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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

    News:

    [ P ]  Speed-the-Plow Will Now Play the Barrymore Theatre

    [ B ]  Speed-the-Plow Revival Gets New Theater and Opening Date

    [ TM ]  Speed-the-Plow to Now Open at Barrymore on October 23

    [ P ]  White Christmas Will Open on Broadway Nov. 23; Pre-Sale Begins Aug. 20

    [ B ]  White Christmas Announces Broadway Opening Date

    [ P ]  Pike Will Join Dench in Madame de Sade in London

    [ P ]  Grease Star Osnes Cast in Kennedy Center's Birdie

    [ TM ]  Laura Osnes Joins Cast of Kennedy Center's Broadway: Three Generations

    [ P ]  From Fantastick to Amazing: Actor Nick Spangler to Compete on TV's "Amazing Race"

    [ TM ]  Fantasticks Star Nick Spangler to Compete on CBS' Amazing Race

    [ P ]  Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laura Bell Bundy Will Be Part of Feinstein's Season

    [ TM ]  Bundy, Carter, Gayle, Mitchell to Play Feinstein's at Loews Regency

    [ P ]  Robins, Clohessy, Derelian, Sturgis Will Board NJ Streetcar Named Desire Sept. 10-Oct. 5

    [ TM ]  Clohessy, Derelian, Robins, Sturgis, et al. Set for A Streetcar Named Desire

    [ TM ]  Campion, Eisnberg, Latessa, Masur, Robards, et al. Join Tomei for Westport Reading of Golden Boy

    [ P ]  Latessa and Campion Will Join Tomei for Westport's Golden Boy Reading

    [ TM ]  Grover Dale, Donna McKechnie et al. Set for Lyric Stage 2008-2009 Season

    [ TM ]  Full Cast, Creative Team Announced for Abingdon's The English Channel

    [ TM ]  Full Cast Set for Altar Boyz at Bethesda Theatre

    [ P ]  Rent Filming for Nationwide, Cinematic Broadcast to Begin Aug. 20

    [ P ]  Carpenter, Chandler, Norris and Woodbridge Will Rock 'n' Roll in Philadelphia

    [ P ]  Something in the Rain, Bedside Manner and Stages of a Woman Among DramaFest Winners

    [ P ]  Summer Loving Benefit Presented by Lemonade Gang Aug. 22

    [ P ]  Ring of Fire Set for La Mirada's 2008-2009 Season

    [ P ]  Xanadu's Jackson to Perform at amfAR Fundraiser

    [ P ]  Metropolitan Room Will Present I Want It All - A Maltby and Shire Songbook in September

    [ P ]  Ripley, Jbara, DeLaria, Testa, Kuhn, Murney, Creel and More to Celebrate LaChiusa at Joe's Pub

    [ P ]  William Petersen to Star in Steppenwolf's Dublin Carol, Directed by Amy Morton

    [ B ]  Laurence Fishburne to Join the Cast of TV's CSI

    [ P ]  Broadway Revival of Godspell Postponed

    [ TM ]  Broadway Godspell Revival Is Indefinitely Postponed

    [ B ]  Broadway Revival of Godspell Off for Fall

    [ P ]  Casting Complete for Historie of the Barber-Surgeons

    [ TM ]  Richard Kind and Michael Stuhlbarg to Star in Coen Brothers' A Serious Man

    [ P ]  Stuhlbarg and Kind to Star in Coen Brothers' "A Serious Man"

    [ B ]  Margaret Colin to Star in A Body of Water at Primary Stages

    FringeNYC:

    [ CU ]  7th Fringe Festival update

    [ TE ]  NOW THAT SHE'S GONE Review by OSCAR E MOORE

    As her seemingly cold hearted, affectionless Norwegian/American mother lies dying in a hospital, Ellen remembers...

    [ BS ]  A Man, a Magic, a Music - Reviewed by NICOLE VILLENEUVE

    In his revue of black music from the 1950s to the '90s, Movin' Melvin Brown sings and shimmies his way through history with a vitality that will have you dancing in the aisles.

