New York+ Theater Log

What Rena has seen and a pithy comment or two:

3-16-24 – The Club – Chris Bohjalian’s seemingly simplistic play about casual racism in the 1960s, builds to a predictable, but still painful conclusion; a subtle twist on blindspots.

2-19-24 – Becomes A Woman – Betty Smith wrote this affecting play about a woman coming into her own power; we watch her grow from an insecure girl to a confident woman through family struggles and ‘class warfare’, and come through it all to become a Betty Smith woman. Another Mint Theatre discovery!

2-9-24 – My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion – wonderful Holly Twyford has a lot to sink her teeth into, and the fantasies are particularly funny and nutty; excoriates the war in Ukraine and war in general, as well as humanity.

1-27-24 – Summer, 1976 – missed the production, so listened to the audiobook; stunning performances by Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht are suited to the format; dissertation on women’s friendship–how it forms, how it blossoms, how it fails. Touching sliding doors.

12-15-23 – Scene Partners – Diane Wiest in an all-consuming role of a mind trapped in a body; absurdist, distressing, rewarding, frustrating take on aging after a lifetime of abuse and invisibility; the woman’s age old task of stage managing an identity.

11-18-23 – Primary Trust – William Jackson Harper is a master actor, so no surprise, he provides the gripping center of this play that tenderly profiles one man’s journey through laughter and tears; a complete experience and pleasure.

11-4-23 – Big Hunk o’ Burnin’ Love – whiplash from rapid switching of comedy to tragedy; Thai immigrant and a white woman, along with a farcical plot element, complicate the challenges of Asian men finding love.

11-4-23 – Chaos Theory – comedy of friendship, love, and literature from an East Indian perspective; immigration, acculturation, and communication along for the ride.

10-28-23 – Painting Churches, 2012 production with Kathleen Chalfant and John Cunningham, with this talky slow-burn that builds to heartbreak; what does it take to be seen? to be heard? Particularly as we age…

9-27-23 – Fat Ham – Funny, often clever, sometimes tiresome, best moments directly quip off Hamlet; the rest perhaps is more crowd-pleasingly relevant.

9-27-23 – Coast Starlight – meditations on all forms of starting over, with notable concepts of the “memory mobile” and the difference between a trail and a path.

9-17-23 – Silly Little Things – effective one-woman show in the Fleabag realm; at its core, the power of friendship and kindness.

9-15-23 – Leopoldstadt – a gut-destroying look at an all-too-common story then, and unfortunately, completely resonant now, with its painful look at willful blindness to the hate in human nature.

4-15-23 – As Bees in Honey Drown – sharp dialogue defines characters who shape their reality to maximize fame; predictable, tidy outcome a bit disappointing given the setup.

3-24-23 – The Rewards of Being Frank – funny, clever sequel to the Importance of Being Earnest; contemporary play that follows and subverts the structure of the original; kudos playwright Alice Scovell.

2-24-23 – Philip Goes Forth – a Mint Theatre revival with great sets and actors with panache; still the play about an aspiring playwright doesn’t go much of anywhere – the same lack of ideas as novels written about novelists.

2-3-23 – 9 Parts of Desire – painful poetry of an Iraqi woman’s experience of grief, trauma, and today’s world.

1-27-23 – Animal Magnetism – funny one-act by Elizabeth Inchbald, complete with all the tropes–the quack doctor, the foolish guardian, the clever servants; 18th century.

1-25-23 – Frigid Festival 10 minute plays – too bad so many tech problems got in the way; several good plays exploring the contemporary Black experience.

12-11-22 – The Gett – staged version of reading from the early pandemic; thought-provoking, painful exploration of the central role of love in women’s lives; striking metaphor to the six days of creation, 7th of rest, in order to re-create life – so true for women after separation; already ready to watch it again.

11-20-22 – Kennedy: Bobby’s Last Crusade – one-man show speaking his words as written and spoken; beautiful, painful, poignant, relevant, all with a terrible accent.

11-8-22 – English – deceptively simple take on learning English as a second language, as Iranians in 2008 hope to emigrate; revealing culture, belonging, sense of home, and alienation as inextricably linked to language. Sanaz Toosi does it again, as with Wish You Were Here–same elimination technique.

11-3-22 – Wish You Were Here – loved this play about 5 women friends with the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq War and the Islamic Revolution; what starts as 5 whittles to 1 against the turbulence; some redemption at the end as the disappeared Jewish friend reappears.

10-23-22 – Yan Tután – moving one-act meditation on cultural grief and healing acts, with uplifting celebration at the close; Tlingit, and could be any minority culture.

10-21-22 – Shapeshifter – Irish poetic fantasy with gentle take on limits on women, evocatively produced digitally.

10-8-22 – Sarita – reading of a new musical crossing Puerto Rico and New York with a telenovela style melodrama; has potential, needs more songs and much better lyrics.

9-27-22 – Stumped – homage to Pinter’s Betrayal – glad I re-watched in preparation; spends most of its time talking to itself. An absurdist dash of Godot, too.

9-10-22 – It Came from Outer Space – very high on the ridiculous and cute scale; funny sets and lighting, exuberant performances with kooky physical humor; a lot of fun.

9-8-22 – What You are Now – tense family drama sourced out of political-refugee trauma; can science fix the problem? Effective use of Cambodian music.

8-13-22 – Morning Sun – gorgeous performances by 3 stage luminaries of poetic mother-daughter material still grows tiring over the length of the play; the effectiveness of the distancing “you” point of view is difficult to sustain. Not sure where the sun is…

8-13-22 – Prayer for the French Republic – powerful, detailed, emotional exploration of the arguments on all sides of the “Jewish Question(s),” and although set in France, the historical and contemporary antisemitism it tears apart, and the resulting painful choices, are sadly relevant anytime, everywhere. Can assimilation work?

6-26-22 – Mrs. Warren’s Profession – Mother from the oldest profession versus her New Woman daughter–a classic; the latter’s lousy accent was very distracting, but otherwise fresh, relevant, and timeless.

6-23-22 – Jewish Play Project – 3 finalists, 2 polished, one needing work, but all 3 with strong potential; standout was Madelines addressing life and death, literally, through cookies; incredibly touching and relevant.

6-20-22 – Gong Lum’s Legacy – interracial couple, this time Chinese and Black, in 1928 Mississippi; surprising barriers and friendships, hopes for the American Dream.

6-6-22 – Becoming Dr. Ruth – quintessential performance by Tovah Feldshuh in this one-hander bio-play, vividly portrayed with wit and some pathos; Dr. Ruth is remarkable.

5-21-22 – Theatre Works New Play Festival – ready to produce plays; the best two: The Dropoff–painfully real with an instantly recognizable situation and characters–a daughter with a gambling addition takes her mother with Alzheimer’s to assisted living; The Egress – psychological affect of crime and a meditation on guns in society and architecture–thought provoking.

5-13-22 – London Assurance – the Dion Boucicault farce serves as a worthy precursor to Oscar Wilde madness, particularly with the superior cast of Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw; the play does creak with its clear antisemitism only moderately tempered by surprise casting.

4-14-22 – Trouble in Mind – Alice Childress play from 1955, still timely and painful; combines satire, surrealist touches, and naturalism, with a difficult ending that prevented the play’s launch to Broadway.

4-9-22 – The Folks at Home – supposed dramedy with much more despair than hilarity; well-acted and timely about the hardships most face making it economically; overlong.

4-9-22 – Tiger Style – smart comedy about cultural awareness, national identity, racism, and one particular Asian family; surreal turns, clever set, terrific acting, and unpredictable writing makes for a fresh theatrical experience.

4-3-22 – George S. Kauffman One Acts – reading of Amicable Parting and Commercial Break –charming with some laughs; Blythe Danner and Bob Dishy.

3-18-22 – The Play What I Wrote – heir to Monty Python and Vaudeville, trio of funny men, and Tom Hiddleston–funny too, in a broad comedy full of malaprops and puns, silly walks, patter, sight gags, and silly over-the-top fun.

3-18j-22 – AD 16 – tonally uneven, but overall so funny, witty, and sly; who wouldn’t love a teen-musical about Jesus and Mary Magdalene? I didn’t think I would, but oh my…

3-15-22 – Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci – performance piece with strong dance/movement elements to the poetry of Leonardo’s words; clever set.

3-11-22 – From This Time You are Cursed – Mike Daisy doing the Mike Daisy thing, saying what I’ve been thinking; is the narrative arc that autocracy is like passing a kidney stone?

3-5-22 – Undo the Sea – short pandemic play that is a great conversation starter about technology and how social distancing affected working couples.

2-19-22 – Frigid New York – like any festival hit or miss; loved the monologues/storytelling, The Last to Know and the multi-media Lonely Road stood out.

2-4-22 – Hybrid 2-Handers, Project Y Festival; as ever, festivals are hit or miss; I enjoyed #Girl Power most, with its clever and acidic comment on being a woman in patriarchy.

2-1-22 – The Alchemist – hugely entertaining version of Ben Johnson’s play with fast-paced character changes, costuming, mistaken identities, doors slamming, great farce stuff; just the fun that is needed!

1-30-22 – Di Froyen/The Women – another painful story of abuse coming out of the ultra-orthodox community and it society of secrets and manipulation; sad stuff.

1-29-22 – Lesson Plan – Bravi Tutti Fruitti to Stephanie Blythe for being in this clever, cute two-hander opera, blending gorgeous voices with Zoom humor; lots of fun.

1-28-22 – Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Mystery – immersive, expressionistic Zoom-theater, gorgeously produced, funny, barbed commentary on the history of Asians in America; the solution? the children are our future…

1-23-22 – Witness – interactive voting on a talent show taking place on a 1939 liner carrying Jews from Europe to the U.S. Sad, relevant. off-putting, metaphoric, unappealing.

1-22-22 – While the Sun Shines – funny Terence Rattigan play where everything becomes a farcical mess before working out just right.

1-22-22 – Best of Enemies – stunning production of exceptionally well-written new play centered on the Buckley-Vidal debates and the debacle of 1968; interesting to see such a pivotal American moment in front of a British audience; clearly shows the foundations and tenor of today’s divide and the role of media in provoking it; color blind casting of Buckley in light of color-specific casting of James Baldwin, where color couldn’t be ignored–can it for Buckley? Provocative indeed.

1-16-22 – Duck, Duck, Goose – Irish play about sexual assault and its aftermath; brave but ultimately underwritten with half-baked ending; the character arc deserves more.

1-8-22 – Teenage Dick – same lead cast as 2018; beautifully filmed stage version from Boston still incredibly powerful; Shakespeare’s Richard never made me hurt as much.

1-8-22 – Clyde’s – Lynn Nottage’s new play with sandwich philosophy, as metaphor for living well against adversity; over-the-top central character representing how mean the world is; great set and peppy acting, first-rate cast.

1-7-22 – Twelfth Night – musical version, playful, fun, covers some of the warts with ear-worm type songs; classic Broadway mashed up with the Shakespeare comedy.

12-26-21 – Pieces of String – sour, new musical that seems to suggest that attitudes about gay relationships haven’t intrinsically changed from WW2 to now.

12-26-21 – The Nibroc Trilogy – Arlene Hutton’s Horton-Foote-like plays start as a portrait of a courtship and deepens through WW2 and its aftermath; a family dramedy with superb acting; so moving as a family storms toward change paralleling the country.

12-25-21 – Six Actors in Search of a Director – clever riff on the classic; occasional love letter to the theater (v film) inside the empty whole.

12-21-21 – Brushstrokes – new play reading; mash up of 1960s Cold War politics and Abstract Expressionism, based on the exhibit using art for propaganda; surprise ending.

12-6-21 – I Can’t Remember Anything – Arthur Miller one-act with a very interesting post-play discussion; sad portrayal to two elder’s attempts to connect, even with a long history; apparently not a definitive version which led to discussion of the subtleties of the text.

11-16-21 – Rice – two-hander, each playing several parts, abstracted and strangely cold telling of two very different women in the workplace.

11-11-21 – Doubt – Westport Country Playhouse version–seemed truncated, but the message is the same, ever questioning, or is it?

10-30-21 – Sanctuary City – deeply emotional, heartbreaking, with three characters to care about; beautifully acted on a bare set that was so evocative; exquisite theater.

10-30-21 – Hamlet – Cush Jumbo plays Hamlet as a petulant teen; the whole production while accessible in its contemporary setting, is also a bit too over-the-top.

10-29-21 – Constellations – monumental acting task, handled with great grace by the pair I saw, including Zoe Wannamker; a relationship with infinite variations, leading to poignant conclusions; thought-provoking, sad, absorbing.

10-28-21 – Macbeth – a particularly visceral, dark, brutal version with a too-young Saoirse Ronan and a stumbling James Mcardle; never did men spit, scream, and cry as much; the gray palette grew old long before the 3-hour running time expired.

10-24-21 – Lady Chatterly’s Lover – new musical ouf of London that is a work in progress; super cast with beautiful voices, but the music and lyrics are one-note, and the crisp 90-minute running time depresses any build up to passion; subtle novel plot points are made explicit, particularly the friend who is now gay, and in general, the anachronistic musical style doesn’t serve this period piece any better. The performances are stellar though–for me, all were fresh faces and quite wonderful ones at that.

10-23-21 – Letters of Suresh – poignant, tender portrayal of four people’s experiences of love, loss, war, despair, God, and purpose; beautiful acting, spare staging, gorgeous stream–thank you Second Stage.

10-18-21 – Jane Anger – a kind of Shakespeare in Love treatment of writing King Lear, and I don’t know what other mess; a staged reading, but my guess is with the same cast, including Michael Urie, it could get more.

10-15-21 – Blue Valiant – Kathleen Chalfant is the radiant center of this horse story with its metaphor for healing; lovely stream of outdoor performance.

10-3-21 – F.I.R.E. – not too much there there in this workplace drama, or maybe just not anything new–a little bit of ageism, a little bit of selling one’s soul; still, a professional stream.

9-30-21 – Three by Tracy Letts-3 shorts that collectively show the despair of the aging white man; 2 use animals as metaphors–the brilliantly acted Night Safari and The Stretch with Letts performing; in this horse race, My Enormous Ego gets injured– painfully funny.

9-23-21 -Badass GalBoss Power Hour – pointless, loud drek; a low bar for streaming theater; Kate Hamill clunker.

9-18-21 – Angela’s Ashes – terrific musical, fully staged production online; well structured and great songs/music in this family drama; difficult yes, but uplifting, too, by the end.

9-13-21 – Of Mice and Men – clean, spare production from Westport Country Playhouse.

8-23-21 – Man of La Mancha – extremely dark, brutal production by Westport Playhouse; the message became even clearer at the expense of any fun.

8-7-21 – Detroit67 – first in the Morriseau trilogy; brother and sister against the world; dreams versus the police; poetic and painful.

8-6-21 – Marrying Jake Gyllenhall – a throwback to theater that focused on the single Jewish girl experience, surprising at a fringe festival.

8-5-21 – Marie Antoinette – reading, reunion of the cast, Marin Ireland’s performance is ferocious and heartbreaking; mash up of history and contemporary sensibility.

7-29-21 – Last Easter – livestream from a small London theater, felt like I was there; minimalist production, expressionist consideration of faith, illness, and death with dignity.

7-26-21 – Judgment Day – perfectly cast reading of a comedic take on faith; character-driven with Jason Alexander at his best and Santino Fontana as his foil; Lupone’s laugh is wicked, as is much of the humor.

7-15-21 – Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder – all-Asian version, very sprightly and fun.

7-15-21 – Edinburgh Fringe Festival: #charlottesville – Anna Deveare Smith style; one actor performing all the voices from interviews about the August 2017 tragic violence; wrenching, timely as the statue just came down; related Democracy Sucks – riveting, funny performance of a professor at his wit’s end during covid, the personal is the political; Testament – a series of monologues set in a 12-step recovery program in a church basement, the stories are contemporary takes on Biblical stories–clever and powerful, with beautiful acting.

7-14-21 – Our Little Lives: Shakespeare & Me – Russell Brand waxes philosophical and uses passages from Shakespeare to create a self-portrait; flexible, resonant voice.

7-12-21 – Reb Bull Short Plays Festival – restoration as the theme sparked 2 reallly fun comedies with Restoration verse in the contemporary pandemic moment.

