4,063 stories from theaterlife
By David Sheward
July 24, 2025: The Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, NY celebrates its 50th anniversary season with departures from traditional operatic fare. In addition to Stephen S…
By Iris Wiener
July 24, 2025: John Krasinski is not Angry Alan, despite what one might believe from the title of this (mostly) solo play; instead, Krasinski is Roger, a suburban, disillusi…
By David Sheward
July 21, 2025: Musical styles are mixed to maximum emotional effect in unusual productions in one new outdoor venue in Manhattan and at the 50th anniversary season of a lo…
RED CARPET featuring Nelson De La Nuez on view at The White Room Gallery July 16 through August 17, 2025
July 16, 2025: The White Room Gallery, 3 Railroad Avenue, in the village of East Ham…
By Paulanne Simmons
July 16, 2025: It has been said, with a good deal of truth, that short stories make the best screenplays. This is certainly the case with the film, The Man Who Shot Lib…
By David Sheward
July 16, 2025: Unconventional storytelling methods are on display in two Off-Broadway productions, offering brave theatergoers unusual and exciting experiences. John Krasi…
A 1938 Radio Writers Room, as much refuge as employment
By Alix Cohen
July 13, 2025: Howard Edison (Dylan Smith) is new to a radio writers' room where personnel have been confederates for…
The Price of Popularity
By Alix Cohen
July 12, 2025: A splashy satire that bakes bullying, teenage suicide, and sexual assault in dark, subversive humor. Heathers has been around since th…
By David Sheward
July 11, 2025: Heathers the Musical (Off-Broadway at New World Stages) is one of many recent teen-angst tuners. Others of this new genre include Tony-winning Best Musicals …
By Samuel L. LeiterÂ
July 10, 2025: Eleven years ago, in 2014, I reviewed a show called Heathers: The Musical at New World Stages. So it wasn't very fresh in my mind when I visited its …
By Alix Cohen
July 8, 2025: On the fifth anniversary of Charles Kirsch's Backstage Babble, the young uber- fan/interviewer (250 and counting) again takes to the stage at 54Below to present…
By David Sheward
July 7, 2025: When Prince Harry of England married Meghan Markle, an African-American actress, in 2018, I was teaching high school. On the Monday morning after their royal…
By David Sheward
July 3, 2025: In a program note for her play Trophy Boys (at MCC Theater), Emmanuelle Mattana observes, "Gender is a scam but it is also a gift. Drag is radical joy and lib…
Behind every child who believes in themselves is a parent who believed first.
By Alix Cohen
June 30, 2025: Lorelei Edwards comes from a musical family. "I'm Irish/Italian. Everybody sing…
By Alix Cohen
June 28, 2025: Canada 2025 Duke, a successful, American rap artist, is questioned by an interviewer about a visit to Kabul, Afghanistan. At the insistence of his record comp…
By David Sheward
June 28, 2025: Two unconventional plays about odd romantic pairings recently opened Off-Broadway. Both attempt to tackle significant topics outside of the "boy-meets-girl"…
By Isa Goldberg
June 21, 2025: During gay pride one should experience at least one gay happening " it's a stereotypical thing to do. Such an event, Beau the Musical, performed on nativ…
By David Sheward
June 20, 2025: Moliere is having a modern moment. Two adaptations of the 17th century French playwright's comedies are now on display Off-Broadway. Both employ contemporar…
By Paulanne Simmons
June 17, 2025: Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid (Le Malade Imaginaire) premiered in 1673, but its themes of narcissism, greed and the failures of healthcare, are just as…
By Alix Cohen
June 15, 2025: As Producing Artistic Director of Musicals Tonight, Mel Miller began his endeavor with no experience managing to build an enthusiastic subscription audience fo…
By Alix Cohen
June 14, 2025: Long a fan of Irish Repertory Theater, this is my second attendance at one of its annual galas. Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O'Reilly know how to throw a part…
By David Sheward
June 13, 2025: Even though there is much that is familiar in Call Me Izzy, Jamie Wax's new solo play at Studio 54, its star Jean Smart gives it a unique individual life. T…
By Samuel L. Leiter
(Note: Taylor Mac uses "judy" as a pronoun, but I've used conventional pronouns here.)
June 12, 2025: Molière, Molière, he's everywhere. Well, not quite, but certain…
By David Sheward
June 10, 2025: Donald Margulies' tender and moving new play Lunar Eclipse from Second Stage at the Signature Theater Center, is a simple, direct depiction of a long marria…
Potent and Beautifully Produced
By Alix Cohen
June 8, 2025: I'd be tempted to call this a perfect production were it not for the haunting Leonard Cohen quote, "There's a crack in everythi…
