Currently running at Theatre Row, Ma-Yi Theater Company’s “Felix Starro” launches the Company’s 30th Anniversary Season. The musical is based on Filipino-American writer Lysley Tenorio’s short story of the same name that appeared in his 2012 collection “Monstress” in which “a famous Filipino faith healer and his grandson Junior conduct an illicit business in San Francisco, though each has his…
The nature-nurture psychological debate and the predestined-free will theological debate collide in Bess Wohl’s “Make Believe” currently running at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theater, resulting in the brave and somewhat disturbing exploration of the blurred boundaries between what is perceived to be real life and what is perceived to be make-believe. The playwright raises several enduring questions, including whether there…
Performances of a new off-Broadway play begin with previews, advance through opening night and reviews, and settle into a run of some indeterminate length depending on original projections of success and extensions, finally closing leaving the play’s actors and creative team in the beginnings of yet another post-closing bereavement process. But what of the play itself? Did the run of…
The producers of the Off-Broadway return of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s landmark musical “Little Shop of Horrors” have announced that Tony Award nominee Gideon Glick (“To Kill A Mockingbird,” “Significant Other”) will join the cast of the production for two weeks only, from Tuesday, November 5 – Sunday, November 17, while original star Jonathan Groff is on a scheduled…
In years past, the common complaints one heard about “the state of theatre” were primarily about the steep prices that had seemed to rise ever so quickly but then were passed off as just a sign of the times. Other quips that could be heard were concerns about subject matter, nudity, or foul language. Then there was the appearance of…
Although the new Broadway musical “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” takes place in Paris in 1899, it is without a doubt a “Cabaret” for the 21st Century. It captures the sounds of Lady Gaga, Katie Perry, Patti Labelle, Beyonce, Elton John and an endless host of others as they are woven into the plot with unequivocal brilliance. Those all familiar high-octane…
David: Lenore, your new off-Broadway show “The Exes” officially opens on Thursday August 15th at Theatre Row. That’s getting close! What are your thoughts and feelings as the opening approaches? Lenore: I’m thrilled. For the first time in my creative life, I’m truly enjoying this experience, from start to finish. Even with all the bumps that we’ve encountered along the…
Necromancy does not fare well in Esteban R. Alvarez III’s “Just Outside the Door” which just ended its three-performance run at the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival. The play’s protagonist is Robert (a troubled yet charming Danny Bryck) the desperate grandson who kidnaps his dying Abuela (a feisty and funny Debra Cardona) in order to save her, but must learn to…
In “Florida Man” by Michael Presley Bobbitt, a young man racked with guilt digs up his dead father William Crud (the crud of a memory John Higgins) to give him the proper Viking funeral he always wanted. Billy Crud (a hapless and somewhat damaged Michael Ford) regrets not having granted his father’s last wishes about his “resting place.” Despite Billy’s…
Over the period of a year, three generations of Irish women share their stories ad seriatim while in a medical office waiting room. Amber (a spitfire Lauren O’Leary) rehearses her life from taking her beau Paul to a wedding, to his abandoning her after discovering she is pregnant with his child. Amber’s “ma” Lorraine (a pensive and seemingly broken Brenda…