THE HANGOVER REPORT – DISASTER! strikes Broadway against all odds

Disaster! by all accounts shouldn’t work – but it does. Against considerable odds, Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick’s 1970s disaster movie mash-up cum jukebox musical spoof made the huge leap … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – David Harrower’s BLACKBIRD finally lands on Broadway, and it’s devastating

Tonight marks the opening night of David Harrower’s devastating two-hander Blackbird on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre. Like many other plays, the Strindberg-esque Blackbird – a play that harrowingly depicts … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Mint resuscitates Hazel Ellis’s juicy period drama WOMEN WITHOUT MEN

Last night, I caught Mint Theater Company’s resuscitation of Hazel Ellis’s 1938 boarding school drama (but really, a comedy of manners), Women Without Men. No, it’s not told from the … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Playwriting in the first person: Dan O’Brien’s THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN and Clare Barron’s I’LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN

One of the prevailing tips given to writers of fiction is to “write what you know”. This winter, I came across two new plays that took this piece of advice … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Richard Nelson’s rich and stealth-like HUNGRY introduces us to the Gabriels just in time for the elections

After the success of “The Apple Family Plays”, I’m so happy to report that playwright Richard Nelson has committed to embarking on a new series about another fictitious family – … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Met’s handsome new production of Puccini’s MANON LESCAUT lacks urgency

I recently had the opportunity to catch the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Puccini’s early hit Manon Lescaut. The new staging, although handsomely directed by Sir Richard Eyre (responsible in … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Youthful energy rules “pop-up” revival of WEST SIDE STORY

Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to snag a ticket to the immersive “pop-up” revival of West Side Story, courtesy of Carnegie Hall and the Weill Music Institute, at the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ed Harris leads The New Group’s solid revival of Sam Shepard’s BURIED CHILD

Last weekend, I finally had a chance to take in The New Group’s revival of Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic Buried Child at The Pershing Square Signature Center. If Mr. … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Sky-Pony’s THE WILDNESS sounds and looks fabulous but suffers from tenuous storytelling

This past weekend, I attended a late-night performance of the new musical The Wildness at Ars Nova (in collaboration with The Play Company). The self-professed “rock fairy tale” makes use … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Do not miss the streaming of Complicite/Simon McBurney’s THE ENCOUNTER, a masterpiece in storytelling and performance

If you have any interest at all in the art of theater or storytelling, I strongly urge you not to miss the streaming (from the Barbican) of Complicite’s production of The … Continue Reading →