VIEWPOINTS – Exploring our humanity through speculative science: Michel van den Aa’s UPLOAD & Sam Chanse’s WHAT YOU ARE NOW

We live in rapidly changing times in which technological and scientific advances are threatening to outpace our ability to fully assess how they fundamentally alter the human experience. Recently, I … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Robert Cuccioli delivers a titanic performance in Irish Rep’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s problematic A TOUCH OF THE POET

This past weekend, I attended a rare revival of Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet, which is currently being staged Off-Broadway by the Irish Repertory Theatre. As one of … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Paul Taylor launches the inaugural City Center Dance Festival and Mark Morris’s timeless, undisputed masterpiece returns to BAM

This week, the works of a pair of legendary dance-makers graced the stages of two beloved New York performing arts institutions. Here are my thoughts. PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANYNew York … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Led by a sensational April Matthis, Claudia Rankine’s philosophical and confrontational HELP demands attention

Last night, Claudia Rankine’s Help opened Off-Broadway at The Shed in Hudson Yards. The production was actually in previews this time two years ago when the pandemic emphatically shut down … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Page 73 presents MAN CAVE, John J. Caswell, Jr.’s uneven but ultimately empowering psychological thriller

Last night at the Connelly Theater in the East Village, I attended Page 73’s Off-Broadway production of Man Cave by John J. Caswell, Jr. Set in the claustrophobic basement of … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Classical music roundup: Gustavo Dudamel connects to SCHUMANN with the NY Philharmonic & Handel’s RODELINDA returns to the Met

This past week, I paid a visit to the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, who gave a pair of satisfying – if not necessarily transcendent – performances. As … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Works & Process unveils Jamar Roberts’ A CHRONICLE OF A PIVOT IN A POINT IN TIME, a rigorous, devastating depiction of bodies under duress during the pandemic

Last night at the Guggenheim, I attended the second of two Works & Process performances investigating the pandemic works of choreographer Jamar Roberts. Mr. Roberts, a celebrated former Ailey dancer, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In a ferociously committed performance, Laiona Michelle uncannily channels the great Nina Simone in LITTLE GIRL BLUE

This past weekend, I also caught a performance of Little Girl Blue, which is in the midst of an open run at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages (after having previously premiered … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Huang Ruo’s BOOK OF MOUNTAIN & SEAS quietly mesmerizes, thanks largely to master puppeteer Basil Twist’s distilled artistry

This past week, composer and librettist Huang Ruo’s new opera Book of Mountains & Seas played to pack houses at St. Ann’s Warehouse (the production played its final performance yesterday). … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – For THE LIFE’S Encores! mounting, Billy Porter drastically alters the fiber of the musical, mostly for the better

This weekend, I attended the Encores! revival of The Life at New York City Center. The 1997 musical features music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Ira Gasman (the book … Continue Reading →