Musicals

She Loves Me

March 29, 2016

Scott Ellis’ direction avoids caricature, even in the most broadly drawn characters like the man-hungry Ilona, the gigolo Steven and the scared, but pragmatic clerk Sipos. He make the one touch of melodrama, involving Maraczek’s marriage, seem human and a touch tragic, helped by Mr. Jennings subtle, but exuberant performance. He also draws a tender performance from Ms. Benanti who gets to use the more operatic part of her marvelous voice. [more]

Do Re Mi

March 25, 2016

One problem with reviving musicals from the pre-Sondheim era is that they were often created around the talent of a big, unique star like Ethel Merman, Bob Hope, Mary Martin, Al Jolson, Fanny Brice or Eddie Cantor. Unfortunately, not only are these talents not around, there are very few oversized personalities in musical theater today. Musicals Tonight!’s revival of the Jule Styne/Comden & Green musical, "Do Re Mi," runs into this problem. Originally tailored to fit comedians and singers Phil Silvers, Nancy Walker, Nancy Dussault, John Reardon, and Al Lewis, their presence is sorely missed. [more]

Disaster!

March 21, 2016

Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick’s libretto mocks all the famous disaster films of the seventies, like 'Jaws,' "Earthquake," "The Poseidon Adventure," "The Towering Inferno," "Ben," etc., and squeezes every Bible worthy catastrophe onto the Nederlander stage, all the while using hit songs from the seventies, sung live, to punctuate the libretto with music that makes singing—and dancing—along difficult to avoid. [more]

Southern Comfort

March 20, 2016

"Southern Comfort" is an ambitious and admirable attempt to depict a community that till now has been left off of our stages. Though the material at times seems tamer that the content would warrant, it is ultimately a very moving musical. It also is a showcase for Annette O’Toole to give one of the finest performances of the season. [more]

Babes in Arms

March 10, 2016

The musical known for its “Let’s put on a show!” plot has a great deal more going for it than one might expect. First off, it has one of the greatest scores ever written for a Broadway musical comedy adding the witty and lilting “Where or When,” “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” “Way Out West (on West End Avenue),” “Johnny One Note,” “The Lady Is A Tramp,” “Imagine” and the title number to the American Songbook. This represented more hits than any other R&H show. The political plot (which was sanitized in 1959 under the auspices of the composer himself) has been restored and the show is positively electric with hotly debated ideas, philosophies and theories. As performed by Andrews’ cast, the satiric show has a colorful array of dynamic characters. [more]

Mabel Madness: The Life of Mabel Mercer

March 10, 2016

Along the way she met the songwriters whose work she illuminated. During "Mabel Madness," Ms. Beverley sings “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine” (Kern/Hammerstein), “Down in the Dumps on the Ninetieth Floor” (Porter), “Summertime” (The Gershwins), amongst others. She uncannily finds Mercer’s style, sounding surprisingly like Mercer in her speak-singing period which depended mostly on exquisite timing, understanding the lyrics and hitting the few notes still within her power. She catches Mercer's regal, yet still down to earth, quality, too. [more]

Cabin in the Sky

February 14, 2016

Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson has inventively and thoughtfully staged the show with vibrant precision. Mr. Santiago-Hudson’s work combined with Camille A. Brown’s often stunning choreography makes for an eye-catching spectacle including the dream sequence with The Queen of Sheba in a golden gown and headdress. Santiago-Hudson also collaborated with Encores! artistic director Jack Viertel in adapting Lynn Root’s original book into an engagingly flowing narrative with depth. [more]

Fiddler on the Roof

February 10, 2016

Do not expect an exact reproduction of the original which after four revivals is probably to the good. With the consent of lyricist Sheldon Harnick, the only surviving creator, Sher has added a prologue and an epilogue that is new. When the curtain goes up, Burstein dressed in a contemporary parka is standing near an abandoned railway station in Anatevka reading from a book (the original Sholom Aleichem stories? a guide book?) and then he removes his coat revealing that he is in Tevye’s costume and joins the opening scene back in 1905. At the end of the musical, Burstein again in the contemporary parka joins the line of refugees leaving the town on their way to the border and picks up Tevye’s cart. The modern relevance to the current situation in Europe and in the Middle East is made patently clear. [more]

