VIEWPOINTS: Space and Perspective Relative to Performance (Part II – Breaking the Fourth Wall, and Then Some)

In the previous installment, I explored how one’s experience of performance can be affected not only by the dimensions of the playing space, but also by one’s physical location within … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS: Space and Perspective Relative to Performance (Part I – Theatricality and Physical Dimensionality)

On Monday, I had the privilege of seeing the minimalist British band the xx perform up close and personal with 44 other lucky guests at the Park Avenue Armory, one … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS: Theater in the Third Person

I’ve been spending an hour or two each day over the last week watching the recording of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s nine-hour adaptation of Charles Dickens’ sprawling “The Life and … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS: Exploring the Intersection of Visual and Performing Arts (Part III)

In this final installment, I celebrate stage designers whose works have transcended conventional stage designs to establish themselves as standalone works of visual art. Many of these stage designers are … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS: Dissecting Immersive Theater

New York these days is agog with “immersive theater”. Experiences like Punchdrunk’s “Sleep No More” and Third Rail Project’s “Then She Fell” have captured New Yorkers’ imaginations, particularly the young, … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS: 10 Years On, Revisiting “Wicked” and “Avenue Q”

Has it already been 10 years since that memorable David and Goliath showdown between the naughty but spirited “Avenue Q” and that behemoth of a musical “Wicked”? Indeed, it has. … Continue Reading →

REPORT CARD: January Experimental Performing Arts Festivals

January has become theater heaven for lovers of experimental theater in New York. This January (bleeding into February in some cases), there were no less than six substantive avant-garde performing … Continue Reading →

2013’s Best in Play Revivals

2013 was a sensational year for play revivals, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. 2013 was also an unusually plentiful year for Shakespeare in New York; two of these productions are featured … Continue Reading →

2013’s Best in New Plays

2013 proved that, these days, the best place to catch the most exciting new plays is Off-Broadway. Established playwrights such as Richard Greenberg, Amy Herzog, and Conor McPherson all unleashed … Continue Reading →

2013’s Best in Musical Revivals

2013 was a year in which the American musical proved its presentational versatility. Indeed, I encountered stunning musical theater revivals in settings as diverse in opera houses, philharmonic concert halls, staged … Continue Reading →