All stories by David Cote on BroadwayStars

Thursday, July 11, 2024

‘Oh, Mary!’ Is a Splendidly Nasty Farce You Will Not Want to Miss by David Cote

Cole Escola plays Mary Todd Lincoln in drag in this delightfully campy queer romp, which has moved uptown to goose a sleepy Broadway summer.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 07:31PM
Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Review: Women’s Work Is A Bloody Business In ‘The Welkin’ by David Cote

Sandra Oh leads a talented cast in this Lucy Kirkwood play—set in 18th century England—that's both a murder mystery and an exploration of the moral rot of misogyny.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:31PM
Thursday, June 6, 2024

Review: At the Roundabout, A Luminous Revival of Samm-Art Williams’ ‘Home’ by David Cote

This rollicking memory play treats one man's life as an epic journey, and this production—starring Tory Kittles, Brittany Inge and Stori Ayers—is epic indeed.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 03:11PM
Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Review: In ‘Breaking the Story,’ Maggie Siff’s TV War Reporter Lives With Scars by David Cote

A talented cast outshines the material in this examination of a war correspondent's trauma and the ethics of journalism.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 04:00PM
Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Review: ‘The Lonely Few’ Mixes Bona Fide Rock Concert With Angsty Love Story by David Cote

This rock musical begins in glorious dive-bar grunge mode, and Lauren Patten and Taylor Iman Jones radiate so much charisma you may not care if the story feels a little generic.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 05:00PM
Monday, May 20, 2024

Review: Pandemic Meltdown Musical ‘Three Houses’ Finds Song in Solitude by David Cote

Dave Malloy juggles book, music, lyrics, and orchestrations in this musical triptych about Covid Times. The score is entertainingly eclectic, but the dramatic tension and character developme…

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 08:01PM
Monday, May 13, 2024

Review: ‘Here There Are Blueberries’ Studies Holiday Photos from Hell by David Cote

This interview-based docu-play revolves around a mysterious photo album donated to the Holocaust Museum that showed the lives of those running Auschwitz.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 08:01PM
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Review: Flashy and Fake ‘Great Gatsby’ Caps a Weak Season by David Cote

The jazz-based score ventures into funk, Disney princess ballad, and a touch of Britpop. But none of the songs stick, and the staging is busy yet unfocused.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 04:53PM
Monday, April 29, 2024

Review: ‘Staff Meal’ Offers Seven Courses of Tasty Disorientation  by David Cote

It’s hard to describe exactly what happens in this show. Scenes zig and zag in dream logic. But the acting and staging are impeccable. Book a table now.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 11:00AM
Friday, April 26, 2024

Review: Steve Carell Is a Lovable Loser in a Fragmentary ‘Uncle Vanya ‘ by David Cote

Steve Carrell and a stand-out Alison Pill lead a strong cast in a modern-dress revival of Chekov's 'Uncle Vanya' that never quite gels.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 03:58PM
Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Review: Volunteers In A Drug Trial Just Say Yes In ‘The Effect’ by David Cote

Is it love or a side effect? Lucy Prebble’s 2012 play interrogating the difference between spontaneous emotions and drug-induced moods is given a cool, minimalist makeover in a revival at …

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:01PM
Monday, March 11, 2024

Review: New Drama About the Murdoch Phone Hacking Scandal by David Cote

This ripped-from-the-headlines story has a strong cast and a worthy message. But it ought to be more thrilling than it is. 

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:01PM
Thursday, March 7, 2024

Review: A Priest and a Nun Walk into a War in Contemporary Classic ‘Doubt’ by David Cote

'Doubt,' one of the top ten American dramas of this century, is now back on Broadway in an impressive revival.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:01PM
Monday, March 4, 2024

Review: It All Comes Out in the Wash at John Patrick Shanley’s ‘Brooklyn Laundry ‘ by David Cote

The veteran playwright-director tosses together two soiled souls—played by Cecily Strong and David Zayas—adds softener, and gives ’em a whirl.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 06:09PM
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Spring Theater Preview: Navigating a Flood of Shows on Broadway and Off by David Cote

Between now and the end of April a whopping 18 plays and musicals will open on the Great White Way. Here's the best of what's coming, both on and Off Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:00AM
Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Review: Unwinnable Wars Lead to Impossible Debates in ‘The Ally’ by David Cote