7-11-21 – Lines in the Dust – tense drama with no clear lines about right and wrong; how systems can inadvertently destroy lives, here the school system; well acted and written.

7-3-21 – All the Devils are Here – Patrick Page in a bravura performance of Shakespeare villains stretched to include Falstaff, Malvolio, and Prospero; melifluous voice beyond compare.

6-29-21 – Tiny House – a lot going on from family secrets and family shame to climate change and generational resentment; also a bit talky unnecessarily; but still a strong dramedy with great performances and Zoom settings; moments to laugh aloud.

6-27-21 – Ghosting – intense one-woman show, strong performance, slow reveal; contemporary choice for Irish Rep.

6-25-21 – Off-Broadway – sometimes funny, always scathing take on theater, with all the whites alternately oblivious and malicious and all the people of color deeply insightful and angry; points made and I wonder if subtlety will enter the dialogue soon–we deserve that.

6-25-21 – In the Garden – tense mother-daughter drama with a few stilted narrative moments and a metaphysical twist that doesn’t quite work; still, wonderfully acted.

6-17-21 – Dear Elizabeth – the epistolary structure and subtle acting by Streep and Kline make the intimacy of the Zoom format shine; well done.

6-12-21 – Shaw Shorts – early short plays with a witty, sophisticated take on love and marriage; charmingly acted by Orange Tree in modern dress.

6-3-21 – Bulrusher – coming of age/identity story that’s all over the place; how many issues can one play take on and make sense of? In this one, too many.

6-3-21 – Ohio State Murders – seemed more like a short story than a play, perhaps a limitation of the Zoom format and the deadpan reading.

6-1-21 – Comedy of Errors – OR Shakespeare Festival version, set in the Roaring ’20s in Harlem/New Orleans; cute production with lots of physicality; some race implications.

5-24-21 – Patience – Competitive solitaire as a metaphor for…I’m not sure, but I did enjoy the ride; a mostly charming comedy that doesn’t end in a marriage.

5-21-21 – Dream House – what price assimilation? gentrification? What’s more important than family? With an absurdist veneer, the play occasionally surprises, yet ends with convention.

5-20-21 – Sisters Rosensweig – Wasserstein was a great writer; play holds up okay, and first-rate cast on Zoom delivered it well enough, even with the stereotypes.

5-15-21 – Bad Jews – still potent; can’t imagine it with any other cast.

5-14-21 – Watch on the Rhine – Hellman’s WW2 play; black-and-white production, I guess reminiscent of 1940s movies and this era, beautiful yet tiring streaming; when war is personal, acts of courage resonate intimately.

5-14-21 – Content – a speculative play, if there is such a thing, about AI players repeatedly enacting racial scenes for a white audience; clever, a bit confusing, fresh.

5-1-21 – We Have to Hurry – even big name actors can’t save this slight, too-soon-for-telling pandemic tale of elders who find each other; too sweet even for desert.

5-1-21- Little Gem – especially suited to online, with the Irish Rep touch for smart staging; tender ordinariness of life and death in these three-character interwoven monologues.

5-1-21 – Being Mr. Wickham – the pleasures of good writing and good acting abound; reminiscences and a treatise on living well; time well spent.

4-30-21 – Black Feminist Video Game – interactive video game as theater, cute way to share pc feminist ideas; meant for children, I think.

4-28-21 – Two Sisters and a Piano – beautiful sets, particularly for Zoom, evocative, poetic, political, smart, well acted as if live; house-arrested sisters doubly poignant now.

4-25-21 – The Gett – funny/sad, absurdist exploration of love, gender relationships, Judaism, and the human condition; 4-person cast displays their talent despite technical Zoom rough edges.

4-21-21 – School for Wives – this contemporary reset of the classic focuses on the frothy and silly; wonderful to hear in French!

4-19-21 – A Picture of Autumn – Mint Theater production; funny/sad ruminations on aging and leaving one’s home–the passing of a way of life on several levels.

4-10-21 – Babette in Retreat – supposed to be camp, but comes off as shrill and mean.

4-9-21 – Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous – exuberant digital performance of a lively meditation on aging and youth, gender-based protest of male-dominated theater, and creating and letting go of art. Great fun with class-act actresses.

4-8-21 – John Cullum-An Accidental Star – what a charmer he is, representing an era that is rapidly disappearing; what courage to do a show like this when he can no longer sing–doesn’t stop him a bit.

4-4-21 – Amour – sung-through musical, in which all the music sounds exactly alike making for a bit of a bore; is this meant for children–superhero who can penetrate walls.

4-3-21 – The Glorious World of Crowns, Kinks and Curls! – delightful production values; politics of black women’s hair, entertaining and smart.

3-31-21- Cock – still packs a wallop; for the first 3/4, seemed dated, like the first of its kind; but that ending and the big choice are still relevant, painful; staging more inert, but done with zoom-like protocols, so understandable.

3-29-21 – Manahatta – cleverly woven strands of colonial Dutch encounters with Lenape and 2008 encounters on Wall Street, first built to keep Indians out of New Amsterdam; the power of language, the obscurity of language; patterns of resignation; poignant, poetic.

3-26-21 – Night of the Iguana – dark, dark, dark, with no character to root for; on Zoom, more like an audio play.

3-25-21 – The Thanksgiving Play – tedious satire of wokeness, with (big name) actors rehearsing a play for elementary students; would have been better as a SNL skit.

3-22-21 – Galatea, or Whatever You Be – Women’s Project lively updating with gender fluidity at its relevant core; lots of humor and charm using the Zoom format.

3-22-21 – Yours Unfaithfully – smart 1933 play never produced until Mint took it on–great sets, costumes, and acting in this fast-paced meditation on growing stale with middle age versus the device of open marriage; how to balance stability and creativity.

3-21-21 – Anyone But Me/The Oxy Complex by IAMA Theatre Co – covid-created but widely applicable, deep look at the treacheries of being a woman; funny and painful, lots of truths, with one actress per show playing all the parts with stunning flexibility.

3-18-21 – How to Catch Creation – warm story of intersecting lives, exploring identity, sexuality, artistic creation, and parenting; easy ending leaves more to explore.

3-16-21 – Passing Through – earnest musical centered on a young man’s physical journey and psychological trek into relationship with his father, with slight reminders of racism, mental illness, and immigration along the way.

3-16-21 – Picture of Dorian Gray – cleverly updated version with social media as the mirror and coronavirus as the timeframe; a real horror show.

3-13-21 – Year of Magical Thinking – magical Kathleen Chalfant reads the play over Zoom; perfectly intimate, perfectly heartbreaking, perfectly breathtaking.

3-13 -21 – Happy Days – a frantic production that smacked of climate change and pandemic implications that deepen the desperation, even on the literal level of Act 2.

3-12-21 – Three Days of Rain – reading with the original cast; they are brilliant, of course, and remind me how flat the Julia Roberts’ version was; still, not a play that I relish seeing again–too talky with characters who are just not that interesting.

3-7-21 – Jericho – gut-wrenching drama peeling back layers of trauma-induced guilt and family dynamics; beautifully staged and acted depiction in a Zoom world of this complex, well-structured, smart, sensitive, and heart-breaking play.

2-28-21 – Chicken and Biscuits – family dramedy written for the zoom era; well acted particularly for a reading.

2-13-21 – Smithtown-4 linked monologues of technology and tragedy; incredibly sad and at times, utterly, viscerally shocking; perfect bookend to Revenge Porn.

2-13-21 – Revenge Porn-close look at a marriage, a divorce, a family; smart, frank discussion of sexuality and body image that sadly diffuses with the ending.

2-4-21 – Blood Meal – less about content that the extraordinarily clever use of 2 separate ‘performance’ closets for social distancing and digital wizardry to create the illusion of multiple spaces, scales, and interactions. One future for theater?

2-4-21 – Poltergeist – intense, exhausting one-man show marked by frenzy and silence as family secrets get revealed and a talent wasted perhaps begins to heal.

2-3-21 – Little Wars – stellar cast and smart, talky script make the Zoom format irrelevant; a pungent, painful thread twists through this fictionalized meet up of Hellman, Stein, Toklas, Parker and Christie. Notable.

2-2-21 – Katie Roche – streaming replay of the Mint Theatre production; an intimate story of a young girl with societally-limited choices; not as interesting as it could have been.

2-1-21 – Don’t Fight – Israeli live recorded play from Tel Aviv through Theater J; a comedy that is lively, cute, enjoyable, and predictable; about sibling dynamics, even the actor playing secondary characters who are twins.

1-29-21 – Lungs – Claire Foy and Matt Smith reunite for this socially-distanced two-hander that grows exquisite in its specificity-of feelings, deepening characterizations, and plot line.

1-26-21 – Three Hotels – astonishing ‘reading’ of this brutal assessment of a marriage ruined by corporate greed and personal tragedy; a study in ethics so relevant today; both Cannivale and Tomei appear to have memorized and thus fully performed the script.

1-25-21 – The Woman Hater – funny Fanny Burney play with all the Restoration tropes: mistaken identities, twinning, literary foppery; long but good fun!

1-4-21 – Days to Come – Hellman’s play starts a lot, but doesn’t go anywhere; maybe it needed another act?

12-15-20 – Friendly Monsters – MTC reading of a new, well-written play reveals relationship abuse, exacerbated in the time of covid; difficult and almost voyeuristic on Zoom.

12-10-20 – Barbecue – clever, satirical, twisty fun on the serious subjects of race, identity, and institutionalized entertainment, handled with just the right amount of wry humor.

12-3-20 – Three Kings – well-structured, dark soliloquy on the effects of damaged father-son relationships; Andrew Scott gives an intense, expressive performance.

11-13-20 – Naked Librarian – lovely linked monologues ruminating on the nature of everyday love, loss, and compromise; who are we sharing the boat with now, on this journey of life; perfect covid theater.

11-12-20 – Boston Marriage – a truly terrible new play by Mamet; what happened there? Even Patty Lupone couldn’t save it, and I couldn’t make it to intermission…

10-31-20 – A Touch of the Poet – posthumously produced O’Neill play with a lively production by Irish Rep, creating interactions, sets, and costumes that mimic live theater; feisty daughter character breaks the usual dreary O’Neill mode–a discovery!

9-25-20 – Jack was Kind – slow-building, powerful monologue by the wife of a famous figure very much like Brett Kavanaugh; the daughter asks, ‘how could you not know?’ and that sets off self-examination worth witnessing.

3-11-20 – Blues for an Alabama Sky – character-driven play with old-fashioned structure and plotting; provides some sense of Harlem in the Depression. The ‘surprises’ are plot-oriented, although all the set up is there. I prefer character depth over plot twists.

3-8-20 – Mr. Toole – Lovely acting in the Tennessee Williams vein; a biographical back story for fans of Confederacy of Dunces. Still solid acting is the reason to see it, as the talky, saggy script could use an edit.

3-4-20 – The Minutes – Great cast can’t save this Tracy Letts play that truly fell off a cliff in the last 5 minutes, after a funny, almost charming build up. Left with such a bad taste in my mouth. Self-indulgent by the playwright. A pity.

3-1-20 – The Perplexed – I’m completely perplexed why MTC would produce this Richard Greenberg play. Wildly miscast, excruciatingly talky–park and bark at its worst…ugh

2-29-20 – The Headlands – After a slow start, complexity takes over this family-secret dramedy, and this show becomes both more interesting and touching as a reflection on the power of place and memory. An unusual Bildungsroman.

2-23-20 – Mack and Mabel – Big show with old-fashioned numbers, even a Dolly-like showstopper; every song is a showstopper actually. The sour storyline, exposed with satirical tap, anticipates Sondheim. It’s a problem show, but I’m grateful for the rare opportunity to see it get an Encores treatment.

2-22-20 – My Name is Lucy Barton – Stronger than the meandering book. Laura Linney’s grace and inner light animate this meditation on a troubled mother-daughter relationship.

2-16-20 – Unknown Soldier – left the show with melodies in my head. Lush singing layered on top of a complex, bittersweet storyline about identity, love, and loss beg for Sondheim comparisons. Saw an early preview, but this one is polished and ready to go.

2-15-20 – Sabbath Girl – the script itself resurrects types, and they do play true, so are no  surprises. The characters are also preternaturally, and a bit unbelievably, articulate. So the play itself isn’t as sophisticated as its veneer. Still it’s full of pleasures, and that is enough.

2-8-20 – MacBeth – Mean Girls meets Shakespeare. It’s funny, frenzied, palpable, and wet. Inventive fun in staging and text. Actors maintain focus in challenging circumstances.

1-11-19 – Grand Horizons – funny, smart, well-acted Bess Wohl play that is surprisingly linear, predictable, and tidy; entertaining with first-rate cast.

1-5-19 – A Soldier’s Play – intense and likely more powerful when it first came out. The issues at its core haven’t changed, sadly, although our awareness is heightened. Strong ensemble acting makes the material seem stronger.

1-1-20 – Little Shop of Horrors – traditional take on this silly horror musical; uncomfortable theater detracts from great cast and performances.

12-31-19 – London Assurance – Frothy fun farce for New Year’s Eve complete with great acting and champagne for all at intermission. Thanks Irish Rep!

12-28-19 – Greater Clements – Samuel Hunter has done better; here, there’s no compelling writing, interesting characters, fresh plotting, or any sense of chemistry among the actors, plus LCT seats people behind poles and use lights that blind.

12-26-19 – West Side Story – aggravating given the calibre of the cast; what’s with the monumental projections and pushing back the live action so deep into the stage that we’re forced to watch the musical on tv? Really? Also “Officer Krupke” is moved out of order from the original, again totally breaking the tragic emotion. There are lovely moments, but the production overwhelms the young cast.

12-21-19 – Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven – Overstuffed at 3 hours with too many characters; would have worked well as a series; the dense story is heavy and depressing, with little time to balance the energy and dramatic arc. Still, Guirgis plays are the real deal.

12-12-19 – The Sorceress – melodrama and operetta well sung and staged, Cinderella meets MacBeth meets Rocky Horror, exuberant and all in Yiddish. What’s not to love?

12-11-19 – Underlying Chris – a gender-fluid autobiography of Chris, beautifully acted and staged; the details are rewarding and add up to poignant reflections on the meaning of life.

11-23-19 – The Sound Inside – energetic narrative writing and grounded performances guide the viewer on an unexpected, metaphorical journey. Surprisingly effective.

11-16-19 – Young Man from Atlanta – Horton Foote at his finest; character driven and grounded in reality; the indignities of aging, a fast decline, equally relevant today. 

11-2-19 – A Woman of the World – Kathleen Chalfant is luminous and offers a master class in acting in this one-woman show about Mabel Loomis Dodd, a charming, egotistical, poetic, sexual woman with a fascinating life and a blindspot we call can see.

10-20-19 – Bella Bella – Harvey Fierstein totally gives himself over to Abzug’s spirit in this one-person show about the long, uphill climb of women professionals and politicians.

10-19-19 – Nothing Gold Can Stay – strong acting and writing propel this slow-burn, family drama about drug addiction, overcoming predictable plot turns; intimate and powerful.

10-12-19 – Molly Sweeney – Brian Friel’s storytelling; 3 character studies and 3 points of view on the central story that is tender, quiet, and ultimately tragic; masterful writing and acting.

10-6-19 – New Englanders – despite low expectations due to the familiar ‘woke’ themes, the play far exceeded them; the limited palette and well-developed characters make for for a subtle, smart, and unexpected theater experience. 

9-29-19 – Height of the Storm- most of the play leaves the audience trying to figure out who’s living and not and what’s a memory and what, if anything, is happening in ‘real’ time. The playwright seems to give the audience the experience of dementia-like confusion.

9-22-19 – Linda Vista – Sourpuss creep gets the young gorgeous woman. Fantasy stuff for the playwright perhaps. Sitcom humor with Lifetime Channel dialogue. Really? I expected better from Letts. 

9-21-19 – Eureka Day – smart writing and strong acting takes a fairly even-handed approach to PC-ness; alternately funny and poignant; don’t know how many minds are changed, but it was an intelligent, relevant ride.

7-31-19 – Little Gem – well told, touching storytelling by three ordinary women leading ordinary lives; 3 intertwined monologues; Marsha Mason is marvelous.

