Towards the end of “A Prayer for The French Republic,” the latest play by Josh Harmon, Grandpa Pierre (played by Richard Masur) asks his family “Why do they hate us?” Then follows a …
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 11:36AMEvery family has its baggage but the Layayette family seems to have more than most. Secrets, resentment, and anger all surface with the death of the patriarch of the family as the three sibl…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 01:36PMIt’s the 1950’s, and the Cuban revolution is heating up outside, but the music inside the Buena Vista Social Club is even hotter. While the social club is defunct, the Cuban music remain…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 02:50PMI saw three shows during my busman’s holiday in London over Martin Luther King weekend. Of the three, the most ‘English’ was Operation Mincemeat, an uproarious musical satire based upo…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:38AMHow does a musical that is quintessentially New York distinguish itself in London? Especially when it is a classic show that premiered in 1950. How can it be mounted to make it unique and ap…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:28PMOn the recent three day MLK weekend, I took a busman’s holiday, flew to London and attended several shows. The first one I saw was The Motive and the Cue, presented by the National Theatre…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 08:20AMShould you talk to your plants? Science shows that the sound of a human voice helps them grow. It’s also therapeutic for the gardener. In “The Gardens of Anuncia” at Lincoln Center The…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 09:53AMWho was Johannes Gutenberg? We all know him as the inventor of the printing press which enabled more people to learn how to read.In the musical “Gutenberg,” playwrights Doug (Andrew Rann…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:55PMWhen we become part of an audience, we bring more than our physical selves to the theater. We bring our experiences, our attitudes and even our prejudices. When I attended the matinee of “…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 04:40PMOn the surface, Ali, the main character in the new show “Hell’s Kitchen” at The Public Theater directed by Michael Greif, is a typical 17 year old girl with an easily relatable problem…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 02:54PMAt the “Mind Mangler: A Night of Tragic Illusion,” I hoped to be amused as well as amazed. After all, the show at New World Stages is a Mischief Production, the group that produced “Th…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 03:05PMEven before we found our seats at the St James Theater, it was easy to gauge the emotions of the audience. Its mood was downright giddy. With so much tension and anger in the world today, ev…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 08:40AMIt ‘s hard to enjoy a musical when you can’t root for the main character. Although he is attractive and good to his mother, Harry Bogen (well-played by Santino Fonana,) is an opportunist…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 07:50PMOne man’s trash is another man’s treasure and that adage has never proven as true as in Theresa Rebeck’s new play “I Need That” in Roundabout Theatre Company’s production at Amer…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 09:25AMPhoto by Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman When I first saw “Here Lies Love” in 2013 at the Public Theater, I was one of several people who stood on the theater floor a…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 12:59PMphoto by Liz Lauren The title of Rebeca Gilman’s latest play, “Swing State,” suggests that it deals with politics. Although it is set in Wisconsin, which is a swing state, the differen…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 04:30PMSo much has been written about Shakespeare over the years that it’s a challenge to find a novel approach to discuss his work. Yet actor Patrick Page (“Hadestown,” “Spider-man Turn Of…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:37AMphoto by Matthew Murphy Getting married and becoming an American citizen are two events in Jaja’s life. However, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” by Jocelyn Bion is more universal than…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:15PMIt’s been over 60 years since “Purlie Victorious” played on Broadway. Written by actor Ossie Davis and premiering in 1961, sadly the play feels as relevant as when it first opened. Def…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:17AMThe name Dracula always evokes iconic images of the fang-baring scary creature dressed in black. Think Bela Lugosi. Or the Count. Or even the incredibly sensual heartthrob portrayal by Frank…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 03:34PMThe Off-Broadway show Pay The Writer at The Pershing Square Signature Center asks what it costs a writer to pursue his art. It focuses on Cyrus Holt (Ron Canada,) a celebrated author coming …
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 09:02AMPhoto by Hugo Glendinning Broadway tickets can be expensive, especially for musicals. But you really get your money’s worth when you attend “Back to the Future:The Musical.” It’s got…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 01:07PMIt’s been almost 50 years since the release of the movie Jaws. Directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975, it was based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley and starred Roy Scheider as a police c…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 12:39PMphoto by Joan Marcus If you don’t keep your eyes fixed on the stage at The Hayes Theater at all times during “The Cottage,” you are likely to miss some of the show’s most humorous mo…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 09:47AMOnce upon a time, children were raised on fairy tales where the beautiful princess waited to be rescued by the valiant handsome prince. Today those stories have been changed to reflect a dif…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 01:35PMEver heard of Alan Freed? If so, then you might enjoy Rock & Roll Man, the musical at New World Stages. Freed was the risk-taking disc jockey who coined the term “Rock and Roll” but …
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 04:08PMphoto by Ahron R. Foster Based upon the 1962 movie starring Jack Lemon and Lee Remick, Days of Wine and Roses is now a musical at Atlantic Theater Company, starring the divine Kelli O’Hara…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 02:51PMThe world is so chaotic that sometimes all a viewer wants is a slice-of-life story with a happy ending. Primary Trust, the new play by Eboni Booth, a Roundabout Theatre Company production at…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 03:19PMBy definition, the legal term prima facie means the first impression, accepted as correct until proven otherwise. The theatrical term Prima Facie refers to an exciting one-woman play starrin…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 12:59PMDespite its seemingly unsophisticated vibe, Shucked is an extremely polished, well-crafted musical. After all, the show is directed by Jack O’Brien (Hairspray, Full Monty, Porgy and Bess, …
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 08:41AMI am a native New Yorker, and I honestly love NYC. Although I know the city has its many flaws, I will defend it against all comers. Yet I cringed at the rosy ‘melting-pot’ version of th…
SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:31PM