When a play titled Glam Night is performed at a theater named the Jewel Box, you are entitled to expect something sparkly, if not outright drag and rhinestones. What playwright Chip Wheat delivers is instead four brief, interlocking two-character pla …Read more
In a scene towards the end of Get Me A Guy, an elderly lady (played by Wei Yi Lin, among various roles) waits at a bus stop with pink roses for her 21-year-old grandson, who is off fighting in the war. She squints at the many buses passing by, hoping …Read more
WikiMusical, directed by Richard J. Hinds and musically directed by Sonny Paladino, a show for the New York Musical Theatre Festival at the Pearl Theater, is a regular ol’ Alice in Wonderland — if you replace Alice with two head-butting, tech-savvy …Read more
“Where the fuck is she?” whispers pianist Otto (Heath Saunders) after performer Erika Stern (Alexis Fishman) fails to appear following his grandiose introduction. “Let’s do it from the top” he instructs the band members and this time Erika does appea …Read more
When a play asks its actors to play multiple characters of opposing type, age, and time period, the results go in one of two directions. If the actors succeed, the versatility and character choices feel seamless and in support of the story; for the a …Read more
The Project Rushmore Theatre Company presents plays that “offer inspiration and insight into American culture”, and their latest production, World of Sinatras by Sean O’Connor, certainly lives up to the company’s goal. O’Connor’s play, a slice of dys …Read more
Take a story about historic art restoration, communism, and human misery, add a ton of heart, humor, hope and hubris, and you might get something approximating David Edgar’s Pentecost. The PTP/NYC (Potomac Theatre Project) revival of Edgar’s 1994 pla …Read more
We hear the notes of a piano followed by an announcement, “ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to see is real magic”, exclaims Avi Leiter (Travis Stuebing) before adding, “but don’t despair, it’s still just a trick”. With the playfully ominous t …Read more
Derek Ahonen’s The Qualification of Douglas Evans is a modern take on the morality play that feels like 8 ½ by way of Days of Wine and Roses. As in Blake Edwards’ 1962 film (based on a teleplay by JP Miller), Ahonen presents us with characters full o …Read more
Mark Roberts’ Enter at Forest Lawn is a play that examines the darkest confines of human nature through the prism of the entertainment industry. Set inside the cavernous office of megalomaniac television producer Jack Story (Mark Roberts), the show c …Read more