Oct 15, 2020Member-only2020 Tony Nominations Full ListAlthough we don’t have a date for the 74th Annual Tony Awards, we do have a full list of nominees! Surprises here included the exclusion of The Lightning Thief, which meant Best Score went entire to plays and Best Leading Actor in a musical is unopposed. For musical, Jagged Little…Art4 min read
Apr 21, 2020Member-onlyDrama Desk Nominations 2020The Drama Desk Awards celebrate achievements both Broadway and off-Broadway for a season — this year, of course, that season was cut off quite short. The shut down of theatres due to COVID-19 dramatically impacted what shows were already open, and therefore eligible, for awards this year. This was especially…Art7 min read
Mar 2, 2020Member-onlyWe Need to Talk About “West Side Story”The problems of Ivo van Hove’s “West Side Story” are almost too numerous to fit into a single piece, but I am going to try. There has already been quite a bit written on this revival, so instead of a traditional review this is going to be more of a…Metoo8 min read
Feb 27, 2020Member-onlyRevivals, Revisals: “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”A review of the newly revised production of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” in light of “Mack & Mabel” at City Center Encores! and Ivo van Hove’s “West Side Story.” In our current theatrical moment, what degree of nostalgia should go into a revival? As a critic, some weeks you see…Culture6 min read
Feb 26, 2020Member-onlyReview: Deirdre O’Connell Lip Syncs for Her Life in Lucas Hnath’s “Dana H.”At this point it is hard to go more than a few months without a Lucas Hnath play. “The Thin Place” at Playwrights Horizons closed just a few weeks ago, and now we herald the opening of the wunderkind’s latest work, “Dana H.” Hnath is such a versatile, chameleonic playwright…Culture4 min read
Feb 10, 2020Member-onlyReview: Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale Put Murder and Marriage Center Stage in “Medea”“Medea” is one of the stories that you know going in what’s going to happen— no matter what, the tossed-aside wife is going to murder her children — but you watch anyway, almost unable to look away. Simon Stone, who wrote and directed a new adaptation currently playing at BAM’s…Culture5 min read
Feb 6, 2020Member-onlyReview: Laura Linney in “My Name is Lucy Barton”Elizabeth Strout’s novels are generally beloved, as is Laura Linney, so combining the two was a logical choice for adapter Rona Munro and director Richard Eyre. However, the production of “My Name is Lucy Barton” at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Friedman Theatre (a transfer from London), seems to be lacking…Theatre4 min read
Jan 17, 2020Member-onlyOn Theatrical Terror: “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord” and “The Thin Place”Works of drama have been traditionally classified into comedies or tragedies, (or if you are being generous, tragicomedies). Ever since the Ancient Greeks this dramaturgical framework has been the main way that audiences, writers, performers, scholars, and critics alike have understood theatre. The main basis behind this genre binary is…Art7 min read
Dec 11, 2019Member-onlyReview: “one in two” Confronts What Stories We Tell About HIV, and How We Tell ThemIn “The Inheritance,” the current talk of the town gay play that claims to deal with the legacy of the AIDS crisis, all of the major characters are not only white, but are HIV-. There are two minor Black characters, one of whom is HIV+, but his status is only…HIV5 min read
Nov 25, 2019Member-onlyReview: Is “The Inheritance” the Next Gay Epic?On the surface, it is easy to make a comparison between “Angels in America” and Matthew Lopez’s new play “The Inheritance”: both are sprawling, two-part plays with large casts of characters and explore gay themes, especially HIV. However, when you look closer and move past this vague description, it becomes…LGBTQ5 min read
