Off-Broadway Reviews

Review of Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day at the Public Theater

A Bright Room Called Day, now at the Public Theater, first breathed life back in 1985. We know this because playwright Tony Kushner appears as a character in the story about 10 minutes in and tells us. Mind you, he is not identified as Kushner. He is not named anywhere except the program. He is Xillah (Jonathan Hadary), and presents himself as the author in a quandary. This is the play he wrote 34 years ago. It never worked until Trump was elected - and now everyone wants to produce it, but it...

Review of Audible Theater's The Half-Life of Marie Curie at the Minetta Lane Theatre

"The Half- Life of Marie Curie" is a very clever title for Lauren Gunderson's new world premiere play, now being presented by Audible at the Minetta Lane Theatre, considering Curie discovered and named the elements radium and polonium, but it gives the wrong impression altogether. It should be the incredible life of Marie Curie. She was the first woman to win a Nobel prize, the first person to win two Nobel prizes, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple...

Review of Evita at New York City Center

The legacy and history of the Broadway genre is defined most by its divas: Broadway's brightest and most archetypal stars have been women. They are charismatic, larger than life, and have voices that bring crowds to their knees and to their feet. Moreover, they are immense cultural properties that hold a special place in the hearts of those they reach.Both the titular character and source material of Evita reflect this principle. Eva Perón, as a complex political figure, has endured as an...

Review of Signature Theatre's Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deavere Smith

There are many interpretations of what happened. It's Crown Heights, Brooklyn and it's 1991, and it's the heat of August, and it's 8:20 on a summer night. People are on the street.There has been tension in this urban neighborhood for some time as the Jewish community that lives side by side with the African American community has been expanding its footprint, buying up property and changing the landscape. Then it happened. The spark that lit the fuse of an explosion.The driver of the car in the...

Review of The New Group's Cyrano, starring Peter Dinklage, at Daryl Roth Theatre

I wanted to like this production of Cyrano by The New Group, now playing Off-Broadway's Daryl Roth Theatre. I am a fan of Peter Dinklage (who has the briefest bio in the Playbill) having first seen him in the movie "Station Master." In addition, I heard great things about Erica Schmidt's direction of Red Bull Theater's Mac Beth earlier this. I was psyched.Sadly, this production did not cooperate with my wishes. Initially it could stem from the story itself - a tale of Roxanne (Jasmine Cephas...

Review of Seared, starring Raúl Esparza & Krysta Rodriguez, at MCC Theater

Theresa Rebeck's Seared, currently playing at MCC Theater, should be required viewing for all students of the culinary arts, as well as all lovers of the theatrical arts. For the former it will act as a cautionary tale, and for the latter it will stand out as a beacon of the intersection of a truly inspired meeting of all the theater disciplines - writing, directing, stagecraft and acting. With the winners being the audience who get to enjoy an insightful, laugh-out-loud evening at the...

Review of Macbeth, starring Corey Stoll, at Classic Stage Company

A heralded Scottish general, contented with what he has achieved, stumbles upon witches during his travels returning home from war and receives a prophecy from them that he will become King of Scotland. Telling his wife the prophecy, she becomes consumed by ambition and spurs him on to murder the King and ascend to the throne. He becomes tortured with guilt and paranoia of his deed and commits more and more murders to protect his place and becomes a tyrant out of fear. A civil war ensues and the...

Review of The Michaels at the Public Theater

Commissioned by the Public Theater, The Michaels is a world premiere both written and directed by Richard Nelson. It is a perceptively understated ensemble piece that runs a fast two hours with no intermission."It is what it is."I'm coming to the Richard Nelson party late. I have not seen any of his other works in the Rhinebeck Panorama, The Apple Family Plays, and The Gabriels. All Chekhov reminiscent in that they deal with the mundane of life, the cooking, the washing, the cleaning, the...

Review of Roundabout Theatre Company's Scotland, PA at Laura Pels Theatre

Let's start with the premise. Scotland, PA, now playing at the Laura Pels Theatre, is a musical parody of Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth.Go ahead and read that sentence again. It doesn't change. Would that it did.This is yet another in the list of "Never blame the actors" (said by John Randolph) productions. The cast is an extremely talented and committed group of actors and singers. Some of the singing is downright sublime.There ends the good news.This is the story of a young couple, Mac...

Review of Keen Company's Molly Sweeney at Theatre Row

In Keen Company's production of Brian Friel's Molly Sweeney there is a mighty tale to tell. As the title indicates, this play is her story. Molly (Pamela Sabaugh) is at the center of it, while the planets in orbit around her are affected by her fate. Frank (Tommy Schrider) has been her husband of some years. He is a fanciful man with a wandering heart. Projects pull him from place to place, and, until he met Molly, he was not much interested in locating himself. Mr. Rice (Paul O'Brien) is the...