Theatre Reviews Limited

Broadway Review: “Caroline, or Change” at Roundabout’s Studio 54 (Closed Sunday January 9, 2022)

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…

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Off-Broadway Review: “The Visitor” at the Public’s Newman Theater (Closed Sunday, December 5, 2021)

November 22, 2021 | a man of, Off-Broadway, public, public theater, the old man, the visitor, visitor | "The Visitor", Ahmad Maksoud, Albert Guerzon, Alysha Deslorieux, Anthony Chan, Brandon Espinoza, Brian Yorkey, C.K. Edwards, Claire M. Kavanah, Crystal Joy, Daniel Sullivan, David Bengali, David Hyde Pierce, David Zinn, Delius Doherty, Dimitri Joseph Moïse, Groundswell Productions and Participant Media Motion Picture Written by Thomas McCarthy, Hana S. Kim, Jacqueline Antaramian, James Latus, Jamshied Sharifi, Japhy Weideman, Jessica Paz, Joan Marcus, Katie Terza, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Lorin Latarro, Marla Louissaint, Matthew Armentrout, Meg Zervoulis, Paul Pontrelli, Rick Edinger, Robert Ariza, Sahar Milani, Sean Ewing, Sun Hee Kil, Takafumi Nikaido, The Newman Theater, The Public Theater, Thomas Schall, Tom Kitt, Tomoko Akaboshi, Toni-Leslie James, Will Erat

The new musical “The Visitor,” now playing at the Public’s Newman Theater, is based on the 2007 film sharing the same title, with a book by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Brian Yorkey, music by Tom Kitt and lyrics also by Mr. Yorkey. The story is the same but somehow confining it to the stage provides a better focus on the characters…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Morning Sun” at Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center – Stage I (Closed Sunday December 19, 2021)

November 22, 2021 | a delicate, a man of, Off-Broadway, pass over | "Morning Sun", Blair Brown, Daniel Kluger, dot, Edie Falco, Kaye Voyce, Lap Chi Chu, Laura Smith, Lee Kinney, Lila Neugebauer, Manhattan Theatre Club, Marin Ireland, Michael Murphy, New York City Center Stage I, Simon Stephens, Tom Watson

“I’m very scared. I’m very confused it’s very bright here please just tell me whether or not I am safe.” These are among the first words spoken by Charley McBride (an ethereal and impassioned Edie Falco) in Simon Stephens’s “Morning Sun” currently running at Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center – Stage I. Charley is surrounded by her…

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Off-Broadway Review: “A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet” at the DR2 Theatre (Closed Sunday November 21, 2021)

November 15, 2021 | asi wind, Off-Broadway | “A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet”, Aja M. Jackson, Alex Goldie Golden, Alex Wyse, Ben Fankhauser, DR2 Theatre, Hannah Woodward, Marshall Pailet, Matthew Murphy, Sarita Fellows, Stephanie Klemons, Twi McCallum, Wilson Chin

The new musical “A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet” with music, book and lyrics by Ben Fankhauser and Alex Wyse, who also star in the Off-Broadway production now occupying the DR2 Theater is old. That’s a compliment and a good thing. It comes across as a good old fashioned musical comedy from decades ago with a present-day spin. The book…

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Audio Drama Preview: “Around the Sun” Brings Egot Winners and Nominees Together in an Original Audio Drama

Around the Sun, an episodic audio drama, created by Brad Forenza, has launched its first episodes via the Broadway Podcast Network. New episodes premiere each week, throughout fall 2021. The series features an all-star cast, including winners/nominees of every major performance award (Drama Desk, Emmy, Golden Globe, Grammy, Oscar, Screen Actors Guild, and Tony). It is available for streaming wherever…

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Broadway Review: “The Lehman Trilogy” at the Nederlander Theatre (Closed Sunday January 2, 2022)

If you were to sit in the dark in the Nederlander Theatre at the appointed hour, with the security screen lowered, you would eventually hear Candida Caldicot begin to play the stage-left piano. Soon after, voices are heard, and what easily could be the most engaging radio play begins. And you immediately become entranced, captured by what you hear: the…

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Broadway Review: “Chicken & Biscuits” at Circle in the Square Theatre (Closed Sunday January 2, 2022)

October 15, 2021 | Broadway | "Chicken & Biscuits", Adam Honoré, Aigner Mizzelle, Alana Raquel Bowers, Circle in the Square Theatre, Cleo King, Devere Rogers, Douglas Lyons, Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Emilio Madrid-Kuser, Lawrence E. Moten III, Michael Urie, NaTasha Yvette Williams, Nikiya Mathis, Norm Lewis, Queens Theatre, Twi McCallum, Zhailon Levingston

Had the playwright, director, and creative team of “Chicken & Biscuits” taken a cue from their “Oklahoma” colleagues who occupied the same Circle in the Square Theatre space in 2019-2020, they might have inserted a break into their play’s overlong 120-minutes and served a small portion of chicken and biscuits to the members of the audience. This would have enhanced…

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Off-Broadway Review: Bedlam’s “Persuasion” at the Connelly Theatre (Closed Sunday October 31, 2021)

Bedlam’s 2016 “Sense and Sensibility” was fresh, buoyant, engaging, and richly authentic. Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s text was transformative theatre, groundbreaking theatre, immersive theatre, theatre not to be missed. Eric Tucker’s sparse and inventive staging exposed the pure joy of Jane Austen’s popular text. Jane Austen’s goal as a novelist was never to obfuscate; rather, her purpose was…

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Off-Broadway Review: New York Theatre Workshop’s “Sanctuary City” at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (Closed Sunday October 10, 2021)

October 7, 2021 | Off-Broadway, pass over, sanctuary city | "Sanctuary City", Austin Smith, Caitlin Sullivan, Isabella Byrd, Jasai Chase-Owens, Joan Marcus, Lucille Lortel Theatre, Martyna Majok, Merrick A.B. Williams, Mikaal Sulaiman, New York Theatre Workshop, Rebecca Frecknall, Sharlene Cruz, Tom Scutt

Since the controversy started about the destiny of so called “dreamers” and immigration moved to the forefront of the political spectrum, theatre has become a formidable platform, revealing the many obstacles that face these innocent victims. What has also developed is the now familiar phrase “sanctuary city.” A city that limits its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agents, to protect…

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Broadway Review: “Pass Over” at the August Wilson Theatre (Closed Sunday October 10, 2021)

In Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s most recent iteration of “Pass Over,” two “brothers” Moses (Jon Michael Hill) and Kitch (Namir Smallwood) engage in an interminable exchange of escapist fantasy-dialogue in which they ask one another, “What kind of plans you got?” Moses’ His Promised Land Top 10 list includes “reaching his full potential,” “getting his ass off this block,” “a penthouse…

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