Tammy Faye
Katie Brayben in a scene from Elton John’s new musical “Tammy Faye” at the Palace Theatre [more]
Articles by Victor Gluck, Editor-in-Chief
About Victor Gluck, Editor-in-Chief
Swept Away
Besides the fact that many know the story of the Essex (later told in Melville’s "Moby Dick") or the Mignonette told in The Avett Brothers’ album of the same name, Logan has made his main characters totally generic without given names. We learn too little about each for them to be three-dimensional characters: the Mate, cynical and corrupt; the Captain, at the end of a long career, melancholy and philosophical; Big Brother, religious and judgmental, and Little Brother, innocent and curious. A knife is flashed soon after the survivors find themselves on the lifeboat and we know how that will end. Just like the voyage of the whaling ship, their time on the lifeboat is a waiting game: how long can they survive and who will be the first to go? [more]
Strategic Love Play
How can you make a new play about a couple on a blind date in a bar interesting for today’s jaded audience? In "Strategic Love Play," British playwright Miriam Battye makes them play games as well as dislike each other as soon as they meet. Under Katie Posner’s direction Heléne Yorke ("The Other Two," "Masters of Sex") and Michael Zegen ("The Penguin," "The Marvelous Mrs. Meisel") are able to keep up the startling interactions between them for the 90 minutes of the play. The play covers several arcs from dislike to interest to boredom to acceptance to disbelief. [more]
Maybe Happy Ending
Helen J Shen and Darren Criss in a scene from the new musical “Maybe Happy Ending” at the [more]
King Lear (The Shed)
Firstly, the play has been shortened to two hours without any intermissions, when most recent productions have been three and a half hours with one intermission. This makes all of the events seem to take place too soon, one on top of the other, so that the sense of a world turned upside down is never felt in the production’s rush to the end. There is little sense of turning “the wheel of fortune” spoken of several times in the play. All the actors including the 63-year-old Branagh in the title role seem too young for their parts. While Lear describes himself as “a very foolish fond old man,” in fact, in this production he is a very vigorous and hearty leader, though capricious in his decisions. The supporting cast though excellent in their diction and authoritative in their roles seem lacking in technique to make the roles both interesting and their own. The low-key characterizations damage the play’s violence and viciousness. [more]
Walden
Nevertheless, the play is one of several interesting takes on climate change in the theater recently like "Deep History." As the play evolves we are more and more immersed in the problems of climate change that are now only distant possibilities. The actors are compelling but do not entirely inhabit their roles. Making her Off Broadway debut, Rossum, best known for her work in the Netflix's series "Shameless" and film version of "The Phantom of the Opera," is suitably conflicted as one who has given up her chosen career and taken the opposite path. Winters, known for her breakout role in the HBO series "Succession" as well as many major Off Broadway roles, is more controlled as the current astronaut who is confused by her sister’s current choices. However, both sisters are a little too similar to make them dramatic opposites. In the underwritten role of Bryan, Foster is quite appealing though he can’t fill in the gaps that are missing. [more]
Romeo+Juliet
This is another one of those cut down versions of Shakespeare with only ten actors in total. As result, seven of the ten actors double (one triples). The problem is that almost all of the actors have to appear in every scene to fill out the stage. It is also very difficult to know who is who with almost every actor (other than the two leads) playing more than one character, some in gender swaps. The Nurse played by (Ms.) Tommy Dorfman also plays Tybalt, while Mercutio, The Friar and the Prince are all played by actress Gabby Beans. [more]
Strike Up the Band
David Pittu, Victoria Clark and John Ellison Conlee in a scene from the MasterVoices concert [more]
The Big Gay Jamboree
Following her star turn as “Celine Dion” in "Titaníque" which she co-wrote, Marla Mindelle has a new role in "The Big Gay Jamboree," another parody musical which she co-wrote with Jonathan Parks-Ramage. As Stacey, with a degree in musical theater, on her wedding day to chauvinist millionaire Keith, she wakes up to find herself trapped in an Off Broadway musical comedy, circa 1945, in the provincial town of Bareback, Iowa. Rather scattershot with its many multitudinous references to both pop culture and musical theater, the show is both raunchy and erotic in the style of a cabaret or nightclub act. The corny humor may charm some theatergoers, but put others off by its old-fashioned and familiar humor spiced up with bawdy, off-color jokes. [more]
Hold on to Me Darling
Adam Driver in a scene from Kenneth Lonergan’s “Hold on to Me Darling” at the Lucille Lortel [more]
Left on Tenth
