All in Off-Broadway
“Admissions” is a provocative new play by Joshua Harmon that pierces the veil of “white liberalism” to reveal simmering interpersonal issues that contradict beliefs in institutional ideals. Smartly staged and exquisitely acted, this play poses uncomfortable but important questions about race, identity, and privilege as our country navigates an increasingly divisive and siloed discourse.
After a 15 year wait, “Jerry Springer—The Opera” has finally arrived in New York in a spectacular and profane production with an excellent cast headed by Terence Mann; unfortunately, the shock value is low and the vulgarity gratuitous, and mostly humorless. The show’s value lies in its role as mirror to our society, but that point remains too understated and insufficiently explored to make a lasting impact.
Jeff Hiller is hilarious and captivating as a disgruntled gay guest at a same sex wedding in Drew Droege’s one man show, “Bright Colors and Bold Patterns”. If you like to laugh, this is one show you will not want to miss.
“Three Wise Guys” is a charming new comedy based on Prohibition-era short stories by Damon Runyon, featuring a lovable cast of thieves, bootleggers, socialites, and chorus gals on a zany, Christmas Eve romp. Cleverly designed, it offers light, low-budget, fun fare guaranteed to deliver laughs, smiles, and a carefree chance to escape for a little while.
"Subways Are for Sleeping", Jule Styne and Comden and Green's 1961 flop musical, triumphantly closed out the York Theatre Company's 3-musical "Musicals in Mufti" celebration of lesser-works by composer Jule Styne. Bizarre, but pure musical comedy joy, "Subways" contains several gem songs.
“Amy and the Orphans”, a new comedy by Lindsey Ferrentino based on her family, both features a title character and stars an actor with Down syndrome, an important milestone in New York theatre. The play, which examines the relationships among three disparate, adult siblings and explores the meaning of “family” and “home”, is stunted and static in character and plot development. I sense the playwright is too close to the material.
A roundup look at three plays that opened recently Off-Broadway. I highly recommend the Vineyard Theatre's striking "The Amateurs" and Signature Theatre's superb "At Home at the Zoo", but suggest skipping MCC Theater's "Relevance".
“Black Light”, an incandescent evening of song and story, stars performance artist Daniel Alexander Jones as his alter-ego, the enigmatic cabaret creation Jomama Jones; rich in meaning and message, its politics pointed but poetic, “Black Light” is a wickedly funny, painfully revelatory, and poignantly beautiful exploration of race, identity, gender, power, history, change, and community that is perfectly calibrated for these turbulent times. Catch this show if you can.
“America is Hard to See” by Life Jacket Theatre Company is a new documentary play with music that explores the lives of a community of child sex offenders in Florida, testing the limits of our capacity for empathy and forgiveness. Deeply unsettling, surprisingly humane, and ultimately uplifting, it is a powerful play that provokes more questions than answers, and is guaranteed to leave you changed.
"Bar Mitzvah Boy" was the second offering in the York Theatre Company's annual "Musicals in Mufti" series dedicated to composer Jule Styne; not performed in New York since 1987, this sweet and charming musical received an excellent production using a 2016 revised book, but could benefit from some musical trimming.
Eve Ensler’s “In the Body of the World” is an exquisite poem of a solo performance that connects one woman’s journey with uterine cancer to the plight of women worldwide and the very devastation of our earth. Crisp, funny, devastating, and transcendent, this play is a must see.
“Hangmen”, a hilarious dark comedy about vengeance, packs the top-notch twists, violence, and laughs we’ve come to expect from Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. Superbly acted and directed, this sold out limited run will likely end up on Broadway, and for good reason. See it if you can.
