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…
Jen Tullock’s “Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God” has been hailed as a searing examination of how evangelical Christianity wounds its queer children. Critics have called it “the best solo show in years,” praising Tullock’s tour-de-force performance as she embodies multiple characters to tell the story of Frances Reinhardt, a writer whose memoir about growing up gay…
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…
Jordan E. Cooper’s “Oh Happy Day!” at The Public Theater promises to explore whether a queer man rejected and abused by the church can choose his own happiness on his own terms. It’s a radical question that deserves a radical answer. But Cooper delivers a morality tale about earning God’s love through forgiveness and obedience instead. His protagonist Keyshawn (played…
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…
“You always step in,” Jacob Dunne (Will Harrison) tells us from the stage of the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, explaining the code of the Meadows housing estate where loyalty means throwing fists without thinking. “Always. With a mate. No matter where, no matter what.” This philosophy—this toxic, tribal, inevitable logic—will cost James Hodgkinson his life in a single, unprovoked punch…
“You could be dead tomorrow,” young Dave (Daniel Marconi) tells his army buddy Bobby (Harrison Tipping) during a night out in 1979 Belfast, justifying their reckless behavior. “Live in the moment.” Thirty-five years later, after Bobby’s murder, that moment has become the only moment that matters—an endless present tense of guilt, rage, and impossible choices. Leo McGann’s “The Honey Trap,”…