What could go wrong at a private school whose five-member board of directors makes all decisions based on consensus and has what benefitted the community at heart as their guiding principle. A board so committed to inclusion that The Eureka Day School in Berkeley, California’s cultural identity drop-down menu for prospective parents offers eleven choices. And if Eli (an oblivious…
Abby (Marisa Tomei) has co-produced records with Gus (Arliss Howard) for thirty-two years. She had been his right hand, but her name never appears on the album as co-producer. She finds talent. Gus takes the credit. Recognition is not the only problem. Gus is a misogynist and a prime example of toxic masculinity in the workplace and elsewhere. Abby colludes…
Families of any number, age, or culture often meet for special occasions, some more special than others. Depending on the mix of those above descriptors, these get-togethers result in quite different outcomes ranging from collegial to catastrophic. These gatherings can be around any number of holidays or around some specific tradition. Those celebrating a specific tradition are often annual events….
Gone are the turban, the grand staircase, the jewels, the chandeliers, the drapes, and the viewing of Norma Desmond’s monkey in the reimagining of “Sunset Blvd.” currently running at the St. James Theatre. Norma Desmond (an incandescent Nicole Scherzinger), Max Von Mayerling (a devoted and doting David Thaxton), Joe Gillis (a failed and still failing Tom Francis), and Betty Schafer…
“Swept Away,” currently on at the Longacre Theatre, was inspired by the 2004 album “Mignonette” by the American folk-rock band The Avett Brothers. Although the album was suggested by the shipwreck and survival story of the British yacht Mignonette, which sank in 1884, the narrative of the musical transcends time and space with its timeless themes of confession, forgiveness, redemption, transfiguration,…
In Nancy Harris’s “The Beacon,” currently on at the Irish Repertory Theatre, four characters navigate through life’s rough waters. Three make it. One is still lost at sea. The back wall of Beiv’s (Kate Mulgrew) cottage on an island off the coast of West Cork is made almost entirely of glass and looks out onto the Atlantic Ocean. Angst and…
The main problem with “Tammy Faye,” currently on at the Palace Theatre is not the vapid lyrics by Jake Shears or the bland book by James Graham. Unfortunately, the “New Broadway Musical” has nothing to do with the iconic PTL Club televangelist Tammy Faye. Not even the two-time Laurence Olivier Award winning Katie Brayben’s performance as Tammy Faye, or the…
In a recent “New York Times” guest essay, Drew Lichtenberg writes that although “the American theater’s relationship to the Bard might be fraying” with “a long history of theaters running from Shakespeare during times of political division or uncertainty, we need Shakespeare, especially in moments of conflict and unrest.” Currently running at Circle in the Square, Sam Gold’s production of…
At first glance, Manhattan Theatre Club’s “Vladimir,” currently at New York City Center Stage I, might receive a “what’s new” reaction from the audience. But the importance Erika Sheffer’s well-constructed play takes us far beyond the boundaries of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin’s Russia. “Vladimir” focuses on the enduring themes of love and relationships, the dichotomy of freedom and oppression, and the…
Strings McCrane (a complex, unsettled, and conflicted Adam Driver) did not need to be overly mindful when he was a world-famous country and western singer and a movie star: he had teams deciding what was best for his present and future career, thus unburdening him from the pressure and uncertainty of being mindful about anything. After his mother’s untimely death…