Page-filling blocks of strong words are unfurled in this campus drama, as playwright Itamar Moses articulates—passionately and eloquently—each side of weighty issues of the moment, from …

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:01PM
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Review: Second Stage Theatre’s ‘The Apiary’: Stinging or Sweet As Honey? by David Cote

Set 22 years from now — as climate change has doomed the bees and thus humanity — this high-concept play mixes sci-fi with black comedy.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:01PM
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Review: Fake News Makes Musical Headlines in ‘The Connector’ by David Cote

This musical about a fabulist at a magazine draws on the Stephen Glass scandal of the ‘90s, but it’s more than a bit of stretch itself.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 07:01PM
Thursday, February 1, 2024

Public Obscenities by David Cote

All in the family: a PhD student visits India to film a documentary about queer life in Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s vibrant and charming debut play. Abrar Haque as Choton, Debashis Roy Chowd…

SOURCE: 4columns at 07:00PM
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

‘The Animal Kingdom’ Review: This Family Therapy Weepie Is a Flat Zoo Story by David Cote

Set entirely at group therapy sessions, this 80-minute exploration of psychodynamics and healing may leave you wishing for characters with more interesting problems.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:01PM
Saturday, January 27, 2024

Review: Don’t Sleep on Splendiferous Sutton Foster in ‘Once Upon a Mattress’ by David Cote

Foster generates waves of zany ecstasy in this delightful concert version of this fractured fairytale for City Center Encores.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 06:25PM
Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Review: ‘Prayer for the French Republic’ Is One of Broadway’s Best New Plays by David Cote

A Jewish family — shaken by a recent rise in European antisemitism — uproots itself in Joshua Harmon's passionately argued play.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:00PM
Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Review: ‘Appropriate’ Is a Family Album of White Supremacy  by David Cote

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s slow-burning satire of white privilege arrives on Broadway in an impeccable production with a dream cast, led by Sarah Paulson.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 11:03AM
Monday, December 18, 2023

Review: Cuba’s Past Sings Out in ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ by David Cote

This jukebox musical alternates passionate renditions of Afro-Cuban son, danzón, and bolero with scenes in English that chart the lives of musicians across four decades of love and loss.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 08:21PM
Sunday, December 10, 2023

Review: ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ Welcomes Autistic Youth Under the Disco Ball by David Cote

'How to Dance in Ohio' was clearly made with love, but this musical adaptation of an HBO documentary about autistic people learning to dance tries to balance good intentions and razzle-dazzl…

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Review: An Earnest Yet Awkward Land Acknowledgement for ‘Manahatta’ by David Cote

Mary Kathryn Nagle’s play shifts between the Dutch colonization of Manhattan and the subprime mortgage crisis, a concept that looks good on paper but diminishes the characters and their ch…

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM
Sunday, November 19, 2023

Review: Alicia Keys Is in a ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ State of Mind at the Public by David Cote

Part juke-box musical and part feel-good empowerment fable, this musical from Alicia Keys hungers for a home on Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:30PM
Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Review: Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks Are Well Worth Waiting for Godot  by David Cote

In the Theatre for a New Audience production of 'Waiting for Godot,' Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks bring uncommon clarity to Beckett's classic.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM

Review: Stage Newbie Aubrey Plaza Dips Her Toe Into ‘Danny and the Deep Blue Sea’ by David Cote

Packed with profanity, anguished sexuality, and high-decibel meltdowns, 'Danny and the Deep Blue Sea' has been drama department fodder since its 1983 debut. Only this time, the acting studen…

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 10:07AM
Monday, November 13, 2023

Review: Barry Manilow Writes the Songs That Make ‘Harmony’ Sing by David Cote

The story of the Comedian Harmonists—the German (and Jewish) singing sensations forced to break up due to the Third Reich—is told in this amiable if derivative musical.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:18PM
Thursday, November 2, 2023

Review: Danny DeVito Hoards Laughter And Tears In ‘I Need That’ by David Cote

This tale of grief and release is the sort of crowd-pleaser that used to be common fare on Broadway but has long since migrated to small screens.

SOURCE: The New York Observer at 09:00PM

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