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 →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The anticipated Irons/Manville-led revival of O’Neill’s LONG DAY’S JOURNY INTO NIGHT is proficient but lacks pungency

This weekend saw the opening of Bristol Old Vic’s revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The production is the second major … Continue Reading →