackhurst. While the audience doesn’t get to try any desserts until after the show, the three baking competitions could make your mouth water. This small musical with six actors has been seen around the country and is now offering its wares at Off Broadway’s AMT Theater. [more]

Ai Yah Goy Vey! – Adventures of a Dim Sun in Search of His Wanton Father

February 15, 2026

Richard Chang in a scene from Pan Asian Repertory Theatre’s production of his one-man show “Ai Yah Goy Vey!” at A.R. T./New…

Chang is an agile performer, and his quick shifts among characters recall the early solo work of urban shapeshifters who built entire neighborhoods out of voice and posture. Yet here the gallery of types is unevenly realized. Too often, figures arrive as the sketch of a stereotype rather than the surprise of a person. When Chang draws on the stylization of Chinese opera—particularly in the rendering of Jackie’s diva-like mother—the show briefly discovers a richer theatrical language, one in which Eastern and Western performance traditions spar and flirt on equal terms. Such moments hint at a more adventurous piece than the one that predominates. [more]

The First Line of Dante’s Inferno

February 14, 2026

The opening gesture of Dante Alighieri’s "Inferno"—that immortal confession of midlife disorientation in which a wanderer finds himself astray from the “straight road” and deposited in a “dark wood”—has rarely felt as theatrically apt as it does in "The First Line of Dante’s Inferno," Kirk Lynn’s sly, searching, and disarmingly funny new experiment in staged storytelling. Lynn, a polymath of the American theater—playwright, novelist, screenwriter, educator, and guiding spirit of the Austin collective Rude Mechs—treats Dante’s premise less as a theological map than as a psychological condition. His forest is not an allegorical afterlife but a contemporary wilderness in which several souls, one quite literally at midlife, appear to have misplaced the coordinates of their former selves. [more]

Hans Litten: The Jew Who Cross-Examined Hitler

February 12, 2026

Daniel Yaiullo as Hans Litten and Zack Calhoon as Adolph Hitler in a scene from Douglas Lackey’s “Hans Litten: The Jew Who…

Despite the admirable commitment to historical accuracy, Lackey’s script is littered with flimsy side characters, muddled messages, and awkward dialogue. The result is a thematically incoherent mess that feels unaware of its own central tragedy. Hans says in Act 1 that he wants to force Hitler onto the witness stand in order to stop the Nazis from coming to power. The play seems unwilling to address that this did not work – that no amount of clever rhetoric would have been enough to stop the tide of Fascism. It would be wildly unfair to blame Hans Litten for failing to stop the Nazis, but it is a grievous omission for a play about him to explicitly frame the story that way and then refuse to grapple with the implications of him failing to do so, both for him as a character and for the ideas he is meant to represent and martyr himself for. Indeed, the play revels in the grace of Hans’ martyrdom. [more]

High Spirits (New York City Center Encores!)

February 11, 2026

Steven Pasquale as Charles and Katerina Lenk as Elvira in a scene from Encores!’ revival of “High Spirits” at New York City…

The afterlife has always enjoyed a sturdy tenancy on the musical stage, but "High Spirits"—Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray’s tuneful graft onto Noël Coward’s "Blithe Spirit"—has, until now, seemed a ghost itself: spoken of fondly by aficionados, seldom seen, and rarely summoned with conviction. That New York City Center Encores! has revived it, in its first professional New York outing since 1964, makes its long absence feel less like neglect than a curious collective lapse in memory. For this effervescent score and Coward’s indestructible farce reveal themselves, in performance, to be not merely viable but positively tonic. Under Jessica Stone’s direction, "High Spirits" is presented with a spareness that registers as notable even within the intentionally stripped-down aesthetic long associated with Encores! The concert format, here, feels less like a stylistic choice than a visible process: once again scripts remain firmly in hand, and the performers give the impression of artists still negotiating their relationship to the material in real time. At moments we are treated to some hilarious spontaneous reactions, tongue-in-cheek banter when one actor has turned too many pages in his or her binder. [more]

