THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s RED ROSES, GREEN GOLD is both exuberant and grating

Last night, I caught Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s Red Roses, Green Gold – or as I like telling people, the Grateful Dead jukebox musical – at Off-Broadway’s classic Minetta Lane Theatre. I find reviewing this … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Dael Orlandersmith’s affecting docudrama UNTIL THE FLOOD asks us to empathize, firstly

This past weekend, I caught Dael Orlandersmith’s one-woman Off-Broadway play Until the Flood at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Commissioned by St. Louis Repertory, Ms. Orlandersmith’s docudrama depicts a series of interviewed St. Louis residents – black … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lucy Kirkwood’s brilliant THE CHILDREN is quietly harrowing; don’t miss it

This weekend, I finally had a chance to catch Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway, courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club. The play, set in the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Robert O’Hara’s disappointing MANKIND is ambitious but poorly realized

This afternoon, I caught up with Robert O’Hara’s Mankind at Playwrights Horizons. I really wanted to like this new play. I had though Mr. O’Hara’s ferocious breakthrough play Bootycandy was bold, hilarious, and theatrically … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – 2018 AMERICAN REALNESS wraps up, and it was as defiant as ever

Today marks the final day of American Realness, the annual festival that celebrates and challenges performative norms, particularly in the sphere of contemporary dance and performance at large. This year’s … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – UNDER THE RADAR 2018: A Festival Recap, Part 2

Today marks the final day of the Public Theater’s 2018 edition of its Under the Radar Festival. Here are my thoughts on six more shows. All in all, its been … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – John Lithgow slowly unspools STORIES BY HEART, nostalgically and masterfully

The first show to open on Broadway in this new year of 2018 was John Lithgow: Stories by Heart, a production at the American Airlines Theatre under the auspices of Roundabout … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – UNDER THE RADAR 2018: A Festival Recap, Part 1

So far during the consistently fascinating, wonderfully-curated Under the Radar Festival – the Public Theater’s annual January festival for experimental theater – I’ve caught six “mainstage” offerings, not including shows that make up the … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Putting the “play” into the play: Fiasco’s TWELFTH NIGHT and Kate Hamill’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

These days in New York, you’ll find a number of smart, young theater artists taking on the classics with one thing on their minds: play. That is to say, having fun, … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Enriching legitimate theater with classical music: FARINELLI AND THE KING and MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN

As a fan of live performance across genres (theater, dance, opera/classical music, cabaret, etc.), I’ve often wondered whey there hasn’t been more meaningful cross-pollination between these types of performances, apart … Continue Reading →