February is always a month for love, presidents, and Oscar anticipation:
What Broadway says about love on Valentine’s Day 2024
(See also a video below of Jordan Fisher and Lola Tung as the new Orpheus and Eurydice.
No Presidents Day ever passes without at least one president represented on Broadway (Since “Hamilton” opened in 2015, there are always at least three: Washington, Jefferson and Madison.) But Off Broadway this year favors the women in the presidential orbit – First Lady Mary Lincoln, and, opening last night, five (really six) women in the life of number 45. (My review.)
Poll: Which 2024 Best Picture Oscar Nominee Would Be Best and Worst on Broadway?
(So far, the top vote-getters for best play have been The Holdovers, Anatomy of a Fall, and Past Lives; best musical hands down Barbie.
The Week in New York Theater Reviews and Previews
It’s not exactly inaccurate to describe “Between Two Knees” as a play about American Indian history told through the experience of one indigenous family over several generations, from the massacre of 1890 at Wounded Knee to the American Indian Movement occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 (Hence the title.) But that misses its subversively comic tone (Look again at the title, for its bawdy pun.) If there are some well-acted, genuinely poignant scenes, the show is at heart sketch comedy, mixing pointed parody with silly slapstick, and unafraid to be sophomoric, even when depicting atrocities.
Where Women Go
The Tent Theater Company is presenting what it bills as the world premiere production of the final play by Tina Howe,…if “Where Women Go” is an unevenly-acted trio of short, slight one-acts, its absurdist take on life for older women shares the sensibility and the concerns of some of Howe’s better plays.
The Scarlet Letter
Now that women’s bodies have become a political and legal battleground, it seems a good time to revisit Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Puritan tale of the shunned and shamed Hester Prynne. Reworked for Two River Theater by Kate Hamill — who is the go-to twenty-first century American playwright for theatrical adaptations of consequential nineteenth century novels — “The Scarlet Letter” has been turned into a largely satisfying, intensely-acted, streamlined (and live-streamed*) ninety minute stage play. Despite its relative brevity, the drama allows enough nuance so that, while none of the characters’ behavior is completely admirable, nobody comes off as an unmitigated villain. (There is, though, an excessively scary puppet.)
NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival
The Week in New York Theater News
The beautifully acted production of “Appropriate,” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ resonant play, is scheduled to closed at Broadway’s Hayes Theater on March 3. But, luckily, it will now transfer largely intact to the Belasco, March 25-June 23. Catch it!
While The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is being renovated, the summer’s Shakespeare in the Park, a production of “The Comedy of Errors,” will take place in other parks (and plazas) through the city from May 28 to June 30, followed by outdoor screenings of a recording of the “Much Ado About Nothing” that played at the Delacorte in 2019.. (My review.) You can also watch four Shakespeare productions online.
The schedule for all three Public Theater programs.
Cast for “Orlando,” Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s gender-bending novel, opening April 21 at Signature: Taylor Mac, Janice Amaya, Nathan Lee Graham, Lisa Kron, Jo Lampert, and TL Thompson
Complete cast announced for “The Great Gatsby,” opening at The Broadway Theatre April 25: Joining Jeremy Jordan as Jay Gatsby and Eva Noblezada as Daisy Buchanan, Noah J. Ricketts as Nick Carraway, Samantha Pauly as Jordan Baker, Sara Chase as Myrtle Wilson, John Zdrojeski as Tom Buchanan, Paul Whitty as George Wilson, and Eric Anderson as Wolfsheim are ensemble members Raymond Edward Baynard, Austin Colby, Curtis Holland, Traci Elaine Lee, Dariana Mullen, Ryah Nixon, Pascal Pastrana, Kayla Pecchioni, Mariah Resheg Reives, Dan Rosales, Dave Schoonover, Derek Jordan Taylor, Tanairi Sade Vazquez and Katie Webber, with company swings Kurt Csolak, Carissa Gaughran, Samantha Pollino, Alex Prakken, Jake Trammel and Jasmine Pearl Villaroe
Complete creative team for “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” a radical reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s dance musical as part of Ballroom culture, June 13—July 14, 2024 at PACNYC. Joining directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, choreographers Arturo Lyons and OmariWiles, and dramaturg and gender consultant Josephine Kearns: Rachel Hauck – Scenic Design,Qween Jean – Costume Design, Adam Honoré – Lighting Design, Kai Harada – Sound Design, Brittany Bland – Projection Design, Nikiya Mathis – Hair/Wig Design, Josephine Kearns – Dramaturg & Gender Consultant, William Waldrop – Music Supervision and Music Direction, David Lai – Music Coordinator, Trevor Holder – Beats Arrangement, Capital Kaos – Ballroom Consultant, X Casting/Victor Vazquez C.S.A. – Casting
A book club for theater lovers: The American Theater wing and the Drama Book Shop are launching The Playreaders Club, monthly (either in person or online)
Second City opens in a second city: The Chicago comedy club is now also in Brooklyn. (Time Out)
The Week’s Theater Video
Can you give the right question to this Final Jeopardy answer about theater?
La Chanze as producer
and performer
Jordan Fisher and Lola Tung, Hadetown’s new Orpheus and Eurydice, sing “All I’ve Ever Known”