7-26-19 – Road Show – extra points for a post-show discussion with Sondheim, Weidman, and the director. Six days of rehearsal produced a deep dive, emotionally resonant, grownup experience. Extraordinary singing and acting. Brothers and the American Dream.

7-24-19 – Hannah Senesh – This young actor displays remarkable range to give a deeply moving, unfortunately timely experience; this one-woman show portrays how courage, heart, inspiration, and hope can make change.

7-10-19 – Rolling Stone – intense family drama with clear ideas that don’t provide easy solutions; poetic language and effective staging pulls the audience into the family dynamic and character constellations. Religion and homophobia affects siblings.

7-7-19 – Moscow, Moscow – excruciating, juvenile absurdism making tired fun of Chekov tropes; Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike this is not.

7-6-19 – Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune – Set in the 1980s, but what is a contemporary audience meant to take from a play so anti-#MeToo? Why revive it at all? A vulnerable woman bullied into the arms of a creep. Not romantic.

6-21-19 – Julie, Madly, Deeply – bio plot meets cabaret-style audience interaction, with high-energy performer. She must think her voice is better than it is and the over-amped miking doesn’t help. Where’s Julie Andrews when you need her?

6-16-19 – Proof of Love – elegant actor and a versatile one-woman performance explores the subtleties of race and love relationships; has its moments and overall proves insightful.

6-10-19 – In the Green – Hildegard has an amazing story, poetry and music without this production’s over-managed, silly, screeching theatrics meant to somehow make her more relevant for today’s audience.

6-9-19 – Nomad Hotel – Given the subject matter of teenaged homelessness, the only surprise was how unengaging this play was.

6-5-19 – Handbagged – plodding theatrics double the number of tedious talking heads who deliver a history lesson on 1980s Thatcherism and the sometime conflicts with the Queen. Yawn.

6-5-19 – Toni Stone – inspiring and touching historical story of a woman who defied racial and gender odds in the Negro Baseball League. Strong writing and superior acting, the lead had tears in her eyes at the curtain call. Made me want to know more about Stone.

5–27-19 – Tootsie – fast-paced, great comedic timing, clever lyrics well sung, sterling cast, and smart updates allow total enjoyment in the absurdity of the plot; joyous.

5-26-19 – Continuity – Seems like the play is still finding itself–a relevant, mostly comedic play about climate change, but uneven pacing and tone. Does the playwright really want people to leave feeling helpless and hopeless?

5-26-19 – Secret Life of Bees – I saw this at Bard a couple of summers ago and was absolutely swept away by it. The Atlantic production is over-amplified, so that the lyrics turn to mush, and every song is pitched too high in intensity. Unnecessary.

5-21-19 – Long Long – Deadly blocking amplifies the talking heads. Annoying protagonist that predictably interrupts family flow. Familiar in every way, but none of them particularly good. Another disappointment from Margulies.

5-19-19 – 37th Marathon of One-Act Plays: Series A – as ever, a mixed bag, but nice to support plays in progress.

5-19-18 – Something Clean – thoughtful, sensitive, touching exploration of various experiences following sexual assault. Fine acting and writing create psychologically-true characters and situations that fully engage emotionally.

5-18-19 – Dying City – This underdeveloped two-hander means to be devastating, but there’s too much reticence in the characters to care; by the time the play ends, it seems like it’s just getting started.

5-16-19 – Posting Letters to the Moon – tender, affectionate epistolary format between actress Celia Johnson of Brief Encounters and her husband, writer Peter Fleming, of their WW2 experiences; not surprising, they could write a sentence!

5-15-19 – Poor of New York – A lovely production of a genuine melodrama that resonates today. “Deception is a crime”–one of the lines from the show. As all melodramas should, this one leaves us with a message about how the theater can change minds and actions.

5-12-19 – High Button Shoes – Checkov this is not, but it is a high energy song and dance precursor to Music Man. Surprisingly, Michael Urie not only can’t sing, but also limited his performance to impersonating Phil Silvers. Horrible.

5-9-19 – Enter Laughing – Silly, cute, the book is so dated that it is trying and predictable, but the songs are funny, particularly The Man I Can Love. That actress and the lead actor have great comic timing and physicality that is almost worth the price of admission.

5-4-19 – White Noise – baggy storytelling, unnecessary monologues, and cliched characters mar an intriguing, disturbing concept. Operates more archetypally than naturalistically.

5-3-19 – Happy Talk -eleventh hour plot device and plot hole the size of Illinois ruin what was an okay experience. Famous actor now playwright apparently doesn’t get developmental attention. Juvenile at best, making a strong cast look bad.

4-30-19 – BLKS – when actors start out shouting, there’s nowhere else to go. The language is blue, the soundtrack loud, and other than select and continual curse words, I had a hard time understanding it at all. Talk about not being in the target audience.

4-27-19 – Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain – you have to be in the WWII nostalgic mood and ready for silly comedy. Bit about British money is funny. Lots of corn. 

4-27-19 – Hillary and Clinton -fine Hnath play with Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow; surprisingly painful and profoundly emotional study of how society punishes women who excel.

4-25-19 – Caroline’s Kitchen – a literal and figurative family mess that is predictable from beginning to end with every theater trope and cliche intact; it thinks it’s funnier than it is.

4-24-19 – King Lear – I wouldn’t have gone again had it not been for Glenda Jackson. But it was Ruth Wilson as the Fool who impressed me most. Her lively cockney-accented performance gives the leaden Act 1 its only life.

4-21-19 – Ink – a wild and bumpy ride of the Murdoch origin story; powerful to see decision by decision how we got to where we are today; really Johnny Lee Miller’s show.

4-20-19 – Socrates – Painfully timely exploration of the nature and hypocrisies of democracy. Painterly lighting and stage direction cast a neo-classical mood. Fine acting allows the complex ideas of an irascible character to be as clear as his failures as a human.

4-18-19 – Killing Time – tedious reflections on end-of-life issues; is the actor supposed to play the cello badly as a comment on the character, or is this a tone deaf (literally and figuratively) directorial choice?

4-14-19 – Norma Jean Baker of Troy – Conceptually interesting, but an incomprehensible mess in reality. Dark droning of poetry on a film-noir-lit set, from beginning to end, this piece is profoundly embarrassing for Fleming, Whishaw, and the audience.

4-9-19 – All My Sons – gorgeous classic family drama with reverberations, stellar acting, still gobsmacking with its relevance today, from the Sacklers to our President.

4-6-19 – Lehman Trilogy – beautiful language spoken by first rate British actors who are in no way convincing as mid-19th-century immigrant German Jews, and the contemporary set, third person narration, and soporific musical accompaniment were jarring throughout.

4-1-19 – Miscast – wanted the experience, but it was mixed at best; over amplification muddying the sound and only a partial view from my (pricey) seat dampened the fun.

3-30-19 – Smart Blonde – a bio-story of Judy Holliday mixed with songs from the 50s; splendid acting by versatile cast; enchanting and engaging.

3-23-19 – Do You Feel Anger? – strong acting by the committed cast and absurdist writing that flips on a dime, literally and stylistically, make for an intense, relevant, visceral take on the power of language, the confusion of gender relations, and the ironies of behavior change, particularly in the workplace.

3-20-19 – Ain’t Too Proud – Temptations jukebox musical; high energy performances, strong dancing, and a good heart; the songs are woven into telling the group’s history.

3-13-19 – Kiss Me Kate – Fast-pace, full-voiced Kelli O’Hara and Will Chase (a welcome step up from him), charming dance from the whole company, tweaks to update the book, and smart Cole Porter lyrics make a stellar package.

3-9-19 – Imagining Madoff – well-acted, taut exploration of morality, and the breadth of moral responsibility, in light of Madoff’s crimes. 

3-6-19 – Choir Boy – sincere, strong performances amplified by writing centered on character development; interspersed gospel music deepens the characters’ storylines and how much the audience cares.

3-5-19 – Merrily We Roll Along – that Sondheim brand of wistful with an edge; like most of his shows, I experience it according to my stage of life; the songs come as ‘old friends’ with the characters exploring the intricacies of friendship and wasted dreams.

2-27-19 – Nantucket Sleigh Ride – a downhill sleigh ride with a central character who gets his comeuppance, in a gentle, albeit absurd, way; Borges is a funny, quirky addition.
 
2-24-19 – The Mother – tedious Albee-wannabe, perfectly suited to Huppert’s apparent preferences; her loose-limbed performance clashed with the rest of the restrained cast.
 
2-18-19 – Daddy – dull mash-up of psychosexual gay sex, prosaic commentary on the art market, and a Greek chorus of Gospel singers; an early work by a young playwright who is more about splash (literally) than coherence. Alan Cuming wasn’t worth it.
 
2-17-19 – Superhero – another show about an anxious teenaged boy and his depressed mother with bland pop music; reboot of Evan Hanson, now with his strange neighbor.

2-16-19 – Hurricane Diane – starts off with a strong conceit–bringing Bacchus back to present-day NJ–overlaid onto a simple comedy format; ends with an explosive, relevant tonal shift about climate change that elevates the entire experience.

2-11-19 – Marys Seacole – Jamaican-colonial encounters; goes on much too long, killing the interesting set ups; assumes the audience won’t get it unless the message is beaten in, then repeat, and repeat.

2-10-19 – Call Me Madam – a disappointing Encores production with a terribly miscast Carmen Cusack—she just doesn’t have the voice for a Merman role. Sigh.

2-8-19 – Switzerland – familiarity with Patricia Highsmith is essential; a writer writing about writers talking about writing; this one didn’t get good until the last 15 minutes–ah, if only there were a fast forward button.

2-3-19 – The Light – Discussion-worthy: relevant ideas are introduced and not developed, so with the entire narrative, reflect on all the layers that comprise this relationship. Intense.

1-25-19 – Anne of Green Gables -the beloved story is enchantingly told by one actor playing all the parts; she is masterful and holds the audience completely. The surrounding dancers elaborates. The piece is visually appealing and hits all the right notes to make you laugh and touch your heart.

1-24-19 – Beautiful- well-sung, bio jukebox musical about Carole King; the songs took me back, in a good way.

1-16-19 – Maestro – I closed my eyes to listen to the elegant performances of live music. Overall, though, this was a miss. The noted actor playing Toscanini was dialed down to low and the slide show approach didn’t evoke the feelings intended.

1-12-19 – Trick or Treat – the first act seemed to go somewhere interesting about how a family deals with Alzheimer’s disease. But Act 2 slides into the ol’ family secrets trope, and not terribly interesting at that. 

1-8-19 – Red State, Blue State – Colin Quinn shares some interesting, thoughtful comments and ideas about the country’s great divide in this standup.

12-27-18 – Pirates of Penzance – NYGSS – not professional to camouflage the creaky book and libretto; great Modern Major General and cute staging.

12-26-18 – Clueless – musical version written by Heckerling based on the movie; energetic dancing, vivid costumes, clever staging, and joyous performances by everyone come together to make the show seem bigger than it is on that small stage. 

12-23-18 – Blue Ridge – character-driven drama where group dynamics and personal lives are shattered by the destructive tornado played by Marin Ireland.

12-8-18 – The Net Will Appear – no fresh surprises in this gentle two-hander; the child actor tonight was hard to understand, and she has a lot, truly a lot, of dialogue.

11-23-18 – Apologia – one of the best dramas I can remember about the sacrifices women made in the 1960s and ‘70s and the resulting consequences and repercussions today. I deeply empathized with Stockard Channing’s character and her complex choices.

11-23-18 – The Hard Problem -Stoppard’s artificial dialogue, stagey staging, spokesperson characters, and coincidental plotting, but the emotional content also exceeded my expectations.

11-21-18 – To Kill a Mockingbird – Sorkin works too hard at making the exposition relevant to our Trump world; not necessary, we get it, and the reliance on story relating kills the dramatic tension.

11-21-18 – My Fair Lady – Laura Benanti rescues this production with her warmth, humor, and naturalness, making everyone around her better. Hooray!

11-20-18 – Bernie and Mikey’s Trip to the Moon – fairly sensitive portrayal of a brain-injured adult, but the characters serve as mouthpieces and extraneous plot points are tossed around; the sloppy writing doesn’t serve the strong acting.

11-18-18 – A Chorus Line – a first rate production despite the short rehearsal period; City Center’s 75th anniversary.

11-14-18 – The Other Josh Cohen – an ordinary guy’s story with a splash of Neil Diamond; a bit of ‘let’s put on a show in the garage’ combined with Broadway talent. They enjoy each other a lot and give the audience a lot of joy. Sweet in our sour times.

11-4-18 – Sakina’s Restaurant – Adore good storytelling, but the performance wasn’t convincing, seeming too easy. The pacing was self-conscious and odd. An out-of-sync miss for me. 

11-1-18 – Good Grief – The dialogue alternates between banal college-dorm-like conversation and incoherent poetic devices. Lighting is blinding if you sit up close. 

10-31-18 – Usual Girls – superficial presentation of girls’ sexual development and peer group abuse; overstuffed with ideas, yet no nutrition. You’ll leave hungry and deaf. This show only has one sound level—screeching.

10/31/18 – Mother of the Maid – Extra points for Glenn Close who halted the show near the beginning due to set building noise from another floor, then spent 20 casual and charming minutes interacting with the audience while the noise was stopped. We all may have had a hard time getting back into it, but through numerous beautiful moments, I did. 

10-23-18 – Niceties – a thoughtful, fairly even-handed approach to complex issues including race in America, generational conflict, communications, and power; 2016 Yale story.

10-20-18 – Happy Birthday, Wanda June – Vonnegut was insightful when I was young. This felt like #Really? This again? About the animal nature of man. Enough already.

10-17-18 – Days of Rage – anatomy of youthful activism that exceeded expectations; good pacing, satisfying structure, character development, and a surprisingly poignant ending. Worth a conversation afterwards.

10-14-18 – Travisville – a close look at a painful time in American civil rights history that continues to be meaningful today. William Jackson Harper is not only an actor to watch, but also now a playwright of note.

10-13-18 – Plot Points in our Sexual Development – The playwright’s intention may be to create characters who talk about sexuality frankly, with the added element of gender issues. At this stage, though, the show feels like a character sketch instead of a theater piece. Expect more of Lincoln Center.

10-7-18 – Gloria: A Life – a review of Gloria Steinham’s life as played by Christine Lahti; tells an important history that is educational for many; still it was depressing in light of the Kavanaugh victory.

10-6-18 – Shake and Bake: Love’s Labour’s Lost – Immersive experience is infectious with a cast having a rollicking time, and also serving a funny, thematic, tapas-type meal. I think they did the play a favor.

10-6-18 – Fireflies – strangely overstuffed with “relevant” issues  and “rousing” closing sermon, when what works are moments  of poetry and lyricism that are character driven, relational, and emotionally real.

9-30-18 – What the Constitution Means to Me – Essentially storytelling about the plight of women historically and today; well meaning, relevant, painful, ranty, could use tightening. 

9-30-18 – Bernhardt/Hamlet – a perhaps less-than-completely accurate portrayal of a moment in Bernhardt’s life; the play is over long, and sloppy in a way that is typical Rebeck, but McTeer is having a lot of fun.

9-19-18 – Agnes – emotionally vivid interactions among storm-tossed characters in an intensely intimate setting make for a powerful, exhilarating, and exhausting experience.

9-9-18 – I Was Most Alive with You – Wow. This one is just all over the place and alternately incomprehensible and on-the-nose. I want to see more shows explore and elucidate deaf culture. Sadly, this one doesn’t move that exploration forward. Boo, Craig Lucas.

9-8-18 – The True – smart writing that respects its audience; New York politics and the powerhouse woman at the center of it all; great acting with Edie Falco and a covey of male politicos surrounding her.

9-4-18 – Heartbreak House – the framing of a WW2 London bomb shelter gives this a bit of Dorothy-and-Mickey-put-on-a-show energy and amateurishness. Shaw deserves better.

9-1-18 – Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin – a bravura one-man performance that not only makes the audience relish the American Songbook, but also believe in the American Dream again; the back stories are revelatory.

8-26-18 – Where is My Maple Town – an ancient Chinese parable that demonstrates how little human nature changes; completely topical about corrupting idealism and the infection of ambition; play and production from Chinese women–wonderful.

