THE HANGOVER REPORT – NPR’s Ari Shapiro seamlessly and affectingly incorporates his journalism work into his cabaret act BEHIND THE MIC

Earlier this week, I swung by Feinstein’s/54 Below to catch one of the handful of performances of Behind the Mic, Ari Shapiro’s new solo cabaret act. Mr. Shapiro is perhaps … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Shaina Taub’s highly anticipated and ambitious new musical SUFFS has great potential but needs some retooling

Last night, the Public Theater’s world premiere production of Shaina Taub’s Suffs opened Off-Broadway at the Newman Theater (note that, due to positive Covid-19 cases in the cast, performances through … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nina Stemme and Lise Davidsen overwhelm in the Met’s searing revival of Richard Strauss’s ELEKTRA

Last night, I was back at the Metropolitan Opera to catch the revival of Patrice Chéreau’s 2016 staging of Richard Strauss’s Elektra (the production was previously seen in 2013 at … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Two decades onward, Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning TAKE ME OUT returns to Broadway in a punchy revival courtesy of Second Stage

Last night at the Hayes Theater, Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out returned to the Great White Way just about two decades since its original Tony-winning run (has it really been … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – A pair of fierce leading performances and Bill T. Jones’s choreography elevate the otherwise workmanlike PARADISE SQUARE

Last night, the new musical Paradise Square opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The show – with music by Jason Howland; lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare; … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In CONFEDERATES, Dominique Morisseau broadens her playwriting by dissecting institutional racism through melodrama and satire

This weekend at the Pershing Square Signature Center, I caught Signature Theatre Company’s production of Confederates by Dominique Morisseau. Morisseau, one of the preeminent Black playwrights of her generation, is … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – C. Julian Jiménez’s scrappy but buoyant BRUISE & THORN empowers queer youths to envision a fabulously uninhibited world for themselves

Last night, I got the chance to catch up with Pipeline Theatre Company’s production of C. Julian Jiménez’s new play Bruise & Thorn, which is currently playing Off-Broadway at the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The hyped revival of PLAZA SUITE, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, is a timid, moderately amusing throwback to a Broadway of yesteryear

This week, the much hyped revival of Neil Simon’s 1968 play Plaza Suite (one of the unqualified hot tickets of the current theater season) finally opened on Broadway at the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Heather Christian’s bizarre, profound, and altogether singular ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS asks big questions from a cosmic perspective

Last night, Heather Christian’s Oratorio for Living Things opened Off-Broadway at the Greenwich House Theater. The immersive production, which comes courtesy of the folks at Ars Nova, was one of … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MJ is an ideally constructed jukebox bio-musical that shies away from the Shakespearean tragedy of its subject

Over the years, the jukebox bio-musical (Jersey Boys, Summer, Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Motown, The Cher Show) has been taking an increasing amount of real estate on the Great White … Continue Reading →