“The Body Politic,” currently running at the New York Musical Festival at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater chronicles the journey of Iphis (Samy El-Noury) a transgender young man from Kabul who emigrates to Chapel Hill, North Carolina at the height of the Afghan War. This new life is offered by Chris, an American Aid Worker, and Iphis leaves his mother…
“These parting words, she left behind/These parting words she left behind/And I put them in your hands now/These parting words she left behind.” – The Nun Lee (Brian Charles Rooney) is the twenty-something female impersonator who graces the small stage at the Golden Lantern, an old bar – a joint – in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The small…
The new musical “The Time Machine,” presented as part of New York Musical Festival, is an overwrought musical adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic, plagued with too many genres, resulting in a enfeebled main plot. Basically, to become more cohesive, the creative team needs to decide what the product wants to be. Is it a love story, a Sci-fi thriller,…
“Errol and Fidel,” part of the New York Musical Festival 2017, retells the story of Errol Flynn’s (played with just the right Hollywood bravado by Jonathan Stewart) visit to Havana in 1958 during the shooting of his self-produced B film “Cuban Rebel Girls” where he met Fidel Castro (played with rich revolutionary ruggedness and charm by George Psomas). Flynn is…
Oscar Wilde might be turning in his grave, or at least twitching – that is if he has seen a certain NYMF production appropriately titled “Dorian Gray” a musical loosely based on his notorious provocative novel. There is a slight chance he might be flattered that young thespian artists would be interested and intent on creating this version but certainly…
“Matthew McConaughey vs The Devil: An American Myth” is yet another version of the story based on the fictional character “Faust” here set in Hollywood and dealing with an unsuccessful actor who makes a deal with Satan’s agent to sell his soul in return for winning an Oscar. It is assumed that this musical was created as a parody, lampooning…
“My Dear Watson,” part of the New York Musical Festival 2017, is a musical testament to the genius of “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes (John Didonna) and the deep friendship between the iconic fictional detective and his devoted sidekick Dr. John H. Watson (Kyle Stone). Jami-Leigh Bartschi’s musical has been in development for nine years, yet “My Dear Watson” seems to…
Originally devised by Bess and George, “True Right” is a scrappy and loose retelling of Sam Shepard’s tale of sibling rivalry “True West” without the grit and depth and requisite existential core of the original play. Written by and featuring Gemma Kaneko, Brittany K. Allen, and Adin Lenahan, “True Right” is the third installment in the New Ohio Theatre’s Ice…
Upon entering Pershing Square Signature Center’s Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre to view a new musical adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters’ 1915 “Spoon River Anthology,” we became a bit leery about the execution of this undertaking (no pun intended) as we walked down a dark hallway past Bertie Hume lying at rest in a casket. Continuing in the dark, we turned…
Until the time of reviewing this show, I had never been to the People’s Improv Theater during the past year that I’ve spent thus far living in New York. I’d heard many good things, and I’d even considered the possibility of one day taking another improv class (my first since my high school days) at a theater such as the…