Although the play is graceful and appealing, it is mainly presented in narrative form with Delia played by Julianna Margulies in New York and Peter Gallagher playing Dr. Peter Rutter, her surprise new boyfriend from California, reading their emails to each other from desks at opposite sides of the stage. Left on Tenth, with its episodic nature, and many short scenes, is really a screenplay with the lead actors doing the equivalent of the voice-overs. Susan Stroman, best known for her choreography and direction of musicals, has piloted the play with polish and urbanity, but has not solved all the play’s problems. [more]
Our Town
Wilder’s experimental play uses no scenery except for two tables, some chairs, a piano and usually two ladders for the upstairs bedroom windows of the young people. Here, however, Leon and set designer Beowulf Boritt have eliminated the ladders for two windows that open in the wooden back wall. Parsons’ description of the town and the street is so vivid that your imagination sees all that is meant to be there. Many of the stage effects are created by Allen Lee Hughes’ subtle lighting plot which takes us back to the end of the last century with lanterns both on the footlights and in Parsons’ hand. Leon has also added another one of the five senses by piping in the odors of heliotrope, vanilla, and bacon, one in each act. Professor Willard is here played by a woman, and as John McGinty playing milkman Howie Newsome is hearing challenged, the other actors speak to him in sign language, a new effect for this drama. [more]
Deep History
Directed by Annette Mees, "Deep History" is a real eye opener but it is not depressing. Finnigan is so upbeat and compelling a storyteller it is not possible not be pulled into events as he describes, telling the history of the world from the point of view of a mythic woman who appears in all eras. The show is punctuated by Australian pop songs that figure in both Finnigan's life and the history he is recounting. The video design by Hayley Egan will sear the proof of climate change into your eyeballs permanently. You will never think about this topic the same way again: a not to be missed enlightening theatrical event. [more]
Franklinland
Lloyd Suh writes quirky historical plays from a unique perspective as ironic comedies. In "Franklinland," the latest entry in the EST/Sloan Project, commissioning and developing plays about science and scientists, Suh creates a Benjamin Franklin like you have never seen him depicted before. Unlike Howard Da Silva’s iconic and benevolent Franklin in the now classic musical "1776," this Franklin is crotchety, irascible, arrogant and demanding. In the play’s six scenes covering 33 years, we see him in his fraught and contentious relationship with his illegitimate and only son William who though not a great mind or a scientific genius like his father goes on to do well for himself politically. [more]
Good Bones
James Ijames’ new play now at The Public Theater is quite different from his satiric Pulitzer Prizing-winning "Fat Ham" which appeared there two years ago. "Good Bones" is a realistic depiction of black on black gentrification in an unnamed American city, a theme not often represented on our stages. This provocative and timely play also has some intriguing supernatural elements which are not fully dealt with in Saheem Ali’s otherwise polished and urbane production. [more]
Sump’n Like Wings
While "Sump’n Like Wings" is a lovely little play about a feisty 16-year-old girl who wants her independence in the 1913-16 period just after Oklahoma became a state, unfortunately Raelle Myrick-Hodges’ production is limp and undramatic, not making a good case for restoring this play to the American repertory. Ironically, while the fact that Riggs was gay and a Native American is being publicized by this production, neither of these themes appear in this play. The use of Junghyun Georgia Lee’s unit set for all five scenes makes the play seem thinner than it is and the beautiful poetry and high flown language of "Green Grow the Lilacs" (made available in the collection "The Cherokee Night and Other Plays" from University of Oklahoma Press) is nowhere in evidence in this play. Most of the important events take place offstage, unlike some of Riggs' other plays. [more]
McNeal
As in Ayad Akhtar’s plays "Disgraced," "JUNK" and "The Who and the What," all of which have been produced by the Lincoln Center Theater, "McNeal" is always interesting, always arresting. Unfortunately, in McNeal each scene seems to bring up a new theme and never completely finishes with the previous one. The individual confrontations are fine, but they never coalesce into a unified whole other than to depict the messy life of a famous author which can’t be the author’s sole purpose. Is the message that Artificial Intelligence is dangerous or only in the hands of the wrong people? [more]
InunDATEd
The problem with the show is two-fold: first, it doesn’t have anything new to say about dating other than trying to turn it into a cabaret commentary, and visually the show looks the same throughout with the staging having Lucy sit at the same place at the table and the 16 men (all played by the versatile Taylor Crousore) sitting or standing opposite her. None of his men are allowed to be charming or ingratiating, not only showing the negative side of modern dating, but making a great deal of this one-act musical feel too much the same. [more]
