THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nicola Wren’s REPLAY is a potent solo show about deep-seated grief

The Brits Off Broadway festival continues its winning streak at 59E59 Theaters with Replay, a solo show about deep-seated grief written and performed by Nicola Wren. Although the play has a … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – HAMILTON inspires and engages 1,300 public high school students, in various ways

This week, 1,300 students from New York-area public high schools were invited to spend the day partaking in a workshop at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. That’s right, it’s the venue … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Alan Ayckbourn’s masterfully-structured A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN is an unexpected romance

Last night, I caught Alan Ayckbourn’s latest play – his staggering 81st – at what has become the playwright’s New York base, 59E59 Theaters. The production, one of the center pieces of … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Clare Barron’s incisive DANCE NATION investigates the conflicting motivations of adolescence

Ever since her cathartic You Got Older a number of seasons ago at HERE Arts Center, I’ve kept a close eye on the budding career of young playwright Clare Barron. Like the living … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Caryl Churchill’s sprawling LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE is unruly and depressingly relevant

Last night, New York Theatre Workshop’s revival of Caryl Churchill’s sprawling Light Shining in Buckinghamshire opened Off-Broadway. If the piece lacks the focus and incisive poetry that marks some of … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Joyce DiDonato leads a sparkling account of Massenet’s CENDRILLON at the Metropolitan Opera

Last night at the Metropolitan Opera, I caught American mezzo-soprano star Joyce DiDonato take on the title role in Cendrillon, Jules Massenet’s operatic version of the popular Cinderella fairytale. Quite surprisingly, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Transport Group/CSC’s lucid, riveting revival of Tennessee Williams’ SUMMER AND SMOKE makes a strong case for the rarely-performed play

This week saw the opening of a rare revival of Tennessee Williams’ 1948 play Summer and Smoke, courtesy of an Off-Broadway co-production between Classic Stage Company and Transport Group. The play is … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Anna Netrebko debuts a smoldering TOSCA at the Met

Last night, I caught the second cast of Sir David McVicar’s traditional new staging of Puccini’s Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera. I had thought the opening cast – which featured … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – “The One Thousand and One Nights” and its huge potential for inspiring seductive theater

There were recently a couple of Off-Broadway productions that continued to explore the theatrical possibilities of the Arabic myth “The One Thousand and One Nights” – Target Margin’s experimental homage … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Sharon Washington’s perfectly pleasant theatrical memoir FEEDING THE DRAGON needed some real vulnerability

Closing out Primary Stages’ 2017-2018 season was Sharon Washington’s one-woman theatrical memoir Feeding the Dragon, which recently concluded its run at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Ms. Washington is a fine actress and I had … Continue Reading →