Who is Jonah? Is he the awkward, bumbling sweet young man infatuated with Ana (Gabby Beans) or is he symbolic of something more? During the first part of the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of “Jonah,” I was charmed by him (newcomer Hagan Oli …Read more
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 …Read more
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 P …Read more
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 W …Read more
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 …Read more
So much has been written about Shakespeare over the years that it’s a challenge to find a novel approach to discuss his work. Yet actor Patrick Page (“Hadestown,” “Spider-man Turn Off the Dark”) has done just that by examining the bard’s work through …Read more
The name Dracula always evokes iconic images of the fang-baring scary creature dressed in black. Think Bela Lugosi. Or the Count. Or even the incredibly sensual heartthrob portrayal by Frank Langella. In the most recent take-off, “Dracula, a Comedy o …Read more
The Off-Broadway show Pay The Writer at The Pershing Square Signature Center asks what it costs a writer to pursue his art. It focuses on Cyrus Holt (Ron Canada,) a celebrated author coming to terms with the end of his life. Holt has sacrificed all h …Read more
Ever heard of Alan Freed? If so, then you might enjoy Rock & Roll Man, the musical at New World Stages. Freed was the risk-taking disc jockey who coined the term “Rock and Roll” but his influence was far greater than that. He introduced Black music t …Read more
photo by Ahron R. Foster Based upon the 1962 movie starring Jack Lemon and Lee Remick, Days of Wine and Roses is now a musical at Atlantic Theater Company, starring the divine Kelli O’Hara and talented Brian d’Arcy James. Generally, I would encourage …Read more