Monte Cristo

February 3, 2016

safe guess would be that most audiences coming to see New Light Theater Project’s adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ "The Count of Monte Cristo," one of most classic and exhilarating works of all time, are quite familiar with the material. A tragic tale of a man imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit leads sailor Edmund Dantes to seek justice as he becomes the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo. [more]

Maurice Hines: Tappin’ Thru Life

January 12, 2016

"Maurice Hines: Tappin’ Thru Life" is a pleasantly entertaining look at the personal and professional life of Maurice Hines. Of course, his life and career were closely intertwined with his late brother Gregory’s, his dance partner for many years. The story of how their parents, Maurice and Alma, pushed them—willingly, it seems—into show business and their almost immediate success is the gist of this smooth, occasionally exciting show. Two boys from D.C. made good. [more]

School of Rock – The Musical

December 31, 2015

Though the stage show does not have the imitable and irrepressible Jack Black, it does have rising stars Alex Brightman and Sierra Boggess who make the roles of hero Dewey Finn and Principal Rosalie Mullins their own. The book by Julian Fellows (television’s "Downton Abbey" and the stage version of" Mary Poppins") based on the screenplay by Mike White is extremely faithful to the movie while also giving several of the students’ backstories which makes them more three-dimensional. Before the show begins, we are told by a voice-over (Webber?) that all of the students play their own instruments. [more]

These Paper Bullets!

December 27, 2015

In Rolin Jones’ re-do of "Much Ado," the soldier buddies have become a Beatles-like rock band called The Quartos, the first of many Shakespearean references. Continuing the parallels: Leonato (the always terrific Stephen DeRosa) has become Leo Messina whose Hotel Messina takes the place of the Italian town, Messina; his daughters, Bea (Nicole Parker) and Higgy (Ariana Venturi) are the Beatrice and Hero characters, whose romantic adventures with Ben (Justin Kirk) and Claude (Bryan Fenkart) (stand-ins for Benedick and Claudio), are the strength-testing plot-churners here as in the original. [more]

Lazarus

December 25, 2015

Although this is the eighth show minimalist director Ivo van Hove has directed for New York Theatre Workshop, one would be hard put to recognize it as his. The production uses Tal Yarden’s almost continual streaming video, slide projections, a huge screen representing a television monitor, and an on-stage band made of seven musicians. The pink beige set is often turned into other locales with video which covers all three walls of the set. The band sits behind the set but is often revealed when Venetian blinds on the back wall of Newton’s apartment occasionally open for actors to be seen behind the windows or for the video to transform the stage like cinematic cuts into scenes from various locales. Like Roeg’s movie version of "The Man Who Fell to Earth," Lazarus makes use of surrealistic imagery that gives the evening a psychedelic sensibility. [more]

Once Upon a Mattress

December 22, 2015

Jackie Hoffman is famous for her combination of sarcasm and wit in a small, rubber-faced package and John “Lypsinka” Epperson, for his uncanny way of taking lip-synching to the heights of great art. Hoffman imbues the character of Princess Winnifred with New York street smarts, despite coming from a Swamp. (Well, maybe NYC is a swamp!) Lypsinka’s Queen Aggravain is, amazingly, the most possessive mother ever and at the same time the most self-involved human in the kingdom. She does not want her simpering son, Prince Dauntless (the sweetly shlumpy Jason Sweet Tooth Williams), to marry—ever!—but if he doesn’t marry, no one else in the kingdom can, either. [more]

The Color Purple

December 19, 2015

Playwright Marsha Norman’s book brilliantly and very faithfully streamlines and extracts the events and themes of the novel and film. These include racism, sexism, self-esteem and same-sex attraction. In addition, Ms. Norman created the clever device of three gossiping church ladies who appear throughout and briskly impart exposition. Her work swiftly and skillfully renders this sprawling tale into a contained and emotionally involving narrative. [more]

