Broadway | New York Theater

The Prom Review: Divas, Hams and Lesbians in Broadway Satire

November 19, 2018 Leave a comment

“The Prom” is really two musicals in one. One is a funny, knowing backstage comedy, satirizing the self-regard of theater folk. The other is a loud, fast high school musical. What ties them together, somewhat glibly, is a story of homophobia inspired by true events at a high school far from New York.

Christopher Sieber, Angie Schwerer, Beth Level, Brooks Ashmanskas, Josh Lamon in The Prom

Isabelle McCalla and Caitlin Kinnunen as high school girlfriends in The Prom

King Kong Review: Going Apeshit Over a Puppet on Broadway

November 15, 2018 Leave a comment

King Kong is spectacular — those dreamy eyes, that expressive sniffing of his nose, the earthquake of a roar. He is such a singular creature that, like Ann Darrow, the damsel he picks up in his impressively flexible hand, I started feeling protective towards him – and, by extension, toward the Broadway musical that he dominates.
No, “King Kong” didn’t need to be made into a musical. But here it is, and it’s fun.
No, the book is neither “Grapes of Wrath“ (“Apes of Wrath”?) nor “Rocky Horror Show” – neither profound nor campy – and the score isn’t especially memorable. But both deserve a vigorous defense.

Old Reviews of New Transfers: Mike Birbiglia’s New One, Daniel’s Husband, School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play

November 12, 2018 Leave a comment

The New One Mike Birbiglia

School Girls: or, The African Mean Girls Play By Jocelyn Bioh Abena Mensah-Bonsu, Mirirai Sithole, and Paige Sithole

Daniel’s Husband. Matthew Montelongo and Ryan Spahn. Photograph by Carol Rosegg

“The New One “isn’t literally new. Mike Birbiglia’s solo show debuted Off-Broadway three months ago – where it sold out quickly. It’s now on Broadway – same cast (i.e. Mike Birbiglia), same creative team, a bigger stage, a few new producers.
I liked it when it was at the Cherry Lane. I’m happy that Birbiglia is making his Broadway debut. I feel no need to see the show again, just so that I can write something like: He’s still funny in a larger theater.
For different reasons, I also don’t want to see “Daniel’s Husband” again, which is also transferring from the Cherry Lane, nor “School Girls, or the African Mean Girls Play”, which, with a few cast changes, isn’t even transferring: It’s being presented a year later in the same theater. So, below are summaries of my old reviews of the three productions, plus links to the full reviews, and new photographs.
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Filed under Broadway, New York Theater, Off-Broadway, Resurrected review

Broadway Poll: Your Favorite Play With Puppets

November 9, 2018 Leave a comment

My favorite character in Frozen on Broadway by far is Sven the reindeer. I’ve been a fan of Avenue Q before it opened Off-Broadway the first time. Does anybody doubt The Lion King or War Horse owe much of their appeal to their puppetry?

Now that King Kong has opened on Broadway, with unmitigated acclaim for its star puppet, a one-ton, 20-foot marionette, it seems a good time to choose your favorite Broadway show with puppets, or the Broadway show with your favorite puppets. (I’ll leave that up to you.)

I’ve included the obscure 1961 musical Carnival starring Jerry Orbach as a puppeteer and four puppets. Feel free to choose an even more obscure show not on this list.

Click on any photograph to see it enlarged.

Avenue Q

Carnival

Frozen: Greg Hildreth as Olaf

Hand to God

King Kong

The Lion King

The Little Shop of Horrors

The Pee Wee Herman Show

War Horse

Filed under Broadway, New York Theater, poll, puppetry

American Son: Pics and Review

November 8, 2018 Leave a comment

Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan

American Son 2 Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale in AMERICAN SON, Photo by Peter Cunningham, 2018

Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, Eugene Lee

American Son 3 Steven Pasquale, Kerry Washington in AMERICAN SON, Photo by Peter Cunningham, 2018

While anxiously waiting in a Miami police station for word of what happened to her son Jamal, an educated African-American woman named Kendra (Kerry Washington) talks with her estranged white husband Scott (Steven Pasquale) about the nightmares she’s had over the years about Jamal – of “nooses and crosses,” but, far worse and far more often, “getting stopped by a cop.”

That nightmare has turned into Kendra’s reality in American Son, a timely if flawed drama whose power comes largely from Kerry Washington’s intense performance.

