606 stories by "Joel Benjamin"
Can the tale of two families living in Palestine just before the partition that created the State of Israel shine a light on the current status of affairs? Playwright Tom Block's "Oud Player…
"Ragtime," thought of as an unwieldy musical with too many characters and too many themes, hit Broadway in 1998. Based on the 1975 E.L. Doctorow novel of the same name, the many storylin…
Now, director Jamie Lloyd has taken the clunky"but entertaining"Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Sunset Blvd." (1993) and stripped it of all realistic scenery"and a few songs"hoping to get to th…
Donald Steven Olson's "The Christine Jorgensen Show," a two-hander, focuses on the creation of her nightclub act. Jorgensen (portrayed by Jesse James Keitel known for "Younger," "Queer a…
Clearly, Hwang's playwright-within-the-play has been on a colorful journey, full of characters that amuse, anger and move him. Hwang's genius here is his ability to spin his real life in…
We've come a long way from "Annie Get Your Gun" to the new musical "Distant Thunder" produced by Amas Musical Theatre at the A.R.T./New York Theatres. Â The Irvin Berlin song "I'm an India…
The final work of the evening was Takehiro Ueyama's "Heroes," dedicated to the brave, hard-working citizens of Japan who helped pull themselves out of the devastation of World War Two. Set t…
"The Goldberg-Variations" by George Tabori (written in 1991, now having its belated new York premiere) is a confused and confusing conflation of Bible stories and backstage bickering amongst…
"Larina Waltz," choreographed by Ashley Page to the lilting melodies of Tchaikovsky, opened the program. It was a dynamic expression of the classical ballet bona fides of this youthful c…
"Airport and the Strange Package" effectively combines good old-fashioned paranoia with witty references to Kafka's literary classic. King and his collaborators have fashioned a frighteni…
"Memory" brought back "Untitled," a masterpiece from 1978. This work had everything that made Pilobolus the world class dance troupe it became. Choreographed by Pilobolus founders Robby …
Jakob Karr conceived, choreographed and directed his full-length dance/drama, "Ain't Done Bad" currently heating up the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center just west …
The Netherlands-based dance troupe Introdans (Roel Voorinthoff, artistic director) exploded onto The Joyce Theater stage in an aptly titled program, "Energy," making a very welcome return to…
The tapestry Stone weaves with his multitude of characters"too many to mention here"is always fascinating in its subtle details. Each person stands on his or her own helped by superb per…
There's so much fascinating material in "Party Clown of the Rich and Famous" and its companion compendium of four short works, "The Hungry Mind Buffet" that it pains me that the works aren't…
Christopher Caswell: "Listen to My Heart" took the audience into his confidence as he opened up about his personal life: friends, loves, children and, of course, show business. His show …
Christopher Caswell: Listen to My Heart took the audience into his confidence as he opened up about his personal life: friends, loves, children and, of course, show business. His show ha…
Christie Perfetti Williams' genial new play "Bettye and the Jockettes Spinning Records at the Holiday Inn" transports the audience back to the moment Elvis Presley became an international st…
"The Heart of Rock and Roll" at the James Earl Jones Theatre is one of the more pleasant entries in the jukebox musical derby. Using the musical catalog of Huey Lewis and the News, Tyler…
"Mother Play," though based on Vogel's own life, is her most schematic, more an outline barely fleshed out with lots of details rather than the intense emotional revelations of her earlier w…
The play is an expression of the quiet whirlwind within Mary Jane's soul, exquisitely expressed by the warm McAdams, surrounded by the boundless support of the others. Director Anne Kauffman…
The transfer to Broadway has brilliantly expanded the show. The new production designed by Riccardo Hernández (scenery), Paul Tazewell (costumes), Lap Chi Chu (lighting) and Charles G…
David Adjmi's "Stereophonic" at the Golden Theatre, a transfer under the auspices of Playwrights Horizons, is a minutely detailed, almost minute-by-minute recreation of a recording session b…
The four patients' stories occupy the bulk of "Dali's Dream" in an uneven stream of oddball activities which divert the plot from the more important consideration of the Freud/Dali interacti…
No one should be sacrosanct or above satirical treatment, not even our heroes. Everyone has feet of clay. Cole Escola in their huge hit "Oh, Mary!" at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in G…
