Ironically, though New York City is home to more than 8 million people, it’s been called “the lonely city,” and it’s easy to see why. You could easily pass hundreds of people on your morning commute alone, but you likely won’t speak to a single one o …Read more

By definition, the legal term prima facie means the first impression, accepted as correct until proven otherwise. The theatrical term Prima Facie refers to an exciting one-woman play starring the gifted Jodie Comer (from TV’s Killing Eve) and directe …Read more

Shakespeare is canceled. Don’t ask why—he just is. It might have something to do with the tremors that keep jarring the college diversity office, or then again, it might not. We’ll never really know.  Ted Zurkowski’s College Fun, directed by Lynnea B …Read more

Despite its seemingly unsophisticated vibe, Shucked is an extremely polished, well-crafted musical. After all, the show is directed by Jack O’Brien (Hairspray, Full Monty, Porgy and Bess, Invention of Love.) Most importantly, it is loads of fun. Audi …Read more

I’ve seen my fair share of plays about racism, but I’ve never seen the struggle between a facist government and its oppressed citizens dramatized as a puppet show. In We, Puppets, presented by Associazione Campania Danza at the Casa Italiana Zerilli- …Read more

Shakespeare is the indisputable dominating figure on stages around the world—delivered in many languages.  But, no where does he seem to get more nuanced interpretations than in hometown New York City.  This more recent example is a move from The Pub …Read more

I am a native New Yorker, and I honestly love NYC. Although I know the city has its many flaws, I will defend it against all comers. Yet I cringed at the rosy ‘melting-pot’ version of the city painted in the new musical “New York, New York” in the 19 …Read more

There’s a fine line between satire and silliness, and “The Thanksgiving Play” crosses that line too often. Playwright Larisa Fasthorse takes shots at well-meaning, naive white people trying to be ‘woke.’ When her aim is true, she makes her point, hol …Read more

Sometimes performers are so good at their roles that they become forever identified with that part. For many, Sean Hayes will always be Jack on television’s “Will and Grace,” kooky, egocentric, and outrageously flamboyant. Those people would be surpr …Read more

The last time I saw “Sweeney Todd,” it was as a barebones production of 10 performers, including Patty Lupone and Michael Cerveris. Each performer even played an instrument, and the show was wonderful. The most recent revival, featuring a 26 piece or …Read more

I had such high hopes for the revival of Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot at Lincoln Center Theater this season. The music was a known quantity- glorious, lush and romantic. The title song had become a symbol of a young president JFK and the New Frontier h …Read more

Some of my favorite theater moments have come when something unexpectedly went wrong onstage. Alan Bates caught a picture falling off the wall and ad libbed about poor housekeeping. Faith Prince continued to type even as her typewriter table collapse …Read more

The real stars of the show “Life of Pi” are puppets: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a 450 pound Royal Bengal tiger. Although animated by skilled puppeteers who make them move, purr, whine and growl, those creatures become so incredibly real, that …Read more

Martha Graham is one of the most foundational figures in modern dance, and at the Joyce Theater, from now until April 30th, the Martha Graham Dance Company is preserving and furthering her legacy by demonstrating just how powerful, thrilling, and tra …Read more

In the 1967 film version of Camelot (a movie I adore), there comes a moment when Arthur senses that the presence of his illegitimate son, Mordred, together with the forbidden passion shared by his beloved Queen Guenevere and his best friend Lancelot, …Read more

Émilie du Châtelet was playing around with physics more than a century before Einstein entered the scene. Her analysis of force and velocity, which she articulated as F = mv², would pave the way for Einstein’s much more famous equation. But her gende …Read more

photo by Julieta Cervantes Most musicals feature two or three impressive dance numbers, numbers that leave the audience breathless. However, often those dances are incidental to the story. Then there’s the revival of “Bob Fosse’s DANCIN” which begins …Read more

Most people today (myself included) have an absence of ritual in their lives, and never is this more apparent than at this time of year–when Catholics worship in specifically orchestrated ways almost every day of the week and Jews observes a 3000-ye …Read more

Dance can be a powerful vehicle for storytelling, for expressing emotion, and for conveying truths that are sometimes difficult to articulate in words. If you need proof, go see J. Chen Project’s AAPI Heroes: Myths and Legends, currently playing at T …Read more

photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman The good news about “Bad Cinderella,” the new musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by David Zippel is that it’s not all that bad. The costumes are frothy, colorful and delightfully gaudy, alt …Read more

photo by Joan Marcus Most shows on Broadway begin with an announcement reminding the audience to turn off phones and recording devices. The revival of the musical “Parade” begins with a recorded message from Reverend Warnock, Senator from Georgia. In …Read more

Jessica Chastain is undeniably one of the finest actresses performing in the movies today. When it was announced that she would return to Broadway after an 11 year gap, it was considered an event. Starring in Henrik Ibsen’s “The Doll’s House,” Chasta …Read more

What kind of person can laugh amid the jaws of hell? One who knows his survival depends on it. In Cabaret in Captivity, we become those imprisoned in the Terezin Camp as, in commemoration—not celebration—of one year in residence, a group of performer …Read more

Identity is a tricky, complicated thing. That was the main idea I pondered as I left the theatre after Karl O’Brian Williams’ The Black That I Am: a pastiche of monologues, scenes, and movement that traces some of the struggles inherent in being Blac …Read more

Though it seemed a little counterintuitive to leave my Harlem apartment and trek down to the Lower East Side to watch a play about Harlem, I’m glad I did. In She’s Got Harlem on Her Mind, the Metropolitan Playhouse presents three one-acts by Eulalie …Read more

“You have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story.” If Calamity Jane was a character in Hamilton, I have to think she’d agree with General Washington—probably very vocally, uttering a curse and slamming a bottle of whisky on the table as …Read more

photo by Joan Marcus Historically, the Jewish people have been wanderers, always in search of a homeland. They moved from place to place seeking somewhere to put down roots. Never totally welcomed, often barely tolerated until they were chased out. A …Read more

Photos by Julieta Cervantes Today most celebrities are on social media, so everything they do is shared with the public. It was quite different years ago when celebrities like Neil Diamond performed. If they chose to keep their lives private, they st …Read more

Photo Credit Monique Carboni I love comedians who are skilled at wordplay. Some relate stories; others deliver one liners, generally without the gratuitous use of foul language. They make you laugh and then give you something to think about after the …Read more

Photo by Russ Rowland The theme that runs through Anthony Rapp’s one man show at the New World Stages is loss. Known for originating the role of Mark the videographer in “Rent,” Rapp wrote his memoir entitled “Without You” and uses segments of it for …Read more