the ally

Off-Broadway Review: “Translations” at Irish Repertory Theatre (Closed Sunday, December 31, 2023)

Language and translation serve as powerful tropes for colonial ownership in Brian Friel’s “Translations” currently playing at Irish Repertory Company through Sunday. December 31, 2023. Headmaster Hugh (Sean McGinley) of the hedge-school in the townland of Baile Beag/Balleybeg the Irish-speaking community in County Donegal and his eldest son Manus (Owen Campbell) teach Irish, Latin and Greek to the local students….

Read More Buy Tickets

Broadway Review: “Harmony” at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (Closed Sunday, April 4, 2024)

December 15, 2023 | book review, Broadway, the ally, the seven year, triple > | "Harmony", Allison Semmes, Andrew O’Shanick, Barry Manilow, Barry Sussman, Benjamin H. Moore, Beowulf Boritt, Blake Roman, Bronwyn Tarboton, Bruce Landry, casting director; Sara Edwards, Chip Zien, Constantine Pappas, costume designers; Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, CSA, Daniel Z. Miller, Danny Kornfeld, Eric Peters, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Inc., Jamibeth Margolis CSA casting director, John O’Neill music director and additional vocal and music arranger, Joseph Verlezza, Julie Benko, Julieta Cervantes, Kate Wesler, Kayleen Seidl, Lee Zarrett, lighting designers; Dan Moses Schreier, Rhonnierose Mantilla, Roy Gabay/Jumpstart Entertainment general manager, Sara Edwards associate director/choreographer, scenic designer; Linda Cho and Ricky Lurie, Sean Bell, Sierra Boggess, sound designer; batwin + robin productions, Steven Telsey, Stuart Zagnit, Theatre Reviews, Theatre Reviews Limited, Tom Watson wig and hair designer, video design; Jamibeth Margolis, Warren Carlyle, Zak Edwards, Zal Owen

The Comedian Harmonists was an internationally famous all-male German singing group that was formed during the Weimar period and was forced to disband in the early 1930’s when the Nazi regime came into power. The group consisted of six males, three of whom were Jewish or of Jewish decent and one that had married a Jewish woman. The story of…

Read More Buy Tickets

Broadway Review: “Gutenberg! The Musical!” at the James Earl Jones Theatre (Closed Sunday, January 28, 2024)

One of the latest offerings to open on the Great White Way is no stranger to New York theatre audiences since it has had several productions Off Broadway since the mid-2000s, after it was developed by Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre as a forty-five-minute, one act. In this present, over produced, Broadway incarnation, you might start to feel as if it…

Read More Buy Tickets

Broadway Review: “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (Closed Sunday, November 19, 2023)

October 12, 2023 | Broadway, the ally > | “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”, & Erica Hart (Casting), Brittany Adebumola (Miriam), Caparelliotis Casting, David Zinn (Scenic Design), Dawn-Elin Fraser (Dialect & Vocal Coach), Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Dominique Thorne (Marie), Jiyoun Chang (Lighting Design), Jocelyn Bioh, Joseph Verlezza, Justin Ellington (Original Music & Sound Design), Kalyne Coleman (Chrissy/Michelle/Laniece), Kelly Gillespie, Lakisha May (Vanessa/Radia/Sheila), Maechi Aharanwa (Ndidi), Matthew Murphy, Melanie J. Lisby (Production Stage Manager), Michael Oloyede (James/Sock Man/DVD Man/Jewelry Man), Nana Mensah (Aminata), Nikiya Mathis (Hair & Wig Design), Rachel Christopher (Jennifer), Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Somi Kakoma (Jaja), Stefania Bulbarella (Video Design), Theatre Reviews, Theatre Reviews Limited, Whitney White, Zenzi Williams (Sista Bea)

Manhattan Theatre Club is presenting a new Broadway production entitled “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” penned by Jocelyn Bioh at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Ms. Bioh has set her dramedy inside a hair braiding shop located in Harlem, during one entire day, and has filled the establishment with an array of colorful and outlandish employees and clientele. The occasional street…

Read More Buy Tickets

Off-Broadway Review: “Infinite Life” at Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater (Closed Saturday, October 14, 2023)

October 11, 2023 | book review, infinite, infinite life, Off-Broadway, the ally > | "Infinite Life", Annie Baker, Atlantic Theater Company, David Roberts, James Macdonald, Linda Gross Theater, Theatre Reviews, Theatre Reviews Limited

Five women in their forties to seventies and one man in his forties gather at a clinic two hours north of San Francisco to continue to deal with their pain. The regimen includes fasting and drinking a variety of beverages. Eileen (Marylouise Burke) is hungry and tired. Elaine (Brenda Pressley) has osteoporosis. Ginnie (Kristine Nielsen) has “auto-immune thyroid stuff but…

Read More Buy Tickets

Benefit Performance News/Preview: “I Put a Spell on You: Witches ERA” at Sony Hall on Monday, October 23 at 8:00 p.m.

