Broadway on PBS. The World on NY Stages. Kushner on Trump (not THAT Kushner.) Week in New York Theater

Attention this week has focused on theater from abroad. The Canadian theater company Soulpepper is wrapping up its month-long residence at Signature. The first annual Immigrant Arts  in America Summit concluded with a rousing concert and resulted in the formation of an Immigrant Arts Coalition.  An Israeli play, “To the End of the Land,” opened at the Lincoln Center Festival, greeted by pickets. (Stay tuned for my review.)

Week in New York Theater Reviews

 

And She Would Stand Like This Review: LGBTQ House of Euripides, Snap

“Greek tragedy meets Harlem ball scene. Fantastic,” RuPaul Tweeted succinctly after seeing “And She Would Stand Like This.” The Harlem-based Movement theater company’s adaptation of Euripides’ “The Trojan Women,” which has opened at A.R.T./NY, is inspired by “Paris is Burning,” the 1990 film documentary by Jennie Livingston that chronicled the elaborate culture of drag balls by LGBTQ+ people of color in the 1980s.

Spoon River, Soulpepper

Spoon River Review: The Dead, Singin’ and Regrettin’

In “Spoon River,” we meet a town full of drunks, hypocrites, home-grown philosophers, resentful husbands, frustrated wives, an arsonist, a killer, and dozens more – all of them dead…and all of them singing and fiddling and stomping with glee.

As part of their month-long residence at Signature Center, Canada’s Soulpepper theater company has created a lively, joyful musical adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology, the celebrated 1915 book of poems by more than 200 residents of the fictional town of Spoon River, Illinois – or more precisely, residents of the graveyard in the town; the poems are expanded tombstone epitaphs

NYMF Review: Temple of the Souls. A Romeo and Juliet romance in 16th Century Puerto Rico

“Temple of the Souls,” a musical about a doomed, Romeo and Juliet romance in 16th century Puerto Rico between a Spanish conquistador’s daughter and a Taino, begins with a thrill. The cast, dressed in the naguas (loincloths), masks and straw headgear of the indigenous people of the island, dance sensuously and athletically to a tuneful melody driven by an infectious beat….Little in the nearly two hours (without intermission) that follow the opening number in “Temple of the Souls” quite matches it.

The Fourth Messenger

NYMF Review: The Fourth Messenger. Buddha as a 21st Century Woman

The story of the Buddha informs this intriguing and well-produced musical at the New York Musical Festival about a modern-day female spiritual leader. But it’s not until the last fifth of the show that we realize what aspect of the Buddha’s life most struck Tanya Shaffer, who wrote the earnest script, and Vienna Teng, who composed the delightfully eclectic score. It was when future Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who had been sheltered from the world by his father the king, left his home and family behind to help alleviate suffering in the world.
How would we feel if a 21st century Buddha sacrificed their connections to their loved ones for the sake of strangers? And would we feel differently if that Buddha were a woman?

Week in New York Theater News

Complete list of nominations for the 2017 New York Innovative Theatre Awards, honoring Off-Off Broadway

NYC’s first ever “cultural plan” will link funding of arts groups to the diversity of their staff and board

 

Sweeney Todd

My review of Sweeney Todd with the first cast

Missed Sarah Delappe’s The Wolves when at Playwright’s Realm? It’s coming to Lincoln Center in November.

 

PBS Great Performances broadcasts Broadway.

(Links are to my reviews.)

Laura Benanti

She Loves Me
Friday, October 20, 9 pm-12 am ET

Present Laughter
Friday, November 3, 9 pm ET

 

In the Heights – Chasing Broadway Dreams
Friday, November 10, 9-10:30 pm ET
A behind-the-scenes documentary

Prince of Broadway – A Tribute to Harold Prince
Friday, November 17, 9-10:30 pm ET

Corbin Bleu and Lora Lee Gayer

Holiday Inn
Friday, November 24, 9-11:30 pm ET

Hamilton’s America
Friday, December 1, 9-10:30 pm ET
A documentary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author: New York Theater

Jonathan Mandell is a 3rd generation NYC journalist, who sees shows, reads plays, writes reviews and sometimes talks with people.

Leave a Reply