Plaid Tidings

December 17, 2015

The tale of their demise in 1964 en route to a show in their native Pennsylvania and their temporary 2015 resurrection still works brilliantly. Even though "Tidings" cover a good deal of the "Forever Plaid" musical territory, the holiday songs they’ve added give this show seasonal warmth. [more]

The Golden Bride

December 13, 2015

It has taken years and many people, to restore the book and score of the 1923 "The Golden Bride" which was last performed in 1948. A concert performance by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in May 2014 laid the groundwork for the current full-blown staging with its large cast, orchestra, sets and costumes, zestfully co-directed by Bryna Wasserman and Motl Didner with not so great, but energetic, choreography by Merete Muenter. [more]

The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit

December 10, 2015

Alas, the Tiny Tim of olden days exists no more. Thanks to medical advancement in the mid-1800’s, young Tim underwent a surgery which not only cured him of his ailment, but gave him a new heightened ability referred to as “a dancing leg.” This newly autonomous dancing leg is Timothy’s calling card and—whether he accepts it or not—the leg which was once a burden is now the precious asset upon which this grand adventure is based. "The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit" is massively ambitious. As if imagining a sequel for one of Dicken’s most famous fictional characters wasn’t enough, Knee and Catrini scale things to an even higher level by tying in the fictional accounts of A Christmas Carol with the real-life autobiographical "Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi," written first hand by the famous English clown and then later rewritten by Charles Dickens. It is a heroic effort which attempts to bridge the gap between two of Dickens' most famous works, even if there isn’t much correlation between the two to begin with. [more]

Gigantic

December 8, 2015

"Gigantic," the new feel-good musical, is a dynamic up-to-date show about teenagers at a summer weight-loss camp. Previously seen as Fat Camp in the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival, Gigantic’s book by Randy Blair & Tim Drucker may be conventional, but its pulsating pop-rock score by Matthew roi Berger to lyrics by Blair is vigorous and high-powered and the energetic, first-rate cast under the fast-paced direction of Scott Schwartz makes the material seem better than it is. This is one of the few teen musicals in which the characters actually sound like modern youth rather than what adults think they sound like. [more]

New York Animals

December 8, 2015

The new musical is similar to Sater’s "Spring Awakening" in that it takes a group of people in a specific historic time and place (here New York, circa 1995) and adds music between the scenes which is in a different style from the play. It also resembles Bacharach’s "Promises Promises" in depicting a series of New York types at work and play. While the Bacharach/Sater score is sumptuously sung by an on-stage band of five led by impressive lead vocalist Jo Lampert, Sater’s book in which we meet various Manhattan denizens whose lives intersect in the course of one day feels dated in that we have met these people before and the problems of the characters seem trivial compared to the problems of today. [more]

A Child’s Christmas in Wales 2015

December 7, 2015

Over the course of just over an hour, the actors enact Dylan Thomas’ classic prose work of his childhood recollections interspersed with their sweet performances together and solo of familiar Christmas songs including “Silent Night” in his native Welsh. Cullum often sits in a chair holding an elaborately covered edition of the book, reading from and sometimes referring to it as if grandly telling a story. [more]

Allegiance

December 4, 2015

Inspired by George Takei’s experiences in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, "Allegiance" is a sometimes moving, sometimes stodgy musical about this terrible injustice perpetrated against Japanese-Americans. One hundred and twenty thousand Japanese-American men, women and children, classified as “enemy aliens,” were forcibly removed from their homes and businesses and incarcerated under terrible, inhumane conditions, far from their West Coast homes. [more]

Baghdaddy

November 17, 2015

Stanley Kubrick’s "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" appears to be a titular and stylistic inspiration. Like that classic film, one’s enjoyment of "Who's Your Baghdaddy? Or How I Started The Iraq War" depends on one’s sense of humor and sensibilities. [more]

On Your Feet!