    [ BS ]  O! Balletto - Reviewed by IRENE BACKALENICK

    This charming dance piece by Lane Gifford is based on the writings of one Fabritio Caroso of Sermoneta (circa 1600 A.D.).

    [ BS ]  Revolution on the Roof - Reviewed by GWEN OREL

    "Revolution on the Roof" contains the self-congratulatory nostalgia of infomercials for '60s music compilations but without the slick production values.

    [ BS ]  Psalms of a Questionable Nature - Reviewed by A.J. MELL

    As promising as the raw material is, the end result displays too much writerly contrivance and too little dramatic momentum.

    [ BS ]  Schönberg - Reviewed by NICOLE VILLENEUVE

    The production's power is in Schönberg's utterances, many of which are factual quotations. They contain elements of good theatre: wit, depth, and a touch of shock value.

    [ BS ]  Self-Portrait as Schiele - Reviewed by DAVID A. ROSENBERG

    The play juggles ideas on loss and interconnectedness, but we get the point long before the final curtain.

    [ BS ]  The Deciders - Reviewed by DAVID A. ROSENBERG

    Outrageous and sometimes outrageously funny, "The Deciders" rocks the establishment while preaching to the choir. Too bad it goes off the tracks.

    Features:

    [ B ]  PHOTO OP: You Can Ring My Bell! Legally Blonde Star Orfeh Opens the NYSE

    [ B ]  PHOTO OP: Equus Star Daniel Radcliffe Gets a Magical Welcome from A Chorus Line

    [ P ]  PHOTO CALL: A Tale of Two Cities Comes to Broadway

  • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 4:32 PM | Item Link


      • [ V ]  Coen brothers cast 'Serious' men By TATIANA SIEGEL

      The Coen brothers have tapped a pair of relative unknowns to star in their next pic, "A Serious Man."
      Michael Stuhlbarg, a Tony-nominated actor with little experience in front of the cameras, and Richard Kind, a character actor best known for his role on ABC's "Spin City," will star as brothers in the period black comedy.

      [ V ]  Hard times hit Rialto By GORDON COX

      Wall St. woes worry Broadway

      [ BN ]  With One Jesus, No Angels, Producer Cancels 'Godspell' Revival By Jeremy Gerard

      [ V ]  Broadway grosses slide

      'Chorus' dipped $18,000 in week-to-week totals

      [ B ]  Broadway Grosses: A Chorus Line Revival Takes Its Last Bow

      [ P ]  Broadway Grosses: Aug. 11-17

      [ V ]  B.O. drops with 'High School' absent

      Road Grosses

      [ P ]  Jack Zink, South Florida Entertainment Critic and Columnist, Dies at 61

      [ SS ]  Sun Sentinel theater critic Jack Zink dead at age 61 By John Dolen

      [ P ]  Eleanore Reznikoff, Theatre Producer, Dies at 57

      [ DN ]  Christina Applegate: 'I'm clear' of cancer

      [ TM ]  Laurence Fishburne to Join CBS' CSI

      [ NYT ]  Arts, Briefly: Fishburne Joins 'CSI' By BRIAN STELTER; Compiled by JULIE BLOOM

      [ WP ]  'CSI's' 'Professor' Fishburne Has A Lot to Learn By Lisa de Moraes

      Laurence Fishburne is thrilled to be joining the cast of CBS's "CSI," a TV series he'd never been interested in enough to watch, to play a character he doesn't seem to know much of anything about, including the name.

      [ P ]  Fences Has a Broadway Target of Spring 2009

      [ TM ]  Broadway Revival of Fences Aiming for Spring 2009

      [ P ]  Hair Extended Again, Now Through Sept. 14 in Central Park

      [ B ]  Hair Announces Final Extension in Central Park

      [ NYP ]  EVEN LONGER 'HAIR' By BARBARA HOFFMAN

      [ NYT ]  Weddings & Celebrations: Erin Crouch, Jeffry Denman

      Features:

      [ TM ]  Peter Filichia's Diary: The 2008 Broadway University Entrance Exam

      [ P ]  ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Working Vacation in P-Town by Seth Rudetsky

      [ NYT ]  Metropolitan Diary

      Stephen Sondheim recommends a story about a reading of "Sweeney Todd" with a pair of Londoners at Le Pain Quotidien.

