Thursday, October 31, 2013

A Time To Kill

A growing share of Broadway box office relies on the tourist trade, the clear target audience of “A Time to Kill,”  Rupert Holmes’ adaptation of John Grisham’s novel.Given the now r…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 03:55PM

Another Medea

Drama is practically synonymous with surprise: a character's true nature revealed suddenly, an incident from the past in the third act that changes the nature of all that came before. But s…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 03:27PM

Another Medea All For One Theatre Festival

Drama is practically synonymous with surprise: a character's true nature revealed suddenly, an incident from the past in the third act that changes the nature of all that came before. But s…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 03:00PM
Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Good Person Of Szechwan

Is there anything more beautiful in this world than a good person?And is there anything more boring when it comes to story telling?This Good Person, in residence at the Public Theatre, is no…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 02:54PM

Year of the Rooster

A man appears on stage dressed as a rooster.  He yells something I didn’t quite understand.  How am I going to sit through this anthropomorphic piece?  Then theatrical magic begins.  I…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 11:23AM
Monday, October 28, 2013

The Landing

Half way through the 100 or so minutes of this production, I leaned over to my chum and whispered, “For what it’s worth, I have no idea what is going on.”And while that remained true f…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 12:06PM
Friday, October 25, 2013

The Snow Geese

This one has me mystified. For the entire two hours of this show I was grasping for a foothold. I kept waiting to find a place where I could enter and be allowed inside more than a step or…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:30PM

The Downtown Loop

Once one walks into the theater one’s mind will automatically draw the conclusion that the Down Town Loop will be an exceptional show. This is due to the fresh set up of the space—stairs…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:30PM
Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Fun Home

In this astonishing musical there are three Alisons (also the name of the author). There is Small Alison (Sydney Lucas), Medium Alison (Alexandra Socha) and grown up Alison (Beth Malone). …

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 02:59PM
Saturday, October 19, 2013

Romeo and Juliet

No weapons at all, no balcony at all, no prologue, no scene of Lady Capulet begging for vengeance; no Finn Wittrock (the rising star who played Troilus so heroically in CSC's AGE OF IRON sea…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:49PM
Friday, October 18, 2013

A Night WIth Janis Joplin

In “A Night with Janis Joplin” you see dead people quite a lot. The conceit of the script is Joplin, on stage singing her heart out, with pauses to tell you about the amazing women who s…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 04:18PM

Marie Antoinette

It is a dangerous endeavor to present a dramatization of history to a New York City audience that will surely be comprised of intellects and cynics - especially when the history presented is…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:41PM

The Winslow Boy

There is something bewildering about this production of The Winslow Boy. For much of it I was certain I could see everyone’s lips moving, but I didn’t get what they were saying. I mean…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:14PM
Monday, October 14, 2013

Desperately Seeking The Exit

Desperately Seeking The Exit, Peter Michael Marino’s no-frills, one-man show currently playing in the modest performance space in the basement of the Triple Crown on Seventh Avenue (just s…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:04PM
Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Glass Menagerie

There are productions by which you can mark a moment in your life – the way you would treasure and recall an encounter with a loved one. This production will be that for anyone lucky enou…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 05:53PM
Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Bad Jews

A Bad Jew, according to this weary script, is someone who breaks a rule – usually having to do with diet. Like breaking a fast prematurely and then shrugging it off. For Daphna Feygenbau…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 06:04PM
Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Broadway Close Up: Bound For Broadway XII

Of the fourteen seasons the Kaufman Center has been presenting Bound For Broadway at Merkin Concert Hall as part of the Broadway Close Up series on Monday nights, Liz Calloway has hosted the…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 04:53PM
Monday, October 7, 2013

Big Fish

Norbert Leo Butz needs a show that will let him take flight. Ditto Bobby Steggert and Kate Baldwin. Their talents, skill and commitment are worth the price times twice. Big Fish, however,…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 03:06PM
Sunday, October 6, 2013

Final Analysis

Vienna 1910. The Hapsburg Empire is in its twilight years, the cafes are full of intellectuals and artists, and World War 1 is on the horizon. Class and ethnic tensions are growing, but many…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:12PM
Saturday, October 5, 2013

We Are Samurai

WE ARE SAMURAI, written by Daria Miyeko Marinelli and directed by Ria T. DiLullo, at the 133rd Street Arts Center (at the foot of Morningside Heights, that is, in the valley just east of St.…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 12:09PM
Friday, October 4, 2013

Lady Day

To be honest, before seeing this show I knew very little about Billie Holiday. I knew that name went hand in hand with musical royalty, but I didn’t know why. That was the pre Lady Day me…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:32PM
Thursday, October 3, 2013

The Norwegians

Just when you thought an enjoyable evening in the theater had to cost $100. for a balcony seat, along comes The Norwegians.  For $39.99 you will entertained by a smart, quirky plot, non si…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:30PM

Breakfast With Mugabe

The power struggle between Robert Mugabe (Michael Rogers), president of Zimbabwe, and psychiatrist Andrew Peric (Ezra Barnes) has already begun when the play opens. Dr. Peric has arrived too…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:01PM
Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Film Society

First I would like to thank my computer.  After seeing a play, I return home searching out info about the author, and any other details that the playbill does not provide.  The play, Th…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:17PM

Bike America

I would give Mike Lew’s “Bike America” a thumbs up, but only with an addendum. The show, about an hour and 45 minutes, was full of great ideas: fabulous acting, a direction done by Mor…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 01:11PM
Friday, September 27, 2013

Natural Affection

If you make it to the second act of this sluggish production you will see a master class in acting. John Pankow pulls the heart of this play out of a hat and hands it to us. Pankow drops i…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 04:25PM

Romeo and Juliet

Someone left the cake out in the rain.I don’t know how, but this production has managed – on the night I saw it – to nearly obliterate passion. I mean the one that counts, the one bet…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 04:22PM

Ready for the River

I found myself wondering what I should walk away with at the end of Ready For The River feeling as through I just spent 75 minutes watching a very cleverly directed show that lacked any kind…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 04:20PM
Thursday, September 26, 2013

All The Faces Of The Moon

Imagine trying to review a show that is 3/4ths the way done. You don't know how it ends. You can't even judge if it was good or not. Or can you? If it's Mike Daisey's "All The Faces…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 10:35PM

R+J: Star-Crossʼd Death Match

It would be easy to dismiss R+J: Star-Crossʼd Death Match, staged in an unlikely second-floor barroom space, as a drinking game with a classy name attached. I worried as the actors greeted …

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 11:30AM
Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Arguendo

When I got to the theatre, I was warned twice that the show was “80 minutes long with no intermission and includes full frontal nudity”. My response?“Sounds like a perfect date.”May…

SOURCE: Usher Nonsense at 03:08PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards