THE HANGOVER REPORT — The Public’s fast-moving Mobile Unit production of THE WINTER’S TALE is well-told, if a bit two-dimensional

Shakespeare’s late-career romance The Winter’s Tale has, in recent years, enjoyed an unprecedented number of stagings — many of them memorable (I particularly remember swooning over a production a couple … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Amy Schumer and Uma Thurman make solid Broadway debuts in two mediocre new plays, METEOR SHOWER and THE PARISIAN WOMAN

This week, two Hollywood A-listers made their Broadway debuts in two medeocre new plays. This past Wednesday marked the opening of Steve Martin’s underwhelming new comedy Meteor Shower (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED) at the Booth … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Maestro Levine leads Verdi’s mighty REQUIEM, the Met’s moving (if coincidental) memorial to the great Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Last night, I attended a concert rendition of Verdi’s great Requiem at the Metropolitan Opera. The piece, Verdi’s attempt at a Catholic Mass for the Dead, is dramatic and harrowing. It often … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Alison S.M. Kobayashi’s obsessive SAY SOMETHING BUNNY! is pure genius

This weekend, I caught Alison S.M. Kobayashi’s ingenious, uniquely immersive solo show Say Something Bunny! at UNDO Project Space in Chelsea. Meticulously researched and lovingly performed by Ms. Kobayashi, the show attempts … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – WHAT WE’RE UP AGAINST and SCHOOL GIRLS: Setting shows in the past to shed light on the present

This weekend, I caught two new Off-Broadway plays that set shows in the past – and in one case in Africa – to shed light on the ongoing plight of women in the world. … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Irish Rep’s immersive THE DEAD, 1904 gently and richly engages all the senses

Last night, I entered the world of James Joyce’s The Dead, quite literally. The Irish Repertory Theatre production, entitled The Dead, 1904, is adapted from the novella by Paul Muldoon and Jean Hanff Korelitz, and … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – DESPERATE MEASURES and THE MAD ONES: Two Off-Broadway musicals that just miss the mark

There really is no formula to guarantee the success of a musical, which is why I find it a fascinating exercise to analyze new works. The most significant new musicals are … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Massenet’s THAÏS sounds utterly lovely at the Met, in a hackneyed production

Last night, I caught a performance of the the Metropolitan Opera’s rare revival of of Jules Massenet’s Thaïs. The opera, about an Alexandrian courtesan’s flight from her “life of sin” to the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS opens on Broadway and is mildly entertaining, at best

Last night, the hastily assembled concert Home for the Holidays limped opened on Broadway. Although the show is an altogether harmless affair, I feel the need to warn more savvy theatergoers to … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Thomas Adès’s sensational THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL takes risks, and is breathtaking (and all the more unsettling) because of them

Tonight, I caught the closing performance of Thomas Adès’s breathtaking The Exterminating Angel at the Metropolitan Opera. The opera, based on the Sartre-esque Luis Buñuel film of the same name, premiered at the Salzburg … Continue Reading →