8-25-18 – Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties – timely and topical with a light, good-natured touch; refreshingly non-judgmental; how refreshing to see a show take on specific issues of this moment and demonstrate how universal they really are–it all comes down to love, acceptance and having a voice to declare both.

8-24-18 – The Exes – anemically funny update of a classic screwball comedy, particularly The Philadelphia Story, complete with rich-people types; some 11th hour twists, I suppose, save the day. 

8-4-18 – R.R.R.ed – One-joke show that seems more suited for sketch comedy. Goes on way too long the way the most tedious SNL sketches can. Less is more and outside editing would be most welcome.

8-3-18 – Demon – not your grandmother’s opera; the Demon has so much sex appeal that all the women onstage, and in the audience, were rapt with pleasure. Glorious production, like a Baroque painting complete with chiaroscuro.

7-29-18 – Before We’re Gone – Soporific and drafty with uneven pacing, characters that don’t rise above stereotypes, and little exploration of ideas beyond naming them.

7-27-18 – Neurosis – Overall, this intermittently funny show needs freshening with a woman’s point of view on the creative team. A subplot would help, too. By the second act, the overlong one-joke was sliding toward irritating, sort of like an unwelcome neurosis.

7-20-18 – The Creation – Handel’s oratorio, so not theater per se, but deserves mention here, not only for its luscious score and orchestration, but also for the magical staging. Technology, yes—coordinated iPads and inventive projections. But what wonders can be created by balloons and a tank of water. Unforgettable.

7-19-18 – Romeo and Juliet – Over-the-top performances compensate for ambiant noises and the overall outdoor-ness. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed NY Classical Theater playing comedies, which work better than this language-intensive tragedy. But the show was staged throughout a small park near my apartment, so that’s more than half the fun.

7-12-18 – Tevye Served Raw – Exuberant performances enhance the Sholem Alecheim storytelling. One story extends the Fiddler plot line which I found interesting and poignant.

7-12-18 – Pedro Pan – NYMF reading last year is now more developed; sweet at its heart with the still-relevant story of Cuban children immigrating alone to the U.S. Amateurish but has promise.

7-11-18 – Skintight- Joshua Harmon’s trademark self-involved characters and ruminations on family and meaning couched in family history. But a baggy first half is wearying; the second act finds its punches, so why not start there and then go into fresh territory?

7-10-18 – Saintliness of Margery Kempe – a contemporary take on a morality play, with types rather than characters; based on supposed first autobiography. More conceptual than theatrical.

7-8-18 – Fiddler on the Roof – Joel Grey directs this satisfying production in Yiddish that rings more deeply authentic than the show in English; exuberantly performed across the board. Minimal staging suits the story and doesn’t take anything away from the hilarious dream sequence. Close to perfect.

7-7-18 – Straight White Men – boys will be boy-sterous. If Young Jean Lee has the meta concept of showing just how boring straight white men can be, then she has succeeded. That point-of-view comes off as snarky and pretentious, which I found intolerable. Given the intro, I expect that is her intent. 

7-5-18 – Carmen Jones – sublime operatic singing in an intimate setting. Big voices sang me to heaven, making this Carmen fresh and exhilarating. 

7-4-18 – Girls & Boys – taut writing and a crisp performance by Carey Mulligan; still, the anticipation built up to the violence is undermined by a too-easy psychological rationale.

6-30-18 – On a Clear Day – Enthusiastic performances and Lerner songs sung with natural voices, not miked, mostly overrode the silly plot and characters.

6-24-18 – Mary Page Marlowe – a non-linear, quilt-structured play by Tracy Letts. A smart, rich, thick study of one woman’s life that, with patience, reveals how moments get translated at different stages. Blair Brown’s perspective from the elder state is touching.

6-17-18 – Teenage Dick – Pointed commentary on power, agency, difference, and moral choices using Richard III as its structure. Explores current conversations on gender and disability dynamics, and a punch-in-the-gut ending dissolves the witty, breezy tone; incredibly strong lead performance.

6-10-18 – Log Cabin – Funny, poignant, nuanced look at LBGTQ relationships that poke and prod at easy labels, yet also achieve universality. Well done and articulates sensitive subjects for examination, just resisting becoming scattered.

6-7-18 – The Great Leap – a sports metaphor stands in for the shifting power dynamics between the U.S. and China; a slightly draggy, repetitive first act explodes in the second. A poignant, thought-provoking last line sticks.

6-1-18 – Conflict – I enjoyed the other production by the same playwright Mint did; this one doesn’t seem worth reviving to me; a couple of lively performances don’t balance out the contrivances and preachy politics.

5-27-18 – Dan Cody’s Yacht – an age-old, yet completely relevant, moral dilemma of communal versus self-interest fuels this well-written, thought-provoking show.

5-22-18 – Hello Dolly – this time with Bernadette Peters, who croaked and mugged her way through it; the whole production now seems aimed at 8 year olds.

5-20-18 – Our Lady of 121st Street – Speechifying doesn’t dull the great acting; lots of raised voices substitute for conflict and resolution, creating a one-noteness that ultimately is unsatisfying; could be so much more if this were a draft. 

5-13-18 – Me and My Girl – peppy Encores production, with a book spruced by Stephen Fry; crisp, charming production numbers with first-rate singing and dancing. Pure fun.

5-13-18 – Beast in the Jungle – a sour take on memory, aging, and regrets with a strong cast, mostly wasted. No songs, so the story is narrated, with dance to punch the point. The Kander score is too on-the-nose, with every movement punctuated by notes. Surprisingly, Stroman’s choreography also feels dated. The air of fusty sadness doesn’t come from the book, but from the creative team behind it.

5-9-18 – Paradise Blue – Morisseau again proves what a strong playwright she is. You know it’s one for the books while you’re watching it, particularly if you can overlook the theater tropes and resulting predictability. Fine acting, set, and lighting.

4-29-18 – Sancho: An Act of Remembrance – the performance is so big that it overshadowed the material; this piece does feel more like an educational sketch with material than a play with theatrical coherence; about the first black Englishman to vote.

4-22-18 – One Thousand Nights and One Day – a confused, muddled musical about the Scheherazade story. What is this show about–9/11? A cross cultural romance and understanding? Middle East peace? A little too experimental and conceptual.

4-20-18 – Summer and Smoke – minimalist production does no favors for the creaky script; the play is missing contemporary psychological astuteness, exacerbated by Williams’ gender stereotypes.

4-17-18 – Metromaniacs – silly, delightful, mistaken-identity play with fast-pattered verse making funny chaos; how do they get all those words out so quickly and so well?

4-15-18 – Miss You Like Hell – nice staging for a small space, particularly the Greek chorus singing and rhythm section. It’s a story as old as time and also in the moment; uneven score but moving as we move along on the journey with the characters.

4-14-18 – Transfers – intelligent, complex writing and characters dealing with societal expectations and life experiences. Touching, painful, funny, thought provoking.

4-8-18 – Trifles – little-known, early 20th-century playwright Susan Glaspell takes on a village murder with a feminist perspective; subtle but too short.

4-6-18 – Children of a Lesser God – The way the hearing character speaks continually both for himself and the deaf character is tiring. This device continues through very long stretches of the play and feels forced and theatrical, preventing engaging emotionally.

3-31-18 – My Fair Lady – Nice staging, pleasant performances, perfectly enjoyable. Norbert Leo Butz gives the most fun. Lauren Ambrose has a surprisingly sweet voice, but no power behind it–the role is bigger than her voice. The ending seems like a Preview experiment.

3-29-18 – Galatea – funny gender-bending rake on the myth; a seriously good first draft with wickedly fun, gender fluid performances.

3-29-18 – Goldstein- touching new musical that doesn’t know how to end; still the well-sung, old fashioned songs and gentle book add up to something true about the immigrant experience and family dynamics.

3-25-18 – Grand Hotel – big, entertaining production of a dark show brilliantly sung and danced in a minor key; how can Encores do all this for 5 performances?

3-18-18 – Say Something Bunny! – performance art of an obsession with screeching, annoying audio recordings of a 1950s Jewish family in an immersive, rapidly light-shifting environment. Excruciating.

3-17-18 – Carousel – a premier cast perform these songs and dances with a revised book. A mashup of Broadway, Opera, and New York City Ballet stars make a clean emotional experience for contemporary audiences.

3-15-18 – Frozen – a sweet, straightforward Disney cartoon on stage, with a couple of comic moments and staging tricks that amp up a bit of fun.

3-13-18 – Mean Girls – Tina Fe vehicle as a musical. Clever plays on traditional musical tropes, particularly in the dance numbers. Big energy starts to fade in Act 2, even with the fast pace. A fluffy Evan Hansen on its way to being a huge hit for teen audiences.

3-10-18 – Three Tall Women – brilliantly acted, particularly the luminous, regal Glenda Jackson; the finest Albee for a tender reflection on moments that make a life. Even while watching, you know this is something special.

3-8-18 – Later Life – A.R. Gurney with no insights; boring and inert, the disparity of cartoonish supporting characters from the earnest protagonists makes the whole juvenile.

3-3-18 – Admissions – a thought-provoking and even-handed approach to the effects of affirmative action; pushes buttons with some speechifying, but overall clearly articulates ideas that can easily get fuzzy. A smart theater experience.

3-1-18 – Harriet’s Return – one-actor biographical piece on Tubman that is immersive and vivid, difficult and inspiring, educational and touching. The ending breaks the fourth wall in an affecting and effective way.

2-24-18 – An Ordinary Muslim – Touching and provocative, an O’Neill-flavored family drama, here a Muslim-English family. Easily applicable to any community that leaves the second generation struggling for identity, with assimilation v cultural pride pressure points.

2-22-18 – Kings – An intelligent, yet static, political play; I hoped for a braver ending that might have given us hope for change in these dark winter days of our country. Alas no.

2-19-18 – Queens – Holds up a mirror up to a New York experience that is generally hidden, with a premise that puts diverse women together in a Queens setting, but the play itself seems like an early draft. The focus is diffused, the build-up very slow.

2-15-18 – Some Old Black Man – at least 15 minutes too long diffusing the strong acting that no doubt will settle down after a few more performances. Clearly heartfelt, but no new territory gets explored. Aging ain’t for sissies.

2-13-18 – Edward Albee’s At Home with the Zoo – His typical gut punch; interesting pairing that provides more context for Zoo Story. The acting, particularly by ‘Roger’, is bravura. The metaphor in Zoo Story now seems blinding.

2-11-18 – Hey, Look Me Over – delightful compilation of numbers from mostly forgotten shows with rousing performances by the stellar Alexandra Socha (where did she come from?!), Bebe Neuwirth, and Clifton Duncan (wasted if he takes any non-singing role).

2-11-18 – Josh: The Black Babe Ruth – exuberant acting, clever breaking of the 4th wall, and good musical accompaniment can’t override the drafty play. Reworking the scene lineup and pinch hitting in some biographical gaps would make the lead figure less one-dimensional and more someone you want to root for (puns intended).

2-10-18 – Time Stands Still – well-written, character-driven think piece that even-handedly explores the nature of change, differing definitions of a good life, and relationships, as well as choosing beauty over ugliness.

2-10-18 – Relevance – a difficult, challenging dissection of feminism, ageism, contemporary culture, and achieving success; unfinished mid-previews, but understandable given the complexity and relative even-handedness of the arguments.

2-3-18 – I.C.E. Whisper Opera – spare and beautiful, intimate and whimsical, poetic and meditative. Gorgeous set and lighting, with the audience sunken below the stage so that the sparse-by-design seating causes us to raise our eyes high. Spiritual. Memorable.

2-3-18 – Amy and the Orphans – a familiar family drama with the differently-abled, but I appreciated the dissection of family dynamics and how life decisions get made. The closing monologue takes the theme and gives it to us as a delightful and satisfying gift.

2-1-18 – Party Face – only reason to see it is to see Haley Mills all grown up; good acting can’t save the worn-out script; snore.

1-28-18 – Porto- excruciating play about self-absorbed Millennials; vegetarians beware.

1-27-18 – A Kind Shot – one woman’s journey to self awareness through abuse, sexual harassment, and basketball.

1-27-18 – Memorare – a traditionally-styled play with a clear arc and structure, a relevant theme (of racism and compassion) and a satisfying conclusion.

1-25-18 – Homecoming Queen – ’tis the season for African plays by African women about American acculturation; this one has a tragic twist and great acting, but uneven pacing and poor sight lines ultimately detract.

1-23-18 – Hangmen – pretty grim without adding anything to my thinking on the issues involved. Thick accents and unfamiliar cultural references mean working hard to understand, and I didn’t care enough to bother. A tedious night indeed.

1-20-19 – X: Or Betty Shabazz v The Nation – a real ensemble piece, the actor playing Malcolm doesn’t have the largest part. Metaphoric setup and powerful staging are involving literally and emotionally. A meaningful commentary on how power corrupts then, now and apparently always.

1-19-18 – Fire and Air – my pleasure crescendoed as I settled into the rhythm of the language. Act 2 has two moments of incredible beauty, and the lead performance is loud and strong, nicely contrasted by Marsha Mason’s quiet counterpoint.

1-15-18 – The Other Mozart – one-woman show that tells a poignant, often emotionally-painful story about this overlooked, confined, talented-musician sister.

1-13-18 – Cardinal – tonally uneven with an unpolished script, but I was happy to go along with it, even with its pat ending. The narrative ride exposes issues of American business and the (failure of the) American Dream.

1-13-18 – Miles for Mary – Is this story a veiled metaphor for human war and the inability of society to change as a result? If not, I’m not sure what the point is to suffer through this depiction of human fallibility despite its periodic humor.

1-3-17 – John Lithgow: Stories by Heart – this self-indulgent show has bright moments when Lithgow tells about his parents, but the stories are by Lardner and Wodehouse and annoyingly over-acted by Lithgow.

12-30-17 – Hindle Wakes – a lovely rendering of a time of enormous cultural change, pitting tradition and modern values. A great depiction of two types of women from 100 years ago that continues to resonate.

12-24-17 – Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – multi-genre, poetic mood piece that loses energy, emotional connectedness, and coherence with Act 2’s shift to biography. A meditation on human cruelty and anguish evoking Romantic era sensibilities with Robbie Fairchild as the beautiful monster and intense, glorious piano and organ pieces.

12-23-17 – Once on this Island – uplifting fable with unending visual and vocal delights, endearingly performed. Feel the breeze on your cheek.

12-21-17 – Mankind – a good send up of relational norms, religion, and power structures in a future world where women are extinct; laugh out loud funny.

12-20-17 – De Novo – immersive, documentary-style piece about immigration and deportation of children; builds tremendous empathy using theatrical devices and powerful storytelling.

12-19-17 – Awake and Sing – intense Odets drama in Yiddish beautifully acted and surprisingly sexy, but ultimately a sad portrayal of poverty.

12-16-17 – Farinelli and the King -tells us the most dramatic moments rather than showing them, and Rylance takes up too much energy. Ultimately, and sadly, cold, warmed only by candlelit Baroque songs.

12-15-17 – This is My Birthday! – Detailed exploration of the travails of a 30ish single woman grows tiring after an hour, despite the technology veneer.

12-10-17 – Hold These Truths – gorgeous piece on the Japanese internment that provokes laughs at the absurdism and tears from the grace of the language and performance. A paean for today that will leave you finding some sense of optimism in our dark times.

12-10-17 – 20th Century Blues – this is a talky show, but it resonates among these friends who can speak their truth; the explorations of aging are thoughtful and grounded.

12-3-17 – The Children – Slow build as masterful actors take us on a journey to explore the human condition. Leave the theater thinking about human responsibility, something that’s sorely lacking in the U.S today.

11-25-17 – The Migration – the tie to Jacob Lawrence’s Great Migration series drew me to this performance; amazingly high energy and at times emotionally resonant.

11-24-17 – Parisian Woman – Pleasant entertainment with a comment or two about the current political morass; the plot turns make sense in the context of a set of cardboard characters led by Uma Thurman.

11-22-17 – What We’re Up Against – like other Reneck plays, she articulates the obvious very well; too many words and a specious intermission slow down this one-note show that’s meant to be blistering, but never rises above predictability.

11-22-17 – Oedipus del Rey- clever adaptation that grips hard; intense, visceral, exhilarating, with tender, graphic sexuality and believable violence.