      [ NY ]  Stephen Sondheim to Larry Kramer: 'Try to Get Your Name in Print'

      [ TM ]  Hello, Jerry! By: Brian Scott Lipton

      Jerry Herman discusses his new digital CD collection, working with Mary Martin, Pearl Bailey, Angela Lansbury, and Ethel Merman, creating La Cage Aux Folles, and possible new productions of Mame and Dear World.

      [ V ]  Broadway pressure for 'Billy Elliot' By GORDON COX

      Transfer stakes high for little guy

      [ NYT ]  New York Observed
      A Long Day's Journey Into Lip Gloss By LESLIE NIPKOW

      How Sephora ate her theater, and why she hates to see blusher displays where Sam Shepard's losers used to slouch.

      [ V ]  D.C. auds split into summer extremes By PAUL HARRIS

      'Lion King,' 'Jerry Springer' hottest shows

      [ JN ]  Letting Hattie sing again By Peter D. Kramer

      When people told Vickilyn Reynolds that she looked like Hattie McDaniel - the actress who was the first black to win an Academy Award, for "Gone With the Wind" - she didn't take it kindly.

      [ LAT ]  A new leader's new priorities at Celebration Theatre By David Ng

      Michael A. Shepperd intends to draw more diverse audiences to his gay-lesbian theater.

      [ HC ]  'No Child' In A Class By Itself By FRANK RIZZO

      [ NYT ]  Theater Lessons, Onstage and Off By TAMMY LA GORCE

      ArtWorks, which celebrated the culmination of its first three-week term with a July 25 performance of "Beat," an original musical, never intended to coddle its inaugural class with an onstage-all-the-time curriculum.

      [ BR ]  Fair Lawn actor knows no obstacles By JIM BECKERMAN

      You'd never guess that the high-energy kid whose "Gary, Indiana" stopped the show at Surflight's "The Music Man" three years ago was diagnosed at birth with a mild form of cerebral palsy.

      [ BR ]  Stephen Collins has had a career fit for a king BY KRISTEN A. LEE, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

      [ BS ]  Ward Healer By Simi Horwitz

      Douglas Turner Ward on Signature's celebration of the Negro Ensemble Company

      [ TD ]  Helping Broadway musicals go (sh-k-) Boom! by Chad Jones

      Thanks to American Theater Web for the link.

      [ B ]  VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Music-Filled Tale of Two Cities Sitzprobe

      [ B ]  Q&A: Hairspray's Aubrey O'Day on Life as a Tabloid Target

      [ P ]  PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Aubrey O'Day

      [ NYP ]  PAGE SIX

      "Hairspray" star AUBREY O'Day handled in-your-face talk-show host Wendy Williams like a pro when she taped her show the other day.

      [ B ]  MY NEW YORK: Tour the Town with Hairspray's Corny, Clarke Thorell

      [ B ]  PHOTO OP: Hairspray Celebrates Six Years at the Neil Simon Theatre

      [ R ]  London's fringe venues vie with West End musicals By Barbara Lewis

      [ WP ]  Theater Is His Medium; Playwriting His Seance By Celia Wren

      Jason Grote, Putting the Supernatural and the Ordinary on a Collision Course

      [ NYT ]  Cinema Owner Looks to End His 30-Year Run By MARCELLE S. FISCHLER

      It could also become a new home to the Bay Street Theater. Tracy Mitchell, general manager of the Equity playhouse, said that its lease is up in June 2010.

