Standing Room Only

The Island Now – August 12, 2019   If I had the time and the talent, I would write this review in song lyrics. I tried. I really did. And I spent hours Googling “lyrics that describe musicals,” “lyrics that have messages,” “lyrics that can be used as dialogue,” and more. But to no avail. […]

August 10, 2019 Stagebuddy Despite being married, I am familiar with online dating sites. I’ve helped one single friend scroll through her options, another create profiles (she fibbed about her age,) and a third alphabetize her responses. I’m happy to report two of the three successfully met wonderful guys online; the third is also doing well, […]

The Island Now – August 6, 2019 The patrician Caius Martius is a fierce fighter and the main character of Shakespeare’s play, “Coriolanus,” the second offering this summer of the Free Shakespeare in the Park. Fighting bravely, suffering many wounds and taking many enemy lives, he receives the appellation Coriolanus. The name is derived from […]

The Island Now – July 30, 2019 The quirky title explains it all – Former Broadway theater star unable to find work changes jobs and begins to hunt down criminals. “Broadway Bounty Hunter,” the new musical with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, is an offbeat comedy that is supposed to be a spoof of […]

The Island Now – July 25, 2019 In “Two’s A Crowd,” repressed Wendy Solomon has booked herself a stay at a Las Vegas Hotel, only to find that the hotel has mistakenly double-booked her room. Wendy finds a man in her room when she gets there and demands that he leave. Unfortunately, Vegas is hosting […]

July 14, 2019 Stagebuddy– Times have changed. Or have they? Yesterday was a day filled with special events featuring female sports figures. On TV Wimbledon featured the women’s semi-finals from London. In New York, the city honored the US women’s soccer team with a parade and keys to the city. At the theater, “Toni Stone,” […]

The Island Now – July 17, 2019 Take a popular children’s book series, bring the characters to life, add some peppy music and the youngsters will come (and so will their parents.) “Dogman: The Musical” at the Luicille Lortel Theatre is based upon the series of graphic novels by Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants.) With book […]

July 23, 2019 Stagebuddy Photo: Maria Baranova (from left to right) Allie Trimm, Mickey Roberts and Serena Parrish in a scene from Joseph Scott Ford’s “Not Even The Good Things”. After seeing “Not Even the Good Things,” we left Theatre Row’s Studio Theatre filled with questions. Who was the little girl? Why was Bill the […]

July 23, 2019 Stagebuddy Photo: Shira Friedman Usually it takes a lot of money, time and practice to present a new full-length musical, yet between July 8 and August 30, New York Musical Festival will offer 30 new full-length musicals. Some will be wonderful-others probably not so much. They all have short runs, so a […]

The Island Now – July 10, 2019 What does a New York theater critic do when in London? Take a busman’s holiday and go to the theater. London and New York have a kind of lend-lease theater program; many successful productions in New York wind up in London and vice versa. So when I pick […]