Dave Malloy’s “Three Houses currently running at Signature Theatre’s Linney Theater is a retelling/interpretation of the classic fairy tales “The Three Little Pigs” and “Red Riding Hood” (among other cautionary folklore narratives) in which The Big Bad Wolf appears. Stand-ins for Little Red Riding Hood and those Three Little Pigs are Susan (a manic and hedonistic Margo Seibert), Sadie (a…
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 whole is greater than the sum of its parts in Dave Malloy’s a cappela musical “Octet” currently playing in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center. A group of eight “addicts” meets regularly (summoned by the mysterious Saul) to share the dynamics of their various addictions, hoping to achieve the recovery attainable through the support…
When one thinks of the Jerry Springer Show (past and present), one might not think of ‘opera.’ However, in 2000, the seeds of that exact concept were planted by Richard Thomas at London’s Battersea Arts Centre with his “Tourette’s Diva” and in 2001 with his “How to Write an Opera About Jerry Springer” at the same venue. The success of…
The 1970s was a decade of unrest across the United States. Racial divides were exacerbated by socio-economic disparities and rising tensions between members of minority communities and the systemic racism inherent in the majority white population. This unrest was particularly evident in urban areas like New York City and, more specifically, in the West Village of Manhattan. One such riot…
Upon entering Pershing Square Signature Center’s Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre to view a new musical adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters’ 1915 “Spoon River Anthology,” we became a bit leery about the execution of this undertaking (no pun intended) as we walked down a dark hallway past Bertie Hume lying at rest in a casket. Continuing in the dark, we turned…
“Well — in any case, the play hadn’t been terribly well-liked by the public, and it wasn’t a success, but quite a few people had enjoyed it quite a bit, including, interestingly, a certain Mr. Ackerley, who not long afterwards began to take a more and more prominent place in our national life, which, I’d have to admit, was not…
The New Group has announced that two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick joins Wallace Shawn’s Evening at the Talk House, with, as previously announced, Jill Eikenberry, John Epperson, Larry Pine, Wallace Shawn, Claudia Shear, Annapurna Sriram and Michael Tucker, representing full casting for this U.S. premiere directed by Scott Elliott. Previews for Evening at the Talk House begin January 31 in advance of an Official Opening Night on February 16 at The Pershing Square Signature Center (The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre, 480 West…
Although it is difficult to experience a musical like “Sweet Charity” without comparing the current production at the New Group with previous productions, that is the only fair way to be critical of the current incarnation of that iconic work done by Neil Simon, Cy Coleman, and Dorothy Fields. “Sweet Charity” at the New Group at the Pershing Square Signature…
When a play is about something more than boy meets girl or boy meets boy, (or boy becomes girl) it can be an inspiring, even cathartic experience. This week, for example, I saw a show that is theoretically about suffering, but it is funny and touching and relatable. Oh, did I mention that it is also about not talking? I…