11-21-17 – Last Match – Metaphorical exploration of life purpose and stages of life; more polished, poetic, and interesting than her other play on stage right now, Actually. A playwright to watch.

11-19-17 – Brigadoon – Glorious singing, transcendent dancing, updated book, what a cast, just about perfect.

11-18-17 – Actually – A two-hander with pitiable characters and storyline that highlights the hidden traumas of hookup culture. The playwright takes the easy way by presenting the problem of sexual consent, but not working deeper to move the dialogue forward.

11-15-17 – School Girls – Masterful storytelling with humor and pathos, character development, and taut plotting. My emotions rose to meet these actors and the play which explores how dominant culture spreads and how deeply ingrained self-criticism is for girls everywhere.

11-15-17 – Diaspora – Muscular acting by a young cast presenting ideas about Jewish identity and current and ancient violence in Israel that are there somewhere in all the action on stage. I’m just not really clear what they are.

11-14-17 – Jesus Hopped the A Train – socially relevant themes, strong acting (if sometimes one note, as in too loud), and compelling stage spaces; editing would help the baggy talkiness.

11-12-17 – Pericles: Born in a Tempest – tender and raucous, church theater and clever staging, familiar and fresh. After a bit of a slow start, the play takes on the problems of the Tempest and weaves them together in endearing ways.

11-8-17 – Measure for Measure – Elevator Repair Service beyond horrible. Slurred words, soft spoken with amped projections. I left after 15 minutes. Two people told me “that’s just the show” in the exact same words. Must have a lot of practice or coaching in saying them. So much for the beauty of Shakespeare’s language.

11-8-17 – Wolves – Big energy of the adolescent girls at the beginning inevitably fizzles; the last scene seems completely disconnected from the dramatic tension built before—it’s as if it were two different plays.

11-2-17 – We Fainted Alternately on the Sofa – one-woman show enacting Jane Austen’s juvenalia, charmingly presented in the intimate English Speaking Union.

10-31-17 – Curvy Widow – The chick-lit of musicals; would have benefited greatly from a subplot and secondary leads given the unrelenting focus on one character’s sex life.

10-28-17 – Mesquite, NV – refreshing to see a story about older people, many behaving badly; provides some insight into our current political quagmire. 

10-28-17 – Harry Clarke – plays with questions of identity, life choices, and authenticity wrapped in a very entertaining package of storytelling.

10-27-17 – Freight: The Five Incarnations of Abel Green – Timely and provocative, bravura acting, historical perspectives on contemporary race issues, and strong writing and theatrical conceit make this stellar theater.

10-22-17 – Rags – revision of 80’s flop; lush singing really helps this essentially derivative show, with loud echoes of Fiddler with harmonies from Ragtime and Sondheim.

10-22-17 – Fireflies – there is something distasteful about this creaky, old-fashioned, corny, predictable play; I’m not sure what Jane Alexander, Judith Ivey, and Denis Arnst are doing in this reductive, thin, sitcom-like throwback.

10-18-17 – As You Like It – a good-natured performance with purportedly a Jazz Age backdrop, notes mostly in the songs.

10-18-17 – Junk – an already well-told tale presented predictably; a huge disappointment from Ayad Akhtar.

10-8-17 – Rhinoceros – certainly topical today, and the choice to translate this classic into Yiddish was brilliant on so many levels; excellent program notes.

10-2-16 – Frankenstein the Musical – one of two productions on right now; I think this has promise but the first preview was rough. Instrumental overwhelms the quiet voices, lighting miscues, weird/cheesy costumes distract from the strong performance by the monster.

9-30-17 – Mary Jane – I’m baffled by all the clamor about this; slow, tedious look at one woman’s experience with a terminally-ill child.

9-30-17 – Gospel According to Jefferson, Dickens, and Tolstoy- talking their way to learning about themselves in Purgatory; purportedly about religion, but the self-examination is ultimately redemptive.

9-27-17 – Desperate Measures – after an over-the-top, off putting start, this musical riff on Measure for Measure settles down with funny songs and conceits, all in iambic verse. Memorable songs. This one has promise.

9-25-17 – I of the Storm – a bravura performance holds this piece together; poetry punctured by twisted lyrics in American pop standards and hip-hop-type rhythm make me think about my choices.

9-24-17 – The Portuguese Kid – a good-spirited screwball comedy about hopes, dreams, aging, and love. Formulaic? Who cares? Love almost every moment that unfolds to the inevitable. 

9-24-17 – The Plantation – clever adaptation of The Cherry Orchard, set in the Reconstruction South, sparking reflections on race and class in America; smart staging in the Commander’s House on Governor’s Island.

9-20-17 – Too Heavy for Your Pocket – a subtle first act flies floppy and obvious in act two; still superb acting and ensemble writing provide an emotional core worth experiencing, particularly the coming of political consciousness by one character.

9-20-17 – Time and the Conways – a puzzle of a play that with patience pays out; a sad reflection on youthful hopes dashed by life’s disappointments. The devastation of war and economics are painfully relevant today.

9-18-17 – One Night Only – Monica Bill Barnes’ light spoof of sports events; not a dance piece, not theater; more like sketch comedy and clowning meet performance art.

9-16-17 – Inanimate – strong lead performance creates a believable, convincing lifestyle outside the mainstream. It’s core is really about the generosity of love and self-acceptance. Subplot on urban development is under-developed.

9-14-17 – Twist of Lemon – a son’s tribute to his father from the point of view of his father goes on a bit too long, but is sweetly nostalgic nonetheless.

9-3-17 – Charm – Good story well told with fresh and often funny staging. We get some back stories but not all. Perhaps an opportunity. Ending is a little too sitcom for the lead up. But a good first step in bringing gender complexities to a general audience in an entertaining way.

8-29-17 – On the Shore of the Wide World – Yawn. A little drama watered down even more; the central action takes place off stage. Actors struggle with the dialect and low key, one-note direction is tedious. Time for a rewrite!

8-27-17 – Company – well sung version, slow to get started and a bit of a depressed Bobby with Aaron Tveit; well-delivered songs.

8-22-17 – Fucking A –  Unlike any Suzan Lori Parks work I’ve seen: dystopian, violent toward women, and dark. There’s one five-minute monologue that is funny and true and so well delivered, but the rest is so unrelentingly dismal.

8-19-17 – If Only – A disappointing combination of a Lincoln hagiography and a worn, interracial love story. Poor direction leaves talky characters who speak in unmodulated tones seated facing each other with no other movement for 20 minutes, exacerbated by lecturing or reading to each other. A radio play would be more invigorating.
 
8-14-17 – Image – Directed by Greg Fletcher for an Equity Showcase; tight and intense exploration of ethics in celebrity culture; all involved did a lot with little resources.
 
8-9-17 – Summer Shorts A – smart, well acted shorts–divorced mourners of a dog, God playing squash, and Ayn Rand justifying an affair; still the best shorts series for quality.
 
8-9-17 – Hello Dolly – with Bette Miller relying on charm and celebrity; her shot voice is painful to listen to; go see the sublime Donna Murphy.

8-4-17 – Freedom Riders, NYMF – takes a whole act to build up the necessary urgency; reworking the score for better pacing and dramatic tension could turn this into something special.

8-4-17 – Georama, NYMF – Apparently scaled back from the St Louis production. The making of an artist and the making of a huckster–both inventive American types. Strong performances only slightly hampered by an anachronistic book and lyrics.

8-3-17 – Michael Moore – running for president on a platform of “one cord” for all electronic devices; funniest moment in the show when he got the audience to chant “one cord.”

8-3-17 – Ben, Virginia, and Me, NYMF – not sure Ben and Virginia warranted inclusion in the title; bio-musical of Liberace with entertaining energy, good songs, and wispy-thin characters; Sophie Tucker is the revelation, basically stealing the show whenever she appeared. The actor playing Liberace didn’t come close to selling the requisite charisma.

7-30-17 – Oklahoma, Goodspeed – fresh-faced and noisy production full of both fun and darkness; stellar leads for singing and dancing; a palette cleanser.

7-29-17 – Secret Life of Bees – concert reading with stellar performances; robust book, score, and lyrics; easily 30 minutes too long once it is fully produced.

7-27-17 – A Brimful of Asha – endearing performance by non-actor, real mother who steals the show from her theater-professional son. Very gentle despite the conflict, due to mama’s amused, mild, ever-present smile.

7-26-17 – Clean House – after a rocky start and with some preposterous surrealism, this often-funny, sometimes sad work becomes really touching; life, death, and the perfect joke.

7-22-17 – Night Tide, NYMF – terrible sound doesn’t help this one-joke score; campy becomes dull with repetition.

7-22-17 – Dear Jane – A self-portrait that is structured by memories and a busy mind; missed opportunity to more fully explore twin-ness and too long with other aspects of her life; still the stellar cast, moments of grace, and emotional resonance make this worth a see.

7-22-17 – Fourth Messenger, NYMF – clearly my best of fest so far; establishes the thematic tension right away and carries the audience with the score on a journey of spirituality and humanness; beautiful acting and singing crescendoes into real feeling.

7-30-17 – Painting Faye Salvez, NYMF – a reading of a new musical by a Northwestern student; a good premise, a couple of songs that work, makes a start; more life experience would help.

7-16-17 – The Time Machine, NYMF – There’s a nugget of something here, with two standout voices. Unfortunately, the lead wasn’t one of them. Too much is embarrassing.

7-16-17 – Parallelogram – Mind-blowing, smart script by Bruce Norris and superb acting; challenging and thrilling about the future of humanity.

7-14-17 – Dorian Gray, NYMF – I know this was a workshop, but the voices were so bad; how can they hope for a future? Too bad because the dramatic material is so strong.

7-14-17 – Matthew Mcconaughey vs the Devil, NYMF – very funny, exuberantly performed musical; hope Matty has a better sense of humor than James Franco and lets it be.

7-14-17 – My Dear Watson, NYMF – very flat performances and soporific music make for a lousy experience, especially in light of recent renditions of Holmes.

7-13-17 – The Roommate – even a slight twist and touch of emotion can’t elevate this one above sitcom level; that’s sitcom with a laugh track provided by the audience.

7-10-17 – Errol and Fidel – NYMF – exuberantly performed and sung, has potential with some editing; some of the slapstick humor may follow the formula, but seemed like it belonged in a different show.

7-9-17 – The Golden Land: Amerike – This theater is dedicated to keeping Yiddish alive, and they do a great job with limited space, scenery, and costumes. All equity cast delivers fabulous vocals.

7-1-17 – Of Human Bondage – the conceptual staging fights with the naturalism of the script and acting. Doesn’t need to be such hard work; choose a style and commit wholeheartedly.

7-1-17 – Pipeline – fast-talking dissection of the dilemmas of being a young black man in the U.S. today. Dominique Morisseau is a remarkable playwright, creating yet another taut, intense drama.

6-29-17 – The Enchantment – retranslated for a contemporary spin on a play by Victoria Benedictsson, who inspired Ibsen; talky, well-acted exploration of the affects of free love.

6-27-17 – Hello Dolly – Donna Murphy is so perfect in the role, it’s hard to imagine that anyone, and I mean anyone, could be better; well-paced, well-sung, lots of physical comedy; a complete delight; I had a happy grin on my face for most of the night.

6-25-17 – Marvin’s Room – well-acted but so depressing and dated with victimhood at its center that it’s basically intolerable; a shame given the cast.

6-17-17 – The Traveling Lady – a Horton Foote I didn’t know; his same gentle tone even when one character is acting out; as familiar as a spring day in Texas.

6-17-17 – Somebody’s Daughter – a tightly woven, nicely acted play exploring parental expectations and gender pressures in an Asian family; I would love to see a piece where a young woman chooses abortion which may just be too politically incorrect these days. The playwright could have at least had the character articulate her thoughts about her choice.

6-14-17 – Little Foxes – saw both casting choices and regardless, the play still has teeth; I preferred Laura Linney as Regina and Cynthia Nixon as Birdie. Both are impressive either way.

6-11-17 – Government Inspector – classic Gogol farce with big, physical humor from the excellent cast headed by a hilarious charmster Michael Urie; learned in the post-play discussion that with a censored press, Russian artists took political commentary onto themselves and their art forms. The play is certainly apt today.

6-10-17 – Pride and Prejudice – Comedia dell-arte meets Jane Austen in a sometimes hilarious, sometimes uncomfortable mash-up; laugh out loud and quickly wears too thin.

6-9-17 – Invincible – wildly uneven play that can’t decide if it’s a slapstick comedy or political diatribe. Neither worked for me.

6-8-71 – Pacific Overtures- lush Sondheim score contrasts with the spare production; elegantly choreographed with a foundation of traditional Japanese ritual; poetic, metaphoric, and quiet building in power and tension to the rousing conclusion; actors get to flex their performances in myriad ways.

6-7-17 – Deathless at Goodspeed – a post-apocalyptic, rock musical; ugh.

6-7-17 – Thoroughly Modern Millie at Goodspeed – extremely dated material, but the performances are so exhilarating and the staging so inventive, it balances out. Taylor Quick is an exuberant discovery. How did Janine Tesori update the lyrics?

6-3-17 – Marathon of One-Act Plays, Series A and Series B – consistently well-developed and acted; standouts were “Breakdancer,” which had the full play structure, character development, and dramatic relevancy, and “Linus and Murray,” with hilarity that covers its excellent structure and uplifting message.

5-27-17 – Can You Forgive Her?  – energetic acting, especially by Amber Tamblyn, gets over-ridden by a script that goes nowhere and cardboard characters; the problems are real enough, but are slap-dashed with new age pablum.

5-27-17 – Her Portmanteau – unsympathetic central character doesn’t help the solo-themed play; a well-acted weepy.

5-24-17 – Cost of Living – despite the disconnected title, the play is an moving, intimate, often painful look at the able bodied who are disabled in their lives; terrifically acted by all, disabled and able-bodied alike.

5-20-17 – Sojourner – a first: the show was delayed for an hour for an actor stuck on the subway; a theater staffer filled me in on the plot so I’d be ready for Her Portmanteau in a week.

5-20-16 – Roundabout – as the penultimate line declares, “Mozart- what life ought to be like”; this play is what life ought to be like. Witty people show up with zazz, and ideas get expressed.

5-17-17 – The Lucky One – another Mint discovery that A.A. Milne wrote plays for adults; this crisp production was light and frothy but had a real sibling drama at its core; nice paced and acted.

5-12-17 – Everything that Never Happened, Carlotta Festival Yale – a sensitive look at Shylock and his daughter, who alternates between being infuriating, lyrical, enchanting, selfish, and oblivious; as ever, my sympathies rest with Shylock; this play, like A Doll’s House Part 2, could have a future.

5-11-17 – If Pretty Hurts, Carlotta Festival Yale – stunning expansion of a West African folktale, with music, performance, and dance woven into the dramatic arc; the extended silence toward the end is a more powerful indictment of our cultural obsession with beauty than the poem that follows.

5-10-17 – Hour of Great Mercy, Carlotta Festival Yale – a promising start, but one too many subplots and as is, there’s no reason to stick around after intermission just to see the gun inevitably go off.

5-7-17 – Whirligig- No likable characters or plot interest, and while it’s fun to watch Zosia Mamet climb a tree and Norbert Leo Butz clown a bit, I left at intermission.

5-3-17 – A Doll’s House, Part 2 – surprisingly even handed and thoughtfully provocative. The characters come across as self-absorbed, yet with valid points of view. A stellar cast and solid ideas override the extraneous, anachronistic language choices.

4-30-17 – The Play that Goes Wrong – a Noises Off ripoff, but who cares? It’s hysterical. The line about the familial portrait had me in tears.

4-30-17 – Groundhog Day – happy to see Andy Karl perform, knee brace and all; the production even has fun with that; his charm and charisma carry the show.

4-18-17 – Present Laughter – the timing of a good farce with Noel Coward lines, Kevin Kline, and Kate Burton at her most deservedly sublime; great fun indeed.

4-16-17 – The Profane – family dramedy about secularism and faith; given how well written and thoughtful the play is, I wish the playwright had given us a third act; I missed some longed-for deeper exploration.

4-16-17 – War Paint – tells the story of women in business when women didn’t do business and the costs of marketing on aging in America; with two divas at the head, what’s not to like? Well sung, crisply paced, touching.

