All in Review
Thank the Gods, a gorgeous, creative, and first-rate production of the musical gem “Once On This Island” is back on Broadway, smartly re-imagined for 2017 and featuring ravishing performances and inventive staging that provide for a joyous and uplifting evening of theatre.
“The Parisian Woman” with Uma Thurman is a heavy handed and humorless political comedy that takes place now and captures everything we hate about politics, and the Trump era, in one 90-minute, 5-person play. Skip it, and watch the news instead.
“Meteor Shower”, an absurd new comedy, bears the unmistakable voice of its playwright, Steve Martin; Amy Schumer, Keegan-Michael Key, Laura Benanti, and Jeremy Shamos give hilarious performances, but the play lacks the clever and smart depth Mr. Martin usually provides. The limited run is nearly sold out anyway, so don’t feel bad if you miss this one.
A new production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's masterpiece "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" breathes fresh life into a now-classic musical, reducing the cast to 8 and setting the play in a pie shop. This inventive and thrilling production is a "must see".
“School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play” is a must-see this fall season. Uproariously funny, deeply touching, and quietly heartbreaking, it gives a rare voice to young African women on stage, and marks a stunning New York debut for Ghanaian-American playwright Jocelyn Bioh.
A sold-out “gala presentation” of the hauntingly glorious 1947 Lerner and Lowe musical “Brigadoon” plays New York City Center through Sunday—starring a stunning cast including Kelli O'Hara, Patrick Wilson, Stephanie J. Block, Aasif Mandvi, and Robert Fairchild—and you will want to catch it (if you can) before, like the mythical town of Brigadoon, it disappears for 100 years!
John Leguizamo is back on Broadway in a hilarious and piercing take on the conquest of invisibility that plagues Latin American history; with his singular voice, he teaches some good lessons in “Latin History for Morons”, serving low-brow comedy alongside meaningful, and necessary, social commentary.
“The Band’s Visit” by David Yazbek and Itamar Moses is an intimately bold and beautiful new musical that is unlike any you’ve seen before; a quiet celebration of the human spirit and the power of music, culture, and humor to connect us all, this show breaks the mold in fascinating and unexpected ways that are deeply moving and satisfying. Do not miss this perfect musical.
“Junk” is a fast paced, financial thriller set in the 1980s that explores how our debt-laden, wealth-obsessed society came to be. There are no heroes and no hope to be found in this excellent new play by Ayad Akhtar (“Disgraced”), only a cautionary tale whose lesson it is too late to learn.
This much-anticipated revival of David Henry Hwang’s “M. Butterfly” falls flat, stripped of the ambiguity that feeds the fantasy central to the drama, in a clunky production with uneven performances that doom an otherwise timely play tackling gender, race, and international politics.
“The Last Match”, a new play set during a tennis match at the U.S. Open, is an exhilarating and smart exploration of the athlete’s psyche.
“The Portuguese Kid”, written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, is a fun and funny relationship comedy that borrows an old formula, and yet flashes an au courant bend. Not everything needs to be Greek tragedy. This is one play you can sit back and enjoy.
