All tagged Roundabout Theatre Company
The last two play revivals of the 2018-2019 Broadway season could not be more different in the success of their execution. Here I take a look at Roundabout Theatre Company’s sterling production of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” (a critic’s pick!), and the abysmal revival of Lanford Wilson’s “Burn This”.
The Roundabout Theatre Company’s new Broadway revival of “Kiss Me, Kate” is occasionally too darn hot, but mostly just too darn meh. Some key casting mistakes keep this well-appointed production from soaring where it should, but the choreography is a knockout and the musical itself so structurally sound and well-written that it cannot fail to entertain—uneven as it is, but still satisfying.
"Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" cancels pre-Broadway tryout; "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" books the Broadshurt; “Network” extends to June; Roundabout announces 2020 Off-Broadway season; "Oklahoma!" cast announced; Annie Golden to headline "Broadway Bounty Hunter"; Claybourne Elder and Bryce Pinkham to lead "Benny & Joon"; private reading of "The Prince of Egypt" held in London; Rob Zombie floats "House of 1,000 Corpses" musical; union controversy over musical orchestrators playing in the pit band; RIP Mark Bramble and Stanley Donen
Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano star in Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Sam Shepard’s “True West”. Colorful, cinematic, but slow-paced and cloudy, Hawke and Dano are miscast as brothers, giving wildly different performances that match in energy much too late.
Ben Whishaw will star as Marilyn Monroe in "Norma Jean Baker of Troy" at The Shed; Eileen Atkins and Jonathan Pryce will star in “The Height of the Storm” on Broadway; is a new production of “Parade” in the works?; new "Harry Potter” cast announced; watch the Kennedy Center Honors; RIP groundbreaking Japanese-American ballerina Sono Osato
By my count, I’ve attended 246 performances of theatre, dance, music, opera, and cabaret during 2018. Out of a field that large, it’s hard to pick just ten, but nevertheless, here are my top ten favorite shows I saw in New York (including no new musicals and only three Broadway shows!).
Ming Peiffer’s shattering new play, “Usual Girls”, presented in a world premiere through Roundabout’s Underground series, offers a blistering dramatization of rape culture through the lens of one Korean-American woman’s journey from girlhood to adulthood. Raw, explicit, and joltingly explosive, this is a bold and important new play.
A roundup look at two new Off-Broadway plays: “Apologia” at Roundabout Theatre Company and “Fireflies” at Atlantic Theatre Company.
Lawsuit reveals construction damage to the August Wilson Theatre; BC/EFA’s "Gypsy of the Year" fundraiser renamed the "Red Bucket Follies"; full cast announced for Roundabout "Kiss Me, Kate"; Bertie Carvel and Jonny Lee Miller to star in “Ink”; Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" announces development lab; "The Preacher's Wife" musical likely headed to La Jolla; Rosie O'Donnell will co-star in a revival of "Funny Girl", but no Lady Gaga; Broadway community teams with March For Our Lives for a benefit concert on October 22nd; must read interview with Patti LuPone and NYT article about plays; RIP Ira Gasman and Carol Hall
Theresa Rebeck’s “Bernhardt/Hamlet” is a backstage comedy-drama of historical fiction recounting Sarah Bernhardt’s groundbreaking 1897 turn as Hamlet in Paris; discursive, incoherent, and verbose, the play has nothing particularly interesting to say about gender politics as it ambitiously attempts to tackle a panoply of themes and ideas. I’d much rather see Ms. McTeer play Hamlet than watch an endless series of rehearsals.
Joshua Harmon’s new play, “Skintight” at Roundabout Theatre Company, entertainingly surveys the ways in which our notions of beauty and age shape and shade all our relationships. Idina Menzel makes a rare stage play appearance in a role tailor made for her talent, but this play offers little resolution, only more questions, and a steady stream of laughs—enjoyable, but largely forgettable.
Roundabout revival of "Kiss Me, Kate" will play Studio 54 beginning February 14th; Sasson Gabay joins “The Band’s Visit” June 26th; jukebox musicals are courting top talent, including playwrights Lynn Nottage and Dominique Morisseau; The New Group announces its 2018-2019 season, including "Clueless: The Musical"; book recommendations and a must read letter from the Dramatists Guild
