News Ticker

Articles by Victor Gluck, Editor-in-Chief

About Victor Gluck, Editor-in-Chief (1165 Articles)
Victor Gluck was a drama critic and arts journalist with Back Stage from 1980 – 2006. He started reviewing for TheaterScene.net in 2006, where he was also Associate Editor from 2011-2013, and has been Editor-in-Chief since 2014. He is a voting member of The Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle, the American Theatre Critics Association, and the Dramatists Guild of America. His plays have been performed at the Quaigh Theatre, Ryan Repertory Company, St. Clements Church, Nuyorican Poets Café and The Gene Frankel Playwrights/Directors Lab.

Burnout Paradise

March 22, 2026

"Burnout Paradise" is the most unique show in New York right now and enormous fun. A sort of athletic performance piece, it is also an interactive circus competition. Four members from the Australian theater collective Pony Cam perform on treadmills in four sets of 12-minute sessions each while performing set tasks and have to beat their own previous record while completing all the tasks. Genial hostess Ava Campbell explains the rules, keeps time, sells merchandise and serves Gatorade to lucky theatergoers. If the performers do not beat their previous record, audience members can request their money back. However, the show is so much fun that you will have had your money’s worth by the end no matter what the final score. In any case, the performers do collectively run about 17 miles before the evening is over. [more]

Trash

March 19, 2026

James Caverly and Andew Morrill’s Trash is a provocative play about two late 20s deaf roommates who have nothing in common except sharing an apartment. However, what is most intriguing about Trash is that it told in multiple ways. As the main characters are both deaf, they use American Sign Language to communicate. As a concession to hearing audiences, some of the dialogue is projected on three walls facing the audience. Still more unusual, there is a jukebox on stage (played by Chris Ogren) which, when fed with dollar bills, translates the ASL into spoken speech. When the lead characters really want us to know what is being said they use this method. However, this is only used partially. Much of the play is told only in ASL but Caverly and Morrill are so adept (and so dramatic) at it that we often feel like we know exactly what they are saying. They also use white boards which they hold up for all to see for simple statements or questions to the audience which sometimes require answers. [more]

Bigfoot! A New Musical

March 17, 2026

The latest show about intolerance and social outcasts is the delightful "Bigfoot! A New Musical," now at New York City Center Stage I. Similar in plot to "Bat Boy: The Musical" but with a happy ending, if the book written by Amber Ruffin and Kevin Sciretta has much in common with sketchy comedy, it is most certainly because its writers come from that genre. The game cast is led by charming and cuddy Grey Henson as the hirsute seven foot title character with the rest of the hard-working cast playing many roles in the course of 90 minutes. [more]

Zack

March 14, 2026

While not the classic that "Hobson’s Choice" has become, Harold Brighouse’s follow-up play "Zack" proves to be a charming Edwardian comedy drama in the Mint Theater Company’s production which may be the first full New York production since 1916. Ironically, Zack has a great many things in common with "Hobson’s Choice" probably best known from the awarding-winning 1954 Sir David Lean film with Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda da Banzie and Prunella Scales. Britt Berke’s production glosses over the play’s deficiencies by keeping this middle-class comedy of manners going at quite a clip. While "Zack" shares many elements with "Hobson’s Choice," the two plays are very different, variations on a theme: a strong woman who saves the hero from his weaknesses, siblings who are against seeing the strength of an unambitious person, a parent who is both dominating and dogmatic, and a happy ending for the leading characters. However, both are based on the theme of the “worm turning.” [more]

Our House

March 10, 2026

Billed as a “comedy in two acts” on its title page, it is not funny nor does it deal with comic material, though the direction tries to emphasize its bitchier moments. Its plot involves homophobia, gay bashing and racism which goes a long way to explain why The Other Side of Silence (TOSOS), the oldest and longest producing LGBTQ+ theater company, would be interested in staging it. However, half of the actors emote shamefully and the other three give too restrained performances to make much impression, both of which damage the credibility of the play. [more]

Chinese Republicans

March 8, 2026

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 Reservoir

March 7, 2026

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]

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

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]

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]

The Tragedy of Coriolanus (Theatre for a New Audience)

February 19, 2026

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 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]

Just Desserts: A Musical Bake-Off

February 15, 2026

"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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

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

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]

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]

Picnic at Hanging Rock

December 28, 2025

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]