      [ DN ]  Back-to-school looks your kids will actually wear BY JOE DZIEMIANOWICZ

      How do I fit in but still stand out? That's a perennial question plaguing every teenager (and let's be honest, adult) and the driving theme of "13," a new Broadway musical about high school kids.

      [ NYP ]  PIRATES' DUTY By JENNIFER TIS

      ONLY a kid could write a story like "The Do-Do Bird and the Dead People" - but only the Striking Viking Story Pirates could stage it, complete with puppets, "Thriller"-esque dancing zombies and funny lyrics that have children (and adults) begging for more.

      [ B ]  PHOTO OP: A Summertime Spring Awakening for Mel Gibson

      [ NYP ]  LIZ SMITH
      'XANADU' SEE IT!

      [ B ]  PHOTO OP: Xanadu Star Cheyenne Jackson Joins the Wall at Tony Di Napoli's

      [ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Langella and Man for All Seasons Cast Prepare for Broadway Revival

      [ B ]  PHOTO OP: Mario Lopez and A Chorus Line Scream... for Ice Cream!

      [ P ]  MARQUEE VALUE: The Seagull at the Walter Kerr Theatre

      News:

      [ P ]  Colin, Odeh and Rasche Cast in New York Premiere of Blessing's A Body of Water

      [ TM ]  Colin, Odeh, Rasche to Star in Blessing's A Body of Water at Primary Stages

      [ NYT ]  Arts, Briefly: Casting News
      Compiled by JULIE BLOOM

      [ TM ]  Transport Group Announces 2008-2009 Season

      [ NYT ]  Arts, Briefly: Footnotes
      Compiled by JULIE BLOOM

      The Los Angeles-based Zombie Joe's Underground Theater Group will make its New York City debut with stage adaptations of several stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

      [ V ]  New Audience schedules plays

      Org co-presenting Brook's 'Grand Inquisitor'

      [ TM ]  Peter Bartlett to Join Atlantic's What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling

      [ P ]  Bartlett Will Join Pittu in What's That Smell, Spoofing Musical Theatre Types

      [ B ]  Peter Bartlett to Join David Pittu in What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling

      [ P ]  Hare's Gethsemane Will Bloom at National; Stoppard, Previn, Adamson and Ibsen Announced

      [ TM ]  David Hare's Gethsemane to Debut at London's National Theater

      [ TM ]  Bedford, Griffin, McAnuff, et al. Set for Stratford Shakespeare Festival 2009 Season

      [ P ]  Shakespeare, Chekhov, Wilde, Sondheim Will Commingle With Canadian Writers at Stratford in 2009

      [ P ]  [title of show], Bock, Harnick and Stein Added to Barnes and Noble September Line-Up

      [ TM ]  Alda, Baldwin, Danieley, Huffman, Keillor, Marsalis, Mazzie, Miranda, Oscar, et al. to Appear at Barnes & Noble

      [ TM ]  Abraham, Harrow, Rauch, Rees, Urie, et al. Set for Red Bull's Revelation Readings

      [ P ]  Abraham, Rees, Rauch and Urie Set for Red Bull's Revelation Readings

      [ TM ]  Karen Finley to Reprise Make Love at the Cutting Room

      [ P ]  [title of show] Gals to Head to the Chatterbox Aug. 21

      [ TM ]  Bradford Louryk to Star in The Most Lamentable & Tragic Historie of the Barber-Surgeons

      [ TM ]  Casa Mañana Announces 2008-2009 Season

      [ B ]  Finalists Announced in Broadway.com/JetBlue Rent Video Contest

      [ TM ]  Creel, DeLaria, Morrison, Ripley, Rubin-Vega, et al. Set for LaChiusa Concert at Joe's Pub

      [ TM ]  Callaghan, Foreman, Russell, Schwartz, et al. Set for Prelude '08 Festival

      [ TM ]  Cherry, Kostroff, Kravits, Wylie, et al. Set for Gateway's The Producers

      [ P ]  Celebrity Autobiography Returns with Johnston, Kind, Dratch and Pack Sept. 8