4-8-16 – Oslo – basically a perfect play, not an extra word, superior acting, clever set, and fast production with a Shakespearean drama about power and compromise, breaking down barriers and thinking for the future; I left despairing for our world today.

4-1-17 – If I Forget – over talky, which is a shame because a provocative notion of Jews and the Holocaust gets buried in all that mundanity.

4-1-17 – Amelie – charming, delightful, as sweet as the film without being cloying; not over-the-top exuberant–a refreshing change, but may not be a smasher as a result.

3-28-17 – White Guy on the Bus – the real drama is between two characters and it’s pretty powerful; too bad the rest is both obvious and bloated.

3-25-17 – Smart People – ends with Obama’s inauguration making its hopefulness seem like a history play; raises big questions about implicit bias in smart ways; good and provocative, and presciently insightful into today’s racial angers

3-15-17 – Bull in a China Shop – disappointed that this didn’t go anywhere new; a love story, that’s really it; I didn’t think it said anything new about being a revolutionary woman, and I was aware I was watching actors and acting.

3-15-17 – How to Transcend a Happy Marriage – a bit puzzled by the magic realism and what it offers metaphorically, but unlike much of the audience, I liked this one; a different take on polyamory with a good performance by Marisa Tomei.

2-26-17 – Napoli Brooklyn – a combination of well-drawn characters and stereotypes; family and friends and a 1960 airplane crash in Brooklyn; events that shape our lives.

2-19-17 – Come from Away – blurry, over-amped miking doesn’t help this hyper-charged rock musical; losing the words dims the cultural references; 9-11 reminders aren’t especially welcome now.

2-19-17 – The Man from Nebraska- one man’s journey through loss of faith; so sensitively performed that silence was full of emotion and the final moment wrenched through with ambiguity.

1-29-17 – Dear Evan Hanson – good premise, well acted; the music was annoying enough to make an early exit desirable; meant for Millennials.

12-28-16 – Yours Unfaithfully – slow-paced script; a period piece doesn’t need stiff, mannered demeanor, particularly given the contemporary interpretation.

12-25-16 – Big Comet – inventive, exhausting staging of “War and Peace” as a rock musical; the strobe lights killed me, so I had to leave.

12-21-16 – The Secret Lives of Edward Gorey – 3 actors play different stages of the quirky artist’s life; brisk, exuberant, charming; very little of his odd humor is shared.

12-21-16 – The Band’s Visit- just goes to show that people relate gently and kindly when culture is taken out of the mix; small, lovely, sweet, and touching; personal contact is all.

12-10-16 – Ride the Cyclone. Perfectly weird and weirdly perfect; fresh staging like I’ve never seen before, exuberant performances, crisply witty book and lyrics; a must.

11-26-16 – Sweat – post-election, I just couldn’t take the working class’s seething anger and racism; left at intermission as I didn’t want to see the inevitable violence to come.

11-20-16 – Sweet Charity – Sutton Foster is born to play the role, and she is her effervescent self; a quiet, moody ending is a downer, as is the whole second act.

11-12-16 – Babylon Line – I guess I’m not a Richard Greenberg fan although I keep trying; I find his writing self-indulgent and schmaltzy; Elizabeth Reaser doesn’t save this one.

11-12-16 – The Roads to Home – Horton Foote has a special touch that doesn’t age for me; gentle, genuine emotion, familiar, but with a surprising play with reality.

10-29-16 – Falsettos – pleasant music, but dated enough to not be the overwhelming piece of theater it was originally; today, a gay man who wants to have a biological child would be openly discussing it; it did bring back memories.

10-22-16 – Notes from the Field – slow-build to really powerful Anna Deveare Smith; John Lewis is the hero now as then.
 
10-19-16 – Scenes from Court Life or the whipping boy and his prince; lots of stage craft, an attempt to mash up the Bush family and King Charles I and II; a long time to get off the ground, and by Act 2 the comparison gets stronger; still I’m not sure it added up to much.
 
10-13-16 – Relativity – Richard Dreyfus as Albert Einstein, a little rocky in his lines, but believable as the scientist; play’s abrupt ending a bit unsatisfying, but overall, on its way.
 
9-10-16 – Dance Nation – self-consciously absurdist with a couple of genuine laughs, but basically didn’t go anywhere or say anything.
 
9-10-16 – The Last Tiger in Haiti – brutal and poetic, abstracted and topical, the play has a lot of potential and certainly sparks discussion; watch for it.
 
9-9-16 – Miller, Mississippi – fully realized characters pack a punch, with a slow build that ultimately says something about the Civil Rights movement, albeit anachronistically.
 
9-4-16 – Small Mouth Sounds – recognizable types from every retreat I’ve attended; enjoyed the character portrayals developed mostly in silence; oh so funny, touching, too.
 

9-4-16 – The Layover – started off strong, taut , sexy , then diffuses into back story that’s not entirely consistent with character set-up; does every talk of murder have to pay off?

8-20-16 – Butler – provocative, beyond belief perhaps (except it’s based in fact), but an edge-of-the-seater about the transformation of a seeming doofus into a very clever fellow, who outwits the Fugitive Slave Law.

8-20-16 – A Day by the Sea – British playwright N.C. Hunter’s subtle, quiet play from the 1950s explores human nature, hope in the face of adversity, and uncompromisingly real resolutions; a very adult play.

7-23-16 – Romance for Dummies – tv-movie-of-the-week calibre; a real let down from the usual Williamstown Theatre Festival fare; Justin Long can’t save this weak script.

7-9-16 – Smell of the Greasepaint and Roar of the Crowd – 1960s musical that featured great songs and desperate need for a new book certainly doesn’t achieve the latter.

7-1-16 – American Son – tense and tautly written, but predictable (sadly); needs a second act or to start at the end to tell us something new; what happens next?

6-25-16 – The Healing – another half-baked Samuel Hunter play; I wish he would slow down and polish, as his premise is a good one; where’s the drama?

6-25-16 – Out of the Mouth of Babes – a bit tv sitcomish, but such a pleasure to see solid parts for women.

6-11-16 – King and I – a reboot after the awful preview I saw and walked out on; the chemistry, pacing, staging, singing all are vastly improved with wonderful Marin Mazzie.
 
6-8-16 – Radiant Vermin – the title only makes sense afterward; wickedly funny, manically paced, darkly inspired writing with piercing commentary about our consumerist souls.

6-8-16 – She Loves Me – oozing with charm, how did this musical ever fall out of circulation?  Wonderfully performed, paced, and staged, near perfect.

5-29-16 – The Humans – I skipped it Off-Broadway but it’s a Tony favorite; unevenly paced and talky; I get the layers, but left a bit baffled by their meaning.

5-29-16 – Skeleton Crew – Dominique Morrisseau is an assured writer, building strength with each ‘thick’ characterization; impressively personal, affecting story of Detroit in 2008.

5-15-16 – Anastasia – a little bit Eliza Doolittle, a little bit of Fiddler’s yearning; an old-fashioned type musical, with a smart book by Terrence McNally and smashing sets.  Bdwy-bound.

5-7-16 – Waitress – better than the movie; introduces a great comic character with 2 astonishingly funny songs; eating pie while watching is part of the fun

5-2-16 – Happy Day – my first time with this Beckett; Diane Wiest is luminous in the part and the Yale Rep staging is well done.  Of course, it’s Beckett.

4-26-16 – Lewiston – although it could use another polish, the play has strong potential; focusing on the young person is a mistake again; least interesting character

4-16-16 – Vincent – written by Leonard Nimoy, a chance to get inside the head of Vincent van Gogh through his letters to Theo; beautifully performed one-man show

4-13-16 – Anything Goes – seemed like a big voice and worth the Goodspeed price; dancing worked, even for the small space; the rest was a let down

3-27-16 – Red Speedo – so desperately wants to go somewhere but just doesn’t; not exactly predictable but isn’t fresh either; unbelievable character inconsistencies

3-27-16 – The Crucible – new Broadway production, stylish, somewhat to excess, and solid acting make this classic zip

3-18-16 – Dry Powder – a bit artificially blocked for theater-in-the-round and a lot of talking heads; still smartly crafted, if not altogether fresh plotwise

2-4-16 – I and You – moved along rather weakly until the final denouement; parallels Walt Whitman in a nice way, but needs a good editing

1-2-16 – Marjorie Prime – a futuristic conceit for dealing with memory loss and grief;  the ending is both inevitable and completely original; what is the nature of being a family?

12-30-15 – Fiddler on the Roof – a classic production toned even grayer than usual;  Danny Burstein was a naturalistic Tevye.

12-30-15 – Our Mother’s Brief Affair – sloppy writing and half-baked characters nearly sink this Linda Lavin vehicle; a doozy of a plot twist

12-25-15 – The Golden Bride – the most delightful show with all the Yiddish tropes, excellent singing voices, and the belongingness of the Yiddishkeit

12-10-15 – Daddy Long Legs – the live-stream experiment works well on a small screen; a musical, epistolary, 2-hander that’s intimate by design, with a sparkling Megan McGinnis

11-30-15 – Peerless – another overly-loud, over-the-top production from Yale Rep (can they do subtle?) and yet another riff on Macbeth.  Sigh.

11-27-15 – Important Hats of the Twentieth Century – started off funny and vibrant and quickly wore out its welcome; needs another good edit to deal with the annoying

11-27-15 – View from the Bridge – overly-concepted that dulled the already-dreary experience;  is this a good play?  I still don’t know.

11-14-15 – Rear Window – same gimmick, different plot, combining overbearing noirish soundtrack and contemporary racial sensibility; I’m guessing it’s Broadway bound

11-7-15 – First Daughter Suite – mixed tonality isn’t too bothersome, shifting from dissonant naturalism to jazzy fantasy; Chelsea Clinton escapes the parody

11-7-15 – King Charles III – a very slow start ends up with a dramatic payoff that aspires to Shakespearean levels; I found those tropes a bit annoying and the ending too abrupt

11-1-15 – Dames at Sea – No one goes to this one for the plot; dance and overall pacing at hyper speed, with some good songs tossed in; some should have been tossed out

10-24-15 – Please Pardon My Aunt Sally – crazy, poetic performance piece told from the point of view of a cell phone; digital footprints are easier to wipe clean than memories

10-18-15 – Allegiance – A very strong piece of theater even with button-pushing; American musical meets Japanese culture meets opera, with a touch of complicated politics that keeps it from being too pat.

10-13-15 – Tuesdays with Morrie – nicely acted, but felt overly long; fortunately not overly sentimental like the book

10-11-15 – Clever Little Lies – one of DiPietro’s better plays; smart acting, good lines, and a tonal shift with the ending make this one a good ride

10-5-15 – Indecent – stagey, uneven, unappealing; I couldn’t find a way in, even though I am interested in the topic

9-20-15 – An Opening in Time – naturalistic and quiet, it drags in the second act; perhaps the playwright doesn’t know what to do with the tense issues, so settles for the pat

9-12-15 – A Delicate Ship – claustrophobic love triangle of delicate souls; what happens if we don’t open a door; even with its brevity and crisp pace, it’s hampered by wordiness

9-6-15 – Whorl Inside a Loop – good storytelling well performed; a bit of an existential writing snarl at the end that doesn’t really work, but easy to overlook

8-23-15 – The New Morality – a cross between a tea cozy and Shaw, this revival of the 1911 Harold Chapin play features a strong woman and wobbly men; amusing enough.

8-15-15 – Show for Days – Patti Lupone is over the top, but fun, and Michael Urie so natural and appealing; not much to the show, but the performances were entertaining

8-12-15 – My Paris – a new musical about Toulouse Lautrec that makes the most of its small stage and lead actor; Kathleen Marshall will no doubt take it to Broadway

8-8-15 – Love and Money – Gurney creates another sly commentary, wrapped in a gently-humored, easy-to-swallow package; Cornelia out-cons the con, and fun is had by all

7-11-15 – Off the Main Road – recently discovered Inge play gets a premier with a good cast and tight direction; how did a play this good get overlooked?  Still timely.

7-5-15 – Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2 – majestic production with intense performances, a class act, enough said

6/22/15 – Gloria – a much-ado plot line that ends where it started, although with significant casualties along the way; a little too talky with almost cliched plot points for its rave reviews

6-7-15 – Nice Girl, lovely, intimate piece, with action that is a bit too coincidental, but so what?  It’s a well-written, well-acted jewel, with tender disappointment at the end

5-23-15 – On the Twentieth Century – silly, good fun; love the four tap dancing train hops and Kristin Chenowith singing “Never!”; Roundabout does it right–exuberant!

5-24-15 – The Qualms – well acted much ado about sex, um nothing, occasionally funny, but resorts to gimmicks, the worst dinner party ever, if you find diatribes boring

5-24-15 – Skylight – a bit of a disappointment as the talky play by Hare brings down the naturalistic performances; I also didn’t get the dated British politics references

5-23/15 – Kiss Me Kate – this version, the book felt especially creaky, while still being performed with great energy; a crowd favorite, but I’m kind of meh about it

5-13-15 – Guys and Dolls – Goodspeed does a good job with this lively production; the 2 women leads have especially good voices, and the Adelaide had great charm

5-10-15 – Second Mrs. Wilson – surprisingly touching bit of presidential history complete with emotional range and real dramatic tension

5-6-15 – Something Rotten – sublimely zany, with clever references to Shakespeare’s works and American musicals; ‘holics, get thee to the theater, it’s just great fun

5-2-15 – Elevada – the staging and set were like performance art and clearly the best part of this show; a possibly interesting premise that doesn’t rise to the level of caring

4-19-15 – American in Paris – transcendent, glorious; the smooth elegance of the dance is completely satisfying in every way; the song arrangements are a bit odd, but I admire the experimentation; the updating of the book very welcome

4-12-15 – Iowa – huh?  Absurdist, yes.  Musical, well, okay.  From the dreary song at the beginning to the peculiar, dour ending, hmmm.  The Nancy Drews are the one bright spot.

3-28-15 – Abundance – strong writing, intense acting make the lives of two mail-order brides seem even more significant; friendship, obligation, betrayal, and self-expression

3-21-15 – King and I – a big disappointment; exhausted at the end of the first act and left, the energy was flat and Kelly O’Hara cold; sigh

3-14-15 – Mystery of Love and Sex – over-emphasis on the less interesting, young couple; middle-aged characters underwritten, maybe because they’re beyond the playwright’s experience

2-26-15 – Seen Change – a love letter to the theater through the lens of the history of the Shubert; often silly, surprisingly good singing and dancing, literally bringing history alive

2-20-15 – Familiar – what’s too familiar about this play is its sitcom setting, approach, direction, and characters; a overly-shrieking disappointment

12-21-14 – Sense and Sensibility – wildly fun staging, making the performance come alive briefly, but then, the tricks repeat, and it’s stil a period piece, alas, no new takeaways

12-14-14 – Pocatello – big disappointment after the powerfully original The Whale; Sam Hunter doesn’t have anything new to say about the issues, and I found it hard to care.

11-29-14 – Allegro – Rodgers and Hammerstein’s dog musical radically cut and still a pedantic flop; energetic staging used as a substitute for real musical glory

11-29-14 – The Oldest Boy – a deeply touching portrayal of a mother’s most unusual dilemma: what if your child were a reborn Buddhist Lama?