MOMIX: Alice

December 24, 2025

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]

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

"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]

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]

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]

This World of Tomorrow

December 9, 2025

This World of Tomorrow resembles the films "Back to the Future" (Bert cannot risk changing anything), "Groundhog Day" for its repetition of the same events, and "You’ve Got Mail" in which two undeclared lovers run the risk of missing each other. Both the message and the structure resemble those time travel movies of the 1940s like René Clair’s "It Happened Tomorrow" where the characters get to view a glimpse of the future only to end up back where they started. The problem with "This World of Tomorrow" is that the play attempts to do something that the movies do much better. While Derek McLane’s clever scenery making much use of projections on a series of square pillars which rearrange themselves for each scene as the projections change is appealing as well as eye-catching, it can only do so much to suggest the extensive and imposing World’s Fair, as well as other parts of New York City. All this will be more successful in a future film version in which CGI will allow us to really see the bygone fair and NYC in 1939. [more]

Meet the Cartozians

December 5, 2025

Talene Yeghisabet Monahon’s new play "Meet the Cartozians," being presented by The Second Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center, is simply the best new American play in New York this fall. This riveting two-part play set in two time frames 100 years apart asks the questions what does it mean to be an American, what does it mean to be white in America, and what does it mean to be an Armenian American. The timeliness of these questions will not be lost on audiences well aware of the current administration’s views on immigration particularly of non-white applicants for asylum. The Armenian American playwright’s last three plays ("How to Load a Musket," "Jane Anger" and "The Good John Proctor") have all had historical backgrounds but this one is personal to Monahon as it deals with her own heritage. Director David Cromer who has proven himself to be a wizard with new plays as well as his brilliant reinvention of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town has chosen a superb cast led by two-time Tony Award-winner Andrea Martin and 2024 Tony Award-winner Will Brill who are all excellent playing two roles each. [more]

Practice

December 4, 2025

With a three-hour running time (the first act runs two hours straight without an intermission) the play is too long for its repetitiousness having the actors go over the same theater games and monologues over and over again. Of course, the play becomes an endurance test for the actors as well as viewers, whether it was intended to or not. Actors who have undergone this kind of training may be amused; those of us who have not may be bored or lose interest. Although the actors who make up the ten-member cast of "Practice" play very different personalities, we see so little of them individually that it is hard to keep them separate and they become a big blur. [more]

Sweet Smell of Success

November 30, 2025

The film version starring Burt Lancaster as sleazy yet powerful gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (similar to the notorious Walter Winchell) and Tony Curtis as hungry press agent protégé Sidney Falco was not a success as the ugly underbelly of tabloid journalism was not what filmgoers wanted from some of their favorite box office stars in 1957. Some of the same problems apparently recurred when nice guy John Lithgow took on the role in the stage musical in 2002. The reedited version by Guare and Carnelia (which is closer to what they originally intended) remains faithful to the original plot but gives a more humanizing backstory and a more palatable ending. They have also restored the original opening (“Rumor”) and a duet for Hunsecker’s sister Susan and her boyfriend Dallas (“That’s How I Say Goodbye”), cut on the road. [more]

Kyoto

November 26, 2025

Unlike J.T. Rogers’ Tony Award-winning "Oslo" which handled similar material about the secret Oslo Peace Accord conference, "Kyoto" by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson makes little concession to its audience giving almost too much information and depicting too many characters, while being patently undramatic much of the time. However, the topic is so explosive that it carries its audience through its 11 conferences. (One hardly notices Natalie Pryce’s costumes so closely does one have to listen to follow the flow of the arguments.) One does come away with the knowledge these sorts of conferences are almost futile with each nation having its own agenda and limits to how far it will go even at the expense of other nations. It is almost remarkable that the Kyoto conference reached any consensus at all. The question now is how much of that was actually enforced by the signatories to the protocol. [more]

The Seat of Our Pants

November 26, 2025

Michael Lepore as the Telegram Boy, Micaela Diamond as Sabina, Ruthie Ann Miles as Mrs. Antrobus, [more]

Richard II (Red Bull Theatre)

