Standing Room Only

It ‘s hard to enjoy a musical when you can’t root for the main character. Although he is attractive and good to his mother, Harry Bogen (well-played by Santino Fonana,) is an opportunist, a heel and an embezzler. The protagonist in the CSC revival of “I Can Get It For You Wholesale,” he is consumed […]

At the “Mind Mangler: A Night of Tragic Illusion,” I hoped to be amused as well as amazed. After all, the show at New World Stages is a Mischief Production, the group that produced “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “Magic Goes Wrong,” and “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” among others. Directed by Hannah Sharkey, the show […]

On the surface, Ali, the main character in the new show “Hell’s Kitchen” at The Public Theater directed by Michael Greif, is a typical 17 year old girl with an easily relatable problem. She’s interested in an attractive young man but her overly-protective mother, Jersey keeps a tight leash on her.Ali’s situation will resonate with […]

When we become part of an audience, we bring more than our physical selves to the theater. We bring our experiences, our attitudes and even our prejudices. When I attended the matinee of “How to Dance in Ohio ” at the Belasco Theatre, I went as a critic, but found myself reacting as part of […]

Who was Johannes Gutenberg? We all know him as the inventor of the printing press which enabled more people to learn how to read.In the musical “Gutenberg,” playwrights Doug (Andrew Rannells) and Bud (Josh Gad) have collaborated to write a musical about this influential historical figure. They are good friends who have pooled all their […]

Should you talk to your plants? Science shows that the sound of a human voice helps them grow. It’s also therapeutic for the gardener. In “The Gardens of Anuncia” at Lincoln Center Theater, the gardener is the Older Anuncia (award-winning performer Priscilla Lopez) faced with a couple of unpleasant tasks. One is the disposition of […]

On the recent three day MLK weekend, I took a busman’s holiday, flew to London and attended several shows. The first one I saw was The Motive and the Cue, presented by the National Theatre. The plot is based upon an actual event, the production of Hamlet in New York City from April 9 to […]

How does a musical that is quintessentially New York distinguish itself in London? Especially when it is a classic show that premiered in 1950. How can it be mounted to make it unique and appealing? The answer is simple: Immersion theater. Allow hundreds of the audience to be on the stage floor and get involved. […]

I saw three shows during my busman’s holiday in London over Martin Luther King weekend. Of the three, the most ‘English’ was Operation Mincemeat, an uproarious musical satire based upon an actual event from World War II. In an attempt to divert a Nazi invasion from Sicily to Sardinia, the British intelligence service created a […]

It’s the 1950’s, and the Cuban revolution is heating up outside, but the music inside the Buena Vista Social Club is even hotter. While the social club is defunct, the Cuban music remains. The performance of Buena Vista Social Club at the Linda Gross Theater began as several musicians casually came onstage, chatting with one […]