      [ TM ]  Celebrity Autobiography to Return to Triad on September 8

      [ P ]  GrooveLily Revamps Its Website and Offers Preview of New Musical Long Story Short

      [ P ]  The Fantasticks to Ring NASDAQ Closing Bell Aug. 19

      [ P ]  Prelude '08 Offers Glimpse of Upcoming Innovative NYC Theatre

      [ P ]  Huffman and Snow to Headline Wood for NYMF

      [ P ]  The Castle Gets Second Off-Broadway Extension

      [ P ]  Ten Songs, Ten Musicians Featured on Joe Traina's "Ten By Ten"

      [ P ]  DiPietro & Bryan's Musical Memphis, With Kimball, Morgan and Glover, Begins in CA

      [ P ]  Barbour, Lazar, Burkhardt Sing of Best and Worst of Times in Tale of Two Cities, Starting Aug. 19

      [ P ]  Today in Theatre History: AUGUST 19

      [ TM ]  PBS to Air Grey Gardens Documentary in December

      [ B ]  American Buffalo, with John Leguizamo and Cedric the Entertainer, Set for Fall

      [ TM ]  Broadway Revival of American Buffalo to Open on November 17

      [ TM ]  William L. Petersen to Star in Victory Gardens' Blackbird

      "Little House on the Prairie":

      [ MST ]  Prairie spitfire By GRAYDON ROYCE

      "Little House on the Prairie" gives young Edina actress Maeve Moynihan a rare chance to build a career while portraying Laura Ingalls' sister.

      [ TB ]  Little House on the Prairie and Swing!
      Minneapolis Reviews by Ed Huyck'

      In its present form, the musical-crafted by Rachel Sheinkin, Rachel Portman and Donna di Novelli, from Laura Ingalls Wilder's famed series of books-is a frustrating ride.

      [ V ]  Little House on the Prairie
      Review By QUINTON SKINNER

      While its components are delivered with near-seamless professionalism, by the end it's hard to imagine the show carving out a distinctive space in the contemporary musical landscape.

      [ PP ]  Earnest 'Little House' can't overcome its many shortcomings By Dominic P. Papatola

      Though it's earnest as all get-out and though the overwhelming majority of the cast is more than up to the task of putting on a top-notch musical, the problems with this show are deep, structural and systemic.

      [ MST ]  A purple-sky, golden-wheat ode to frontier America By GRAYDON ROYCE

      My young charge remarked, after the first 20 minutes of "Little House on the Prairie," that she felt she was watching "Waiting for Guffman."

      "Désir":

      [ BS ]  Désir - Reviewed by ANDY PROPST

      A sort of elegant sensuality pervades Wayne Harrison's "Désir," a theatrical circus attraction that uses Schnitzler's "La Ronde" for its inspiration.

      [ NYP ]  EROTIC AND EXOTIC By FRANK SCHECK (***)

      [ TB ]  Désir
      Review by Matthew Murray

      It's no small feat to glitter in a tent. Yet somehow, Désir manages just that, with blinding success.

      [ SUN ]  'Désir': Fantastic Feats on a Small Scale By JOY GOODWIN

      [ NYT ]  Liaisons Dangereuses and Bodies Acrobatic By BEN BRANTLEY

      If the televised Olympics are too sanitary and the hole-in-the-wall strip clubs too sleazy for your tastes, then perhaps you'll find voyeuristic contentment in "Désir."

      [ DN ]  'Absinthe' & 'Desir': Acrobatics with raunchy twists by Joe Dziemianowicz

      [ V ]  Desir
      Review By MARK BLANKENSHIP

      Now that they're returning to the South Street Seaport for the third consecutive summer, the burlesque circus acts that anchor Spiegelworld are challenged by their own legacy.

      FringeNYC:

      [ NYP ]  WITTY KILLER TO KILLER WIT By FRANK SCHECK (***)

      THE Fringe Festival is bursting with one-per son shows, but you won't find any two more different in tone than "Zombie" and "That Dorothy Parker."