November 25, 2025

If you know the play, you many have trouble following it as several actors double: Ron Canada plays both John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (Richard’s uncle and Henry Bolingbroke’s father) and later the Bishop of Carlisle. Daniel Stewart Sherman doubles as both Sir Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfork and later as courtier Sir Stephen Scroop. Ryan Spahn is seen as Richard’s favorite Bagot, a Welsh Captain, and as a companion to the Queen. The ending has been changed as there is no Sir Piers Exton: another character comes to murder Richard in his cell, giving a different import to the scene. As there is no Duke and Duchess of York, the Duchess’ defense of her traitorous son after Bolingbroke becomes King Henry IV is given to the Queen instead. [more]

Archduke

November 24, 2025

Patrick Page (back row) and Jason Sanchez, Adrien Rolet and Jake Berne (front row) in a scene from [more]

44 – The Musical

November 19, 2025

"Saturday Night Live" has made political satire look easy and has a lot to answer for. "44 – The Musical" written, composed and directed by Eli Bauman, who worked on the Obama campaign in Las Vegas in 2008, has created this slight parody of the 44th president’s first term. While the show is slickly produced, the writing is lazy using vulgar language – the f-word is sprinkled generously throughout the dialogue and repeated in its songs whose names are not spelled out in the program – and the satire only takes on the most clichéd items. As none of the talented cast looks or sounds like the real people they are playing, we need to keep reminding ourselves who they are. [more]

Romy & Michele: The Musical

November 18, 2025

Schiff’s book so slavishly follows her screenplay without adding new material that there is nothing much to wait for. The lyrics by Sanford and Jay alternate between not scanning and extremely simple rhymes. None of the songs tell us anything we don’t already know. With one or two exceptions, Hanggi has directed her cast to be as much like the movie as possible, leading to pale imitations of more robust characterizations. Jason Sherwood’s unit set is augmented by Caite Hevner’s projection design, neither of which creates much atmosphere.  Tina McCartney’s costumes seem to be clones of those used in the movie. Much of the look of the period is created by Tommy Kurzman’s hair, wig and make-up design. [more]

Pygmalion

November 13, 2025

In their latest, Shaw’s ever-popular "Pygmalion," Staller has staged Shaw’s never-used prologue created for the 1938 film version which has the gods and goddesses on Mt. Olympus recount to the modern audience the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea which inspired Shaw’s Edwardian comedy. The set by Lindsay G. Fuori creates an Al Hirschfeld-inspired Greek temple used for all of the play’s five scenes. Four of the actors dressed in white Grecian robes (courtesy of designer Tracy Christensen) greet us and tell us the myth that we will see in Shaw’s updated 20th century comedy in which the sculptor becomes a professor of language and linguistics and the statue becomes a flower girl who wants to improve her speech well enough to get a job in a flower shop. However, Staller does not stop there but has created narrative introductions for each act which is rather intrusive though it may help some first-time viewers to understand the play. (Is there any theatergoer who has not seen the play’s musical version My Fair Lady on stage or screen?) [more]

Reunions

November 11, 2025

"Reunions" is a charming new Edwardian musical made up of two classic one- act plays: James M. Barrie’s 1910 “The Twelve-Pound Look” and the Quintero Brothers’ 1901 “A Sunny Morning.” Using an ensemble of six main actors who rotate roles, these two one-act musicals have the same theme: former lovers meet years later by an accident that changes their lives. However, the Barrie play deals with a middle-aged couple in a London mansion while the Quintero play brings together two septuagenarians in a Madrid park. Beautifully directed by Gabriel Barre, this is an elegant evening worthy of its Edwardian ancestry. [more]

Liberation

November 9, 2025

Kristolyn Lloyd, Adina Verson, Betsy Aidem and Audrey Corsa in a scene from the Roundabout Theatre [more]

Queens

November 8, 2025

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Martyna Majok, who has specialized in plays about the immigrant experience like Ironbound and Sanctuary City, has revised her play Queens first seen at the Claire Tow Theater at LCT3 in 2018. The new version now at Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I at New York City Center still with an all-female cast has three fewer characters and is now in two acts instead of three. However, the play, though still powerful and authentic, continues to be confusing as it goes back and forth between scenes in the borough of Queens in 2017, 2001 and 2011, and with two middle scenes set in the Ukraine in 2016. Mostly taking place in the same basement apartment in New York, at one point women from both 2001 and 2017 are on stage simultaneously. It is all a little bit difficult to keep the chronology straight. [more]

Art

November 5, 2025

James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris and Bobby Cannavale in a scene from Yasmina Reza’s “Art” at [more]

Oh Happy Day!

