THE HANGOVER REPORT – Company XIV’s sexy, streamlined FERDINAND: BOYLESQUE BULLFIGHT gives the audience exactly what they want

Yesterday evening, I attended the late night performance of Company XIV’s Ferdinand: Boylesque Bullfight at their wonderfully immersive new home in Bushwhick, the fittingly named Théâtre XIV. Ferdinand previously played the venue earlier this … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s THE SIX BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS audaciously attempts to trump Bach

Last night, I caught a performance of iconic contemporary dance choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s The Six Brandenburg Concertos at the Park Avenue Armory. Ever since my first exposure to Ms. De Keersmaeker’s … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Dylan and McPherson’s GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY makes strange music that penetrates the soul

Finally, a serious new musical this season worth fussing over. That would be the Public Theater’s production of Conor McPherson’s singular jukebox musical Girl from the North Country, which uses the Bob … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Bill Irwin gives a masterful lecture ON BECKETT, from a clown’s perspective

Samuel Beckett is one of the seminal theater and literary artists of the 20th-Century. He’s also one of the most difficult to get right in performance. That’s because Beckett’s works are at … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Heidi Schreck’s WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME is an impassioned cry for the reexamination of the systems that govern us

This past weekend, Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me opened Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop. Despite its critical eye, the work arrives as an inspiring, soothsaying tonic during a … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The dated A LOVELY SUNDAY FOR CREVE COEUR is lesser, perhaps unsalvageable, Tennessee Williams

I recently had to a chance to catch a rare revival of Tennessee Williams’ A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur Off-Broadway at the Theatre at St. Clement’s, courtesy of La Femme Theatre … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – ERC’s languorous BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP uniquely attempts to conjure Emily Dickinson’s inner life, via music

It’s difficult to critique a production like Ensemble for the Romantic Century’s Because I Could Not Stop: An Encounter with Emily Dickinson, which opened Off-Broadway last week at the Pershing Square Signature … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Bedlam’s UNCLE ROMEO VANYA JULIET is a stimulating experiment, but only for those in the know

Last night at the Mezzanine Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres, I attended a performance of Bedlam’s latest performative dissection of a classic text – or rather, in this case, classic texts. … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – BERNHARDT/HAMLET & THE NAP: The value proposition of the non-for-profit model on Broadway

I say thank God for the presence of non-for-profit theater companies on Broadway. Without the commercial glare typically associated with Broadway, these institutions are able to take risks, particularly as it relates to … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Mazzoli and Vavrek’s compact, bleak PROVING UP investigates the American Dream, disturbingly and profoundly

One of the most dramatically and musically potent new operas I’ve come across in recent years was Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves (which I encountered at last year’s Prototype Festival), … Continue Reading →