Manon! (Heartbeat Opera)

February 10, 2026

The company of Heartbeat Opera’s production of “Manon!” at The Space at Irondale (Photo credit: Andrew Boyle)

For Heartbeat Opera’s presentation of Massenet’s exquisite "Manon," the co-adaptors Rory Pelsue, who also directs, and Jacob Ashworth, the company’s artistic director, take a scalpel to Massenet’s expansive five-act opéra comique, paring it down to a fleet, intermissionless ninety minutes. In the process, they excise subsidiary characters and the bustling choral tableaux that French opera has traditionally treated as both ornament and social panorama. What remains is not a diminished work but a distilled one: the narrative’s spine emerges with unusual clarity, its emotional stakes thrown into sharper relief by the absence of decorative detours, oh, and it’s performed in English and retitled "Manon!" [more]

An Ideal Husband

February 10, 2026

After a several year hiatus, The Storm Theatre, one of the last classical theater companies left in New York, is back with an elegant and polished production of Oscar Wilde’s rarely seen comedy-drama "An Ideal Husband" staged by artistic director Peter Dobbins. While Wilde’s "The Importance of Being Earnest" is well known to theatergoers, "An Ideal Husband," last since on Broadway in 1985, is not but ought to be better known. This play of political corruption and moral turpitude seems more relevant than ever with the number of government scandals in our news daily. As witty as Wilde’s most famous play, An Ideal Husband also has an involving plot and colorful characters. [more]

Ulysses

February 8, 2026

The company of Elevator Repair Service’s production of “Ulysses” in partnership with 2026 [more]

Anonymous

February 5, 2026

Spit & Vigor Theatre Company has an interesting approach to stagecraft at least with its return engagement of Nick Thomas’ Anonymous, now at their new home at the Tiny Baby Black Box Theatre. The play which takes place at a weekly meeting of an addiction support group has the audience sit in a circle and then embeds the actors in the circle without acknowledging the rest of us. This gives the play an immediacy it might not have had otherwise. The audience feels like they are part of the monthly group even though we are not seen by the actors. On the other hand, Sara Fellini’s direction is so broad that the actors all seem like they are overacting considering that the audience is only feet away. The play would be much more convincing if they all took it down a few notches. Some of the actors seem to be hamming it up – unless it is simply that we are sitting next to them or across from them that their performances seem to be too big for the tiny venue. [more]

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

February 5, 2026

Not quite as old as its title suggests, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" premiered off and then on Broadway in 2005. The Tony Award-winning musical wears that age well in a revival that director and choreographer Danny Mefford smartly doesn't exploit as an opportunity for stark reinvention. Yes, there are thoughtful updates, including a much-needed revision to one character's backstory and some pointed criticism of disturbing developments at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which launched the revival in October 2024. But, as always, the show's heart remains its six endearingly awkward middle-school spellers, each competing for a trophy that masks a much deeper and more elusive desire for connection. [more]

Blackout Songs

February 3, 2026

Joe White’s "Blackout Songs" direct from London with its original cast is a tour de force for two actors. It is also a challenge for the audience both because its single topic is addiction and as intentionally written by the author we never know what is real and what is imagined. Rising film stars American actor Owen Teague ("Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey," Stephen King’s "The Stand') and Australian actress Abbey Lee ("Mad Max: Fury Road," "Black Rabbit") both making their New York stage debuts give bravura performances, though Lee’s English accent is often difficult to understand as is the British slang that they often toss off. However, director Rory McGregor’s use of a single set to present a turbulent relationship over ten years and many locales is quite remarkable. [more]

