Terrence McNally’s “And Away We Go,” currently running at The Pearl Theatre Company, has the capacity to shake even the most torpid theatre-goers to tears. In fact, it literally shakes the theatre! The Pearl’s 30th Season world premiere celebrates the endurance of the theatre throughout the ages and consecrates the “spirit” of the theatre that transcends time and space. That…
When Kyle Riabko finishes his improvised introduction of the band and the origin of “What’s It All About” which he co-conceived with David Lane Seltzer, he glides into his soulful arrangement of “Anyone Who Had A Heart” (Bacharach/Hal David). The audience collectively leans in (Mr. Riabko intentionally makes his audience pay attention) and everyone is immediately aware they are in…
“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” is a rollicking romp through the hilarious escapades of Monty Navarro (Bryce Pinkham) as he eagerly disposes of any relative who appears to be an obstacle in his desire to become the heir to the Earl of Highhurst and the D’Ysquith family fortune. It is a sumptuous theatrical feast that serves up seven…
“Witnessed by the World” at 59E59 Theater B (Through December 15) Written by Ronnie Cohen and Jane Beale Directed by Karen Carpenter Reviewed by David Roberts Theatre Reviews Limited With thousands of books published about John F. Kennedy, including tomes promulgating a variety of assassination conspiracy theories, it would seem risky to write a script about the events surrounding yet…
The utter moral ambiguity of war and its accoutrements is powerfully reflected in Charles Fuller’s spellbinding “One Night …” the co-production of Cherry Lane Theatre and Rattlestick Playeright’s Theatre currently running at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Although Mr. Fuller’s play provides no new information about Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in returning war veterans – that is not the purpose of…
“The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” Psalm 145:14 (NIV) During her belabored round trip from her home to the train station to pick up her husband Mr. Rooney (Michael Gambon) on his birthday, Mrs. Rooney (Eileen Atkins) rehearses the variety of her physical and emotional deficits: there is much that has “bowed…
“Fix me for my long white robe, /fix me, Jesus, fix me. /Fix me for my starry crown, /fix me, Jesus, fix me. Fix me for my journey home, /fix me, Jesus, fix me. /Fix me for my dying bed, /fix me, Jesus, fix me.” (African-American Spiritual, adapted and arranged by William Farley Smith) There appears to be a considerable…
Co-dependent sisters Ada (Katya Campbell) and Sam (Keira Keeley) and their alter-ego sidekick Dorrie (Jen Ponton) suffer from a somewhat classic case of disambiguation and their individual and corporate arrested development occupy the stage in Helley Feiffer’s complex and often disturbing “How to Make Friends and then Kill Them” currently running at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Ms. Feiffer’s new play…
As parodies go, Seth Rudetsky’s “Disaster!” is among the best. Eschewing lampooning just one disaster-genre movie, Mr. Rudetsky and Mr. Plotnick successfully spoof several of the catalog of doomsday films of the 1970s that feature the disfigurement, death, and discord that results from some combination of electrical or natural gas disturbances; earthquakes; floods; tsunami; sinking ships; plagues; or infestations. There…
Anyone with fears that there is a dearth of new musicals on the horizon can stop worrying: the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) has been hard at work since 1989 introducing writers and their new musicals to significant theatre industry leaders. The nine new musicals introduced at this year’s Festival garnered overwhelming support from those leaders who packed Stages…