October 31, 2025

"Oh Happy Day!" demonstrates an advance of technique over Cooper’s eight-scene sketch evening in "Ain’t No Mo’." However, the new play is much too talky and seems to cover some of the same material more than once, even though on another level it deals with our relationship with God. The play is an interesting entertainment but one assumes Cooper meant it to be more than that. It is, however, an artifact of the difficult times we live in. [more]

Playing Shylock

October 30, 2025

Mark Leiren-Young’s timely one-man show, "Playing Shylock" (formerly called simply "Shylock"), has arrived in New York after its premiere run in Toronto in its new version rewritten around the life and career of veteran film actor Saul Rubinek ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Unforgiven," "Frasier") playing himself. Returning to the stage for the first time since 1990, Rubinek plays an actor performing Shylock in a (fictional) production of Shakespeare’s "The Merchant of Venice" which is shut down by protestors claiming that the play is anti-Semitic and the theater company has caved in to their demands. While the play is fascinating and provocative, it also has some flawed passages but Rubinek is commanding at all times. [more]

Art of Leaving

October 27, 2025

While Broadway was once filled with plays like this a generation or two ago, "Art of Leaving" now seems very dated. It would have been more believable set back in an earlier decade. Matt Gehring’s direction emphasizes the sit-com nature of the play which is a mistake as it makes the proceedings seem all that much more shallow. Both Aaron and Diana are very thinly written so we learn little about their 25 year marriage except that Diana has lived her life to please her unhappy and demanding husband. Jordan Lage’s Aaron is a total egoist who is lacking in sympathy, while Audrey Heffernan Meyer’s Diana seems unbelievably naïve as to what is available to women today. [more]

Let’s Love!

October 26, 2025

The fourth evening of one-act plays by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director Ethan Coen is coyly called "Let’s Love!," when by rights it should be called "Let’s Have Sex!" In three one-acts, all on the same theme, couples are looking for love in all the wrong places - or all the wrong ways. Neil Pepe, artistic director of Atlantic Theater Company smoothly directs the high-powered cast led by Aubrey Plaza, Nellie McKay and Mary McCann as he has done the previous three Coen evenings ("Almost an Evening," "Offices," and "Happy Hour.") What is unusual about "Let’s Love!" is that the language is continually raunchy and the foul-mouthed women have all the best lines, though not the most completely written characters. [more]

Truman vs. Israel

October 25, 2025

Although William Spatz’s "Truman vs. Israel" depicts a fictional encounter between former President Truman and lawyer and later first Jewish woman congresswoman Bella Abzug in 1953, the play brings to life these two colorful and flamboyant personalities who are not so much known today as they once were. As directed by Randy White, the real problem with the play is that in reviewing Truman’s career leading up to the accusation of anti-Semitism, it rehashes a great deal of political history which will be unfamiliar to most theatergoers. One almost needs a score card to follow the ins and outs of Truman’s controversial career. The play also cuts between 1988 and 1953 making it confusing as to what is happening when. [more]

Crooked Cross

October 22, 2025

Samuel Adams as Moritz Weissmann and Ella Stevens as Lexa Kluger in a scene from the Mint Theater [more]

The Other Americans

October 18, 2025

Comedian and actor John Leguizamo’s "The Other Americans," his first full-length and full-cast play, aside from his satiric one-person shows, is making its Off Broadway debut and proves to be an impressive dysfunctional family drama. Following in the tradition of Arthur Miller’s "All My Sons" and "Death of a Salesman," Lorraine Hansberry’s "A Raisin in the Sun" and August Wilson’s "Fences," as well as Eugene O’Neill’s "Long Day’s Journey into Night," the play focuses both on its 59-year-old Colombian American protagonist Nelson Castro and his estranged son Nick, and his pursuing the American Dream in all the wrong ways. While this New York play is both generic and derivative, its authentic Latino milieu makes it particularly notable as it is difficult to name any other play that fulfills this role. [more]

Limón Dance Company: Fall 2025 Season including “The Emperor Jones”

