A UK Review In [Exactly] 250 Words: "The Gulf" at London's Tristan Bates Theatre
The Gulf, by Audrey Cefaly, is a well-written and deftly acted piece about the strained relationship between two women. The play is suitably intimate, and the characters very believable, but overall the piece lacks energy and feels underwhelming.
Review: Haunting World Premiere Play “LITTLE BLACK SHADOWS” Sees the Light at South Coast Repertory
A gorgeously stylized rendering of a poignant and deeply moving narrative that blends bits of welcome humor, inspiring theatricality, historical context, and vibrant, magically-tinged storytelling, “LITTLE BLACK SHADOWS” is an excellent first production of this fresh new play that I predict will only continually improve as it sees new future productions on the horizon.
Review: “Switzerland” at Hudson Stage Company
Because James Fenton’s set design for “Switzerland” is so stunning, it takes several minutes to notice the antique weapons arrayed inside the beautiful, sleekly modernist study he’s fashioned. This collection of swords, daggers and pistols brings to mind crime thrillers like “Sleuth” and “Deathtrap,” which is apt since the room and the armaments in question belong to writer Patricia Highsmith, best known for novels and short stories that meld murder, eroticism and moral psychology. No doubt this small arsenal will figure prominently in the plot of “Switzerland.” That is to say, there will be blood, along with much speculation about what spilling it may mean.
Broadway Review: "My Fair Lady"
There is something magnificent happening at Lincoln Center Theater, and it has to do with a powerful and intriguing woman, who has currently walked onto the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater, revealing that Eliza Doolittle has arrived in the twenty-first century, branding “My Fair Lady” as an old musical destined for a new era.
Review: “Strings” at the Downtown Urban Arts Festival
This tumultuous decade has largely been marked by a rise in racially motivated shootings, which often are followed up by the perpetrators walking away free without any consequences, even as such violence and bigotry continues to escalate. As a result, it makes sense that more and more people are waking up to issues of the criminal justice system in America, and in particular, how the system is biased against people of color. They are the same issues that Strings, which recently ran at the Downtown Urban Arts Festival, explores in an unapologetically raw and honest way.
Review: “45 Coffee Dates” at the Players Theatre
I love coffee. As do, I think it’s fair to say, the vast majority of us who work in theatre. Indeed, I often find myself surprised when I meet someone who says otherwise, in this industry. However, if there’s anything I love more than enjoying a good cup of coffee, it’s enjoying it with someone else. So I had a feeling that I’d probably enjoy watching a play that immediately seemed to revolve around that, and in the end, I got slightly more out of this story than I was expecting.
Off-Broadway Review: “The Seafarer” at Irish Repertory Theatre
The latest offering of the Irish Repertory Theatre is the revival of “The Seafearer” by Conor McPherson, which opened on Broadway in 2007 and was nominated for a TONY award for best play that season. It follows the renowned style of the playwright, producing incredible natural dialogue, executed in somewhat ordinary life situations, with a collection of disreputable characters, and always providing a mysterious twist to maintain an interesting plot. In this case it is the story that revolves around the Faustian character “Sharky” who won a card game with the devil while in jail for murder, where the stakes were high: his soul or his freedom with the condition that if he won there could be a rematch at any time.
Off-Broadway Review: “Mlima’s Tale” at the Public’s Martinson Hall
Mighty Mlima, “Kenya’s most famous elephant,” – the old, large elephant “with extraordinary tusks” – is murdered for those tusks by the Somali poachers Raman and Geedi. The story of that slaughter and how the magnificent tusks become part of the global illegal ivory trade is the subject of Lynn Nottage’s “Mlima’s Tale,” currently running in the Public’s Martinson Hall. This monstrous tale is relayed with exquisite detail and stirring magical realism from the killing of Mlima to the display of his intricately carved tusks in the new flat of nouveau riche Alice Ying in Bejing.
Review: “Sublet” and “American Tranquility” at the Downtown Urban Arts Festival
There’s a simple fact about theatre festivals that I try not to mention quite as much, if only out of respect for all the artists who put up their work: Some of the shows that are produced there are truly brilliant; other shows have potential, but need further development; then, there are the ones that are just flat-out terrible. During my most recent visit to the Downtown Urban Arts Festival, I had the chance to see the two extremes on full-display, in the form of two one-acts that couldn’t possibly be more different from one another.
U.K. Review: "Fat Friends: The Musical" - U.K. & Ireland Tour
Diets, they're a nightmare, aren't they? We all struggle to lose a few pounds. It's a topic which resonates with millions around the world. But how would it work weaved into the main plot of a musical? Well, Kay Mellor's stage musical adaption of her noughties TV show, Fat Friends has diet and weight loss at the heart of its storyline. But does it work as a piece of theatre? I headed along to the UK's biggest theatre, the Edinburgh Playhouse to find out.
Review: "Head Over Heels" at The Curran
When you combine the infectious beats of The Go-Go’s with the prose romance The Arcadia, you get an interesting mix of pop punk Renaissance flair. Head Over Heels opened Wednesday at The Curran, bringing the beat to San Francisco before heading to Broadway later this summer. The team that brought you unique musicals like Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Spring Awakening, and Avenue Q redefines the musical comedy with this funky Elizabethan story.
