Alan Fox’s Safe Space at Bay Street Theater is a provocative exploration of academic freedom in our call-out culture — and a three-character cage match to control the narrative during a campus crisis.Continue Reading
‘A STRANGE LOOP’ EXPANDS BOUNDARIES: REVIEW
Did he really just say that? And sing that?Continue Reading
DANIELLE BROOKS IN JOYOUS ‘MUCH ADO:’ REVIEW
Halfway through the first act of Shakespeare in the Park‘s Much Ado About Nothing, I found myself on Danielle Brooks’ lap.Continue Reading
SUSAN SARANDON, R&H MIX AWKWARDLY IN JESSE EISENBERG’S ‘HAPPY TALK’: REVIEW
“I always thought that my lot in life was to help people en masse,” pontificates Susan Sarandon as an unbearable community theater diva in Jesse Eisenberg’s half-baked new play, Happy Talk.
“Through my work. People see me on stage. They see the human condition — it filters through me — and maybe they learn a little something about themselves,” Sarandon’s character, Lorraine, says.Continue Reading
LONDON ‘MAN OF A LA MANCHA’ SCORES: REVIEW
LONDON — Man of La Mancha is being revived at the London Coliseum, starring Kelsey Grammer as a blustery Don Quixote. Directed by Lonny Price, with the English National Opera’s 30-piece orchestra, it’s a luscious delight.
For the show — the 1966 Tony Award winner for Best Musical — lyricist Joe Darion and composer Mitch Leigh crafted a perfect score, built on a base of Spanish guitars periodically punctured by explosions of brass.Continue Reading
HEEDLESS BARON AT TOPLESS TABLOID: ‘INK’ REVIEW
Students of Rupert Murdoch may wonder why an 88-year-old multi-billionaire would devote his last years to destabilizing democracy, promoting division and thwarting efforts to slow climate change.
“There is no why,” newspaper editor Larry Lamb (Jonny Lee Miller) says early in James Graham’s absorbing Ink, as part of a discussion with the young Murdoch about journalism’s five “W’s.” (Who, What, Where and When are the others.) “Sometimes shit just happens.”
Ever-so-timely, although ripped from headlines a half-century old, Ink chronicles The Sun‘s first year under Murdoch control, 1969-70.Continue Reading
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO BROADWAY: REVIEW
Disturbing, timely and leavened by dry wit, What the Constitution Means to Me is an impassioned play about American governance that may renew your faith in Broadway.
Heidi Schreck, who wrote the autobiographical appraisal of U.S. democracy and appeal to improve upon it, plays herself, both at present day and at 15 years old.Continue Reading
DAZZLING PERFORMANCES, FAMILIAR STORY: ‘AIN’T TOO PROUD’ REVIEW
Ain’t Too Proud isn’t too original, but it should appeal to fans of the Temptations, the most successful African-American recording group in history.
The musical’s five leads gorgeously harmonize on such hits as “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” “My Girl” and “I Can’t Get Next to You.” Sergio Trujillo’s kinetic homage to the group’s original choreography includes dazzling splits, slides and spins. Continue Reading
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL ON HYPERDRIVE: ‘BE MORE CHILL’ REVIEW
Set in suburban Jersey and based on Ned Vizzini’s out-there 2004 novel, Be More Chill is about a frustrated high school junior named Jeremy (Will Roland, best-known for Dear Evan Hansen), who swallows a grey pill that’s a Japanese supercomputer called a SQUIP. It implants itself in his brain and guides him through the intricacies of teenage social protocol. Continue Reading
GILLIAN ANDERSON ELEVATES FEROCIOUS ‘ALL ABOUT EVE’: REVIEW
LONDON — Following Network, Ivo van Hove’s disappointing star vehicle now packing them in on Broadway, the writer/director is back in peak form with his adaptation of All About Eve in the West End.
A theater story set in the realm of backstage gossipmongers, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1950 film is an ideal fit for van Hove’s cold Kubrickian style.Continue Reading