Full review on DC Theatre Scene

Filed under Broadway, DC Theatre Scene, New York Theater, Photographs, Theater Reviews

Torch Song on Broadway: Review and Pics

November 5, 2018 Leave a comment

The 1982 Broadway production of Torch Song Trilogy, starring Harvey Fierstein as Arnold Beckoff, a sometime drag queen and gay Jewish romantic searching for love and acceptance, could be credited with having made history. But no such claim would be credible for the revival, renamed Torch Song, starring Michael Urie as Arnold and Mercedes Ruehl as his mother. It’s just an entertainment now, unthreatening and largely unchallenging,…

But if Torch Song suffers in comparison to the spate of first-rate gay plays over the last few decades, and the excellent revivals over the past year, there’s no denying how witty and well-meaning it is. Many in the barrage of one-liners are still quite funny, and the strong performances of Urie and Ruehl in particular help make more palatable the artificial feel to many of the scenes.

Full Review at DC Theatre Scene

Click on any photograph by Matthew Murphy to see it enlarged.

Michael Urie

Mercedes Ruehl and Michael Urie

Ward Horton and Michael Urie

Jack DiFalco and Michael Urie

Roxanna Hope Radja, Ward Horton, Michael Urie, and Michael Hsu Rosen

Mercedes Ruehl

Michael Urie and Mercedes Ruehl

Michael Urie and Jack DiFalco

Filed under Broadway, DC Theatre Scene, gay, New York Theater, Photographs, Theater Reviews

The Ferryman Review: A Breathtaking Feast of Stories and Character

October 27, 2018 Leave a comment

Paddy Considine as Quinn Carney (center, standing) and the company of The Ferryman

By the time “The Ferryman” has ended, we have been treated to a breathtaking mix of revenge action thriller, romance, melodrama, family saga, and a feast of storytelling – ghost stories, fairy stories, stories of Irish history and politics, stories of longing and of loss.

Jez Butterworth’s play about farmer Quinn Carney and his sprawling, colorful family is rich, sweeping entertainment — epic, tragic….and cinematic.
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Filed under Broadway, New York Theater, Theater Reviews

The Waverly Gallery with Elaine May, Lucas Hedges: Pics, Review

October 25, 2018 Leave a comment

Elaine May is back on a Broadway stage after more than 50 years, and making the most of it in The Waverly Gallery, Kenneth Lonergan’s meticulously observed, funny and sad play about a woman’s decline and its effect on her family. May is not alone. She is one of five stellar cast members, notably Lucas Hedges making a splendid Broadway debut. They turn this 18-year-old play into…if not required, certainly well-rewarded viewing. So does Lila Neugebauer in her overdue Broadway directorial debut.

But it is especially thrilling to watch May, who is herself 86 years old..

Full review on D C Theater Scene

Click on any photograph by Brigitte Lacombe to see it enlarged.

Joan Allen as Ellen fixing the hearing aid of her mother Gladys, portrayed by Elaine May, in The Waverly Gallery

Lucas Hedges in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan directed by Lila Neugebauer.

David Cromer in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer.

A worried daughter, Joan Allen

Lucas Hedges and Elaine May in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer.

The cast of The Waverly Gallery: Lucas Hedges, Elaine May, Joan Allen, David Cromer, Michael Cera

The Waverly Gallery 2 Allen May Hedges Cromer photo by Brigitte Lacombe

Lucas Hedges in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer.

Elaine May in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer.

Lucas Hedges and Elaine May in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer.

Lucas Hedges, Elaine May, Michael Cera in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer.

Elaine May in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer.

Filed under Broadway, DC Theatre Scene, New York Theater, Photographs, Theater Reviews

The Lifespan of a Fact with Daniel Radcliffe, Bobby Cannavale, Cherry Jones: Pics, Review

October 24, 2018 Leave a comment

I take “The Lifespan of a Fact” personally.
On the one hand, Cherry Jones, Bobby Cannavale and Daniel Radcliffe, are three of my favorite actors in the universe, performing in a comedy directed with a light, fast touch by Leigh Silverman, who’s helmed much theater I’ve enjoyed (Harry Clarke, Sweet Charity, Chinglish.) I’m even partial to the set designer, Mimi Lien, Tony Award winner for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812…
On the other hand, the play purports to examine several serious and timely issues. John’s article is about a teen suicide. The debate between John and Jim is about the nature of truth, and what obligations literary nonfiction has towards factual accuracy…
I find The Lifespan of a Fact a slight play that simply doesn’t do full justice to the issues underneath the comedy.

Full review on DC Theatre Scene