Yann Martel’s 2001 novel “Life of Pi” is a coming-of-age story, the story of “one boy, one boat, one tiger.” Walker/Canongate published Martel’s Booker Prize novel in 2010 as a young adult novel which found its way onto school bookshelves across the United States (and beyond). It was a popular read in the high school where I taught. My colleagues…
Most, if not all, of my colleagues did not like “Bad Cinderella.” However, the performance I recently attended was sold out and that often undervalued pundit known as “the audience” could not have been more appreciative of what they experienced on the stage of the Imperial Theatre. It is important for us theatre critics to remember that often unheralded phenomenon…
Perhaps one of the best reasons to attend the present revival of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is to hear the exceptional score by the late Stephen Sondheim, gloriously presented by a twenty-six-piece orchestra, which resounds through the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, echoing a menagerie of emotional themes. There is a Brecht-Weil semblance, as a populace from London’s underbelly…
The musical “Parade” opened on Broadway in 1998 and was subject to a short run, closing in February of 1999 before eventually winning two TONY awards for Best Book of a musical by Alfred Uhry and Best Original Score by Jason Robert Brown. This original production received critical acclaim but was received poorly by audience members, sighting the subject matter…
Currently running at the Public’s Newman Theater, “The Harder They Come” is based on the 1972 film by the same name produced and directed by Perry Henzell and co-written with Trevor Rhone. The first paragraph of David Katz’s guest essay added to the Library of Congress National Registry in 2020 summarizes the film perfectly. “The Harder They Come” is a landmark of Caribbean…
I am an LGBTQ+ able-bodied and hearing person walking into the lobby of one of my favorite venues: The Public Theater. There is a notice on the door to mask up before entering. I am early and after masking up and picking up my ticket, I lean up against one of the columns in the lobby and check out my…
Unlike the typical one-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle where the completed puzzle matches the image on the cover, “The Collaboration’s” dénouement and resolution are nothing like the playwright’s supposed intention when writing the script. Anthony McCarten sets us up for a scuba diving expedition. The playwright teases us into a deep-sea dive into the wreckage that is the lives of two disparate…
Fans of jukebox musicals and Neil Diamond will be thrilled with the current production of “A Beautiful Noise” now playing at the Broadhurst Theatre. This production is packed with plenty of the superstar’s mega hits that will entice any audience member to start singing along, which happens a couple of times during the show at the invitation of Will Swenson…
World and North American Premieres, Original Commissions, and Works Spanning Theater, Opera, Music, And Dance Comprise Park Avenue Armory’s 2023 Season The North American debut of British dramatist Alexander Zeldin’s LOVE, an emotionally poignant play depicting the lives of families placed in temporary public housing. Uniquely lived-in performances and design immerse audiences within a story that calls attention to…
It is difficult to believe that it has been a year since the death of Stephen Sondheim, one of the most prolific American composer and lyricists in the history of musical theatre. New York has certainly paid tribute to this theatrical icon by continuing to produce revivals of several shows from his vast repertoire, including the present production of “Merrily…