VIEWPOINTS – BAM’s Next Wave Festival continues with two stimulating international productions: 32 RUE VANDENBRANDEN & BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES

In recent weeks, BAM’s Next Wave Festival continued robustly with two stimulating, stirringly-staged international productions at the Harvey Theater. First we have Gabriela Carrizo and Franck Chartier’s 32 rue Vandenbranden (RECOMMENDED), … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The stage adaptation of Alanis Morissette’s JAGGED LITTLE PILL is smart and ferocious

Thus far, it’s been an uncommonly good season for Broadway jukebox musicals. Moulin Rouge reached ecstatic heights I didn’t think possible, while Tina: The Tina Turner Musical is making a bona fide … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Will Eno depicts the totality of life in THE UNDERLYING CHRIS, the playwright’s most conventional work to date

Currently running Off-Broadway at the Tony Kiser Theater is Second Stage Theater’s production of The Underlying Chris by Will Eno. In many ways, Mr. Eno is American playwriting’s contemporary response to … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – TFANA’s meticulous staging of María Irene Fornés’s FEFU AND HER FRIENDS does the audacious, scantly-seen modern classic proud

This past weekend at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, I had the exciting opportunity to finally catch a live performance of the seminal, scantly-seen Fefu and Her Friends by Cuba American playwright María … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Three flawed but fascinating Off-Broadway musicals this fall and early winter: CYRANO, EINSTEIN’S DREAMS, and BROADBEND, ARKANSAS

This fall and early winter, I encountered a trio of fascinating if flawed Off-Broadway musicals, the product of three consistently intriguing theater companies – The New Group, Prospect Theater Company, and Transport … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Met’s revival of THE QUEEN OF SPADES is chock full of notable house debuts (one that’s particularly exciting)

A star is born in Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen, who made a glorious Metropolitan Opera debut last night in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. That Tchaikovsky’s operatic psychological thriller is rarely … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Signature Theatre Company continues to uphold the legacy of American playwriting via fine revivals of Anna Deavere Smith’s FIRES IN THE MIRROR and Horton Foote’s THE YOUNG MAN FROM ATLANTA

Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre Company continues to serve an important function in New York’s crowded theater scene. That is, to serve as a space to celebrate and uphold the legacy of … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Two icons of music lend their considerable talent and star power to Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival

Two recent high points of the ongoing White Light Festival were the contributions of two icons of the music world – classical music’s superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel and jazz legend … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jack Thorne’s genuinely heartfelt A CHRISTMAS CAROL on Broadway is necessary holiday entertainment

Over the weekend, I had the chance to pay a visit to Jack Thorne’s new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which opened last week at the Lyceum Theatre. The … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Proof that classical music can be among the coolest things in town: Philip Glass’s AKHNATEN & the Currentzis-led Verdi REQUIEM

Last week, I attended two highly anticipated classical music events that were among the hottest tickets in town, proving that art form can be — contrary to the general thought … Continue Reading →