THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nick Dear’s stage adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN is jolted by a visceral staging and ample star-power

One of the National Theatre’s biggest successes in its recent history was Nick Dear’s 2011 stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Although it’s been nearly a decade since the show wowed London audiences, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In Richard Nelson’s WHAT DO WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT?, zoom both magnifies and focuses the Apple Family experience

This past Wednesday, What Do We Need to Talk About?, the fourth installment of Richard Nelson’s acclaimed Apply Family plays was streamed live by the Public Theater. We last encountered the barely … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – The Met and Sondheim, two pillars of the arts, held up amidst the lockdown and celebrated with considerable style

In light of the bleak uncertainty facing the performing arts during the ongoing lockdown, I’ve been inspired by the valiant and nimble efforts of artists (and administrators) to band together and … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In PRIME, Heather Christian’s untethered imagination sets the act of prayer free

Lucky for us in our current fraught times, Playwrights Horizons was ahead of the curve when it started commissioning its audio-only Soundstage series. The aptly named Heather Christian’s Prime: A Practical Breviary – which I … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – This coronavirus Easter, the rebroadcast of NBC’s starry JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR hits the mark by striking the right tone

One of the highlights of this muted Easter weekend was the rebroadcast of NBC’s starry, filmed-live-for-TV rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (the televised … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Sally Cookson’s energetic, inventive stage adaptation of JANE EYRE (via NT at Home) takes the Dickensian route

Like many performing arts fans across the globe, I’ve been adapting to the current reality of having the complete inability to access live performance. Although nothing can replace the singularly visceral … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – John Cameron Mitchell’s singular, sprawling ANTHEM: HOMUNCULUS defies expectations, with familiarity

Last night, I completed listening to John Cameron Mitchell’s latest concoction, Anthem: Homunculus. Given the current unprecedented time of uncertainty for the performing arts (and all things in life, really), it seemed ripe … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Donald E. Lacy, Jr.’s old school charisma eclipses predictable diatribes in COLORSTRUCK

This past Sunday at Theater for the New City’s subterranean cabaret space, I caught the final performance of ColorStruck, comedian Donald E. Lacy, Jr.’s solo show that ambitiously attempts to comprehensively address … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Axis Theatre Company’s distilled, elegant new stage adaptation of WASHINGTON SQUARE nearly opens

Axis Theatre Company’s new Off-Broadway stage adaptation of Henry James’ Washington Square was supposed to have opened today. Luckily, I was able to catch the final preview performance last night, which also … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ren Dara Santiago’s THE SIBLINGS PLAY ambitiously, powerfully references “Electra” and “Hamlet”

Last night, I caught the sold-out penultimate performance of Ren Dara Santiago’s The Siblings Play at Off-Broadway’s Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. The production, whose last near-term showing is tonight, is yet another casualty of the … Continue Reading →