The Porch on Windy Hill: Building a Space That Holds What Isn’t Said

February 3, 2026

I spoke with set designer Andrew Robinson and writer/director Sherry Stregack Lutken about how the porch came into being—not as an object, but as a way of thinking. What follows is a focused exchange about structure, absence, restraint, and memory: how physical choices do emotional work, how collaboration sharpens intention, and how a space can hold what characters—and audiences—aren’t yet ready to carry inside. [more]

King Lear (Compagnia de’ Colombari)

February 2, 2026

A scene from Compagnia de’ Columbari’s production of “King Lear” at the Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa Experimental…

By loosening the moorings that usually tether one actor to one role, director and adaptor Karin Coonrod peers, with unusual intimacy, into Lear’s psychic weather. The choice to distribute him among ten bodies does not dilute the character; it refracts him. We are invited to watch a consciousness under siege, a man stripped so thoroughly of title, certainty, and familial illusion that what remains is not a king discovering wisdom so much as a human being stumbling toward self-recognition. Lears circulate through the auditorium, each member of the company outfitted by Oana Botez in a palette of muted greige, topped by gilded paper crowns, courtesy of Tine Kindermann, that rise a good foot and a half into the air, their fragile grandeur at once comic and faintly forlorn—a visual joke that curdles into a metaphor. The multiplicity supplies a chorus of selves: monarch and parent, tyrant and child, sovereign and supplicant. At times they seem to echo one another; at others they compete for the same thought, as if Lear’s mind were a crowded room he can no longer govern. The image captures something essential about the play’s cruelty: identity, once propped up by power and praise, proves alarmingly divisible. [more]

DATA

January 31, 2026

Mathew Libby’s riveting "DATA" is drawn from tomorrow’s headlines – or is this frightening story depicting events that are already happening? As directed by Tyne Rafaeli, this techno-thriller become more and more scary as we begin to realize the dangers of AI and computer algorithms to be used for immigration and citizenship rules as the story moves to its inevitable conclusion. Silicon Valley has a lot to answer for and this play demonstrates what may be in store for us very soon. [more]

I’m Concerned About the Future of the Performing Arts in this Country

January 30, 2026

Norma_Terris_Theatre,_Chester_CT (photo by John Phelan)

I've been passionate about theater for over 60 years. I love the performing arts, and want them to prosper. But everywhere I look, I see developments that are worrisome. Let me tell you about a few.... [more]

Watch Me Walk

January 30, 2026

Anne Gridley begins "Watch Me Walk" by taking its title at punishingly literal face value. She introduces herself, grips her walking stick—never a cane, a semantic correction that quickly reveals its philosophical weight—and proceeds to walk the length of the stage again and again, in near silence, for so long that the initial charge of provocation slowly discharges. What remains is not suspense but facticity. In another theatrical ecosystem, this might register as endurance art or a sly conceptual prank; here, in a Soho Rep production presented in association with the recently concluded 2026 Under the Radar Festival, it operates as a recalibration of spectatorship itself. We arrive alert, waiting for the performance to “start,” only to discover that it already has—and that the only thing lagging behind is our attention. [more]

The Disappear

January 28, 2026

Watching these creative people misbehave is part of the fun though a great deal must be taken on faith: Julie’s tremendous talent, Raf’s inordinate fame and highly emotional depth, Ben’s genius as a filmmaker though Raf has never seen one of his movies, and that Mira’s novels earn more money than Ben’s films. However, nothing Schmidt has written for these characters demonstrates these qualities. Julie is portrayed as pretentious and overacting. Raf is so low-key it is hard to see him as having a great deal of depth on screen. With Ben's self-dramatizing and egotistical nature, it is hard to imagine him finding time to focus on his work, while the items we hear about from Mira’s novels hardly seem like the material for best sellers. Possibly Schmidt who has directed her own play needed a second pair of eyes and ears to get her play whipped into shape. [more]