11-16-14 – Father Comes Home From the War – riveting drama exploring why a slave would fight for the Confederacy; Shakespearean, compelling dialogue and soliloquies

10-19-14 – Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime – the audience is thrust into the chaotic mind of a boy with Asperger’s; this production is intense, dazzling, and rewarding

10-12-14 – When January Feels Like Summer – a multi-cultural, 21st-century romantic comedy, filled with sweet characters and unlikely plot devices that somehow all work

10-12-14 – Bauer – the problem of writing a play about a visual experience; a overly-talky play about Rudy Bauer, a German artist persecuted by the Nazis and his loss of fame

10-4-14 – Brownsville Song (B-side for Tray) – earnestly and energetically acted, sad urban tale that seems very personal to the playwright; diverse audience was refreshing

10-4-14 – On the Town – even better than in MA; that ol’ Broadway fizz–fast-paced, big dancing, fun sets, clever staging, and added dances for Morgan Fairchild; wonderful

9-6-14 – My Mañana Comes – strongly choreographed; slow boil builds on interior stories of four men who work as busboys; the betrayal for survival at the end is a painful no-win

9-6-14 – It’s Only a Play – all about the personalities and quick one-liners, no substance; okay but not what we expect from McNally, who can do so much more than simply funny

9-3-14 – Things We Do For Love – probably more acerbic in the 90s when it was new; now a bit bloated and the ending puzzling; wonderfully acted and fun peekaboo set design

8-31-14 – Fiddler on the Roof – spry and earnest, hits the humor well enough to balance the pathos; actual fiddler, playing on the roof, makes up for the occasional wobbly notes

8-22-14 – Dancing Lessons – emotionally-clean, good theater–well-developed characters, good humor, and tender moments of grace not often associated with Asperger’s

8-9-14 – Sex with Strangers – smart, topical, funny, sexy, believable; well-written play about writers, as a metaphor for the ambiguity of identity and relationships

8-2-14 – The Visit – starts out as wistful Little Night Music and quickly becomes dark, dark, dark; revenge and greed, flat score, despite Chita Rivera, it’s a bleak affair

7-31-14 – Pieces of My Heart – entertaining book musical about Bert Berns; pretty good pacing, evocative dancing, Twist n Shout!

7-31-14 – Between Riverside and Crazy – surprising, complex character portrait that plays on age and race stereotypes; compact, interesting set in 360

7-19-14 – Living for Love – cliched characters and plot lines meant to be humorous left me cold; still the cast and director smell like Broadway; felt like bad tv about opera divas

7-13-14 – Benedict Arnold: The Musical – clever parallel to make him the American Macbeth, complete with witches; score all over the place; clever use of tiny stage

7-12-14 – The Who and the What – Disgraced, by the same playwright, attacks liberal sensibilities; this one plays into them in an uninspired way.  A sophomore slump?

7-5-14 – June Moon – stereotypically insulting toward women, I can’t figure out why Williamstown Fest revived this clunker;  embarrassing really…

6-28-14 – The Events – at times incoherent to its detriment, this well-meaning attempt to explore the emotional repercussions of violence doesn’t really work; the local choir sings!

6-22-14 – Endurance – wonderfully effective and surprisingly touching mash-up of the 2008 financial crisis in an ordinary office and the Shackleton disaster; beautiful to watch

6-19-14 – Arguendo – the five minutes of merry madcap delight are not worth the deadly dull legal dross of the rest of the play; part of Arts & Ideas–the ideas weren’t intriguing enough

6-8-14 – Fly by Night – somewhat juvenile musical that is a mash up of new age metaphysics and The Fantasticks; falls in the Once and First Date category of being too young for me

6-8-14 – Too Much Sun – another Nicky Silver-Linda Lavin collaboration, she playing basically the same role, but not as sharp or witty as “The Lyons”

5-25-14 – Gilbert the Great – New Haven and Erector Set history told non-linearly and with a dash of philosophy; performed with great energy, but didn’t really work for me

5-24-14 – City of Conversation – very fine theater–well written, well performed, topical without being dated, an exploration of the political divide laid on one family; infuriating, funny, touching

5-14-14 – A Loss of Roses – a William Inge play that bombed originally; now seems both dated and topical, in this Depression era story; acting was rough in this performance

5-10-14 – The House That Will Not Stand – strangely both anachronistic and filled with dated stereotypes; still an interesting historic fact-of-life from early 1800s New Orleans

5-7-14 – The Few – Not as riveting as “The Whale,” but playwright Samuel D. Hunter can draw up believable, heart-tugging characters; nicely acted, but needs some pacing polish.

5-7-14 – Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder – based on the wildly clever Alec Guinness movie “Kind Hart and Coronets.”  An entertaining, if tamed, “romp” with a touch of opera.

5-3-14 – Shipwrecked – exuberantly performed, clever, low-tech props and sets; is it a children’s play?  If not, it’s just too predictable.  That’s unexpected with Donald Margulies.

4-22-14 – Shadow of the Hummingbird – worth it to see Athol Fugard perform; maybe not too many more chances; a philosophical look at Plato’s Cave and love as the purpose of life

4-16-14 – Realistic Joneses – big name actors doing an absurdist comedy that ruminates on death and the inability to communicate; I don’t know what to say

4-13-14 – Act One – warm-hearted portrayal of Moss Hart’s early life; while little dramatic tension builds, because we know he succeeded, the theatrical Ragged Dick story appeals

4-12-14 – Somewhere – a different West Side Story; a Puerto Rican family caught between a tough reality and their dancing dreams; beautifully crafted play with characters you want for

4-6-14 – Most Deserving – very funny, telling, and accurate portrayal of the inanity of art world politics, with a dash of screwball and a tiny bit of touching authenticity; well-written play

4-2-14 – Hellman v McCarthy – Dick Cavett steals the show as the quasi-narrator of a literary row, formented on his show in 1979; his folksy charm adds energy to an over-stretched story

4-2-14 – London Wall – The Mint revives a corker; the limited choices for single women in the office in 1931, painted with a light brush; like a great old film, it doesn’t feel aged

3-29-14 – These Paper Bullets – a cute, lively mash-up of “Much Ado about Nothing” and The Fab 4; but the best was the old-timey audience singalong

3-22-14 – Love and Information – staccato pacing of 58 plays in 100 minutes by Caryl Churchill, which add up to a rumination on memory, secrets, and pain; language play

3-9-14 – Stage Kiss – good farces don’t waver in tone or have dead spaces; a disappointment from Sarah Rulhldespite funny Michael Cyril Creighton

3-2-14 – Architecture of Becoming – a conceptual, postmodern mess that starts of with cheery coincidences and devolves into a rant about the pains of living in New York

2-23-14 – Buyer and Cellar – witty, funny, absurdist plot involving Barbra Streisand’s private, basement mall and the one man who works in it

2-8-14 – Dr. Du Bois and Miss Ovington – too talky and even lecture-y at times; even in 1915, people didn’t talk that way; washes all the drama out of this earnest attempt

2-8-14 – The Tribute Artist – modestly funny sex farce with a New York real estate twist is hampered by uneven pacing, but a quick-witted, good-natured finish saves all

2-2-14 – What’s it All About? – just relax and go with the flow to rehear Bacharach lyrics like you never have before; refreshing to see such youth be so genuine about these songs

1-30-14 – The Consultant – one of a string of new shows about the economic meltdown, but pretty meh, didn’t go anywhere, sorta like the economy

1-19-14 – Row after Row – tautly written, really well-crafted play about Pickett’s Charge and re-enactors 150 years later fighting battles of their own

12-22-13 – Handle with Care – a bit confusing about the language and translation, but easily over-ridden by a sweet-natured, gently philosophical love story, with a bit of Jewish schmalz

12-19-13 – Jacksonian – obvious plotting, dull characters; whatever happened to the Beth Henley that could surprise us; a waste of an interesting cast

12-7-13 – Too Much, Too Much, Too Many – despite the baffling name, a tender, warm, touching, microcosmic look at three people’s varying responses to grief

11-30-13 – Becoming Dr. Ruth – although I generally avoid Holocaust-themed anything, this one-woman show is worth a see, for her remarkable life, its horrors, and her indomitable spirit

11-21-13 – Almost Maine – a wink-in-the-eye, perky pacing, and an intimate house make for a delightful evening directed by new friend Margaret Mann

11-17-13 – The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence – lighting board wasn’t working, so they used “work” lights; couldn’t see well; not sure if that ultimately was the problem

11-16-13 – Owners – weirdly not dated, but absurdist with overacted, hate-able characters and peculiar pacing, turning out to be a deathly combination

11-10-13 – Luce – contemporary who-done-it combined with Mamet’s “Oleanna”; strong performances, taut writing, explores the nature of expectations, culpability, and guilt

11-2-13 – Little Miss Sunshine – satisfying adaptation of the movie, good ensemble work and hummable songs, with an endearing spirit at its core

10-29-13 – Miss Mannerly – great chemistry between the lead and his manners’ teacher Miss Mannerly; well-written, nostalgic, naughty, funny, a winner; TheatreWorks, Hartford

10-27-13 – Room Service – hilarious in parts, snappy pacing, delightful acting, perfect casting, all around joy in Westport

10-26-13 – Patron Saint of Sea Monsters – Hmmm.  Playwrights and I are out of sync this year.  Unfunny, ‘white trash’ cliché-ridden, screechy, unfunny, poorly-acted, shall I go on?

10-19-13 – Domesticated – superbly acted, savage, contemporary take on “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf,” but a second act that falls apart; it skips the drama we most want to see

10-13-13 – A Time to Kill – a less-than-charismatic lead, who seems to be imitating the actor from the movie, dulls this otherwise tautly-acted production

9-29-13 – Most Happy Fella – a wonderful performance of a show that doesn’t quite add up right–melodramatic opera and musical comedy are an uneasy blend; still I enjoyed it

9-7-13 – Big Fish – maybe too sweet for Broadway bling, the big numbers are small; a memorable song and fun imagery also mark this gentle family story

9-1-13 – Mr. Burns – huh?  Lost from the minute it started, lasted only 15

8-29-13 – Harbor – same ol’ same ol’ gay stuff–did we ever think we’d say that?  Still, too much like a “Modern Family” sit com episode without the humor and good cheer

8-11-13 – Hello Dolly! – from Dolly giving out myriads of wacky business cards to the audience to the last kick of the curtain call, just Goodspeed delightful

8-4–13 – Bridges over Madison County – so much better as a musical than either the book or the movie, even left the theater with the songs in my head

7-28-13 – Castle Walk – Irene and Vernon Castle swept off my feet; a dance driven story that has completely new songs destined for the American songbook; NYMF

7-28-13 – Bend in the Road – Anne of Green Gables by another name, stunning portrayal of the first Montgomery book but flat score; still it’s a charmer; NYMF

7-20-13 – Murder for Two – someone should post a sign: warning!  really bad slapstick happening here

7-18-13 – Shoemaker’s Daughter – tedious and heavy-handed in what should have been light and more playful;  creepy puppets don’t help

7-13-13 – Kinky Boots – feels like a tired retreat of stereotypes–big-hearted transvestites save the plant; eh rock music, mediocre voices, negligible dancing, albeit lots of energy

7/5/13 – On the Town – if possible even better than the Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra movie, with such energy and verve, headed for Broadway?

6/30/13 – Nobody Loves You – a riff on reality tv and the reality of love; bright, effervescent, young, rock musical

6/23/13 – Unlock’d – postmodern, feminist, silly fairy tale, with everyone ending up with the wrong person and a character in love with her hair!  Basically good fun.

6/22/13 – Freewheelers – New Haven history where corsets and bicycles collide-which will the New Woman choose?  A sparkling child performance in a performance art piece

6/20/13 – Stuck Elevator – harrowing story and magnificent performance of 81 hours stuck in an elevator; a mash up of opera and hip hop that actually works

6/12/13 – Tartuffe – wildly physical, hilarious performance with Yale students in a black box theater; fresh, fresh, fresh

6/9/13 – Good News – just full of good news–good songs, good dancing, good singing, good pacing, good staging, good entertainment

6/2/13 – The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin – a slow starter, but got better; still needs a good editing and maybe fresher topicality, feels a bit dated for its currentness

5/16/13 – This Side of Neverland–from the audience singing old timey songs before to the final curtain call, very well acted, witty, and joyful; who knew JM Barrie was a feminist?

5/12/13 – On Your Toes – the ballet-tap dance-off will linger in my memory, as will the great Rogers and Hart songs; the dream cast for Encores: “let’s put on a show!”

5/12/13 – Far From Heaven – by the same team as Grey Gardens, moving, well-paced, with a less abrupt ending, will really be there; lovely Kelli O’Hara

4/20/13 – Women of Will – Tina Packer unpacks Shakespeare’s plays to show the progression of his thinking about women; interesting insights

4/14/13 – Mr. Joy – a bravura one-man, multi-character performance; a personal, poignant, and all too familiar story of senseless, but darkly logical violence

4/13/13 – Trip to Bountiful – translates onto an African American cast beautifully, and Cicely Tyson is a wonder; tender and emotional as ever, Horton Foote’s best

4/7/13 – MacBeth – Alan Cumming delivers a terrifying performance of all the major roles in the Scottish play, set in a mental hospital; as grim and scary as you can imagine

4/7/13 – Collapse – about the economic collapse, with an interesting metaphor of a bridge collapse; first preview, but pretty settled as a play and set of performances

4/4/13 – Happy Birthday – librarian gone wild trope, basically great fun and old-fashioned sweet from 1946

4/2/13 – Assembled Parties – one character says, “we’re just holiday-tolerant”–well, they’re not my family, and I don’t have to tolerate them; walked out at intermission

3/28/13 – The Norwegians – what was funny at first grew thin; built on ethnic and regional stereotypes; clever conceit, but tiring

3/27/13 – Testament of Mary – stunning one-woman show with Fiona Shaw and one of the best last lines in theater; puts poor Alec Baldwin to shame, in only her 2nd preview

3/27/13 – Orphans – really liked the play and the 2 physically adept young actors; Alec Baldwin brings them down with his ungrounded performance; maybe it will improve

3/24/13 – The Call – the play was a bit underbaked for my taste, including using characters as didactic tools; nicely acted and most people will feel good at the end

3/23/13 – Big Knife, Clifford Odets, not my favorite; Bobby Carnavale curiously flat, everyone else around him working hard

3/21/13 – Drawer Boy – clean writing, pure emotions, love, lies, truth, sacrifice, simplicity that’s complex; a solid, old fashioned piece of writing, beautiful acting, great experience

3/15/13 – Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike – hilarious spoof on all things Checkov, and theater tropes, too; David Hyde Pierce’s melt down is worth the price of admission.

3/14/13 – Matilda – Delirious fun.  Every kid was perfect-dancing, singing, tumbling, acting.  The costumes and sets, the parents and evil school principal-all sublime.

3/10/13 – Death for 5 Voices – A blend of opera, Sondheim, and Shakespeare in a small theater, so real voices, not amplified.  A treat.  A short run, and I’d guess, a long future.

3/9/13 – Last 5 Years – earnest performances, but the music is a bore and repetitive and the book is trite; no Sondheim after all

3/7/13 – Cinderella – pretty to look at and the singing was good; the songs are the reason to go, but the revisionism didn’t work for me

3/2/13 – Carousel – the perfect artistic storm: Bway, Met Opera, NY Philharmonic, and NYC Ballet all on stage together; I could forgive the show’s book problems; blissful

3/2/13 – Revisionist – got there 5 minutes late, and they wouldn’t let me in, even though I had a back aisle seat.  Definitely revising my thoughts about Cherry Lane.

2/24/13 – Jackie – really a performance piece, not straight theater; as such, was poetic, with a wonderfully physical performance; overall, not my thing

2/23/13 – Flick – horribly bad in a “what were they thinking way?”  Normally reliable for good new theater, Playwrights blew it with this one.  Boring, bad pacing, no characters.

2/16/13 – Belleville – depressing, shockingly so; the earliest Amy Herzog, well, now I’ve seen them all; my least favorite of hers, glad to know she’s on the uptick.

2/12/13 – Passion – the ultimate anti-Valentine by Sondheim; manipulative, obsessive ‘love’ reciprocated for the most superficial reasons; cynical and dreary.

2/10/13 – Talley’s Folly – talky, sweet, old fashioned when it first appeared, still so today; cleanly acted; saw rebroadcast 4/8/21 and found it touching, sad–a different mood.

2/3/13 – Luck of the Irish – very tired feeling, since Clybourne Park was so sharp; a derivative day at the theater

2/3/13 – Really, Really – derivative of Oleana, starring Mamet’s daughter–ironic; very slow start but a decent he said-she said

1/26/13 – All in the Timing – didn’t like it when it was new, no better now; humor is very personal

1/19/13 – Not by Bread Alone – powerful experience of brave deaf-blind, Isreali actors, who also bake bread to share with the audience; simple metaphors, but very tender

1/19/13 – Bethany – a strong, fresh take on the economic tailspin we’re in; I wished for a more provocative plot point choice at the end, which resolved in too easy a way

1/13/13 – Collision – high concept character study of a manipulator, definitely anxiety producing as long as you willingly suspend your disbelief

12/27/12 – Working, the Studs Terkel oral histories from the ’70s and 2007-8 as a musical; 6 actors, many stories, often moving and poignant; good to be reminded

12/23/12 – Picnic, a sensitive production; the closing moment beautiful and wistful; interesting to see which characters I identify with this time, the sign of a good play

12/16/12 – What Rhymes with America – bleak, sad, plotless (I feel like I’m caught in a narrative void), but memorable comedic scene about kissing

12/15/12 – Water by the Spoonful – what?  I didn’t connect and was just restless and waiting to leave.