Fatherland
While the play is compelling, the question is what is the message? Is the play asking would we have done what the son did? The father is quoted by the son as calling him a traitor while the son defends his action as that of a patriot who was appalled by his father’s attacking the Capitol. The play is, to a great extent, preaching to the converted as only people who consider what happened on January 6th an insurrection would attend the play, while MAGA proponents will not view it that way. The ending is somewhat predictable though the twists and turns of the story do not always take the expected path. [more]
Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song
The spate of Sondheim shows both this past season and opening this fall is given prime place in this musical revue. Unsurprisingly, the new "Merrily We Roll Along" which ran all of last season comes in for the most ribbing as the subtitle hints. Collins-Pisano plays Daniel Radcliffe in a parody of the show’s “Good Thing Going” and then is joined by Stern and Hayward as his co-stars Lindsay Mendez and Jonathan Groff as they review the troubled history of the show which famously flopped in its first Broadway iteration in 1981 in a revised version of the song “Old Friends.” Collins-Pisano sings to that show’s “Franklin Sheppard, Inc.” about Radcliffe's stage career after the Harry Potter films. This is followed by a tribute to "Company" which had a female Bobby to the tune of “Bobby, come on over for dinner.” Most if not all of the "Forbidden Broadway" revues have featured one of its actresses as the ubiquitous Patti LuPone and here we have Stern belting “The Ladies Who Crunch,” the scenery that is, satirizing "Company"’s most famous song. [more]
Medea Re-Versed
Quintero who obviously knows his Greek plays and Greek mythology is extremely faithful to the original myth and to Euripides’ play. What he has added is a contemporary vernacular all in rhyme, music played by two guitars and a beatbox, and the odes of the chorus presented as song. This gives the 2,500 year old story a modern sensibility, often lacking in productions of Greek tragedy. Although Quintero has had a career as an actor, particular at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival the last five summers, what is most remarkable is that this is his first work for the theater, both as playwright and composer. Medea Re-Versed looks and sounds like the work of an experienced dramatist of many years standing. [more]
Monte Cristo
However, in the sweeping new musical epic retitled Monte Cristo, canny and adept librettist Peter Kellogg ("Desperate Measures," "Penelope") has streamlined the story, reduced the number of characters and created a much less melodramatic ending that is more satisfying than the original while still covering 20 years in the lives of its characters. The score by Stephen Weiner, who collaborated with Kellogg on "Penelope," an entertaining musical version of Homer’s The Odyssey, has written a lush, romantic score which in every way complements the grand storytelling of love, injustice and revenge. Directed by Peter Flynn as part of The York Theatre Company’s Fall 2024 NEW2NY Series, the production belies the fact that this is a concert version book in hand and that the cast had only four days of rehearsal. It is one of the most accomplished musical productions to be seen currently in NYC. [more]
That Parenting Musical
While "That Parenting Musical" will not tell you anything you didn’t already know, it is a pleasant and undemanding way to spend an evening. The six attractive performers four of whom appear continually as other characters are good company and keep the show moving. That Parenting Musical is the latest in the series of cabaret style revues around a single theme. It is obvious Graham and Kristina Fuller are fully versed in their subject matter. [more]
The Roommate
Of course, with Farrow and LuPone under the direction of six-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, this is an occasion for cheering although this comedy drama, a cross between a female version of "The Odd Couple" and "Breaking Bad" is both predictable and razor thin. However, it is also a scenario for two consummate actresses to strut their stuff. The roles are not a great stretch for either of them – Farrow has often played grown-up waifs and LuPone has often been seen in recent years as a New York sophisticate, but these are the kind of performers that hold your attention at all times, making you afraid to look away and miss anything. [more]
Beyond the Horizon (Teatro Grattacielo)
The libretto by the composer and musicologist Walter Simmons is very faithful to the O’Neill play, almost entirely dialogue taken from the original script. Unfortunately, they chose to shorten the text by 25% (as well as cutting the two intermissions) so that the tragedies happen one on top of the other with little time for intense emotional flights. This also dilutes the sense of irony that all the characters are down on their luck. Reducing the cast list by two tightens the play but changing the little daughter to a son and then keeping in the reference to playing with dolls seems inappropriate. Using O’Neill’s original text leaves hardly any room for arias and the opera sounds mostly like recitative set to music. The orchestrations which began with trumpet calls and included triangle and violin solos added to the power of the story. Conductor Christian Capocaccia did fine work with the orchestra but putting them behind the stage affected both the sound and the singers ability to follow them. [more]
