Off-Broadway Review: SUMO (The Public Theater)
FOR ALL IT'S GIRTH Sumo is a Japanese sport in which two bulky Japanese wrestlers clutch and grab at each other within a circular ring. The goal is to either eject the opponent from the ring…
FOR ALL IT'S GIRTH Sumo is a Japanese sport in which two bulky Japanese wrestlers clutch and grab at each other within a circular ring. The goal is to either eject the opponent from the ring…
A SHOUTING SHAME On the Evolutionary Function of Shame"which Second Stage Theater opened on February 26 at The Pershing Square Signature Center"ambitiously tackles complex themes of identity…
IT'S SAFE TO DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS AT HOUSE St. Ann's Warehouse, in association with New York's Irish Arts Center, presents Safe House, a one-person song cycle originally produced at Dub…
A DESIGN AS IMPRESSIVE AS A REDWOOD ITSELF The new Broadway musical Redwood, which opened on February 13, is a master class in tech theater. Set designer Jason Ardizzone-West makes this clea…
MADELINE SEIDMAN IS REMARKABLE IN GARSIDE'S CAREER Since 1995, the invaluable Mint Theatre Company has been unearthing lost, neglected plays from yesteryear. With artistic director Jonathan …
MIND FOR GOLD Vinny DePonto, the Brooklyn-based mentalist, is undeniably a master showman"and a strikingly handsome one at that (I'll draw a comparison to Jake Gyllenhaal). Like all magician…
WAKING US UP TO WOKENESS Playwright Jonathan Spector makes an impressive Broadway debut with Eureka Day, a strikingly relevant and well-crafted production that convincingly captures the comp…
DEATH BECOMES HER BECOMES BROADWAY I had opposite opinions this week between the opening of the film version of Wicked and the new Broadway musical comedy Death Becomes Her. Wicked outsoared…
HELLO, SATCHMO! THANK GOODNESS LOUIS IS BACK IN TOWN; WE NEED HIM MORE THAN EVER There's a new jukebox musical in town. But don't run in the other direction. A Wonderful World, which opened …
DESIGNING THE FUTURE Tony-nominated set designer for this season's Lempicka, Riccardo Hernández also designed Suffs. Other Broadway productions have included The Thanksgiving Play, Jag…
Alexi Melvin has found a new home in the New York theater scene, striving to champion innovative storytelling and artists within marginalized communities. In less than one year's time, she h…
THE NOT-SO-GOOD, THE BAD AND THE REALLY REALLY UGLY What better way to get a fresh perspective of our American West than by attending a 300-year history reenactment in 100 minutes? Written a…
HOLY QUEER HORROR! IT'S JOEY MERLO Joey Merlo may be best known (so far) for his On Set with Theda Bara, a "haunting and refreshingly funny fever dream" (Vulture), a one-man play starring Da…
THE McKITTRICK HOTEL, HOME OFÂ SLEEP NO MORE, EXTENDSÂ LATE NIGHT SULTRY SPECTACLE HYPNOTIQUE ALL-NEW NOCTURNAL EXPERIENCE EXTENDED Performances have been extended again on Friday and Sa…
AVANT-GARDNER NewYorkRep is currently presenting the world premiere of The Opposite of Love by Ashley Griffin, which runs through June 15, 2024 at the Royal Family Performing Arts Space at C…
PLATT'S WHERE IT'S AT AT THE PALACE As if opening the newly refurbished Palace Theater (after a 4 year hiatus) isn't exciting enough, why not add Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award winner Ben Plat…
A CHAMPION RETURNS In my first interview with Ethan Joseph a year ago, I wondered how a 12-year old boy would be able to top performing at the Met in Terence Blanchard's Champion. On one of …
THE FLAMES OF INJUSTICE Documentary theatre, a.k.a. docudrama, uses existing nonfiction sources to create works of performance that reenact historical events. My earliest recollection of doc…
THE OUTSIDERS IS PURE THEATRICAL GOLD Neither a rehash of S.E. Hinton's classic 1967 novel nor of the iconic 1983 film by Frances Ford Coppola, the stunning new musical The Outsiders, which …
"In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest." ― William Penn Itamar Moses (The Band's Visit) is a playwright we should all be listening to. His new pl…
THE HUNT IS ON, BRUTAL AND UNMISSABLE The Jungle. Volcano. Life & Times of Michael K. In the last year alone, the venerable St. Ann's Warehouse has hosted stunning theater from around th…
FUNNY FIVE SENDS-UP SIX To the worldwide fanbase of the Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss's Six, fear not " the new Off-Broadway parody Five pays loving homage to the girl-power musical sensation th…
KING LEAR, KING LEAR Gregory Mullavey stars in the Frog + Peach Theatre Company's production of Shakespeare's King Lear through Feb. 18, 2024. Mr. Mullavey performs the iconic tragic charact…
A MATTRESS THAT REVIVES AND RENEWS When Encores! announced Once Upon a Mattress as part of their season's concert series reviving American musicals, my first thought: Does this nutty chestnu…
IS LOVE REALLY ALL YOU NEED? "Love" appears three times in the title of this three-act play, and there are three separate time periods and settings, all of which are directed with solid, ass…