November 16, 2015

Sergio Trujillo’s exhilarating choreography is a ceaseless extravaganza of mostly Salsa numbers. The costumes by designer ESosa are appropriately heavy on glitz. David Rockwell’s seemingly simple and highly creative set design chiefly consists of textured white panels on which muted projections and videos are shown. Designed by Darrel Maloney, these are a captivating assemblage of palm trees, stucco houses and skies that artfully depict Cuba, Miami, and other locales. Kenneth Posner’s crisp lighting design further enhances the show’s vivid visual qualities. [more]

Songbird

November 10, 2015

Kate Baldwin (John & Jen, Giant, Big Fish, Finian’s Rainbow) as self-absorbed country western star Tammy Tripp gives a big bravura performance as a mother who resents her adult son as he gives away her real age. Adam Cochran as the young songwriter Dean (Konstantin in Chekhov) has just the right combination of confusion and frustration. As Mia (Nina), his girlfriend who wants to be a singer, Ephie Aardema is quite sweet as the impressionable young woman starting out who chooses to go on her own journey. Eric William Morris as successful songwriter now producer Beck Michaels (Boris Trigorin) offers rueful regret for the career he might have had. [more]

First Daughter Suite

November 4, 2015

Twenty-two years after writing "First Lady Suite," four linked musicals about Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson, composer-lyricist Michael John LaChuisa has written a follow-up. Entitled "First Daughter Suite," it also contains four mostly sung-through musicals and depicts six of the Presidents’ daughters as well as six of the First Ladies. The individual pieces vary in content, seriousness and musical style: opera, jazz, pop and Broadway. While the material is impressive, the first two musicals are very lightweight while the other two included in the second half of the evening are much more profound. However, what First Lady Suite does best is offer several veteran singing actresses a chance to appear in extremely meaty roles, turning each of their roles into a tour de force. This is the fifth collaboration between LaChuisa and director Kristen Sanderson who directed the original production of "First Lady Suite" which also premiere at the Public Theater. [more]

Rothschild & Sons

October 31, 2015

The surviving original creators, book writer Sherman Yellen and lyricist Sheldon Harnick, have written a new streamlined version of the show now called Rothschild & Sons which is being given its world premiere by the York Theatre Company. With a cast of eleven (most playing multiple roles) led by Cuccioli now playing patriarch Meyer and an orchestra of three, the show is a powerful study of anti-Semitism in Europe at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century and the desire of the Rothschild family to break down both the walls of poverty and those of prejudice. While the new adaptation performed in one act is both engrossing and admirable, it may not be the definitive final version as it is devoid of humor, a necessary ingredient to make a musical popular. [more]

Out of This World

October 30, 2015

Initially based on Plautus’ Roman comedy, "Amphitryon," "Out of This World" is an uneasy mix of 1950’s slang and idiom, and classic Greek themes handled in a jokey manner. One of the major problems with the show is finding the right style for this broad-winking sex farce. After she was fired, Agnes De Mille stated that if she had more time she would have directed the show in “a mock heroic style.” Musicals Tonight!’s director Norb Joerder hasn’t solved this problem either and his few dance numbers look more like Native American dances from "Annie Get Your Gun" than those of the ancient Greeks. [more]

Dames At Sea

October 29, 2015

The musical first appeared in 1966 at the small historic Off-Off Broadway performance space Café Cino in New York City’s Greenwich Village as "Dames at Sea, or Golddiggers Afloat." It was an affectionate and clever spoof that ran for 148 performances. Eighteen-year-old Bernadette Peters made a great success in it as Ruby, a young girl from Utah who just got off a train in New York City and becomes a Broadway star. Of course, Ruby Keeler comes to mind. [more]

Trip of Love

October 26, 2015

Though it touches on complex societal issues during this turbulent time period in the United States, the show's overall lack of depth depicting these conditions relegates it to slick opulence. Such a lack of overall substance does often play well in Las Vegas or on the sea but in a midtown Manhattan theater it's a striking flaw considering the numerous other theatrical options. [more]

Oh, Kay!

