42 stories by "Stanford Friedman"
The production struggles to balance its two separate and very unequal protagonists but Johnny Anthony effectively embodies Lenny Bruce, bringing his swagger and nervous energy to the fore.
T…
The American premiere of this 2022 British drama features two blackout drunks who are as addicted to each other as they are to the bottle.
The post Blackout Songs appeared first on The Front…
Can a solid cast hold together a play which is built to come apart? The answer, happily, is yes.
The post The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire appeared first on The Front Row Center.
While coming-of-age stories are tried-and-true audience pleasers, rare is the tale that features a gay youth finding himself with the help of both a sexually confused bully and a gruff grand…
An engaging interpretation of a piece that, if structurally curious, at least features the three pillars of any good Irish play: loss, regret, and loneliness.
The post The Weir appeared firs…
HEATHERS - a powerhouse sextet of women are on hand, blissfully belting their way through the madness, in a captivating show of strength.
The post Heathers: The Musical appeared first on The…
Grace's Diner, the setting for William Inge's classic, slice of life drama, Bus Stop, serves homemade pies and cakes. But the customers and wait staff who find themselves stranded overnight …
Every mother thinks her child is special, but rare is the mom who believes her son is gifted to the point that he can communicate with the dead.
The post Mystic Conversations appeared first …
Kenny Leon lands his 28 member multiracial cast down in a version of Grover's Corners that is futuristic in its inclusiveness; a world that is a wish, where interracial romance is de rigueur…
You may not leave the theater teary-eyed but your brain will be bursting with ideas inspired by this meaty think piece.
The post McNeal appeared first on The Front Row Center.
With breakneck pacing and powerful performances from its two leads, Fatherland rips the bandage off a wounded moment in our history. It's supposed to hurt less that way, but it doesn't.
The …
The Beacon takes its time navigating the troubled waters stirred up by a foursome who come together on an island off the coast of West Cork only to realize they are better off apart.
The pos…
It is not every Off-Broadway musical that boasts a chorus of 12 real-life healthcare professionals. Then again, it is unlikely there has ever been a musical quite as concerned with antibioti…
A high energy romp with many a guilty pleasure.
The post Cellino V. Barnes appeared first on The Front Row Center.
So winningly sung and so lovingly directed one cannot help but be wooed by its charms, despite a final scene that is so never in doubt.
The post The Sabbath Girl: A New Musical appeared firs…
Mandatory viewing for anyone who wants to be an actor, or a clown, or a time traveler, or a human in touch with humanity.
How do you proceed with a romantic comedy after a tragedy intervenes? The answer is, you don't.
Dark Noon ignores nothing as it takes stock of the evils embraced by those who built the Wild West, and lays bare the lasting scars.
Sarah Street brings a quiet dignity to the complicated role of Molly, a character who is strongly independent even as she succumbs to the will of others and marries "for no very good reason …
Loneliness is not the problem for the discouraged band members who sing out their troubles in MCC Theater's dynamic rock musical, The Lonely Few. Indeed, most of them can hardly find a momen…
Nourished by Corinne Jaber's sharp writing and Lee Sunday Evans' sensitive direction, this production makes the most out of isolating its players. It serves to effectively express the loneli…
The pleasures of the Broadway revival of Spamalot are three in number. Three shall be the number thou shall count and the number of the counting shalt be three.
Mind Mangler conjures up a sad loser who fails magnificently at his craft, cracking up the audience while gaining their sympathy along the way.
Playwright Owen Panettieri sticks three jittery oddballs in a haunted house and leaves it to the audience to decide who among them is the biggest victim, the worst tormenter, the most insane.
The employees of Jaja's each have their own ways of living with this danger. Bioh intertwines their tales, director Whitney White shapes the action into a tight thing of beauty and the ensem…