R.I.P. “UNCLE FLOYD” VIVINO—A REMEMBRANCE by CHIP DEFFAA

January 26, 2026

Floyd Vivino honed his comic skills working everywhere from circuses to burlesque shows. When his "Uncle Floyd Show" ended its 24-year run, it was the longest-running New Jersey-based show in television history. But Floyd always said his first love was performing "live," and he'd perform as many as 300 "live": shows in a given year. [more]

Cimino’s Defeat

January 25, 2026

Eric Faris’ "Cimino’s Defeat" seems under researched while attempting to make a play from a few salient facts. At times the play seems endless, at others repetitious with all the arguments that never reach any conclusions. A good deal of the play seems amateurish though this may be the fault of co-directors Sam Cini and Ryan Czerwonko who allow for much ranting and raving from the actors. There may well be a play in the "Heaven’s Gate" debacle but this isn’t it. [more]

Bug

January 22, 2026

Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood in a scene from Tracy Letts’ “Bug” at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (Photo credit: Matthew…

Seen first Off Broadway in 2004, Tracy Lett’s "Bug" has now reached Broadway via the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production being presented by Manhattan Theatre Club. While "Bug" has the reputation as a thriller (and has all the elements.) David Cromer’s leisurely direction turns this into a character study instead. Michael Shannon’s electrifyingly crazed protagonist in the Off Broadway staging has given way to Namir Smallwood’s low-key insidious portrayal of Peter Evans, an Iraqi vet who has escaped from four years in an army hospital facility. The play which deals in conspiracy theories does seem more relevant now than two decades ago as there are so many more such theories swirling around us on a daily basis. [more]

and her Children

January 18, 2026

Hailey McAfee in a scene from Rosie Glen-Lambert and McAfee’s “and her Children” at SoHo [more]

Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon

January 17, 2026

Adrian Galante with clarinet, Hilary Kole, John Pagano and Ta-Tynisa Wilson in a scene from “Going Bacharach: The Songs of…

Legendary composer Burt Bacharach died in 2023 and it has taken until now for there to be a fitting stage tribute to his 1,000 song output (mainly written with lyricist Hal David) which includes six Grammy Awards and three Academy Awards. Entitled Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon, the musical revue has been conceived by producer Jack Lewin along with Will Friedwald (who has been called “the poet laureate of vintage pop music,”) musical supervisor Tedd Firth and musical director Adrian Galante, who is also responsible for the arrangements and orchestrations as well as playing piano and clarinet in the show. While Bacharach was best known for his mellow sound as sung by Dionne Warwick who recorded most of the songs in the show, the volume of this Going Bacharach is very loud, though this may be the fault of sound designer Matt Berman. Those of us who grew up with these songs won’t recognize the arrangements while younger people may be pleased to experience them for the first time. [more]

Falling Out

January 16, 2026

Jack Quinn, Publisher Review by Jack Quinn, publisher Amelia Grace Beckham and Gavin Cole in a [more]

Try/Step/Trip

January 15, 2026

The choreography by Toran X. Moore is exquisitely attuned to both context and cast. Moore’s steps and motifs create a full canvas of movement that breathes with the beat and bends to the demands of the narrative. "Try/Step/Trip" announces itself through a distinct physical vocabulary, one that is not merely stylistic but historical and communal: step, the percussive dance form forged and refined within historically Black colleges and universities. Here, the body becomes both instrument and archive—feet striking, hands clapping, chests resonating in rhythms that carry lineage as much as sound. The choice of step is not ornamental; it is foundational, lending the work a muscular, collective language that insists on presence, discipline, and shared breath, and that roots the piece in a tradition where movement functions simultaneously as music, memory, and social bond. Rooted firmly in Black dance, the choreography adapts itself to the tonal shifts of each song and scene, turning the evening into a literal and figurative adventure. At 90 minutes, the piece demands stamina and precision from its performers, and the ensemble meets that challenge with discipline and collective resolve. [more]

