THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Wooster Group’s A PINK CHAIR is a triumph of rigor, execution, and the avant-garde

I recently wrote a piece about the death avant-garde theater. Well, I was proven wrong this afternoon after having seen The Wooster Group’s sensational A Pink Chair (In Place of a … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – City Ballet concludes a ravishingly varied retrospective for Jerome Robbins’ centennial

This May at the David H. Koch Theater, New York City Ballet pulled out all the stops to celebrate Jerome Robbins’ centennial. All-in-all, the revered ballet company performed six different … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ballet Theatre substantially updates a pair of Stravinsky-scored story ballets: FIREBIRD and THE RITE OF SPRING (i.e., AFTERITE)

One of the programs I was most looking forward to in American Ballet Theatre’s spring season is being danced this week – the pairing of Alexei Ratmansky’s version of Firebird with Wayne … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Irish Rep’s revival of Conor McPherson’s THE SEAFARER is thoroughly engrossing

Tonight, the engrossing Off-Broadway production of Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer closes shop, after having enjoyed a sold out, extended run at the Irish Repertory Theatre. Luckily, I caught last night’s penultimate … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Trish Harnetiaux’s TIN CAT SHOES is a surreal, playful commentary on society

Last night at the Wild Project in the East Village, Clubbed Thumb officially opened its annual summer festival of new plays – the aptly named Summerworks – with Trish Harnetiaux’s … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Off-Broadway edition of JERSEY BOYS delivers a lean, mean punch

This past weekend, I had the chance to catch up with the popular Tony-winning musical Jersey Boys – Off-Broadway. Perhaps the best of the so-called jukebox musicals, it was a … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Chiara Atik’s new play BUMP charms at Ensemble Studio Theatre

Yesterday, I also caught Chiara Atik’s heartwarming new family comedy Bump – concerning the mysteries and contradictions of pregnancy and the process of giving birth – at Ensemble Studio Theatre. The … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Signature’s searing production makes a strong case for Dominique Morisseau’s PARADISE BLUE

Yesterday, I caught the Off-Broadway mounting of Dominique Morisseau’s Paradise Blue at Signature Theatre Company. I had seen the Detroit-set play about a tortured jazz musician previously in Chicago courtesy of the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – TFANA is serving up a low-frills, transparent TWELFTH NIGHT

Last night, I caught The Acting Company and Delaware Resident Ensemble Players’ solid production of Shakespeare’s perennial comedy Twelfth Night at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn. Over the … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Is the age of avant-garde performance over?: Nikos Karathanos’s THE BIRDS and Meg Stuart’s UNTIL OUR HEARTS STOP

Are we living in a world in which the avant-garde is obsolete, a mere caricature of what it has historically been? Or have we simply been desensitized to a degree … Continue Reading →