The new musical “A Letter to Harvey Milk” has good intentions but becomes confusing as it attempts to address too many issues and wavers from emotional drama to Borsht Belt comedy. Death and grieving, homosexuality, Judaism, rejection, loneliness, and creativity are just a few of the topics unearthed in a short ninety minutes but never fully developed. It almost seems…
Italian castrato Farinelli (Sam Crane) soothes the troubled mind of Spain’s King Philippe V (Mark Rylance) who suffers from what the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders would code as a bipolar disorder. Despite support from the King’s physician Dr. Jose Cervi (Huss Garbiya), the Chief Minister of Spain Don Sebastian De La Cuadra (Edward Peel) advocates for the…
“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.” – “To A Mouse” by Robert Burns Despite his claim to be “quite content to keep [his] own counsel, as [he] sees fit, and leave the jibber-jabber to the riff-raff, the riff-raff,” former hangman Harry Wade (played with a menacing panache by Mark Addy) seems quite content to…
Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Doyle and Executive Producer Jeff Griffin, and Transport Group, under the leadership of Jack Cummings III (Artistic Director) and Lori Fineman (Executive Director), present a new production of Tennessee Williams’ SUMMER AND SMOKE, directed by Jack Cummings III, Artistic Director of The Transport Group, beginning performances Friday, April 13 at…
Whether medieval or modern, no plague is comfortable. The first part of “The Amateurs,” currently playing at Vineyard Theatre, is uncomfortable in a different way and the audience wonders, “Can this play be as amateurish as it appears. What is the Vineyard thinking?” As it turns out, the iconic Off-Broadway theatre is thinking outside-the-box and out with the fourth wall,…
“It won’t stay this – go back to Richard, make amends, sort your life out – but things will get better, easier, with time, people such as yourself ‘n your family start integrating more.” – David to Azeem What does it mean to be an ordinary Muslim? What does it mean to be an ordinary Christian? What does it mean…
“It will take a Captain Hook like my very own bes pal ta sniff it out, hey! What a treasure you bot are. Dis is really it, Pig!” – Runt The 20th Anniversary Production of “Disco Pigs,” currently running at Irish Repertory Theatre, is a soul-ripping exploration of the psychological process of separation and individuation and the sometimes-painful experience of…
In two thirty-five-minute acts, playwright James Inverne attempts to convince the audience that “music helped Israel find its cultural identity during its formative years.” In the first short act that takes place in 1926, Yehuda Sharett (Yuval Boim), a “kibbutznik from the Ukraine” and advocate for a Jewish homeland, takes a walk with Jascha Heifetz (Adam Green) and engages the…
Currently in its Broadway debut, John Lithgow’s “Stories By Heart” first took shape in 2008 at Lincoln Center Theater in a special repertory presentation directed by Jack O’Brien. Then, Mr. Lithgow told one story on each of two nights. Since then he has evolved the play in theaters around the country, produced by Staci Levine, on evenings away from his…
There is yet another theatrical party occurring on stage at City Center developed by Isobel Mahon and billed as the new comedy entitled “Party Face.” This soiree is celebrating the newly designed kitchen by the absentee husband of Mollie Mae (played with distinct dismal despair by Gina Costigan), who has just been released from the psychiatric ward after having a…