All in Review

REVIEW: Rodgers and Hart’s “I Married an Angel” at Encores!

REVIEW: Rodgers and Hart’s “I Married an Angel” at Encores!

Robert Russo
Review, Musical, Off-Broadway

Mark Evans shines in Rodgers and Hart’s 1938 hit “I Married an Angel”; this dance infused fantasy story involving an aristocrat who literally marries an angel is a peculiar relic of its time, but a treat for collectors of obscure musicals and fans of the Rodgers and Hart oeuvre.  Director/choreographer Joshua Bergasse steps into the shoes once worn by George Balanchine to create an entertaining show featuring the talents of ballerina Sara Mearns (his wife), as the Angel.  Feather-light as it is, I suspect we won’t see “I Married an Angel” again for some time.

REVIEW: “Be More Chill” Gets a Broadway Upgrade

REVIEW: “Be More Chill” Gets a Broadway Upgrade

Robert Russo
Review, Musical, Broadway

Tween science-fiction, pop-rock sensation “Be More Chill” makes the leap to Broadway and gets an upgrade in the process with a snazzier production design and revised score and script that give it a clearer narrative and a more even tone.  Relentlessly hyperactive, broad, and sophomoric, it still lacks the sophistication, polish, and emotional resonance of its high school musical peers, but it is infectiously fun.

REVIEW: Isabelle Huppert in “The Mother”

REVIEW: Isabelle Huppert in “The Mother”

Robert Russo
Review, Play, Off-Broadway, Critic's Pick

Isabelle Huppert offers a devastating portrait of maternal sublimation and abandonment in Florian Zeller’s disturbing and disorienting dark comedy, “The Mother”.  Under the brilliant direction of Trip Cullman, the play offers a highly theatrical, distorted, collage-like, meditative, and surreal look at one woman coping with an empty nest, a loveless marriage, and a purposeless life.  My advice: get tickets if you can.  And call your mother.

REIVEW: “The Cake”

REIVEW: “The Cake”

Robert Russo
Review, Off-Broadway, Play

Drawing from the headlines, in Bekah Brunstetter’s “The Cake” Debra Jo Rupp gives a fantastic, full dimensional performance as a lovable, conservative baker who struggles with the decision to bake a wedding cake for her surrogate daughter’s same sex wedding.  Despite a great performance and a gorgeous production, the play contains a dated treatment of its gay characters and their milieu, presenting an incongruous and ultimately flawed portrait of the relevant issues at hand. 

REVIEWS: “Sea Wall / A Life”, “Mies Julie”, and “The Dance of Death”

REVIEWS: “Sea Wall / A Life”, “Mies Julie”, and “The Dance of Death”

Robert Russo
Review, Play, Off-Broadway

Two duos of complementary works recently opened Off-Broadway: “Sea Wall / A Life” at the Public Theater, featuring Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal performing monologues by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne, and Classic Stage Company’s repertory presentation of “Mies Julie” and “The Dance of Death”, two newly adapted works of August Strindberg.  This is a short look at each.

REVIEW: Loy A. Webb’s explosive and exquisite “The Light” at MCC Theater

REVIEW: Loy A. Webb’s explosive and exquisite “The Light” at MCC Theater

Robert Russo
Review, Off-Broadway, Play, Critic's Pick

“The Light” is an urgent and painful story of revelation, redress, and hopeful reconciliation cued at the intersection of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter.  Tautly and evocatively sketched by playwright Loy A. Webb, this exquisite two-hander starts like a rom-com before embarking on tragic territory, forcing the audience to reckon with its own baked-in biases and assumptions based on race and gender, and to do and be better.

REVIEW: Encores! “Call Me Madam” with Carmen Cusack

REVIEW: Encores! “Call Me Madam” with Carmen Cusack

Robert Russo
Review, Musical, Concert

Carmen Cusack shines in Encores! revival of its 1995 landmark revival of Irving Berlin’s “Call Me Madam” (1950), originally written as a vehicle for Ethel Merman.  A topical piece of light satirical fare that’s more about comedy and songs than plot, this simple but well-performed production is Encores! at its truest: a concert revival of a classic musical that would not otherwise be seen on stage again. 

REVIEW: A kaleidoscopic look at life in “Joan”

REVIEW: A kaleidoscopic look at life in “Joan”

Robert Russo
Review, Off-Broadway, Play

In “Joan”, playwright Stephen Belber ambitiously sets out to tell one, non-linear story of a woman’s life that slowly creates an absorbing and dramatically effective portrait, at once banal and spellbinding.  Johanna Day is exquisite as the titular character, supported by two chameleons who play all the supporting roles.  The drama is straightforward, and the production taut.

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