October 10, 2023 | i love you so, the ally, Uncategorized > | "I Put a Spell on You: Witches ERA", Ali Forney Center (AFC), Harms of Homelessness, Jay Armstrong Johnson, LGBTQ+ Youth

Jay Armstrong Johnson welcomes a new cast of characters for this year’s Halloween concert-meets-dance-part “I Put a Spell on You: The Witches ERA,” including Tony Award Nominee Justin Cooley (Kimberly Akimbo), Tony Award Nominee Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge!, A Beautiful Noise), recording artist Mila Jam, reigning SIX Queen Taylor Iman Jones (The Devil Wears Prada)RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15’s Marcia…

Read More Buy Tickets

Off-Broadway Review: Primary Stage’s “Dig” at 59E59 Theaters (Closed Sunday, October 22, 2023)

Primary Stages current offering is Theresa Rebeck’s new play entitled “Dig.” Now playing at 59E59 theatres, the play revolves around the situations that develop in a small plant shop that has its name “dig” stenciled on the glass window of the front door. The playwright takes every possible opportunity to utilize a plant or horticultural metaphor to translate or foreshadow…

Read More Buy Tickets

Off-Broadway Review: “Swing State” at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre (Closed Saturday, October 28, 2023)

The latest production produced by Audible titled “Swing State”, which has transferred from Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and is now playing at the Minetta Lane Theatre, is not really what the recognizable phrase in the title may imply. It does not focus on the present political great divide, even though playwright Rebecca Gilman touches on many current troubling themes including grief,…

Read More Buy Tickets

Broadway Review: “Back to the Future” at the Winter Garden Theatre (Currently On)

August 20, 2023 | back the future, book review, Broadway, Music, the ally > | "Back to the Future", Alan Silvestri, Amber Ardolino, and includes Merritt David Janes, Becca Petersen, Blakely Slaybaugh, Bob Gale, Brendon Chan, Casey Likes, Chris Bailey (Choreography), Chris Fisher (Illusion Design), Daryl Tofa, David Chase (Dance Arrangements), Emma Pittman, Ethan Popp & Bryan Crook (Orchestrations), Finn Ross (Video Design), Gabi Stapula, Gareth Owen (Sound Design), Glen Ballard, Hannah Kevitt, Hugh Coles, Jelani Remy, JJ Niemann, John Rando, Jonalyn Saxer, Joseph Verlezza, Joshua Kenneth Allen Johnson, Kevin Curtis, Kimberly Immanuel, Liana Hunt, Marc Heitzman, Mikaela Secada, Nathaniel Hackmann, Nick Drake, Nick Finlow (Music Supervision, Roger Bart, Samuel Gerber, Tara Rubin Casting, Ted Arthur (Music Direction), Theatre Reviews, Theatre Reviews Limited, Tim Hatley (Scenic and Costume Design), Tim Lutkin & Hugh Vanstone (Lighting Design), Victoria Byrd, Vocal and Additional Arrangements), Will Branner, Winter Garden Theatre

The new musical “Back to the Future” is certainly a blast from the past, with Bob Gale penning a book that sticks closely to his original 1985 screenplay written with Robert Zemeckis. Those familiar with the film will once again enjoy the adventures of Marty McFly (an energetic Casey Likes), and his zany, eccentric friend Doc Brown (a loveable Roger…

Read More Buy Tickets

Off-Broadway News: Irish Repertory Theatre Announces Encore Presentation of A. R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” Beginning Wednesday, September 5, 2023

Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O’Reilly, Producing Director) announced today that they will present an encore run of Love Letters by A.R. Gurney, directed by Ciarán O’Reilly (Endgame), following sold-out performances this past spring. The encore run will take place this fall, featuring five performances with returning star, Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick, joined by Talia…

Read More Buy Tickets