Michael Curry

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]

Beetlejuice

May 22, 2019

Not all cult movies need to be made into musicals, particularly those that are dependent on special effects which the cinema does better than the stage. This is demonstrated by the new Broadway musical based on "Beetlejuice," the Tim Burton horror-comedy-fantasy. This theme park-type show is visually a spectacle with a set that does all sort of tricks and changes, but as the adage goes, you can’t go home singing the scenery. And the score by Australian composer/performer Eddie Perfect (whose only other American score has been "King Kong the Musical") is eminently forgettable. In the title role, Alex Brightman, who was charismatic in a similar role in "The School of Rock," is so over-the top that he becomes tiresome very quickly. To paraphrase Mae West, too much of a good thing is not wonderful. [more]

The Beast in the Jungle

May 28, 2018

While "The Beast in the Jungle" is a musical for our time it contains a message that was dear to the heart of writer Henry James, that of the unlived life. Ultimately very moving when the story reaches its conclusion, the exquisite Vineyard Theatre production is for elite tastes but all dedicated theatergoers, not the casual entertainment seekers, should see it. It may well start a new trend in theatre musicals, one in which the emotional sections are danced rather than sung. [more]

Momix: Opus Cactus

July 4, 2017

In eighteen short sections, Pendleton and his dancers evoke images of the western deserts of the U.S., using whatever means necessary, be it skateboards, puppetry, classical Indian dance, acrobatics, technological gimmickry or a truckload of imaginative costumes. [more]