This fall, “the Shakespeare of pop culture satire” (NYT), playwright and performer Ryan Raftery (Mother of the Year: The Kris Jenner Musical, The Trial of Andy Warhol, The Rise and Fall and Rise of Martha Stewart) returns to Joe’s Pub with his latest creation, The Ballad of JonBenét Ramsey, a satire about our society’s insatiable obsession with true crime. Opening September…
After a successful run, including two extensions, “Geovanni’s Room” at Quintessence Theatre, the show closed on Sunday, July 6, 2026. Although the adaptation could have had a third extension, contractual considerations made that impossible. On May 28, Quintessence Theatre Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania brought a literary classic to life in the world premiere of James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room,” adapted by…
Flowing in the same vein as the triumphant off-Broadway show “Dead Outlaw,” which made a move to Broadway last season, is the wonderful “Beau the Musical,” now playing at Theatre 154. Produced by Out of the Box Theatrics, the musical follows somewhat the same structure where an onstage band provides the musical force but also serve double duty by taking…
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…
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…
The title of Leslye Headland’s “Cult of Love” at the Helen Hayes demands attention. The Dahl family cult began in childhood: Diana (Shailene Woodley), Evie (Rebecca Henderson), Johnny (Christopher Sears), and Mark (Zachary Quinto) attended church faithfully with conservative Christian parents Ginny (Mare Cunningham) and Bill (David Rasche), vacationed annually at Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park, never slept…
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…
In Nancy Harris’s “The Beacon,” currently on at the Irish Repertory Theatre, four characters navigate through life’s rough waters. Three make it. One is still lost at sea. The back wall of Beiv’s (Kate Mulgrew) cottage on an island off the coast of West Cork is made almost entirely of glass and looks out onto the Atlantic Ocean. Angst and…
The main problem with “Tammy Faye,” currently on at the Palace Theatre is not the vapid lyrics by Jake Shears or the bland book by James Graham. Unfortunately, the “New Broadway Musical” has nothing to do with the iconic PTL Club televangelist Tammy Faye. Not even the two-time Laurence Olivier Award winning Katie Brayben’s performance as Tammy Faye, or the…
It has been a long journey for “The Roommate,” the dark comedy by Jen Silverman, to finally arrive on Broadway since its premiere in 2015 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Humana Festival. It was well worth the wait, since the current production now playing at The Booth Theatre stars Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone in a two hander that…