All in Critic's Pick
Wives”, Jaclyn Backhaus’ smartly satiric and forthrightly feminist play, deconstructs the way in which women are “supposed” to behave, think, and feel about each other, and retells three historical episodes typically told through the male gaze, but this time from the perspective of the “wives”. The result is hilarious and poignant.
The Gingold Theatrical Group is currently presenting a rare revival of Shaw’s 1898 play “Caesar & Cleopatra”; superbly rendered, well-acted, and keenly directed, this production makes a convincing case for reconsidering “Caesar & Cleopatra” as a play worthy of more examination and rightful placement in the canon of classics.
Prepare to have your mind blown by British mentalist and illusionist Derren Brown during his brilliantly suspenseful and thrilling one-man magic show: “Derren Brown: Secret”. Entertaining and enthralling, you might just emerge from the theatre a true believer.
Bess Wohl’s “Make Believe” is a masterful exploration of childhood and its lingering impact set against the mystery of four abandoned children and a reconciliation as their adult selves. Tragic, funny, mysterious, and true, it is easily among the best plays I have seen all year.
Three new plays opened at three of Off-Broadways best non-profit theatre companies over the course of the last month. I take a brief look at “Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow” at MCC Theater, “The Rolling Stone” at Lincoln Center Theater, and “Toni Stone” at the Roundabout Theatre Company—all three of which are critic’s picks!
Two new Off-Broadway musicals that are marquee productions of the summer experiment with form and content in exciting ways that portend well for the future of the art form. Unique for musicals, both are also the product of a single author. Here I take a look at Michael R. Jackson’s “A Strange Loop” at Playwrights Horizons andDave Malloy’s “Octet” at Signature Theatre.
Here I take a look at critic’s pick “Ink”, the last play of the 2018-2019 Broadway season, and “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”, the first play of the 2019-2020 Broadway season.
“Beetlejuice”, the last new musical of the 2018-2019 Broadway season, is a ghoulishly good time that pays loving homage to the mythology of the movie while fundamentally reorienting the story and lending it an unexpected punch of pathos amid its crass and crude mania. Gorgeously designed with a Tim Burton aesthetic, and featuring a relentless series of bawdy jokes and entertaining songs, this hyperactive musical comedy might not meet the elevated aesthetic standards of some, but I had a blast.
The York Theatre Company presents a top-notch revival of “Enter Laughing: The Musical” that is easily among the best musicals to have played New York all year. A tuneful 1930s period piece about a girl-crazy boy from the Bronx taking his first, comically misadventurous steps into the world of theatre, this once-forgotten gem is sure to have you exit laughing, and remembering why you love musicals.
A new, immersive Off-Off-Broadway production of “A Streetcar Named Desire” makes history as the first to feature a genderqueer actor as Blanche DuBois, but that’s only one reason to see this uncensored and visceral take on an American classic, performed mere feet from the audience and loaded with complex and raw performances. A must-see.
The last two play revivals of the 2018-2019 Broadway season could not be more different in the success of their execution. Here I take a look at Roundabout Theatre Company’s sterling production of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” (a critic’s pick!), and the abysmal revival of Lanford Wilson’s “Burn This”.
“Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations” is a seamless, slick, and exuberantly entertaining new musical that reclaims the “jukebox” genre with an energetic, fast-moving, and engrossing portrait-like study of The Temptations. This show looks good, sounds good, and feels good, and is easily one of the best catalogue musicals ever to grace The Great White Way.