October 22, 2015

From the evidence of Colgan’s Musicals Tonight! production, "Oh, Kay!" not only still works in the original but has a glorious score including such Gershwin classics as “Dear Little Girl,” “Clap Yo’ Hands,” “Do, Do, Do,” “Fidgety Feet,” “Heaven on Earth” and “Someone to Watch over Me.” The three songs cut from the original production (“When Our Ship Comes Sailing in,” “Ain’t It Romantic?”, and “Stiff Upper Lip” used in the film A Damsel in Distress) while not lost treasures are very pleasing lyrics and melodies. [more]

Boogie Stomp!

October 20, 2015

Performed by two bonafide Boogie Woogie experts, Baldori and Migliazza are positioned on stage next to each other in front of their dueling grand pianos. With a lifetime of experience in the business, Baldori has played with Chuck Berry for the past 40 years in over 100 performances. This is evident in his stylings, technique, and from the hilarious and entertaining stories that are told in between songs. As his counterpart, Migliazza is a skilled and formidable musical opponent. Together the two take turns singing, playing the piano or keyboard, or cracking jokes to the audience to vary the pace. [more]

Spring Awakening

October 9, 2015

Aside from its notable staging, this production is also receiving a great deal off attention for facilitating the Broadway debut of Marlee Matlin, the only deaf Academy Award-winner to date. While her role as several of the town’s adult women is not a particularly weighty one, she imbues them with her characteristic fervor. Sandra Mae Frank and Katie Boeck work well together to share the character Wendla; Boeck’s voice fluidly pairs with Frank’s signing to separate the inner turmoil and outer façade of a character whose mother refuses to listen. Likewise notable is the always-wonderful Broadway and television veteran Krysta Rodriguez, whose portrayal (both sung and signed) of Ilse, a homeless bohemian clinging to her sanity, is uniquely dark and dangerous. [more]

Daddy Long Legs

October 9, 2015

Jean Webster’s classic epistolary novel of the coming of age of a college age girl at the beginning of the twentieth century, "Daddy Long Legs," has been dramatized many times. What makes this charming new Off Broadway musical now at the Davenport Theatre different is that it is played by only two characters and as a result it remains extremely faithful to the original book. Although the show written by composer/lyricist Paul Gordon and book writer/director John Caird, (Tony Award winner for the original "Les Misérables" and "Nicholas Nickleby"), the team responsible for the 2000 Jane Eyre, can’t compete with the big brassy Broadway musicals down the block, its very old-fashionedness and fully rounded characters make it extremely satisfying and endearing in a way that few musicals are today. Just try to not care about these characters. [more]

“Les Misérables” Revisited

October 6, 2015

Two starry new cast members add luster to the show: English musical and opera star Alfie Boe as the tragic Jean Valjean and Tony Award nominee Montego Glover as the ill-fated Fantine. Their fresh takes on these characters—their often surprising choices—are in synch with the directors’ emphasis on the inner lives of this colorful panoply of Victor Hugo’s mid-nineteenth century French characters. [more]

Rise and Fall

September 24, 2015

Before its increasing gentrification, the Lower East Side was an outpost of creative expression. That the BREAD Arts Collective theater company presents this work in a space there adds an ironical dimension that perfectly suits the sensibility and concerns of Brecht. [more]

BIKE SHOP, The Musical

September 22, 2015

Barkan doesn’t hold back as she expresses herself through song and dance to share her personal journey. The opening number “Streetwise” is a burst of exhilaration and adventure and pumps the audience up for what’s to come. In addition to the hilarious and entertaining moments, the climax is a literal bump in the road that causes her story to turn somber and results in Barkan hanging up her helmet and retreating to her family’s bike shop as she works on healing emotionally after a tragic accident. The audience is left with one question on their minds: Will she ride again? [more]