      [ TB ]  The Alice Complex and That Dorothy Parker
      Reviews by Matthew Murray

      [ BS ]  That Dorothy Parker - Reviewed by GWEN OREL

      Though Carol Lempert's Dorothy Parker sparkles more than she glares, sharing cocktails and wisecracks with this woman so ahead of her time does make for an agreeable evening.

      [ TM ]  FringeNYC 2008: Roundup 5
      Reviewed by: Andy Propst, Brian Scott Lipton, The Siegels, and David Finkle

      Reports on Paper Dolls, Other Bodies, The Johnny, and Hidden Fees.

      [ TM ]  FringeNYC 2008: Roundup 4
      Reviewed by: David Finkle, Dan Bacalzo, Andy Propst, and Patrick Lee

      Reports on III, The Fabulous Kane Sisters in Box Office Poison, Tim Gunn's Podcast (A Reality Chamber Opera), and Becoming Britney.

      [ BS ]  Paper Dolls - Reviewed by MARK PEIKERT

      Playwright Patrick Huguenin has taken his experience working for the New York Daily News' Rush and Molloy and transformed it into a very funny and slightly frightening look at the gossip-column wars and the price of fame.

      [ BS ]  III - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      Joe Salvatore has fashioned the profoundly moving "III," which anatomizes the enduring and endearing ménage of Glenway Wescott, Monroe Wheeler, and George Platt Lynes, from correspondence, journals, and other biographical materials.

      [ TE ]  The Fabulous Kane Sisters in Box Office Poison by OSCAR E MOORE

      What a ride! An outrageous, riotous, ribald, raunchy, over-the-top, risqué, nonsensical - leave all logic behind comedy written by Marc Geller and Bill Roulet is at the Cherry Lane Theatre.

      [ BS ]  Tim Gunn's Podcast (A Reality Chamber Opera) - Reviewed by DAVID SHEWARD

      Don't laugh, but there are similarities between opera and reality television, and composer-librettist Jeffrey Lependorf combines the two formats in a delightful little guilty pleasure.

      [ BS ]  Becoming Britney - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      This amusing but scattered musical occurs right after the incident in which Spears shaves her head, and when it goes into full-throttle satire, it can be terrific.

      [ TB ]  Untitled Masterpiece, The Grecian Formula and @lice in www.onderland
      Reviews by Matthew Murray

      [ BS ]  The Grecian Formula - Reviewed by PAUL MENARD

      Full of theatre in-jokes, corny puns, and pop-culture references, "The Grecian Formula" pulls out every conceivable gag and Broadway cliché as it tears through Western theatre history with comic-book exuberance.

      [ BS ]  @lice in www.onderland - Reviewed by A.J. MELL

      The physical grace and visual imagination on display make this a nonstop pleasure to behold.

      [ BS ]  The Corn Maiden - Reviewed by GWEN OREL

      Justin Swain and Jess McLeod turn Joyce Carol Oates' 2005 novella "The Corn Maiden: A Love Story" into a solid, spooky little thriller.

      [ BS ]  Kansas City or Along the Way - Reviewed by NICOLE VILLENEUVE

      "Kansas City or Along the Way" is much like the journey it describes: Though fraught with problems, it nevertheless manages to transcend them.

      [ BS ]  More Than Pants - Reviewed by DAVID A. ROSENBERG

      This "long-form sketch show" has intimations of silent-film comedy or maybe Mutt and Jeff.

      [ BS ]  Galatea - Reviewed by NICOLE VILLENEUVE

      Fortunately, "Galatea" is not just another tiresome reinterpretation of "Pygmalion"; playwright Frank Tangredi brings a fresh perspective to the old tale that is revelatory and moving.

      [ BS ]  Piccola Cosi - Reviewed by RONNI REICH

      Aja Nisenson is a natural storyteller, with an ear for impersonations and an eye for glamorous and gritty detail.

