Festival Review: “Julius Caesar” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Examines Power, Betrayal, and Gender Embodiment (Through October 26, 2025)

March 17, 2025 | Oregon Shakespeare Festival | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The first preview of the norm-disrupting production of “Julius Caesar” kicked off a promising start to this year’s Oregon Shakespeare Festival, now in its 90th season. During the preshow announcement, local playgoers and seasonal staff conveyed their pride for Ashland’s yearly homage to William Shakespeare’s masterworks with a level of cheering and applause one would expect to hear at a…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Conversations with Mother” at Theater 555 (Through Sunday, May 11, 2025)

March 15, 2025 | last five, LGBTQ+, Off-Broadway, purpose, Queer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The new play by Matthew Lombardo titled “Conversations with Mother” now playing Off-Broadway at Theatre 555, is a lighthearted and comical evening of entertainment, mostly due to the extremely talented cast. This eighty-five minute two-hander stars Caroline Aaron and Matt Doyle, who make use of their perfect timing and comedic skills to bring as many laughs as possible to the…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Liberation” Misses the Mark at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (Closed Sunday, March 30, 2025)

March 6, 2025 | LGBTQ+, liberation, Off-Broadway, Queer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There is nothing about liberation, nor is there anything liberating in Bess Wohl’s “Liberation” currently running at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. There is gratuitous and unnecessary nudity on stage that requires patrons to relinquish their phones before entering the theater. That nudity is completely unnecessary: the questions raised about the characters’…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Curse of the Starving Class” at The Pershing Square Signature Center’s Romulus Linney Courtyard Theater (Closed Sunday, April 6, 2025)

February 25, 2025 | Off-Broadway | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sam Shephard’s iconic 1977 “Curse of the Starving Class” is enjoying its second revival production at The Pershing Square Signature Center. The 2019 Terry Kinney revival (also at Pershing Square Signature Center) starred Maggie Siff and David Warshofsky as Ella and Weston. The current revival, directed by Scott Elliott and starring Calista Flockhart as Ella and Christian Slater as Weston,…

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Broadway Review: “Redwood” at the Nederlander Theatre (Currently On)

February 22, 2025 | Broadway, LGBTQ+, Queer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The new musical “Redwood,” which recently opened at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway, certainly lives up to the title, featuring the magnificent giant redwood tree that seamlessly moves on and off-stage as needed. In fact, it may be one of the best characters, given the name Stella, in this long, tedious and banal musical which was conceived by its star…

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Off-Broadway Review: “The Antiquities” at Playwrights Horizons (Closed Sunday, March 2, 2025)

February 21, 2025 | Dance, mcneal, News, Off-Broadway, Previews, purpose | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The full title of “The Antiquities” currently running at Playwrights Horizons is “A Tour of the Permanent Collection in the Museum of the Late Human Antiquities.” The title contains two important pairs of words: “Permanent Collection” and “Late Human.” The play begins at some point in the far distant future with two museum docents W1 (Aria Shahghasemi) and W2 (Amelia…

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Broadway Review: “Gypsy” at the Majestic Theatre (Currently On)

December 27, 2024 | Broadway, into the woods, last five | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The widely anticipated revival of “Gypsy “on Broadway has finally arrived, along with the reopening of the Majestic Theatre after a healthy renovation, requiring the theatre to be closed for nearly eighteen months. Most of the excitement was generated by the return of the renowned Broadway star Audra McDonald to the stage who would take on the iconic role of…

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Broadway Review: “Cult of Love” at the Helen Hayes (Closed Sunday, February 2, 2025)

December 26, 2024 | Broadway, last five, LGBTQ+, Queer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It is important to pay attention to the title of a play, especially in the case of Leslye Headland’s well-crafted “Cult of Love” currently running at the Helen Hayes. The Dahl nuclear family cult began early in the lives of the Dahl children. Diana (Shailene Woodley), Evie (Rebecca Henderson), Johnny (Christopher Sears), and Mark (Zachary Quinto) experienced a sheltered childhood…

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Broadway Review: “Eureka Day” at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (Closed Sunday, February 16, 2025)

December 19, 2024 | Broadway, eureka, LGBTQ+, Queer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What could go wrong at a private school whose five-member board of directors makes all decisions based on consensus and has what benefitted the community at heart as their guiding principle. A board so committed to inclusion that The Eureka Day School in Berkeley, California’s cultural identity drop-down menu for prospective parents offers eleven choices. And if Eli (an oblivious…

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Off-Broadway Review: The New Group’s “Babe” at The Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater (Closed Sunday, December 22, 2024)

December 18, 2024 | Dance, LGBTQ+, News, Off-Broadway, Previews, Queer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Abby (Marisa Tomei) has co-produced records with Gus (Arliss Howard) for thirty-two years. She had been his right hand, but her name never appears on the album as co-producer. She finds talent. Gus takes the credit. Recognition is not the only problem. Gus is a misogynist and a prime example of toxic masculinity in the workplace and elsewhere. Abby colludes…

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