The Odyssey

September 11, 2015

Aside from the wonderfully eclectic score by Almond (jazz, pop, Latin, blues, Broadway, gospel, folk music, etc.) who also acted as narrator and singer, the production offered exciting performances by Brandon Victor Dixon as Odysseus, Karen Olivo as Penelope, Andy Grotelueschen as the Cyclops, Elizabeth Ely as Princess Nausicaa, and Travis Raeburn as the Prince of Phaecia. At times deBessonet was required to work as a traffic cop to get the large number of performers on and off stage, but her work with her leads both professional and newcomers alike was first rate. [more]

“On the Town” Revisited with Misty Copeland

August 29, 2015

Then, there’s the new cast member, Misty Copeland, the newly minted American Ballet Theater principal ballerina, who has taken over the role of Ivy Smith, the catalyst for the daffy, warm-hearted plot of the show. Formerly inhabited with sweetness and steely technique by another ballet star, Megan Fairchild, the role of Ivy Smith fits Ms. Copeland perfectly. She makes it her own the moment she’s murmurs “Who, me?” in “Presentation of Miss Turnstiles,” the witty send-up of beauty competitions. [more]

Hamilton

August 21, 2015

The Broadway transfer of the acclaimed Off Broadway musical "Hamilton" has finally taken place and the show looks and sounds even more comfortable on the larger stage of the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Alexander Hamilton may have been the unsung hero among the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution but this new musical has changed all that. "Hamilton," now safely ensconced on Broadway, blows the dust off history and turns his story into the most exciting stage show in town. Inspired by Ron Chernow’s biography, triple-threat creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, the composer, librettist and star of the show playing the title role, has had the terrific idea to write Hamilton as a through-composed hip-hop, r & b, rap musical which gives the 200-year-old story a tremendous shot of adrenalin. This may well be the first hip-hop musical to reach Broadway but also pays homage to the styles that preceded it. [more]

Songs for the Fallen

July 28, 2015

Definitely not for children, "Songs for the Fallen" is a sophisticated cabaret/vaudeville celebrating the decadent life. Its main character Marie Duplessis, better known today as Marguerite Gautier, aka Camille, gives Australian singer/actress/playwright Sheridan Harbridge a star turn of which she takes full possesion. You may feel as exhausted as Harbridge’s Marie looks at the end of this dense and crowded show, but you will know you have had a complete theatrical experience. [more]

What Do Critics Know?

July 27, 2015

Featuring catchy tunes such as “Breakthrough” and “Talk to Tony” as well as inspiring ballads such as “The Life I Was Meant to Live,” "What Do Critics Know?" went beyond the criticism and pressure of the industry to uncover dreams that were once put to rest. The music and lyrics by James Campodonico and bookwriter Gurren were uplifting, powerful and beautifully performed and the lovely voices of Mossberg’s Irma and rising star Dahlia (Sarah Stevens) really brought the heart of the production home. [more]

Mrs. Smith’s Broadway Cat-tacular

July 27, 2015

Of course, Mrs. Smith is the marvelous creation of writer/actor/performance artist David Hanbury and director Andrew Rasmussen, based on a character created by Hanbury, who has played Mrs. Smith in four previous shows with a Broadway version promised for the near future. The evening is a show business parody with Mrs. Smith narrating the story of her life (childhood in upstate New York with Carlyle, talent show winner, Ziegfeld star, her 14 marriages, international touring artiste, Pat Nixon’s Birthday Bash, and retiring when Carlyle went missing.) Along with the video footage of Mrs. Smith’s life are Skype hook-ups with Sylvia Cleo, “Pet Psychic to the Stars” (played by Andre Shoals) and appearances of Carlyle as a puppet as well as on film. [more]

Happy 50ish!

