The New Group

Off-Broadway Review: The New Group’s “Evanston Salt Costs Climbing” at Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre (Closed Sunday, December 18, 2022)

If Will Arbery’s “Evanston Salt Costs Climbing were an absurdist play, its non-sense narrative might make some sense. However, this is not a “Waiting for Godot” for post-pandemic Evanston, Illinois, or a pre-recession America. Peter (a foul-mouthed and depressive Jeb Kreager) and Basil’s (an equally foul-mouthed but agreeable Ken Leung) world borders on meaningless and the play’s characters are experiencing…

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Off-Broadway Review: The New Group’s “Black No More” at The Pershing Square Signature Center (Closed Sunday, February 27, 2022)

February 15, 2022 | black no, Off-Broadway, pass over, pershing square, water for > | "Black No More", Akron Watson, Angela M. Sauers, Anthony Tidd, Antonio Brown, Brandon Victor Dixon, Daryl Waters, Derek McLane, Edward Watts, Elijah A. Carter, Emily Fischer, Ephraim Sykes, Gaelen Gilliland, Howard McGillin, James Poyser, Jeff Croiter, Jennifer Damiano, John Ridley, Leanne Antonio, Lillias White, Malaiyka Reid, Mars Rucker, Mary Page Nance, Monique Carboni, Nevin Steinberg, Nicholas Ranauro, Nicole Iovino, Nikiya Mathis, Nyla Watson, Oneika Phillips, Oween Jean, Pershing Square Signature Center, Polanco Jones Jr., Rhaamell Burke-Missouri, Ryan Fitzgerald, Sarah Meahl, Scott Elliott, Tamika Lawrence, Tariq Trotter, Telsey + Company, The New Group, Theo Stockman, Tracy Shayne, Valerie A. Peterson, Zachary Daniel Jones, Zane Mark

A clue in in the “New York Times” crossword puzzle on Tuesday, February 15th was “Prefix with futurism.” The correct answer: ‘Afrofuturism,’ defined as “a cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African-American experience and aims to connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry.” In 1931, George S. Schuyler explores the Afrofuturism literary…

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Off-Broadway Review: The New Group’s “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center

The question that remains in my mind is why anyone would attempt to create a musical based on the dated 1969 motion picture “BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE?” Granted the meant to be comedy written by Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker for the big screen ventured into uncharted territory with infidelity, the sexual revolution and wife swapping making…

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Off-Broadway Review: The New Group’s “Cyrano” at the Daryl Roth Theatre

Edmond Rostrand’s play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” written in verse in 1897 is one of, if not the most tragic love story of all time. It introduced the word ‘panache’ into the English language and Cyrano himself remarks about his own “panache” in the play. This of course refers to his skillful swordplay, exquisite poetry, adroit musicianship and finally the hallmark…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Happy Talk” at the New Group at Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

May 16, 2019 | Off-Broadway, pershing square > | "Happy Talk", Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre, Clint Ramos, Daniel Oreskes, Derek McLane, Jeff Croiter, Jesse Eisenberg, Marin Ireland, Michael Bodeen, Monique Carboni, Nico Santos, Pershing Square Signature Center, Rob Milburn, Scott Elliott, Susan Saradon, Tedra Millan, The New Group

Happy talk – the type of verbal communication, replete with counterfeit smiles, that too often serves as a replacement for authentic connection between individuals – cascades across the stage at the New Group’s world premiere of Jesse Eisenberg’s “Happy Talk” at the New Group at Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre. Lorraine (a broken and dangerous Susan…

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Off-Broadway News: “Avenue Q” to Play an Additional Four Weeks at New World Stages by Popular Demand

AVENUE Q – winner of three 2004 Tony Awards including Best Musical – is extending its previously announced closing date 4 weeks, due to popular demand, with a new end date set for May 26 at New World Stages (340 W. 50 St.), it has been announced by the show’s producers. In December it was revealed that the 15+ year…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Downtown Race Riot” at the New Group at Pershing Square Signature Center’s Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre

The 1970s was a decade of unrest across the United States. Racial divides were exacerbated by socio-economic disparities and rising tensions between members of minority communities and the systemic racism inherent in the majority white population. This unrest was particularly evident in urban areas like New York City and, more specifically, in the West Village of Manhattan. One such riot…

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Off-Broadway Review: “The Whirligig” at the Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre

“And the wheel goes round and round./And the flame in our souls will never burn out./And the wheel, and the wheel goes round.” – Rosanne Cash, “Wheel” Under the brooding branches that overarch Derek McLane’s visually stunning set that “goes round,” Julie’s (played with sumptuous death-dodging life by Grace Van Patten) life coalesces into a gripping surreal reality in Hamish…

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Off-Broadway Review: “All the Fine Boys” at The New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center’s Ford Foundation Studio Theatre

March 1, 2017 | Off-Broadway, pershing square, the nap > | Abigale Breslin, Alex Wolff, Amy Rubin, Angst, Bart Fasbender, Erica Schmidt, Ford Foundation Studio Theatre, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Croiter, Joe Tippett, Monique Carboni, Pedophile, Pershing Square Signature Center, The New Group, Tom Broecker

Under the ruse of “receiving consent” from a minor, pedophile Joe (played with a remorseless arrogance by Joe Tippett) plays out an erotic asphyxiation fantasy with fourteen-year-old Jenny (played with a delusional naiveté by Abigale Breslin) in the basement of his suburban South Carolina home after “abducting” her from her home earlier. It does not matter whether Jenny got into…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Evening at the Talk House” Reveals a Dystopian Present at the New Group at The Pershing Square Signature Center’s Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre

February 24, 2017 | asi wind, house that will, midnight, Off-Broadway, on the head of a pin, pershing square, the house, the nap > | The New Group, The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre

“Well — in any case, the play hadn’t been terribly well-liked by the public, and it wasn’t a success, but quite a few people had enjoyed it quite a bit, including, interestingly, a certain Mr. Ackerley, who not long afterwards began to take a more and more prominent place in our national life, which, I’d have to admit, was not…

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