With the concept of “winter” an increasing memory, here is overview of all that’s coming to New York stages this spring!
All tagged Atlantic Theatre Company
REVIEW: Jack Thorne’s “Sunday” at Atlantic Theater Company
Jack Thorne’s listless, shapeless, and dreadful new play “Sunday” centers on a book group of Gen Z-ers grappling with ennui; yes, it is as painful as that sounds. Mr. Thorne doesn’t have much to say for this unconvincingly invented milieu, other than to wallow in the imagined ennui and dullness of a supposedly disillusioned generation to which he does not belong.
REVIEW: The enthralling psychological manipulation of “Derren Brown: Secret”
Prepare to have your mind blown by British mentalist and illusionist Derren Brown during his brilliantly suspenseful and thrilling one-man magic show: “Derren Brown: Secret”. Entertaining and enthralling, you might just emerge from the theatre a true believer.
FEATURE: 2019 Fall Season Preview
The city that never sleeps also boasts a theatre scene that never sleeps. With the summer now behind us, this is an overview of all that’s coming to New York stages this fall (spoiler alert: it’s a lot).
REVIEWS: “Continuity”, “Dying City”, and “Nomad Hotel”
A roundup look at three plays that recently opened at three of Off-Broadway’s best non-profit theatre companies: “Continuity” at Manhattan Theatre Club, “Dying City” at Second Stage Theater, and “Nomad Motel” at Atlantic Theater Company.
REVIEW: Isabelle Huppert in “The Mother”
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.
FEATURE: Top 10 Shows of 2018
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!).
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical" books the Al Hirschfeld Theatre; BC/EFA awards $225k for fire relief; League of Professional Theatre Women report finds gender equality progress Off-Broadway; "The Ferryman" extends 20 weeks; "The Secret Life of Bees" cast announced; Norbert Leo Butz, Laura Osnes, and Ethan Slater join Fosse/Verdon on FX; "If I Forget" to air on PBS; tickets on sale for Lincoln Center's "American Songbook" series; Astoria Performing Arts Center to present "Caroline, or Change"; producer Jerry Frankel dead at 88; writer William Goldman dead at 87
REVIEWS: “Apologia” and “Fireflies”
A roundup look at two new Off-Broadway plays: “Apologia” at Roundabout Theatre Company and “Fireflies” at Atlantic Theatre Company.
REVIEW: “This Ain’t No Disco” Ain’t Kidding
“This Ain’t No Disco”, an original rock opera about the art, music, and dance club scenes of 1979 New York, ain’t kidding. This new musical is bland and soulless, overstuffed, overdone, and under-dramatized, with a cacophony of characters, ideas, and issues offering only a sprawling, shallow story that is neither unique, distinctly tethered to the history of the setting, or frankly, engaging. This isn’t just a flop, but a belly flop—the likes of which you rarely see on stage in New York anymore.
REVIEW: Martin McDonagh’s menacingly funny “Hangmen”
“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.
REVIEW: Grappling with buried trauma in “The Homecoming Queen”
“The Homecoming Queen” by Ngozi Anyanwu is a mysterious and reconciliatory meditation on buried trauma, family history, and liberation into one’s true self through the story of a novelist returning to her native Nigeria to visit with her ailing father and confront ghosts from her past. Thematically taut but frustrating in its opacity, the play is a confident offering from an emerging playwright worth watching.