In 1977, Television’s Fonzie jumped over a shark on water skis. It was the fifth season of Happy Days and, to most critics, it suggested that the show had reached a level of incredulity. Roughly 366 years prior to this, William Shakespeare “jumped the shark” with his hodgepodge comedy Cymbeline. [Read more…] about Shakespeare & Company’s 40th Season: Fit For a King
THEATRE
Dreyfus: The Musical a Big Hit at Don’t Tell Mama!
Famed piano bar Don’t Tell Mama played host to quite the interesting show the other night, where a group of gifted & young performers took on Dreyfus: The Musical. The Dreyfus here in question is not Academy Award winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, but the one with one less “s” in their last name… Julia Louis-Dreyfus. [Read more…] about Dreyfus: The Musical a Big Hit at Don’t Tell Mama!
Last Weekend for Immersive Show “Seeing You”
I know what you’re thinking: “Not another immersive theater piece. Please don’t let the actors engage with me or make me a part of the show!” [Read more…] about Last Weekend for Immersive Show “Seeing You”
Lincoln Center Festival’s “Chronicle of an Assassination”
To lose a spouse is devastating. To lose a spouse to assassination is grief beyond words. Perhaps this is why Director/Writer Amos Gitai joined forces with co-writer Marie-Jose Sanselme to incorporate music into Leah Rabin’s story. Songs often reach the soul in ways that mere words cannot. The result of this collaboration is Yitzhak Rabin: Chronicle of an Assassination. The 90 minute play, featuring music by J.S. Bach, Jurg Frey, Louis Lewandowski, and Luigi Nono made its North American premiere last Wednesday night at Alice Tully Hall. It is part of the Lincoln Center Festival, currently running through July 30th. [Read more…] about Lincoln Center Festival’s “Chronicle of an Assassination”
The Met Opera’s Apolitical “Whipped Cream” Exposes the Anxiety of Joy
A marriage on the stage between contemporary “lowbrow” pop surrealist Mark Ryden and 19th to 20th Century German opera composer Richard Strauss is unexpected. Yet the Ryden-designed “Whipped Cream,” an adaptation of Strauss’s 1924 ballet by the same name in Austrian, “Schlagobers,” played at the Met Opera from May 23 to July 1, and the marriage made sense. It even carried a warning, in spite of both artists’ intent to eschew morals. [Read more…] about The Met Opera’s Apolitical “Whipped Cream” Exposes the Anxiety of Joy
Theater Reviews: “The Traveling Lady” and “Cost of Living”
Playwright Horton Foote’s The Traveling Lady premiered on Broadway in October of 1954. Although it ran less than a month and is not one of his better known works, its’ depiction of complex connection and longing remains-63 years later–deeply profound and insightful in Director Austin Pendleton’s latest Off-Broadway production at the Cherry Lane Theatre. [Read more…] about Theater Reviews: “The Traveling Lady” and “Cost of Living”
Theater Review: Jim Brochu’s “Zero Hour” is Time Well Spent
I have always hesitated to use the phrase “tour de force” in casual conversation or when writing a theatre review. For some inexplicable reason, I find it to be pretentious or overused-or both. However, Merriam-Webster defines the noun as “a feat or display of strength, skill, or ingenuity.” However, I’m afraid I must break my own rule; for there is no better description I can muster than “tour de force” to summarize Jim Brochu’s one man show Zero Hour. [Read more…] about Theater Review: Jim Brochu’s “Zero Hour” is Time Well Spent
Dame Angela Lansbury Headlines One Night Benefit Reading of “The Chalk Garden”
Dame Angela Lansbury is back on the boards! The star of stage, screen, and film will return this Monday night, June 19th @ 7PM for a one night only reading of the British drama, The Chalk Garden at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College (68th street between Park and Lexington). The performance will be followed by a dinner with the cast at the historic Union Club. [Read more…] about Dame Angela Lansbury Headlines One Night Benefit Reading of “The Chalk Garden”
Theater Review: Kirsten Childs’ Bella: An American Tall Tale
Wild West stories are a dime a dozen, but I can guarantee that you’ve never seen anything fresher or more completely original as Kirsten Childs’ Bella: An American Tall Tale. Childs, who provided the book, music, and lyrics, has turned the traditional tale of Cowboys and Native Americans completely on its head. Our leading player in the Playwrights Horizons production is not a Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, or John Wayne type. Instead, it is a beautiful and buxom African-American named Bella (Ashley D. Kelley). Her real last name is “Patterson” but after a tangle with Bonny Jonny Rakehill (Kevin Massey) she boards a train, changes her surname to “Johnson”, and attempts to escape her past. [Read more…] about Theater Review: Kirsten Childs’ Bella: An American Tall Tale
Tony Winner Jayne Houdyshell Dishes on “A Dolls House, Part 2”
Jayne Houdyshell’s (pronounced HOWDYshell) name hangs in the marquee window of Broadway’s John Golden Theatre, where she is currently starring in the most Tony-nominated play of the season, A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath. Just yesterday, it was announced that the originally slated 16 week hit will extend into 2018. [Read more…] about Tony Winner Jayne Houdyshell Dishes on “A Dolls House, Part 2”