THE HANGOVER REPORT – Michelle Dorrance’s THE NUTCRACKER SUITE charmingly and energetically ushers in the holiday season

Last night, Dorrance Dance opened The Nutcracker Suite, a jazzy, family-friendly tap dance adaptation of the holiday classical ballet staple The Nutcracker. The evening length piece originally premiered at The … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The peppy musical adaptation of DEATH BECOMES HER is elevated by leading ladies Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard

Last night, the new musical Death Becomes Her opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Of course, the show is the musical adaptation of the Robert Zemeckis’s 1992 film of … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nancy Harris’s heated new play THE BEACON attempts to balance juicy family drama and tense psychological thriller

This week, I finally had the opportunity to catch up with Irish Repertory Theater’s fall offering — Nancy Harris’s heated new play The Beacon, which is enjoying its North American … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In 300 PAINTINGS, Sam Kissajukian intersects mental health and the arts in a wildly imaginative act of introspection

Last night, Australian comedian Sam Kissajukian’s 300 Paintings opened Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. The autobiographical solo show arrives in New York after having proved to be a hit at … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Distilled Chekhov in Spanish: Guillermo Cacace’s intimate GAVIOTA gets to the heart of “The Seagull”

Last night at the flexible BAM Fisher space, I attended Gaviota, one of the offerings of this fall’s Next Wave Festival, courtesy of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Conceived and … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Musing the legacy and enduring popularity of Elevator Repair Service’s legendary production of GATZ

This fall at the Public Theater, Elevator Repair Service has remounted its storied staging of Gatz — allegedly for the final time before retiring the legendary production. I had seen the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Kirill Petrenko leads the BERLIN PHILHARMONIC in an indisputably masterful reading of Bruckner’s Fifth

On Monday night, I had the great pleasure of catching the mighty Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. Led by the Philharmonic’s music director — Russian-Austrian conductor Kirill Petrenko — the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Kenneth Branagh leads a lucid, traditional production of Shakespeare’s newly relevant KING LEAR

This past week saw another high profile opening — the much anticipated production of William Shakespeare’s King Lear headlined by stage and film star Kenneth Branagh at The Shed. Rob … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The new musical TAMMY FAYE arrives on Broadway eager to please but provides little illumination and point of view

Last week, the new musical Tammy Faye opened on the Great White Way at the gorgeously refurbished Palace Theatre (in the process of getting its much needed facelift, the landmark … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Finding musical escapism Off-Broadway: MAMA I’M A BIG GIRL NOW and KAFKAESQUE!

To further get my mind off of recent events, I’ve turned to musical theater (among other things) to find escape. In this pursuit, I came across two Off-Broadway offerings that … Continue Reading →