July 27, 2015

Mark Vogel and Lynn Shore in a scene from “Happy 50ish” (Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel) [avatar [more]

Amazing Grace

July 27, 2015

Famously, it was an 18th century slave trader who redeemed himself, after many gruesome twists and turns in his life, by writing this song. Told with something approaching accuracy, "Amazing Grace" nevertheless is less than compelling as both history and theater. What might have been a fascinating tale has been reduced to a melodrama complete with a villain who all but twirls his mustache, a hard-to-win love interest, an African princess who provides an excuse for some passionate dancing and many examples of physical and emotional torture of slaves, all accompanied by a series of soaring contemporary ballads. [more]

Foolerie

July 26, 2015

The premise of "Foolerie" centers on a clowning competition between the aptly named Clowne and a modern day Knave challenger. At the Earl’s behest, the two engage in a battle of fooling that bears extraordinarily high stakes: the winner is crowned Biggest Fool in the Land (purportedly an honor) and the loser is put to death. With the help of a supporting cast of Elizabethan actors, both competitors employ Shakespeare’s best-known characters to concoct a fictional story for the Earl’s amusement. [more]

HeadVoice

July 24, 2015

Eric, a young man in his early 20’s nervously enters through a door onstage and sits at a piano and plays. He is writing a musical about his life and is soon joined by a young trio, two women and man. They represent his “thoughts,” and perform the various characters in his story as well as dealing with his temperamental personality. [more]

Real Men: The Musical

July 21, 2015

Clearly a passion project, two of the three male actors of the cast are the previously named co-creators—Paul Louis and Nick Santa Maria. Both play their roles with comedic expertise, and as is evidenced by the quick-witted dialogue, these analogies and metaphors for male strife are derived from a very real place. Rounding out the cast is Stephen G. Anthony, who—thanks to a razor sharp sense of comedy—fits right in. [more]

Deep Love

July 20, 2015

“Audience members are encouraged to come dressed in their best funeral attire” is in the promotional material for "Deep Love" and “Funeral Attire Recommended” is in its program. This show is not ready yet for Rocky Horror Picture Show-style cult status, but dressing up could be fun for its attendees. This ethereal romantic rock opera is in the mold of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Phantom of The Opera" and is presented at The 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival. [more]

The Wild Party

July 18, 2015

Sutton Foster is electrifying as Queenie the sexually insatiable nightclub performer who incites men to violence in this revival of the 2000 Off-Broadway musical The Wild Party. Lean and fierce and slinking around in a taut white sequined flapper dress and wearing a curly blonde wig, Ms. Foster’s star quality and performing talents are on dazzling display in this problematic Jazz Age ode to decadence. She continues to grow in her versatile stage career that has included such light shows as "Thoroughly Modern Millie," "The Drowsy Chaperone," "Shrek," "Young Frankenstein," and the more recent serious "Violet." [more]

Ruthless! The Musical

July 17, 2015

With stardom and the ever-present celebrity culture plaguing our world today, à la famous families such as the Kardashians, the relationship between “momager” and talent takes the crown when it comes to merciless behavior in the fight to the top. The obsession with fame and fortune has only escalated since 1992, when "Ruthless! The Musical" first premiered, and now this Off-Broadway revival treats modern audiences to a heaping helping of bratty and manipulative behavior, presented in the sweetest of packages. [more]

Sayonara, The Musical

July 15, 2015

Although "Sayonara, The Musical" had an acclaimed lavish production at Paper Mill Playhouse in 1987 and a later version at Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars in 1993, it has not been seen in New York until now. Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, now in its 38th Season, is presenting the local premiere of the adaptation with its book by playwright William Luce ("The Belle of Amhurst," "Lillian," "Lucifer’s Child," and "Barrymore"), lyrics by Hy Gilbert and music by George Fischoff. Surprisingly, "Sayonara" has a great deal in common with "South Pacific": the exotic Asian locale, the fraternization between Yankee officers and Asian women, a tale of prejudice and bigotry, and two parallel love stories. Unfortunately, at this post Sondheim junction, the way 'Sayonara" follows the Rodgers and Hammerstein formula seems dated, while the material, based more on the movie than the original novel, has deflated Michener’s story by making it oversimplified and superficial. [more]