Broadway Review: “Children of A Lesser God”
The current Broadway revival of the groundbreaking play “Children of a Lesser God,” the first since it opened thirty-eight years ago to win the Tony award for best play, does not seem to have the emotional impact as the original. Playwright Mark Medoff has penned the love story of James Leeds, a speech therapist at a school for the deaf, and Sarah Norman, deaf since birth, who is not a student but works as a custodian at the school. The technique used to present the play is intriguing, since the actor portraying James speaks his dialogue and repeats Sarah’s words as she signs her responses, speaking for both characters. This is certainly an enormous task, and although an ingenious concept, it does lend itself to complications in relating emotional content and depth of character.
Review: "The Age of Innocence" at Hartford Stage
When I heard that Hartford Stage was putting an Edith Wharton novel on stage, I jumped for joy. Wharton was one of my favorite novelists in my late teens and early twenties. Having started with Ethan Frome in high school, I quickly devoured her other novels and short stories. I found her descriptions of beautiful, rich interiors and high society manners engrossing, mostly due to my interest in historical fiction at the time. I also adored the tragedy that befell on her characters, and the sacrifices made by them (usually for love – because I was a typical swooning young woman at the time). For me, film adaptations vary from excellent (House of Mirth with Gillian Anderson) to mediocre (Age of Innocence with Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder), but lucky for us, Douglas McGrath’s smart, concise adaptation of Age of Innocence definitely leans toward the former: It is a worthy reworking of Wharton’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel with standout performances and stunning staging.
U.K. Review: "War Horse" - United Kingdom & Ireland Tour
In British theatre, there is currently a very good variety of plays and musicals that are touring, plus an excellent selection within London's west end. One of the longest running productions currently, is Michael Morpurgo's cream of the war genre, War Horse, produced by the National Theatre. I had never seen the play, but luckily there is a new UK and Ireland touring production currently playing at Edinburgh's Festival theatre (18/04/18 - 12/05/18). So I thought I best experience this apparent sensation for myself. But the question is, does it live up to the hype?
Off-Broadway Review: “Miss You Like Hell” Redefines Redemption at the Public’s Newman Theater
After seeing her estranged daughter’s “veiled suicide threat” on her “anonymous” blog, Beatriz (the irrepressible Daphne Rubin-Vega) drives her truck “like a bat out of hell” from California to Philadelphia to take her daughter Olivia (the deeply reflective Gizel Jiménez) on a seven-day road trip. After some mild mid-adolescent protestations, Olivia – sixteen – agrees to the trip hoping, perhaps, for reconciliation with her mother and an end to her deep and debilitating angst and depression.
Review: "Fun Home" by The Musical Stage Company as part of the Off Mirvish Series
I must admit that I knew nothing about Fun Home, so I had to do some online research, scan the Mirvish press release, and read the programme. Based on the graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home is the recipient of several awards including 5 New York Tony Awards (Best Musical in 2015). In 2006, The New York Times named Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic as one of the best books of the year. It was created from memories of Ms. Bechdel’s childhood and the detailed journals she kept since age 10 growing up in rural Pennsylvania before and after her father’s suicide.
We see Alison at three distinct stages in her life throughout this production. In the present she is 43 years of age, a lesbian cartoonist, and struggles to understand the complex relationship she had with her deceased father. Alison grew up in a funeral home while trying to deal with her sexual awakening, and with the secrets her father faced before his death.
Off-Broadway Review: “Admissions”
When a speaker raises alternate views of a significant problem and seems at one point to take “one side” and then “the other side,” and then advocates for the purity of moral ambiguity – presenting profound rhetorical arguments for each of those points of view – the audience is left bombarded by what seemslike conflicting ethos, pathos, and logos and also is left with their heads spinning, alternately laughing and then feeling guilty for laughing and not laughing and puzzled why they didn’t laugh. And in the end, confused about what kind of catharsis has just released their repressed emotions unawares.
Broadway Review: "Mean Girls"
The new Broadway musical “Mean Girls,” based on the 2004 hit movie, is sure to secure a home on the Great White Way for some time to come, as it tickles the fancy of a new generation of young woman who might be liberated by the recent movements of empowerment and anti-bullying. It is certainly a crowd pleaser and whether you are a fan of the movie, you will enjoy the flashy, energetic production which aims to please form start to finish. The book by Tina Fey remains close to the screenplay, repeating some of the same popular quips and smart wit while also adding new material to update and take full advantage of current social and political events.
Review: "Significant Other" at The Geffen Playhouse - Gil Cates Theater
Playwright Joshua Harmon explores how the dynamics of friendship changes when a significant other is introduced into the clique. It begins with the four lead characters getting liquored up at Kiki’s (Keilly McQuail, a gifted comedian) bachelorette party. McQuail’s lovable vapid, Valley Girl delivery is spot on. We learn Kiki was never looking for love, she just wanted someone to validate her. Kiki’s key in finding a husband was falling in love with herself, as she declares “I treat myself better than any man could treat me.” Splurging one evening at Jean-Georges restaurant, wah-lah she meets her husband-to-be Conrad (John Garet Stoker) and is the first of these college “besties” to get married.
Review: “Gay. Porn. Mafia” at the Downtown Urban Arts Festival
Yes, you read that correctly. The title of the show that I’m reviewed this past weekend is “Gay. Porn. Mafia.” It’s the first of a number of one-night only theatrical events over the next two weeks (in addition to a few short films) that I’ve been invited to review at the Downtown Urban Arts Festival. Immediately after receiving my review invite, I wondered what I would be in for at this show, and exactly what connection the plot itself would have to its amusing and provocative title.