The new production of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” at the York Theater Company would seem to be a clever idea, using age appropriate actors to portray the renowned Peanuts characters, especially after a successful concert version at “54 Below.” The difficulty with this concept is that the show was not written for children to perform. The vocals needed…
Cal (played with a haunting despair by Katya Campbell) is in a mess. Urban Chicago was the ideal place for her husband Tim (played with a brave vulnerability by David Harbour) to make money pitching beer distributors’ craft brews but not the ideal place for Cal – who grew up in rural Missouri – to live and the raise her…
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:24) One legitimate critical…
The jury remains out in the scientific community: which came first the brain or the mind? Throw into the discussion precisely where memory resides and how it is accessed and the debate becomes even more interesting and convoluted. Playwright Nick Payne focuses his interest on the brain and memory and in the American premiere of his “Incognito” – currently playing…
With some surprise – and a modicum of disbelief – I overheard the two Millennials settling in behind me at the performance of “Hadestown” I attended at the New York Theatre Workshop sharing that they “had no idea” what the show they were there to see was about. Is it possible to reach ones 20s and 30s and not know…
Created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, “Indecent” could not have opened at the Vineyard Theatre at a more auspicious time. In the midst of an increasingly frenzied discussion about what is and what is not decent in contemporary American society and culture, this remarkable and stunning play – based on true events surrounding the 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem…
The New Group has announced four productions for its 2016-2017 Season. The company’s new season begins in Fall 2016 with the musical “Sweet Charity,” with choreography by Joshua Bergasse, directed by Leigh Silverman and featuring two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster in the title role. The New Group’s season continues in January 2017 with the U.S. premiere of Wallace Shawn’s “Evening at the Talk House,” directed by Scott Elliott; followed by the…
Currently running at 59E59 Theaters as part of the Brits Off-Broadway Series, Richard Bean’s 1999 “Toast” slices its way through layers of delicious intrigue to a tasty core of surprises that make the journey more than worthwhile. This is drawing room farce sans the drawing room. The swinging doors here connect the unseen bakery to the break room where the…
Armed with the promise of her therapist’s willingness to offer phone support and clutching a bottle of sedatives from the same therapist, Hiro (played with a steely vulnerability by Satomi Blair) flies from New York to Kentucky to convince her younger sister Sophie (played with a charming but confident core by Sasha Diamond) not to marry Da’Ran (played with exquisite…
The main issue with playwright Justin Kuritzkes’ new work “The Sensuality Party” is that it seriously lacks sensuality and it certainly is no party. In fact, perhaps the young author needs to get out more, see a few things, interact and experience what might be happening since the earlier sexual revolution that he (through Speaker’s words) actually claims to not…