The Calico Buffalo

July 13, 2015

Based on the book of the same name by EJ Stapleton, "The Calico Buffalo" gives a close look at a day in the life of a herd of wild buffalo. Not only are these walking and talking buffalo, but they are also animals which struggle with similar problems previously assumed exclusive to the human race—namely, this herd has a major problem with equality across all buffalo. When the Chief Buffalo’s first-born calf is one with a hide of bright orange and white--completely different than the dark brown and black of the rest of the herd, the Chief (Rhys Gilyeat) and his wife Willa-Mah (Rachel Rhodes-Devey) fear for the challenges their son might face living life as an outcast. [more]

SeaWife

July 9, 2015

The six members of the Lobbyists make up the cast along with Raymond Sicam III (on cello) who perform all of the characters as well as play all the instruments. The Melville Gallery has been decorated by set designer Jason Sherwood as a 19th century inn that seems to encircle the audience. Samantha Shoffner’s props (suggestive of both an inn and a schooner) include netting, ropes, glass jars, baskets, paintings and a ship’s wheel. After the band plays an introduction, Caldi (played by Tony Vo) offers to tell us the story of Gravesight, “the greatest harpooner who ever lived.” [more]

A New Brain

June 30, 2015

The very talented and youthful Jonathan Groff is excellent as Gordon. His charming presence known from his work on stage (Spring Awakening, Hair) and on television (Glee, Looking) adds considerably in filling out the role of Gordon. He also has the advantage of having the most developed and sympathetic part. [more]

Out of My Comfort Zone

June 24, 2015

As with all productions by the Children’s Acting Company & Academy, the cast is comprised entirely of children and teenagers—in this case between the ages of 12 and 16—and for all its innocence and simplicity, the charm in this production is its sheer authenticity. Children and teenagers are by nature unfiltered, and to have kids playing their own age on stage is the recipe for an afternoon of uninhibited fun. For the most part, this is an impressive outing for a group of young and aspiring artists, and many of the cast members have already worked professionally in TV, film, or on-stage. [more]

Devil and the Deep

June 15, 2015

As if a talking parrot weren’t magical enough, the production and costumes are truly inspired. Conceptualized by Alisa Simonel-Keegan & Jim Keegan, the set design for this production is imaginative and destroys the perceived idea of value for a show presented in a black box theater. The lighting design (Jessica M. Kasprisin) is particularly beautiful, and is so unique in that it breathes a singular life into each separate exotic location. The finishing touch in the quest for an unmistakable mysticism and adventurous spirit can be traced to the costume design (Adrienne Carlile) which sees every single pirate, sailor, parrot or person uniquely dressed. [more]

Cagney

June 11, 2015

Although he was probably Hollywood’s most famous tough guy, James Cagney’s life story is not as well-known as that of many other legendary movie stars. The York Theatre Company’s new musical, simply called "Cagney," hopes to do something about that. Created around the obsession of actor Robert Creighton who looks a great deal like the red-headed Irish star, this entertaining show business musical also reveals the difficult times he had both on the streets of New York and at Warner Brothers in Hollywood which typecast him and wanted him to go on making the same picture over and over. [more]

Casterbridge

June 10, 2015

In recent years, there have been many Off Broadway attempts to musicalize the works of Thomas Hardy. The latest is composer Christopher Beste and writer David Willinger’s ambitious, "Casterbridge," a very engrossing version of Hardy’s novel "The Mayor of Casterbridge." While some of the lovely music proves to be too difficult for some of the singers, under the direction of Willinger with musical director Bob Goldstone at the piano, the almost all sung-through stage version is an impressive and faithful retelling of the Hardy story. [more]

For the Last Time

June 9, 2015

As a follow-up to their musical based on Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise, lyricist/composer Nancy Harrow and writer/director Will Pomerantz have turned their sights on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1860 novel, "The Marble Faun." Renamed "For the Last Time," this new jazz musical has changed the setting from Rome in 1860 to New Orleans, circa 1950, and uses an all-Black cast to tell the original story. The show’s glory is its magnificent score, a combination of jazz and blues ballads, wonderfully sung by its cast of seven. The problem is that the show started as a concept album and to some extent hasn’t progressed very far from there: the book by Pomerantz and Harrow remains too thin to deal with the plot’s very deep themes. [more]

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