There is something very special happening at New World Stages that every ardent admirer of great musical legends and theatre enthusiast should see. “Little Girl Blue”, the new Nina Simone musical is a captivating journey into the life of the legendary singer and civil rights activist that weaves some of her well-known songs into the tragic episodes of her life….
Broadway has been graced with quite a bit of royalty considering the “SIX” queens that currently occupy the stage at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, vying for the title of the most victimized wife of Henry VIII. Appropriately titled “SIX,” the musical gives each of these candidates the opportunity to convince their audience with a musical number which describes their individual…
As Stacey Derosier’s lighting comes up on the stage of Charly Evon Simpson’s “sandblasted,” which is currently being co-presented by Vineyard Theatre and Women’s Project Theater at the Vineyard, Angela (a willful yet vulnerable Brittany Bellizeare) and Odessa (a confident and temperamental Marinda Anderson) slowly emerge from behind beach umbrellas (“where the sand is”). Both complain about the omnipresence of sand…
The recent revival of “The Music Man” which has opened at the Winter Garden Theater comes to the stage with some good news for fans of a certain celebrity, and some bad news for avid theater goers looking for an astounding reincarnation of this classic musical. Audience members who have come to the theater to see the megastar, namely Hugh…
A clue in in the “New York Times” crossword puzzle on Tuesday, February 15th was “Prefix with futurism.” The correct answer: ‘Afrofuturism,’ defined as “a cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African-American experience and aims to connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry.” In 1931, George S. Schuyler explores the Afrofuturism literary…
In “Tambo & Bones,” currently running at Playwrights Horizons, playwright Dave Harris (“Summertime,” “Patricide”) gives the audience a minstrel show with three variety acts whose timeframes span more than two centuries. Endmen Tambo (W. Tré Davis) and Bones (Tyler Fauntleroy) appear as humans in olios one and two performing for white audiences, and they appear as robots, themselves, and their…
“Kimberly Akimbo” may be one of the best new musicals to appear on the New York Theatre scene this season, glorified by the music of Jeanine Tesori, and enhanced with the unequivocal book and lyrics of David Lindsay- Abaire. It is not perfect, and some aspects can certainly be improved upon, but in its current incarnation it happens to be…
The latest Broadway opening is the new musical comedy “Mrs. Doubtfire” based on the immensely popular 1993 film which starred Robin Williams in the leading role. The plot revolves around a divorced dad, who loses custody of his three children, and poses as an elderly English nanny when his ex-wife starts searching for someone to help with the children and…
The new musical “Trevor: The Musical” based on the 1994 short film makes a valid attempt to bring to light the issues and problems that adolescent gay teens face, which result in attempts at suicide. It was a serious problem during the nineties that has continued to present day with online bullying and shaming. It is a noble idea to…
Racism, sexism, economic disparity, and stagnation roil beneath the surface Caroline Thibodeaux’s (an embattled yet resilient Sharon B Clarke) deep unhappiness, disappointment, and resistance to change in Tony Kushner’s “Caroline, or Change.” Currently enjoying a successful revival at Roundabout’s Studio 54, the Kushner/Tesori musical focuses on Caroline’s long days in the Louisiana “under water” basement of the Gellman family. “Sixteen…