Dream Feed

January 15, 2026

What "Dream Feed" does is evoke feelings, and images, and hopefully dreams. Most effective are the times when what I assume are actual dreams are recited, in one case through a voice changer, which is both funny and emotional. The music is mostly singing, but Justin Hicks plays the autoharp, an instrument you don't get to see too often in the theater (or at all). He's excellent and it makes me want to get one myself. There's also drums, but these are fairly quiet and don't take over the piece. It's mostly about the vocals, which are terrific. The audience goes bananas for it, clapping along to songs they've never heard before and leaping to their feet at the end. [more]

The Opening

January 14, 2026

While ABBA’s "Chess" is receiving its first revival on Broadway, a delightful new musical about chess has come to Off Broadway’s Players Theatre. "The Opening," billed as “The Second Most Famous Musical About Chess,” is a fun entertainment which keeps you guessing throughout about the world and denizens of chess tournaments. Inspired by a true chess scandal in 2022 in which a tournament player was wrongly accused of cheating, this musical spoof has a clever book by Brooke Di Spirito, melodic music by Mateo Chavez Lewis, and witty lyrics co-written by Di Spirito and Chavez Lewis. An expert cast directed by Nick Flatto keeps the show merrily rolling along. Who knew chess could cause such shenanigans? [more]

Packrat: The Quest por la Abundancia

January 13, 2026

Do we want to be led to a utopia full of shiny objects or can we find abundance at home, in friendship and family? Symbolically, and at times explicitly, Concrete Temple Theatre explores this ever-timely question in "Packrat: The Quest por la Abundancia," an inventive parable written and directed by Renee Philippi with puppetry, projections, and sets designed by Carlo Adinolfi. By offering well-paced visual and auditory surprises, it keeps viewers' attention for over an hour, which is no small feat. [more]

Hildegard

January 13, 2026

Sarah Kirkland Snider’s first opera arrives with a confidence that feels almost paradoxical: it is at once tightly focused and lavishly expansive, a work that fixes its gaze on a single hinge in medieval history while allowing the implications of that moment to ripple outward in all directions. "Hildegard" does not so much resurrect Hildegard von Bingen as acknowledge what she has always seemed to be—a figure who belongs as much to myth as to chronology, a woman whose historical footprint feels improbably modern, even futuristic. [more]

Picnic at Hanging Rock

December 28, 2025

Tatianna Córdoba, Marina Pines and Kate Louissaint (front); Gillian Han and Kaye Tuckerman (back) in a scene from “Picnic…

However, where the Peter Weir film used magical lighting and the atmosphere of the actual filming at Hanging Rock to recreate a mystical, supernatural feeling, the musical instead adds songs and dialogue. Unfortunately, Bell’s lyrics are either too prosaic or too poetic without creating a magical world, while Gold’s folk-pop score often sounds the same throughout. The busy set by Daniel Zimmerman which attempts to shoehorn the school and its stairway to the second floor, the hanging rock and its environs, and the five-piece orchestra all on the same stage seems rather cluttered along with the forest of trees and foliage in the background. The many-colored costumes by Ásta Bennie Hostetter for the girl students’ dresses vie with the background for our attention and there are often too many hues on stage simultaneously. While Barbara Samuels’ lighting is often exactly right, her plot using red for the picnic seems to make many of the girls look like they have picked up terrible sunburns in a very short time. [more]

Honoring Irving Berlin at Christmas …

December 27, 2025

Irving Berlin carolers, led by Jacqueline Parker

On Christmas Eve, a group of New York performing artists gathered outside Irving Berlin’s longtime home to sing the songs he loved most. Begun by John Wallowitch in the 1980s, the tradition continues—spanning generations, honoring Berlin’s legacy, and celebrating music, memory, and community on the very doorstep where history was made. [more]