      [ BS ]  The Chronicles of Steve: The Bossy Bottom - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      Using a fine and resourceful sense of theatricality, David LeBarron offers an insightful string of meditations on living and loving the gay life.

      [ BS ]  Creena DeFoouie - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      Though really a collection of loose vignettes, "Creena DeFoouie" doesn't lack entertainment value.

      [ BS ]  Thoroughly Stupid Things or the Continuous Importance of Being Earnest - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      Montserrat Mendez's sequel to Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a comic masterwork.

      [ BS ]  The Redheaded Man - Reviewed by RONNI REICH

      The voices in his head are just the beginning of Brian's problems in Halley Bondy's gripping, imaginative drama.

      [ BS ]  Control - Reviewed by MARK PEIKERT

      Had playwright Jessica Hinds written her new play with a steadier hand, she'd have a very funny look at the lives of 20-somethings today and the insidious power of television to change their lives. Unfortunately, much like its characters, "Control" is content to straggle along.

      [ BS ]  Wish We Were Here - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      Do I really believe Michael Phillis, who wrote and performs in "Wish We Were Here," really watched a genie pop out of a hookah while smoking marijuana? Well, no, but it turns out to be an amusing divertissement of a play.

      [ BS ]  The Longest Running Joke of the 20th Century - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      Some playwrights use peculiar experiences to stoke their art. Yet I'd conjecture that few have been through anything like Stephen O'Rourke's experience working with the mentally ill for the last 18 years.

      [ BS ]  Nudists in Love - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      When word gets out that the president of Gardenia's homeowners association likes to visit a naturalist resort, much shade is thrown in this charming if inoffensive new tuner.

      [ BS ]  Doppelganger Joe - Reviewed by MARK PEIKERT

      Playwright-director-star Caroline Lesley isn't even convincing as a bad actor in her new one-woman show about the dangers of meeting one's doppelganger.

      [ BS ]  They Call Me Mister Fry - Reviewed by MARC MILLER

      It's a risky business, portraying not only the white-bread schoolteacher you are but also two of your most problematic inner-city pupils. But actor-author Jack Freiberger offers detailed, rounded portraits and gracefully evades the P.C. police in his one-man autobiographical show.

      [ BS ]  Thumbelina: The Story of a Brave Little Girl - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      Although "Thumbelina: The Story of a Brave Little Girl" is geared primarily to youngsters, there are solid reasons for adults to see this spirited Elephant Ensemble Theater production.

      [ BS ]  Now That She's Gone: Unraveling the Mystery of My Mother - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

      Detective work and intuition pay off in a family story beautifully brought to the stage.

      [ BS ]  The Mole People - Reviewed by PAUL MENARD

      New Yorkers don't scare easily, and "The Mole People"'s awkward attempt at auditory story theatre isn't exactly chilling.

      Other Reviews:

      [ NYT ]  Shakespeare Cast Party by Royal Command By NEIL GENZLINGER

      There's a ripping good performance taking place in a barn on West 21st Street in Manhattan. The play is "Elizabeth Rex."

      [ TM ]  Elizabeth Rex
      Reviewed by: David Finkle

      Timothy Findley's intriguing play about a meeting between Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare's troupe of actors receives an unimaginative production.

      [ NYT ]  The Stage Is Alive With the Sound of Cells By WILBORN HAMPTON

      "PeopleSpeak," a witty and acerbic play, is the best of Series B of the Summer Shorts 2 festival at 59E59 Theaters.

      [ NYP ]  SHORT PLAYS A MIXED BAG By FRANK SCHECK (** 1/2)

      [ CU ]  Summer Shorts Series B

      Two shorts with bite, two at room temperature. . .

      [ V ]  Home
      Review By FRANK RIZZO

      Richard Easton and Philip Goodwin -- joined later in the Williamstown Theater Festival production by Dana Ivey and Roberta Maxwell -- demonstrate a lifetime of stage skills in support of a script that has diminished over time.

      [ CU ]  Home

      David Storey's 1970 play holds up in Williamstown's superbly acted production.