12/4/12 – The Great God Pan – Amy Herzog doing her thing – naturalist dialogue, microcosmic portrayals, not much action; static actors compensate with sensitivity

11/24/12 – Disgraced – a little preachy at times, a powerful drama shows a man caught in-between; albeit for very different reasons, I can relate to that no-win place in life

11/21/12 – Golden Land – a rousing, exuberant, touching, poignant, charming, sad look at 50 years of Jewish history in America; includes Yiddish theater, most hilariously the 3 weird sisters from the Scottish play, and a Yiddish silent western!

11/20/12 – Checkers – just heartbreaking really, unexpectedly so, about American politics in general and the personal cost to good people; very resourceful and clever use of the set

11/17/12 – Cotton Club – well performed standards in recreating the Cotton Club; loved the cool jazz couples dance number with red balloons

11/14/12 – Dead Accounts – love Norbert Leo Butz, but he seems to be in a different play from everyone else onstage; ends just fizzles

11/10/12 – Cyrano de Bergerac – a rousing, Loud, energetic production

11/7/12 – The Outgoing Tide – so beautifully acted, quiet, old-fashioned pacing, emotions that were genuinely felt, a small story that was very personal for me

11/5/12 – Good Mother, Gretchen Mol in long dialogues; empty stage, no dialogue happens twice (huh?); people walked out, I sat next to the playwright–embarrassing

10/24/12 – Mystery of Edwin Drood – Roundabout does what it does best–takes a warhorse and gallops to new levels; just fun, fun, fun

10/22/12 – Tarragona – funny and sweet, not a frequent combination; a bit of a rough draft

10/21/12 – Don’t Go Gently – fresh take on family dysfunction, but I stayed strangely unaffected

10/21/12 – Sold my Heiress ticket when I read that it’s nearly 3 hours long and readers on NYTimes.com give it 1 star for being as dry as dust

10/16/12 – Best of Everything – A Rona Jaffe forthright look at women’s choices with a ’50s shroud, but some things never change; much better and much more frank than the movie

10/10/12 – Water Children – too much right-wing, anti-abortion polemic for me, so I was exhausted by the end; somewhat satisfactory ending helps

10/9/12 – Bad Jews – bad name perhaps, but sets up a provocative, challenging, well written, strongly acted experience, lots to discuss

9/25/12 – Him – Daisy Foote – tediously conceptual, a bummer, unlikeable characters, a bad run of shows lately

9/23/12 – Harper Reagan – boring, erratic, unlikeable characters, ugh

9/22/12 – Modern Terrorism – don’t know what to say

9/16/12 – Exonerated – death penalty woes, Stockard Channing looking very thin

9/12/12 – US – allegorical couple standing in for the U.S. and the People, idealistic, violent

9/11/12 – Marry Me a Little, Sondheim rejects, touching as always

9/8/12 – If There is, I Haven’t Found it Yet – the whole package: acting, play, sets, lighting, and emotional context

9/5/12 – Fly Me to the Moon – accents tough at first; funny, ironic

8/26/12 – Detroit – 4 crazy people, famous actors, fire on stage

8/23/12 – That Dorothy Parker – 1 woman show, well done

8/22/12 – Mary Broome – too talky, no characters to identify with

8/22/12 – How 2 B A New Yorker – not sharp enough

8/21/12 – Chaplin – very gray, not funny for a funny man

8/20/12 – Fried Chicken & Latkes – Rain Pryor’s memoir, father Richard Pryor

8/15/12 – Cougar – absolutely charming musical

8/8/12 – Last Smoker in America  over the top funny

8/6/12 – Soul doctor – Schlomo Carlebach – long, but sweet, Nina Simone

8/5/12 – 1 Act Play Fest – part B at 59e59, really good, each one

8/5/12 – Bring It On – entertaining, restores the good cheerleader show after the awful Lysistrata Jones

8/4/12 – Bronte: A Portrait of Charlotte – lovely language, one woman bio

8/1/12 – Bullet for Adolph – horrible, loud, aggressive sit com, Woody Harrelson writer, director, awful

8/1/12 – End of the Rainbow – hard to watch, over the top acting

7/31/12 – 1 Act Play Fest – part A at 59e59, Jim McClure!  very funny

7/29/12 – Forbidden Broadway – skewered them all, right on and funny

7/23/12 – Three by Horton Foote – uneven, surprisingly topical, wistful

7/21/12 – NYMF – Baby Case – slick, over-mic/d, hurts the ears, left

7/21/12 – NYMF – How Deep is the Ocean – slick, but vapid, annoying

7/19/12 – Hell: Paradise Found – clever, funny

7/19/12 – NYMF – HImself & Nora – wonderful, polished for NYMF, James Joyce

7/18/12 – Dogfight – touching, wonderful musical, has legs

7/15/12 – NYMF – He’s Not Himself – cute farce, no memorable music

7/14/12 – Warrior Class – didn’t seem fully baked, a little too talky

7/7/12 – Harvey – kept hearing Jimmy Stewart, who was simply better

6/30/12 – Persuasion – charming, lively, more like P&P, written/adapted by young woman

6/24/12 – Murder in the First – well done, old fashioned, moral uplift

6/23/12 – Bad & the Better – ugly, violent, yeah

6/16/12 – We Play for the Gods – absurdist, junk

6/16/12 – Heart of the Matter – reading of Neil LaBute short comedies, slight

6/14/12 – Amelia – Ft. Jay Powder Magazine, Governor’s Island, moving, immediate, immersive

6/13/12 – Slowgirl – virile, nice silences, meaning probably grows, ambiguous

5/31/12 – Love Goes to Press – written in 1946, smart, classic, old time movie fun

5/30/12 – Chimichangas & Zoloft – going somewhere, then just ended, broke the coherence

5/29/12 – Rapture, Blister, Burn – a lecture on feminism

5/26/12 – The President – fast talking fun

5/26/12 – Title & Deed – 1 main show, Irish, dreary

5/24/12 – Potted Potter – cute, but kid humor

5/23/12 – Miracle on South Division St – grew better & better, poignant, funny

5/20/12 – Landing – new Kander musicalettes, uneven, David Hyde Pearce sings

5/20/12 – Cock – clever, fast, funny, difficult, real

5/16/12 – A Jew Grows in Brooklyn – sweet moments

5/16/12 – Common Pursuit – got better as it went along

5/13/12 – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – Megan Hilty, Rachel York, plus

4/29/12 – She’s of a Certain Age – depressing re aging

4/23/12 – Peter & the Starcatcher – child’s show, high energy

4/20/12 – You Better Sit Down – my mind wandered, good oral historying

4/18/12 – A Slow Air – a slow start for the Scottish play, last 15 minutes were good

4/15/12 – Fat Camp – fun, peppy, funny curtain call song

4/14/12 – Lonely, I’m not – young love with melt downs, Topher Grace

4/10/12 – Early History of Fire – too talky

4/9/12 – Magic/Bird – thanks, Kerry!

4/8/12 – Big Meal – cycle of life, poignant

4/7/12 – Clybourne Park – builds, powerful, asks do we ever change?

4/6/12 – 1 Man, 2 Guvnors – combo face, slapstick, stand up – too much, too loud, too over the top in a not fun way

4/1/12 – Regrets – well acted, good story, old fashioned, Alexis Bledel – blah

3/31/12 – Best Man – fails to go anywhere new today

3/27/12 – Just Sex – not any drama

3/24/12 – Ghost – meh, over-techno, comedy still the best part

3/21/12 – Now. Here. This. Meh,  Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood & Thomas Merton

3/20/12 – Morini Strad – Just Beautiful

3/19/12 – Newsies – tremendous

3/11/12 – Eternal Equinox, Bloomsbury, great beauty – actors, language

3/10/12 – Look Back in Anger – verbal, violent, blech

3/4/12 – Love Loss & What I Wore – with Kerry, very girly, Nora Ephron

3/3/12 – Navigator – hilarious

2/25/12 – The Tribe – distasteful Brit family, only the deaf son is sympathetic

2/18/12 – Lady from Dubuque, Albee with Jane Alexander, but yuck

2/10/12 – Poetic License – just right family story

2/4/12 – Assistance – no substance

2/4/12 – Road to Mecca – grew to be lovely

1/29/12 – RX – better than I expected, slight but fun

1/26/12 – CQ/CX – no drama, no tension, to be about nytimes

1/14/12 – Fall to Earth – slow burn builds to huge climax, psychological

1/7/12 – Close Up Space – David Hyde Pearce, Rosie Perez, Other Desert Cities was better

1/3/12 – How to Succeed in Business, Darren Criss – voice not strong, softer, more natural than Daniel Radcliffe

1/1/12 – Kissing Sid James – well acted, didn’t go anywhere

12/31/11 – Seminar, Alan Rickman, much ado

12/29/11 – How the World Began – well written, well acted, evolution/creation theme

12/27/11 – Outside People – kept waiting for the big deal, still waiting

12/24/11 – Porgy & Bess – dark, tortured Audra MacDonald

12/23/11 – Schlemiel the First – witty, silly, very well staged and performed

12/22/11 – Sons of the Prophet – lots of stands, ends beautifully, liked it

12/21/11 – Cherry Orchard, Turturro and Weist, the play is a bore

12/18/11 – Farm Boy – good storytelling, better than artificial puppets of War Horse

12/17/11 – Bonnie & Clyde, closing 12/30 after 2 months!  Stayed only for the first act, as end was the problem per hearsay; thought it was dynamic and good

12/11/12 – Anything Goes with Karen Lewis, Sutton Foster ill mid-show, replaced!

12/10/11 – On a Clear Day – Harry Connick – wooden, Jessie Mueller – beyond great

12/4/11 – Neighborhood Watch, Ackbourn, creepy

11/30/11 – Elective Affinities – charming, Zoe Caldwell, Irish Cultural Center, she read the play

11/27/11 – The Door, 2 man show, absurdist at first, builds, re Iraq War

11/27/11 – Venus in Fur, Hugh Dancy looks better on screen

11/26/11 – Lysistrata Jones – overly sexual for family show, loud

11/23/11 – Maple & Vine – provocative, return to 1955, too much set design

11/21/11 – Iron Curtain – great fun, on to Broadway?

11/20/11 – Lobby Hero – amateurish production of a better play (?)

11/19/11 – Stickfly – new play, talky, honest re class & race, & men

11/14/11 – Horsedreams – new play, like poetry, re addiction, sad

11/12/11 Milk Like Sugar – incredible performances, very sad

11/9/11 – All American – girl football player and twin brother, Lincoln Center trial

11/8/11 – Wild Animals You Should Know – better than I expected, MCC

11/6/11 – King Lear – visceral, violent, while accessible, Watterson’s Lear has Alzheimer’s, too childlike

11/5/11 – Other Desert Cities – I predict will become a classic

10/30/11 – Queen of the Mist – potential but end too operatic, aggrandizing

10/29/11 – Hugh Jackman – concert, should sing baritone, a commercial for Hugh

10/29/11 – Agony & Ecstasy of Steve Jobs – more biting than Chinglish; later: with Mike Daisey’s fabrications exposed, feel really burned by him and The Public

10/28/11 – George Burns, very sweet

10/25/11 – Suicide Inc., Roundabout black box, five male actors, predictable play

10/23/11 – Chinglish – good, not great, no emotional connection

1015/11 – 1 minute play festival, just fun

10/14/11 – Tut, NYMF – dance opera, amazing baritone/bass

10/12/11 Lemon Sky – well acted, a bit dated feeling, not so shocking

10/11/11 – Pride & Prejudice, NYMF – wonderful

10/10/11 – Date of a Lifetime, NYMF – funny, charming

10/9/11 – Any Given Monday – moral quandary really like To Kill a Mockingbird

10/9/11 – The Lyons, Linda Lavin, really well written dramedy

10/8/11 – Dreams of Flying, Dreams of Falling – crazy, Christine Lahti

10/5/11 – Madame X, NYMF, campy, great fun!

10/4/11 – History of Marriage, NYMF, – poor lead, repetitive sounding music

10/2/11 – Mountaintop – very moving, surprise in the plot, Angela Bassett wow!

10/1/11 – Boy Who Would Be Pope, NYMF, great kids as leads

10/1/11 – Big Bank, NYMF, think plot, some goods songs

9/24/11 – Newsies, Paper Mill, Millburn, NJ – awesome

9/23/11 – Relatively Speaking, Absolutely Awful

9/22/11 – Motherhood – loud

9/18/11 – Sweet & Sad – never took off, dull

9/17/11 – Sister Act – men had the funniest songs

9/13/11 – Man and Boy, Frank Langella, but a bore

9/11/11 – Submission, very powerful on race and gender

9/4/11 – Book of Mormon – not original, riffs on the Producers, Ave Q much better, sharper, one joke for 2 1/2 hours

9/3/11 – Completeness, science metaphor for relationships, excellent

8/21/11 – Summer Shorts, series A, 17 year old Brooklyn girl, Durang, LaBute

8/20/11 – Follies, poignant, bittersweet, Jan Maxwell wow!

8/14/11  Summer Shorts, series B, so very good, Tina Howe

8/13/11 – The Talls, good family story

8/10/11 – Bluebird – Simon Russell Beale, well written poignant

8/6/11 – Anything Goes, Sutton Foster, the best

8/4/11 – Pillow Room  world premier, puzzle, well written, engaging, fresh

8/3/11 – Temporal Powers – Irish play, not performed since original, no surprise there, dull

7/28/11 – Oive and hte Bitter Herbs, slight, but funny, relatable

7/26/11 – Victory, Jan Maxwell, too much Restoration

7/19/11 – The Judy Gold Show – fun

7/17/11 – Manipulation – Botero poster, a bad dream, for the audience, too

7/16/11 Oh Coward – oh dear

7/16/11 – War Horse – ugh, bad blend of children’s show and war, creepy puppets go by me on the aisle, ugh

7/15/11 – Mother F with the Hat – heavily acted, saw Nicole Kidman

7/13/11 – Illusion, hated it, left at intermission, Tony Kushner is not Moliere!

7/13/11 – No Child – inspired, one woman performance re Bronx schools

7/10/11 – All New People, by Zach Braff, really grew on me

7/9/11 – Tryst, 1910 anorexia

7/5/11  Master Class – Tyne Daily becomes Maria Callas

7/3/11 – One Night with Fanny Brice – one woman show, she immersed

7/2/11 – Death Takes a HOliday – beautiful leading tenor, soo good

6/29/11 – Sex Lives of Our Parents – psychic, love, marriage, family

6/28/11 – Side Effects – Joely Richardson, a political marriage

6/26/11 – Unnatural Acts – with hunt at 1920 Harvard

6/22/11 – 4000 Miles – poignant, slice of life, very true dialogue, gorgeous portrayal of angst of aging (and youth)

6/19/11 – movie version of Company staged reading, Neal Patrick Harris

6/19/11 – School for Husbands, Central Park setting, progressive play, magical, beyond fun

6/18/11 – A Little Journey – Pullman cars like a carousel for the set

6/17/11 – Freud’s Last Session – a moment, a discussion

6/14/11 – How to Succeed in Business, Daniel Radcliffe, joyful

6/11/11 – Jerusalem – walked out, yuck

6/8/11 – Catch Me if You Can – Aaron Tveit, Leo Norbert Butz, a lot of energy, not much else

6/5/11 – Carson McCullers – Suzanne Vega becomes her, 1 woman show

6/4/11 – People in the Picture – Dona Murphy, 11 year old’s bday – audience sang to her during TalkBack; show poignant, funny, so well done; why wasn’t it a hit?  Too Jewish?

6/1/11 – moved to New York City, plan to see a lot of theater

May 2011 – Importance of Being Earnest – subscribe to Roundabout, a long time dream, Brian Bedford beyond hilarious as Lady Bracknell, laugh out loud funny