Off-Broadway Reviews

Review of Mojada at the Public Theater

Once again, Luis Alfaro's genius is showcased in his ability to turn ancient Greek tragedy into compelling and timely modern theater with his latest offering at The Public Theater, Mojada. In this case, Euripides' Medea is the jumping off point for Alfaro as he morphs the Greek sorceress into a young Mexican wife and mother who crosses the border illegally with her husband, son and nurse. Mojada is a stunning glimpse into the circumstances of existence for those who choose the hell that is both...

Review of Audible's the way she spoke, starring Kate del Castillo, at Minetta Lane Theatre

It is is snowing in Juárez? It never snows in Juárez. Something is terribly wrong.Women are disappearing from the streets of Juárez. Some have never been found. Others have been discovered in ditches and behind dumpsters. The fallout from drug trafficking and gang battles has been a descent into lawlessness that has left the women of Mexico uniquely vulnerable to an extraordinary level of violence. Women's bodies are literally the battlefield across which gang wars are raging. In Audible's the...

Review of Lincoln Center Theater's The Rolling Stone at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater

It is a summer Sunday afternoon, I am having brunch with my B-FAM - Brother From Another Mother - at a sidewalk café where the eggs are divine, the coffee is clearing my vision to the day's brilliance and I am thinking, Why did I sign up to review such a heavy show today? First world problems, right? But wait! One can feel such euphoria when the theatre gods come together making a perfect storm of writing, character development and direction. The Rolling Stone, written by Chris Urch and directed...

Review of Rock of Ages at New World Stages

The ferocity of hard rock is eroded by a stream of easy laughs in Rock of Ages, a hot mess of a musical that is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Broadway run with a 16-week Off-Broadway engagement, shrunk to fit the carpeted confines of New World Stages. Tasked with creating a story that could withstand an abundance of 1980's music, by which I mean snippets of nearly every rock anthem and power ballad one can think of from that era, writer Chris D'Arienzo throws as much plot as he can at...

Review of Lincoln Center Theater's LCT3 production of In the Green

Being a kid in medieval Germany was no day at the beach, especially if you were Hildegard von Bingen. The youngest among 10 siblings, her parents sacrificed her to the Catholic Church when she was eight, and she spent the next 30 years locked away in a dark cell. She would emerge, circa 1136, to become a devout nun as well as a gifted writer, composer, and botanist who also performed exorcisms and had Godly visions. Nearly 900 years later she was declared a saint. Perhaps sensing that Hildegard...

Review of the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing

This production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Public Theater's Free Shakespeare in the Park works. It sings. It flies. Director Kenny Leon and his fine cast have imbued the production at the Delacorte Theater with a certain style, grace and spirit. Conventions are dropped by the wayside beginning with the casting. The choice of Danielle Brooks, who is, as she puts it, "a plus-sized woman" in the part of the very brave and very sort Beatrice works very well. Pairing her up with the chameleon...

Review of Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish) at Stage 42

Full disclosure - I saw Zero Mostel in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway in 1965. My sister and I sat audience left very close to the front and I think the tickets were $9.95. I wasn't crazy for Mostel who was doing schtick that made the audience howl but had nothing to do with the story. It bugged me. Even at 15 I was one smart shiksa.Speaking of which, have you ever noticed how many words we have looted from the Yiddish? America is not the home of the King's English - we speak Mongrel. Someone...

Review of The Play That Goes Wrong at New World Stages

Halfway through the first act of the hilarious off-Broadway staging of The Play That Goes Wrong, an actor who has grown wildly frustrated because of a missing prop turns to the audience and says, "Stop laughing! This isn't television, I can see you." The demand, naturally, only makes the audience laugh harder. And that is an impressive feat given that the chuckles had been pouring forth relentlessly from the production's opening moments and, indeed, carry through to the final madcap meltdown,...

Review of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical at Madison Square Garden's Hulu Theater

Gavin Lee, as that wonderfully despicable diabolical ridiculously hilarious creature The Grinch, in Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! now playing at Madison Square Garden's (MSG) Hulu theater, is PHENOMENAL. In case you missed that last part, PHENOMENAL! We know the Grinch, we've all grown up with him, so we have expectations, Lee takes those expectations, parlays them into a Christmas lights knotted bunch and blows the fuse. This is the Grinch of all Grinch's. He growls and purrs and...

Review of Popcorn Falls at the Davenport Theatre

Popcorn Falls is an actor's dream of a play. So, it's no surprise that the playwright, James Hindman, is also an actor. As is first-time director, Christian Borle. And I must say, they all combine to do the theatrical arts proud in this charming, funny and clever evening at the Davenport Theatre.As the script says right under the title "1 small town, 2 medium sized actors, 21 over-the-top characters." Which is not quite accurate - the characters aren't all over-the-top, and I only counted 16...