      [ BE ]  Autumn in the garden By Jeffrey Borak

      There is a palpable autumnal texture to Williamstown Theatre Festival's credibly mounted and performed production of David Storey's "Home."

      [ BG ]  Different meanings for this 'Home' By Louise Kennedy

      Quiet, slyly metaphorical, and less puzzling (at least to jaded 21st-century eyes) than it means to be, "Home" is the kind of play that felt fresh and truthful then but seems a little too artful now. It's beautifully done, but it's been done.

      [ TB ]  Half a Sixpence and Home
      Reviews by Fred Sokol

      [ BS ]  The Seduction of Edgar Degas - Reviewed by RONNI REICH

      Clunky, obvious revelations and mixed performances take away from Le Wilhelm's insightful characterizations of fascinating - and often disturbing - artists.

      [ TM ]  The Seduction of Edgar Degas: The First Dancer
      Reviewed by: Barbara & Scott Siegel

      Le Wilhelm's biographical sketch of the famous French artist is repetitive, badly directed, and unevenly acted.

      [ V ]  The Seduction of Edgar Degas: The First Dancer
      Review By SAM THIELMAN

      There are good plays and there are bad plays, and then there are problematic plays by people who deserve a break and may yet become good playwrights. Le Wilhelm writes plays of the last kind.

      [ V ]  Romeo et Juliette
      Review By LARRY L. LASH

      Shakespeare wrote "Romeo and Juliet" in about 1595 and Charles Gounod adapted it into an opera in 1867, but for his debut at the Salzburg Festival, director Bartlett Sher (whose "South Pacific" revival was the major Broadway event of the past season) sets the work in the late 18th century.

      [ BG ]  Sights to behold in 'Rock City' By Louise Kennedy

      Musical vignettes add up to a satisfying road trip

      [ V ]  See Rock City and Other Destinations
      Review By FRANK RIZZO

      "What are you afraid of?" characters ask all too often in "See Rock City and Other Destinations," a road trip tuner that travels a lot of geographical territory but covers limited emotional distance. Even at 90 minutes, it's one long haul.

      [ CU ]  See Rock City and Other Destinations

      [ BS ]  A Day in Dig Nation - Reviewed by JERRY PORTWOOD

      Michael McQuilken is clever, attractive, charismatic, athletic, and funny - which makes it that much easier to overlook the fact that his one-man multimedia talent show lacks an original or compelling story.

      [ BN ]  Polish Staging of 'Dybbuk' Stirs Anguish: Norman Lebrecht

      [ NYT ]  Bet Your Bottom Dollar, She Survived 'Tomorrow' By STEPHEN HOLDEN

      Andrea McArdle, the star of the original "Annie," comes across as a brassy, garrulous trouper marinated in her new show at the Metropolitan Room.

      [ BG ]  A 'Bee' that spells F-U-N By Terry Byrne

      Having seen the musical before, I expected to be entertained but was unprepared for the remarkably fresh eye director Jeremy Dobrish and choreographer Dan Knechtges bring to the show.

      [ BG ]  'Goatwoman' gets lost on the way down South By Louise Kennedy

      [ CU ]  Tilted House

      Another world premiere in the Berkshires, this one at the Chester Theater.

      [ CU ]  Noel Coward in 2 Keys

      Only one of these 2 keys unlocks Coward's wit.

      [ NYT ]  What Honeymoon? By ANITA GATES

      'Private Lives,' by the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, is likable and consistently entertaining if somewhat sparkle-deficient.

      [ CT ]  Culture Clash tries on American faces for size By Nina Metz

      [ JN ]  Hamming up 'The Producers' By Peter D. Kramer

      [ NYT ]  A Musical Romp With a Hint of Tedium By NAOMI SIEGEL

      It is not until Act II of "Ain't Misbehavin'," the 1978 revue celebrating the musical legacy of Thomas Wright (Fats) Waller, that the show truly hits its mark.

    • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 9:51 AM | Item Link


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