A roundup look at two new Off-Broadway plays: “Apologia” at Roundabout Theatre Company and “Fireflies” at Atlantic Theatre Company.
NOTES: New York Pops’ 36th Season Launches with “Roll Over Beethoven”
The New York Pops kicked off its 36th season at Carnegie Hall—and marked the 10th anniversary of its music director and conductor Steven Reineke—with “Roll Over Beethoven”, a rocking “show” of a concert firmly fortifying the Pops’ brand as “a different kind of orchestra”.
REVIEW: Exploring Truthiness in “The Lifespan of a Fact”
“The Lifespan of a Fact” is a poppy procedural and socially conscious comedy about facts, falsehoods, the nature of non-fiction, the boundaries of creative license, and the ethics of journalism. Bobby Canavale, Cherry Jones, and Daniel Radcliffe are a radiant trio in Leigh Silverman’s swift and entertaining production. This is the Trump-era play we’ve been waiting for: smart and funny, with a serious message about the importance of facts and fact-checking to the trust and integrity of institutions.
NOTES: Hershey Felder’s “Our Great Tchaikovsky”
Last night at 59E59 Theatres, Hershey Felder presented the New York debut of his newest solo show, “Our Great Tchaikovsky”, in a one-night-only performance to benefit the Lyric Chamber Society of New York’s “Classicool” program.
Lawsuit reveals construction damage to the August Wilson Theatre; BC/EFA’s "Gypsy of the Year" fundraiser renamed the "Red Bucket Follies"; full cast announced for Roundabout "Kiss Me, Kate"; Bertie Carvel and Jonny Lee Miller to star in “Ink”; Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" announces development lab; "The Preacher's Wife" musical likely headed to La Jolla; Rosie O'Donnell will co-star in a revival of "Funny Girl", but no Lady Gaga; Broadway community teams with March For Our Lives for a benefit concert on October 22nd; must read interview with Patti LuPone and NYT article about plays; RIP Ira Gasman and Carol Hall
REVIEW: Not your Aunt Eller’s “Oklahoma!”
Director Daniel Fish delivers a glorious and terrifying production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s groundbreaking 1943 musical “Oklahoma!” at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, completely deconstructing this canonical and totemic masterpiece of American musical theatre by stripping it of its corn and highlighting the darker themes of violence and injustice that have always been simmering underneath. Sexually charged and presented with a striking naturalism, this masterful new production is a revelation.
REVIEW: Heidi Schreck’s stunning and poignant “What the Constitution Means to Me”
Part civics lesson, part memoir—at once bittersweet and beautiful— Heidi Schreck’s mostly one-woman play “What the Constitution Means to Me” at New York Theatre Workshop recounts her formative experience of wrestling with the constitution’s meaning as a teenager through the lens of her adult self, the women in her family, and the bitterly divided nation it serves. Heartbreaking, humorous, brilliant, and profoundly important, this is a must-see event of the fall season.
Scott Rudin to produce "Hillary and Clinton" by Lucas Hnath starring Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow; "Girl from the North Country" eyes the Walter Kerr Theatre; "TINA: The Tina Turner Musical" poised for Broadway in fall 2019; Dominique Morisseau named a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" recipient; "Dear Evan Hansen" to open in London in fall 2019; "The Phantom of the Opera" to launch a new world tour in February; TKTS booths now display prices (vs. percentage discounts) at all locations; French singer Charles Aznavour dead at 94
REVIEWS: Misery’s coming around in “Girl from the North Country” and “I Was Most Alive with You”
A roundup look at “Girl from the North Country” and “I Was Most Alive with You”, a musical and play brimming with craft and daring ambition, despite their depressing subject matter, that left me yearning for deeper impact.
Mike Birbiglia "The New One" books the Cort; "Kinky Boots" will close April 7th; Tony Goldwyn joins "Network"; "Almost Famous" musical and a musical about Jean-Michel Basquiat in the works; "Diana" musical books La Jolla Playhouse; Playwrights Horizons adopts GalaPro technology for deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons; “Head Over Heels" and! "Twelfth Night" cast albums coming; RIP Joe Masteroff, Merle Debuskey, and Roger Robinson
REVIEW: “The Nap”—prepare to be snookered
Manhattan Theatre Club presents Richard Bean’s hilarious new comedy, “The Nap”, a high-stakes, low-rent farce set in the world of Snooker (British pool). A superbly comical, poised, and perfectly cast ensemble of kooky characters make this off-beat crime thriller comedy the kind of delightfully droll escape that only theatre can provide. Silly, yes, but that’s never been more needed than right now.
REVIEW: “Bernhardt/Hamlet”—bold and incoherent
Theresa Rebeck’s “Bernhardt/Hamlet” is a backstage comedy-drama of historical fiction recounting Sarah Bernhardt’s groundbreaking 1897 turn as Hamlet in Paris; discursive, incoherent, and verbose, the play has nothing particularly interesting to say about gender politics as it ambitiously attempts to tackle a panoply of themes and ideas. I’d much rather see Ms. McTeer play Hamlet than watch an endless series of rehearsals.