Many plays are based on factual events that had a great impact on society during the time they took place and usually make the protagonist the person who was responsible for the course of action. Such is the case of “Marcel on the Train,” penned by Marshall Pailet and Ethan Slater, now playing at Classic Stage Company. The plot revolves…
Life can be compared to a fighting match, where once you step into the ring you are alone. You become a monster defending themselves and fighting for their life, suffering from cuts and bruises but still determined to stay alive and win, not for fortune and fame, but just to survive. The new play “Monsters,” penned and directed by Ngozi…
The recent revival of “Chess “on Broadway comes nearly forty years after its first opening on London’s West End in 1986, with a subsequent move to Broadway after major revisions, in 1988. The Broadway production directed by Trevor Nunn closed after two months recording good attendance, but unfavorable financial returns. This recent incarnation, deftly directed by Michael Mayer, confines the…
The recently opened new Broadway musical “Two Strangers Carry A Cake Across New York” leans towards the formula of a savvy rom com that is unassuming and charming, thanks to Christiani Pitts and Sam Tutty, who star in this two-hander. They are challenged by the superficial and at times rambling script penned by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, who are…
It is very rare that a revival of a musical is imagined better than the original production and exceptional that its message is more relevant now than when it first opened on Broadway nearly thirty years ago in 1997, garnering four Tony Awards. That is the case for the glorious revival of “Ragtime” with a book penned by Terrence McNally,…
With HBO’s “The Gilded Age” drawing record-breaking viewership, it’s clear America remains fascinated by the elegance, extravagance and traditions of that dazzling era. Now, food writer and historian Becky Libourel Diamond invites readers to savor the holiday season the way society’s elite once did with her new release, “The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook.” Equal parts nostalgic confections, culinary history and…
A new solo show has opened at the Greenwich House Theater, written and performed by Ari’el Stachel, who won the Tony award for best supporting actor in the musical, “The Band’s Visit.” It is not a “coming out” story, but it is about his personal struggle with anxiety and his journey to “figure out” his identity. It started when he…
The latest production to open at Atlantic Theater Company is “Let’s Love,” a trio of one-acts penned by Ethan Coen. No surprise the subject matter addressed is love, what love is, how to express love, or how people try to find love. It is a love fest where love is examined under many different circumstances. All three one-acts resemble short…
The question asked in the title of the new play being presented by Bedlam Theater is “Are the Bennett Girls OK?” Well, the simple answer is, “Yes!” They are doing just fine in a new adaptation of the Jane Austen favorite novel, “Pride and Prejudice.” Penned by Emily Breeze, this adaptation does take a few liberties and does not exactly…
Actor and comedian John Leguizamo makes his playwrighting debut at The Public Theater with “The Other Americans”, which may certainly be billed as a new American Tragedy. Although it may draw some similarities to “Death of a Salesman”, featuring a dominant patriarch and the disintegration of the American Dream, the comparison ends there. The head of the Latino family that…