October 17, 2025

The Limón Dance Company is celebrating the start of its 80th Anniversary season with a triple bill at The Joyce Theater which in words of artistic director Dante Puleio celebrates “where we have come from and where we are going.” In this vein, the evening included “Chaconne” (1942) originally created by Jose Limón as a solo for himself, now expanded to 21 dancers including members of the Limón Dance Company, Limón2, Company Alumni, Students and Limón Family. This was followed by “The Emperor Jones” (1956), inspired by the expressionistic Eugene O’Neill play, but now updated to an urban setting in Puleio’s reconstruction. The final piece of the evening was the world premiere of “Jamelgos” by Diego Vega Solorza, who actually was born in the same region in Mexico as Limón and counts him as one of his mentors. The season is dedicated to the late Carla Maxwell who helmed the company for almost 40 years and died on July 6 of this year. [more]

Are the Bennett Girls Ok?

October 12, 2025

The style and tone of "re the Bennet Girls Ok?" has been updated to contemporary language with the women using “like” and multiple curse words including the F-bomb so that although we see women dressed in Mariah Anzaldo Hale’s clothing from 1811 what we hear is 2025 language. And while the jokes suggest this is now a farce, none of it is very funny, with the men getting the worst of it. Both Charles Bingley (nicknamed "Bing Bong" by the Bennet sisters) and Fitzwilliam Darcy are figures of fun so that we do not see what the women see in them. While the original novel was a social comedy, the serious problem that the Bennet women must marry as they will be evicted from their house on the death of their father is no longer a consideration today: entailment to the oldest male heir was discontinued in England in 1925. Also unlike in 1811, women can now work and earn their own money. [more]

And Then We Were No More

October 11, 2025

As a playwright Tim Blake Nelson has always been interested in moral and ethical problems in such play as "The Grey Zone," "Eye of God" and "Socrates." His latest play "And Then We Were No More" now at La MaMa E.T.C. is also about such knotty questions but this one is set in the near future. A dystopian drama, "And Then We Were No More" investigates a justice system no longer interested in mercy but in an algorithm which makes all decisions. Mark Wing-Davey’s production featuring acclaimed actress Elizabeth Marvel is glacially cool in the manner of sci-fi movies that have something serious on their mind. The play has some resonance for the times we are living through now.  [more]

(un)conditional

October 5, 2025

Although the advance press materials suggest that Ali Keller’s "(un)conditional," the 2024 Lighthouse Series winner at SoHo Playhouse, is about wife swapping, it is, in fact, about two couples with different sexual problems that eventually become one story when it transpires that two of the people know each other from work. Director Ivey Lowe has used a suitably light touch to deal with this delicate and sensitive subject matter. While the play is never erotic, it may be the most intimate play you have ever seen so far. The actors playing the two couples are excellent at handling this tricky theme, one that cries out to be addressed more often even though it may make some uncomfortable. [more]

Mexodus

October 2, 2025

Actors and musicians Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson have written a dynamic, exciting new two-character hip-hop musical in "Mexodus," a telling of the little known story of the Underground Railroad that went South to Mexico. It may also be the first New York musical to use live-looping for its soundtrack, with both musicians playing multiple instruments as well. "Mexodus" not only tells the tale of a Texas slave who escapes to Mexico but also the stories of both of its performers. The current relevance of the show to our immigration situation cannot be underestimated. [more]

This Is Not a Drill

September 27, 2025

You may recall that on January 13, 2018, Hawaii residents including tourists received an alert that a ballistic missile had been spotted on the way to the islands. You may also recall that it was later reported as a drill only for security workers, and that the alert was over after 38 minutes. Songwriter Holly Doubet remembers that day as she was visiting the islands and has not forgotten the minutes pondering her impending death. This is the premise of The York Theatre’s new musical 'This Is a Not a Drill," conceived by Doubet with book by Joseph McDonough and Doubet, and a 15 song score by Doubet, Kathy Babylon and John Vester. A pleasant enough entertainment, there is no urgency except for the hysterical characters at the Hibiscus Resort and Hotel who take the alert seriously. We know, of course, that it was false, so the authors have made their plot out of "Love Boat," "Hotel" or "White Lotus" multiple storylines with each couple having their own crisis. Unfortunately, the characters and their problems are all clichés and stereotypes which all end happily, Hawaii being a place for solving one’s problems. It might have been more exciting dramatically if some of these plots had not had happy endings. [more]
1 2 3 … 20

Copyright Jack Quinn, 2001-2026