VIEWPOINTS – NEW YORK CITY BALLET opens its winter season with two nicely balanced all-Balanchine programs

There’s no question that New York City Ballet, with its bravado technique and exciting musicality, is one of the preeminent classical ballet companies in the world. No other company approaches … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Contemporary dance companies L-E-V, Grupo Corpo, and Rosas captivate in their brief New York appearances

I love living in New York. It’s one of the few places on this planet where, over the course of a single week, one is able to catch the very … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – A decade on, AMERICAN REALNESS still delivers elemental commentary on the here and now

Rounding out the January experimental performing arts festivals is perhaps the boldest and most abstract (and therefore most unpredictable) of them all – American Realness, which in 2019 is celebrating … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Leah Nanako Winkler’s sit-comy GOD SAID THIS sadly misses the mark

Last night, Primary Stages’ production of God Said This by Leah Nanako Winkler opened Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre. The premise – a feisty, estranged daughter, Hiro, returns to the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – LABUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL 2019 provocatively exposes the true American mindset, even if the playwriting ultimately proves inconsequential

Before closing last weekend, I had the opportunity to catch the 2019 edition of the LaBute New Theater Festival at Off-Broadway’s Davenport Theatre. This year’s lineup of one-act plays included “The Fourth Reich”, “Great … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Helen Banner’s INTELLIGENCE & Jessie Dickey’s THE CONVENT: Two forceful, uneven plays about women taking charge of their lives, at a price

This past weekend, I caught two new Off-Broadway plays about women forcefully taking charge of their lives, often times at a painful price. These plays strike me as thematic progressions … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The disjointed but beautifully produced MAESTRO is a two-for-one deal of theater and classical music

Yesterday afternoon at the Duke on 42nd Street, I caught Ensemble for the Romantic Century’s latest theatrical portrait of an artist. In this case, the life examined was that of … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Elevator Repair Service’s rightfully legendary GATZ returns to New York

This weekend, I caught the rightfully legendary production of Gatz, Elevator Repair Service’s audacious, hugely theatrical (set in a drab, oppressive office space, of all places!) verbatim staging of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Roundabout’s Broadway revival of Sam Shepard’s TRUE WEST simmers when it should combust

This week, the Broadway revival of Sam Shepard’s classic play True West opened at the American Airlines Theatre courtesy of Roundabout Theatre Company. Mr. Shepard’s seminal play – a Pulitzer Prize finalist in … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Théâtre de la Ville’s production of IONESCO SUITE viscerally uncovers our shared humanity through the art of clowning

Last night, I caught Théâtre de la Ville’s production of Ionesco Suite at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAM Fisher space. The staging is essentially a mash-up of five disparate works (not … Continue Reading →