Counting and Cracking
While "Counting and Cracking" is an unforgettable epic of a family and a country, it is also a study of the fight for democracy and the lengths people will go to fight for their beliefs. The title comes from Apah’s definition of democracy: “Democracy means the counting of heads, within certain limits, and the cracking of heads beyond those limits.” The play could not be more timely as we go into the last weeks of this fraught election campaign. Counting and Cracking will be one of those evenings in the theater that will become legendary both for its storytelling, its staging and its message. [more]
Twist of Fate
Levin’s lyrics have unusual and surprising rhyme patterns which add to their interest. The powerful score with music by Ron Abel (who also plays a mean piano with the orchestra of five which sounds much bigger than it actually is) is performed by big talent: Lianne Marie Dobbs’ Dominique, Ben Jones’ Michael Boardman, Maya Lagerstam’s Olivia and Allyson Kaye Daniel in a series of roles including that of the Evangelist impress with the size of their voices and their technique. The uncredited orchestrations include violin and bongo solos which add texture to the songs. [more]
Lifeline
However, instead of telling Fleming’s story in chronological order, it travels backwards and forwards in time beginning with Fleming’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech in Stockholm in 1945, then skipping to Athens, Greece, in 1952, then traveling back to New York and London’s St. Mary’s Hospital in 1946, then further back to St. Mary’s lab in 1940, and finally ending Act 1 with Fleming’s discovery of penicillin at St Mary’s in 1928. Not only does all this alternate with the Jess/Aaron story in Edinburgh in the present, it often divides the stage in two and tells both stories simultaneously. There seems to be no gain in telling Fleming’s story out of order, as it makes it confusing and hard to follow, while asking us to keep track of the contemporary story with its permutations and additional characters at the same time. [more]
Now Comes the Fun Part
The revue alternates between skits by James Hindman and Lynne Halliday and songs with music by Jeffrey Lodin (who is also the music director at the piano) and lyrics by Mark Waldrop, the intrepid director. While the material is diverting and entertaining, it feels derivative rather than original. There appears to have been an attempt to not offend anyone so that everything is rather low key and tame. Some of the tropes though pertinent have already been dramatized: “To You, My Friend,” sung by two women at a college reunion, resembles but feels like a pale imitation of Jerry Herman’s “Bosom Buddies” while “Gonna Get the Band Together” suggests the 2018 Broadway musical with a similar name. “Reunion” in which two old friends reminisce has too much the feel of a "Saturday Night Live" skit. [more]
Hurricane Season
"Hurricane Season" is the sort of vanity production in which one assumes that the author thinks he or she has invented the next step in the avant-garde. Unfortunately, Estes’ production will give most theatergoers a headache attempting to follow his play as well as the unnecessary flashing video. Whatever the play wants to say about “erotic desire and national anxiety,” it is lost in the proceedings on stage. Incidentally in the cause of transparency, Hurricane Season is not the least bit erotic though there is a certain amount of simulated sex. [more]
Once Upon a Mattress
Foster is a joy as the princess from the swamps who can swim, lift weights, dance all night, commit multiple contortions as she tries to get a good night sleep, and field any disaster that comes her way including the queen’s disdain. She is quick on her feet and in her tongue. She also stops the show with her rendition of the score’s most famous song “Shy” (used as the title to Mary Rodgers’ memoir published in 2022) but she is also memorable singing “The Swamps of Home” and “Happily Ever After,” with their witty lyrics by Barer, who often collaborated with Mary Rodgers. Is there anything she can’t do and anything she can’t make funny? [more]
Someone Spectacular
Doménica Feraud who has also written "Rinse, Release" has made a career of writing about very human psychological problems. While "Someone Spectacular" is rather untheatrical in its presentation as there are no fireworks which you might have expected in the situation, the characters become more absorbing as we get to know them, their stories and their problems. Not only is it all very real but it is easy to identify with one or the other as we all have gone through some loss in our lives. Tatiana Pandiani’s direction is smooth and fluid if a bit too serene. Some may also find the play comforting if they are going through the same thing or have suffered a loss recently. For the record, that title is explained near the end when Thom states “I lost someone spectacular” which how all the characters feel about their losses. [more]