THE HANGOVER REPORT – The starry Broadway revival of AMERICAN BUFFALO is a deliberately calibrated study of American capitalism vis-à-vis toxic masculinity

Last week, David Mamet’s classic play American Buffalo returned to the Great White Way in a taut, requisitely starry revival (the play’s third) at Circle in the Square Theatre. In … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The stilted circus and dance adaptation of THE LITTLE PRINCE lands on Broadway with a thud

Last night, the circus and dance adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved novella The Little Prince landed at the Broadway Theatre with a thud. The production – which originated in … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Debra Messing stars in BIRTHDAY CANDLES, Noah Haidle’s amiable, predictably sentimental examination of life

Last night, Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle opened at the American Airlines Theatre. Mr. Haidle’s new play begins on one Ernestine Ashworth’s 17th birthday and … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Two decades onward, Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning TAKE ME OUT returns to Broadway in a punchy revival courtesy of Second Stage

Last night at the Hayes Theater, Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out returned to the Great White Way just about two decades since its original Tony-winning run (has it really been … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – A pair of fierce leading performances and Bill T. Jones’s choreography elevate the otherwise workmanlike PARADISE SQUARE

Last night, the new musical Paradise Square opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The show – with music by Jason Howland; lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare; … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The hyped revival of PLAZA SUITE, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, is a timid, moderately amusing throwback to a Broadway of yesteryear

This week, the much hyped revival of Neil Simon’s 1968 play Plaza Suite (one of the unqualified hot tickets of the current theater season) finally opened on Broadway at the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MJ is an ideally constructed jukebox bio-musical that shies away from the Shakespearean tragedy of its subject

Over the years, the jukebox bio-musical (Jersey Boys, Summer, Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Motown, The Cher Show) has been taking an increasing amount of real estate on the Great White … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MasterVoices hits the bullseye with its joyful, starry concert rendition of Sondheim and Laurents’s ANYONE CAN WHISTLE

Last Thursday, MasterVoices hits the bullseye with its one-night-only concert rendition of Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’s 1964 musical Anyone Can Whistle at Carnegie Hall (the venue’s iconic Stern Auditorium … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Bidding a bittersweet farewell to the original staging of RENT as it swings through Philadelphia

This weekend, I ventured down to Philadelphia to catch the 25th anniversary tour of Jonathan Larson’s Rent at the Merriam Theatre, where it plays only through this Sunday. The production, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The wildly hyped, skin deep revival of THE MUSIC MAN pops and crackles like a vividly animated cartoon

This past week, I was in the audience of the wildly hyped Broadway revival of Meredith Wilson’s classic musical The Music Man at the Winter Garden Theatre (back in September … Continue Reading →