With the concept of “winter” an increasing memory, here is overview of all that’s coming to New York stages this spring!
All tagged Park Avenue Armory
REVIEW: “Judgment Day” at the Park Avenue Armory
Richard Jones directs a new adaptation of Ödön von Horváth’s 1937 noirish procedural “Judgment Day” by playwright Christopher Shinn, performed in the Park Avenue Armory’s drill hall on a grand scale. The experience is mesmerizing and effective, even if not essential to the text.
FEATURE: Top 10 of the 2010s
As we begin a new decade, I look back at my past decade of theatre-going and pick my top 10 favorite plays and musicals.
"Company" on Broadway will star Katrina Lenk as a female Bobbie and Patti LuPone as Joanne; Richard Linklater will make a movie adaption of "Merrily We Roll Along" filmed in real time over the next 20 years; "The Lehman Trilogy" books Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre; Tony Award winners Jayne Houdyshell, Jefferson Mays, Shuler Hensley, and Marie Mullen join the Fall 2020 revival of "The Music Man"; Solea Pfeiffer and Maia Reficco will share the title role in "Evita" at New York City Center; Rob McClure will star in the world premiere of "Mrs. Doubtfire" the musical in Seattle; Ryan Murphy is developing a ten-part Netflix adaptation of "A Chorus Line"; Tony Award winner André de Shields will receive the York Theatre Company's Oscar Hammerstein Award for lifetime achievement; RIP: Isabel Toledo, Valerie Harper, and Ken LeRoy
"Hadestown" leads in Outer Critics Circle nominations, followed by "Tootsie" and "Oklahoma!"; Disney plans revival of "Beauty and the Beast"; “Sea Wall/A Life" headed to Broadway this summer; Phylicia Rashad to direct "Blue" on Broadway next spring; Mel Brooks will play a two night residency at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre; MCC announces 2019-2020 season; "The Boys in the Band" cast to reunite for Netflix adaptation; "Survivor: The Destiny's Child Musical" will premiere in Houston; Noah Galvin to join the cast of "Waitress"; “The Lehman Trilogy" eyes Broadway; "Nowhere Boy" musical in development; "The Prom" to receive YA novel treatment; cast album news update; RIP Harvey Sabinson
REVIEWS: “The Cradle Will Rock” and “The Lehman Trilogy”
From The Great Depression to The Great Recession, I take a look at a musical and a play that are now unwittingly in conversation with each other some eighty years and fifty blocks apart, from “The Cradle Will Rock” downtown at Classic Stage Company to “The Lehman Trilogy” uptown at the Park Avenue Armory.
FEATURE: Top 10 Shows of 2018
By my count, I’ve attended 246 performances of theatre, dance, music, opera, and cabaret during 2018. Out of a field that large, it’s hard to pick just ten, but nevertheless, here are my top ten favorite shows I saw in New York (including no new musicals and only three Broadway shows!).
"Hadestown" books the Walter Kerr, “Burn This” books the Hudson; "Head Over Heels" closing January 6th; "True Blood" musical in development; Andy Blankenbuehler to choreograph "Cats" movie; Park Avenue Armory announces 2019 season; cast announced for MCP's "The Scarlet Pimpernel"; is Springsteen trend good or bad for Broadway?; magician, actor, and author Ricky Jay is dead at 70 (or 72)
REVIEW: Ivo van Hove’s “The Damned"
Belgian visionary director Ivo van Hove presents a breathtaking and terrifying stage version of Luchino Visconti’s “The Damned” at the Park Avenue Armory. Documenting the rise of the Third Reich through the lens of one German family, it is one of the most profoundly unsettling, memorable, and perversely satisfying experiences I have had in the theatre.
REVIEW: Billie Piper astounds in “Yerma”
The Park Avenue Armory imports The Young Vic’s visceral, cinematic, and disturbing production of “Yerma” by Simon Stone, starring Billie Piper, who performs an astounding portrait of a woman’s descent into madness fueled by infertility. Do what you can to see this heart-stopping and jaw-dropping play.
FEATURE: Top 10 Favorite Shows of 2017
I attended some 188 performances of theatre, dance, music, opera, and cabaret in New York during 2017. As the year comes to a close, here are my top 10 favorites.