Night Stories

December 26, 2025

"Night Stories" is, first and foremost, about Jewish life. The show’s characters are mainly Holocaust survivors, yet they are never reduced to simply being symbols of suffering. They go on tangents, they make jokes, they express unimaginable pathos before quickly moving on, and they navigate life as best they can. There are so many moments in this play that are deeply human, and deeply Jewish. The production imbues Sutzkever’s poetry with a magnificent resonance. His words are as strikingly beautiful as when he first wrote them, and this modern production is a heartrendingly beautiful affirmation of life. [more]

MOMIX: Alice

December 24, 2025

Jade Primicias and Colton Wall in the opening scene of MOMIX’s “Alice” at The Joyce Theater (Photo credit: Equilibre Monaco)

MOMIX’s "Alice" returns to the Joyce Theater for the first time since its 2022 premiere and continues to dazzle in its inimitable way with illusion and dance. Choreographer Moses Pendleton’s creation does not strictly follow the plot of Lewis Carroll’s two books, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, but appears to be a fantasia inspired by them and using all the elements of dance, gymnastics and imagery to bring it to teeming life. Using nine dancers, five women who seem to alternate as Alice, and four muscular men, the evening consists of 22 episodes taken from the two books but not always obvious as to their source. The score consist of 23 songs, some which seem to have been written specifically with the Lewis Carroll book in mind. [more]

Amahl and the Night Visitors

December 21, 2025

Albert Rhodes, Jr., Joyce DiDonato (foreground) and Phillip Boykin, Todd Thomas and Bernard Holcomb (background) in a scene…

Albert Rhodes, Jr. and Joyce DiDonato in a scene from the Lincoln Center Theater and the [more]

The New York Pops: “A Place Called Home” with Megan Hilty

December 21, 2025

Special guest artist Megan Hilty in “A Place Called Home” with Maestro Steven Reineke and The New York Pops at Carnegie…

The opening sequence established that tone. “Deck the Hall” and “We Need a Little Christmas” moved briskly and confidently, their energy functional rather than decorative. Reineke kept the wit light and the pacing tight. When guest artist Megan Hilty entered for “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” she did so not with flash, but with command — a voice arriving fully present, already in conversation with the orchestra. This was Hilty’s second Christmas concert with The Pops. The first came eight years ago, shortly after her son was born. Friday night, that same son sat in the audience, now eight years old. The fact wasn’t underlined from the stage, but it registered — not as sentiment, but as grounding. There was a sense of continuity in her presence, a confidence shaped over time. [more]

Anna Christie

December 20, 2025

Michelle Williams and Tom Sturridge in a scene from Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie” at St. [more]

Gotta Dance!

December 19, 2025

Jessica Lee Goldwyn as Cassie in “The Music and the Mirror” from “A Chorus Line,” part of The York Theatre and American…

"Gotta Dance!" is a hugely entertaining revue of dance in the American musical recreating icon moments from 17 Broadway shows including four that started life as MGM movies starring Gene Kelly and later ended up as stage shows. Appearing under the auspices of The York Theatre, this is the work of the reconstituted American Dance Machine which existed from 1976 – 1987, and has been reestablished in 2012 by Nikki Feirt Atkins as American Dance Machine for the 21st Century along with co-founder choreographer Randy Skinner. American Dance Machine’s mission is to be a living archive of Broadway dance recreated by its original choreographers and/or dancers. All of the performers in "Gotta Dance!" are given a chance to show what they do best whether it is tap dancing, ballet, modern dance or swing. [more]

If We Kiss

December 19, 2025

What "If We Kiss" captures, with rare delicacy, is the way young people experience such convergences as both comic and catastrophic. The play treats adolescent feeling with respect, refusing to condescend to its intensity while still allowing space for humor and grace. In doing so, it reminds us that first love is never merely personal: it is social, moral, and—when the generations begin to rhyme—quietly political. [more]

Rashid Johnson’s “The Hikers”

December 19, 2025

Opening page of the catalogue to the “Rashid Johnson: Poem for Deep Thinkers” exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum

Performed beneath Rashid Johnson’s "A Poem for Deep Thinkers," "The Hikers" unfolds inside the Guggenheim rotunda, where architecture, elevation, and live music shape a restrained duet by Lloyd Knight and Leslie Andrea Williams. The building becomes an active partner in the choreography, guiding how the encounter is seen and felt. [more]

Predictor

December 18, 2025

Jennifer Blackmer’s "Predictor" expands a single moment of insight into a sharp examination of authorship and agency. Anchored by Caitlin Kinnunen’s quietly compelling performance as Meg Crane, the production traces the birth of a home pregnancy test with clarity, momentum, and discipline—most persuasive when it trusts process over proclamation. [more]

The Baker’s Wife

December 17, 2025

Ariana DeBose as Geneviève and Scott Bakula as Aimable with the cast of the Classic Stage Company’s production of Stephen…

Greenberg’s greatest achievement is his refusal to inflate or apologize for the material. He treats "The Baker’s Wife" as what it is: a musical of sensibility rather than momentum, concerned with romance, regret, and the cost of impulsive desire. There is a deliciously vaudevillian, music-hall bustle to “Bread,” the ensemble number that marks the village’s first ecstatic encounter with Aimable’s handiwork. The song clatters and skips with comic precision, its rhythms suggesting both hunger and sudden abundance, and Stephanie Klemons’ dances here leans into that sense of organized chaos, shaping the townspeople’s delight into a playful choreography of anticipation, consumption, and communal relief. Paul’s dynamic rendition of “Proud Lady,” with its Brel-inflected toughness, certainly gets its desired effect. In revealing the show’s emotional coherence, Greenberg demonstrates that The Baker’s Wife was never broken beyond repair—only misunderstood. Here, at last, it feels whole. [more]

Marjorie Prime

December 16, 2025

Director Anne Kauffman, who impressively guided the play's Off Broadway premiere a decade ago, returns to do the same for its Broadway debut. With Michael Almereyda's cinematic adaptation having been released between these productions, the new challenge for Kauffman is navigating a wave of narrative familiarities she first fostered. Not only has Harrison's once intentionally disorienting plot become straightforward on a second or third pass, his formerly fanciful depiction of artificial intelligence now carries an impending sense of mundanity, too. [more]

Oedipus

December 14, 2025

Icke’s version avoids the religious and ethical themes of the original but instead makes it a riveting thriller as the tension rises to almost unbearable heights – even if you know the outcome of this classic tale. In rearranging the story and telling it differently, Icke gives us the hope against hope that this time it will turn out differently. Set on the night of a political election in an unnamed country, Oedipus is first seen on video making a speech to reporters and the populace. He is not yet the ruler but a shoo-in to be elected on this night. However, he makes two promises that will lead to his downfall but he doesn’t know it yet; he will release his birth certificate and he will investigate the death of Laius, a previous leader and the previous husband of his wife Jocasta. [more]

Conversation with Dominick LaRuffa Jr.

December 14, 2025

Dominick LaRuffa Jr. speaks without mythology about acting, teaching, and building a sustainable life in the business. In this conversation, he reflects on discipline, long-term patience, and why his work with Blue Collar Artist Studio — including its Veterans Acting Fellowship — treats artists not as students, but as working professionals. [more]

The Surgeon and Her Daughters

December 14, 2025

According to the author’s note, he wrote the play to acquaint theatergoers with the “forgotten war” in Sudan. Unfortunately, as there is no backstory for the leading character the Sudanese Mohammed-Ahmed, we learn nothing about this war or how it has affected him. Eventually we learn that he was a surgeon there and lost his wife and daughter. We assume that he was not able to become qualified as a doctor in New York as he has been working as a sign holder for a midtown Irish bar. However, the circumstances of the deaths of his wife and daughter are never explained nor why and how he came to New York (one assumes he was seeking asylum but this is never stated either.) Not surprisingly, no one he meets in New York believes he has been a surgeon as he never tells his life story. [more]

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