VIEWPOINTS – UNDER THE RADAR 2019: Review Roundup 1

January in New York wouldn’t be the same without attending a barrage of offerings at a number of experimental theater festivals, the grand daddy of which is the Public Theater’s Under … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Abby Rosebrock’s BLUE RIDGE is overwrought, despite some distinctive qualities and a courageous cast

Last night, Abby Rosebrock’s new play Blue Ridge opened at the Linda Gross Theater, Atlantic Theater Company’s mainstage venue. The play tells the story of a small group of men … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – THE OTHER JOSH COHEN is a teddy bear of a musical

Before I launch into my review, I’d like to say that despite any of the show’s shortcomings, the bottom line is that The Other Josh Cohen is a complete teddy bear … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nassim Soleimanpour’s NASSIM is super-meta theater that puts the playwright front and center

Two nights ago, I caught Nassim Soleimanpour’s latest play Nassim at Stage II of New York City Center. To say that the play is unconventional would be a great understatement. Additionally, … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – 2018’s Best in Theater (Musicals)

  2018 was a good but not great year for musicals. A refreshing trend that I hope will continue is the seeming newfound desire to write completely new musicals (e.g., not based … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – 2018’s Best in Theater (Plays)

It’s that time of year again. As much as I find putting these types of “best of” lists together a challenging task, I find that it encourages me to take a … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – BAM’s Next Wave Festival, Week 12: The final week dazzles with Andrew Schneider’s NERVOUS/SYSTEM & the return of Mark Morris’s THE HARD NUT

The time has come for the 2018 edition of BAM’s Next Wave Festival, the final one curated by outgoing BAM Executive Director and influential festival founder Joseph V. Melillo, to come to a … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lynn Nottage’s early-career satire FABULATION is raucously revived by the Signature Theatre Company

Currently running at the Signature Theatre Company is the Off-Broadway revival of Lynn Nottage’s early-career 2004 satire Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine. As those of you who follow theater may know, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Theater legends Brook and Estienne austerely mull crime/punishment, right/wrong in the elegiac, confounding, but quietly spellbinding THE PRISONER

Over the last few weeks or so, I caught Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord’s production of legendary theater artists Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne’s elegiac The Prisoner. After having played Paris, Yale Rep, the National … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ming Peiffer’s uncompromising USUAL GIRLS is a raw, aggressive dissection of female sexuality (and racism), and it’s shattering theater

Luckily, before heading out of the country for the holidays, I was able to catch one of the final performances of Roundabout Underground’s production of Usual Girls, playwright Ming Peiffer’s aggressively written and … Continue Reading →