All stories by Laura Collins-Hughes on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Review: Sprinkling Magic Under a Night Sky by Laura Collins-Hughes

Fun is the main point of Carl Cofield’s stylish outdoor staging of Shakespeare’s comic fantasy for the Classical Theater of Harlem.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:02PM
Wednesday, June 19, 2024

‘Pre-Existing Condition’ Review: Recovering From a Traumatic Relationship by Laura Collins-Hughes

Marin Ireland’s play opens with Tatiana Maslany in a rotating cast of stars, and “What Became of Us” continues its own experiment with changing casts.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:02PM
Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Jessica Lange and Paula Vogel on Breaking, and Keeping, the Family Contract by Laura Collins-Hughes

In the Tony-nominated “Mother Play,” the writer conjures warm memories and thorny ones, not to judge her mother, but to understand — and to forgive.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:36AM
Wednesday, June 5, 2024

‘What Became of Us’ Review: Reflections on a Family’s Immigration Tale by Laura Collins-Hughes

Shayan Lotfi’s topical play about a family building a new life in a new country leaves the details vague, deliberately.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:48PM
Thursday, May 30, 2024

What if the Disabled Characters Were Just Going About Their Day? by Laura Collins-Hughes

Madison Ferris and Danny J. Gomez star in the meet-cute “All of Me” — proof that depictions of disability onstage don’t have to be “a buzz kill,” as Ferris puts it.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:36AM

Book Review: ‘The Playbook,’ by James Shapiro by Laura Collins-Hughes

In “The Playbook,” James Shapiro offers a resonant history of the Federal Theater Project, a Depression-era program that gave work to writers and actors until politics took center stage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:18AM
Tuesday, May 21, 2024

‘The Lonely Few’ Review: Rocking Out and Falling in Love by Laura Collins-Hughes

Lauren Patten and Taylor Iman Jones star in an achingly romantic, softly sexy new musical by Rachel Bonds and Zoe Sarnak.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:24AM
Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Review: In ‘Invasive Species,’ the Acting Bug Bites, Dramatically by Laura Collins-Hughes

Maia Novi stars in her play about a Hollywood-struck actress from Argentina who stops at Yale’s drama school and an inpatient psych ward on her way.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:36PM
Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Betty Buckley Is Not Wedded to the Same Old Songs by Laura Collins-Hughes

The actress is back in concert mode at 76, and doing new material. She’s also looking forward to a bold new take on “Sunset Boulevard.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:36PM
Saturday, May 4, 2024

‘The Keep Going Songs’ Review: Vexed by Grief and Worried About the Planet by Laura Collins-Hughes

Abigail and Shaun Bengson muse on death in their latest work, but its looseness makes it hard to get a handle on.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:32AM
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024

A Starry Cast Navigates ‘Uncle Vanya’ and ‘Every Emotion Under the Sun’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

Steve Carell, William Jackson Harper, Alison Pill and Anika Noni Rose discuss the new translation of Chekhov that brought them to the farm.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:12AM
Thursday, April 25, 2024

Review: A New ‘Great Gatsby’ Leads With Comedy and Romance by Laura Collins-Hughes

This musical adaptation, now on Broadway, is a lot of Jazz Age fun. But it forgot that Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel endures because it is a tragedy.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:32PM
Monday, April 22, 2024

Review: ‘Grenfell’ Sees Tower Fire Through Residents’ Eyes by Laura Collins-Hughes

At St. Ann’s Warehouse, this documentary play about a London fire is blood-boiling and aggrieved.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:36AM
Wednesday, April 17, 2024

‘Agreement’ and ‘Philadelphia, Here I Come!,’ Two Irish Imports by Laura Collins-Hughes

“Agreement,” at Irish Arts Center, and “Philadelphia, Here I Come!,” at Irish Repertory Theater, have a timeless feel, rooted in their eras and resonant in ours.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54AM
Monday, March 11, 2024

‘Corruption’ Review: Onstage, a Scandal’s Human Drama Is Muffled by Laura Collins-Hughes

A new play by J.T. Rogers goes behind the scenes of the shady “news-gathering” that rocked Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire over a decade ago.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM
Sunday, March 10, 2024

‘Dead Outlaw’ Review: Not Much of a Bandit, but What a Corpse by Laura Collins-Hughes

The creators of “The Band’s Visit” return with this mischievous ghost story of a musical based on an odd slice of Old West history.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:02PM
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Review: In ‘Brooklyn Laundry,’ There’s No Ordering Off the Menu by Laura Collins-Hughes

John Patrick Shanley’s new play, starring Cecily Strong and David Zayas, is a romantic comedy with a penchant for the resolutely dismal.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:24PM
Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Review: Seeking Purpose Among the Dead in ‘Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance’ by Laura Collins-Hughes

Dael Orlandersmith’s slender new solo play is a meditation on living that seems also like a curveball response to loss.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:12AM
Wednesday, February 7, 2024

‘Bark of Millions’ Review: Taylor Mac’s Rock Opera at BAM by Laura Collins-Hughes

If Taylor Mac and Matt Ray’s four-hour rock opera were aiming to succeed on aural gorgeousness and visual spectacle alone, there would be no cause to quibble.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM
Thursday, February 1, 2024

Review: In ‘Jonah,’ Starring Gabby Beans, Trust Nothing, and No One by Laura Collins-Hughes

Gabby Beans shines as a time-hopping protagonist tracing her trauma in Rachel Bonds’s slip-slidey new Off Broadway play.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:42PM

Two Theater-Making Couples Reflect on Mortality and Renewal by Laura Collins-Hughes

A meditation on mortality and renewal, “The Following Evening” presents mirror images of two married pairs of theater makers.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:06PM
Sunday, January 28, 2024

‘Days of Wine and Roses’ Review: Romance on the Rocks by Laura Collins-Hughes

Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James are superb as a midcentury-modern couple free-falling into addiction in Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s musical.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:06PM
Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Review: In ‘Aristocrats,’ an Irish Dynasty Confronts Reality by Laura Collins-Hughes

A once-powerful clan gathers for a family wedding and muddles through the facts and fiction of their past and present.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:54PM
Friday, January 12, 2024

Three Festival Shows Explore Toxic Society by Laura Collins-Hughes, Naveen Kumar and Juan A. Ramírez

“Queens of Sheba” and “Volcano” at Under the Radar, and “Bacon,” at International Fringe Encore Series, expound on identity, captivity and violence.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:12PM
Thursday, January 11, 2024

At UTR and Exponential, Four Soul-Enriching Experiments in Theater by Laura Collins-Hughes and Elisabeth Vincentelli

Buckle up for “Open Mic Night” and “Search Party” at Under the Radar and two wildly adventurous works at the Exponential Festival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:06PM
Sunday, January 7, 2024

Julia Jordan Set Aside Playwriting to Win Gender Parity in Theater by Laura Collins-Hughes

After years of fighting to win parity and recognition for women in theater, Julia Jordan said: “Everybody gets produced now. There’s much more competition. In a good way.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:12PM
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

New Year, New Show: An Original ‘& Juliet’ Star Heads Home by Laura Collins-Hughes

Melanie La Barrie, who brought the role of Angélique from the West End to Broadway, flew back on New Year’s Eve with “Hadestown” on the horizon.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:06PM
Thursday, December 21, 2023

‘Real Women Have Curves’ and ‘Heart Sellers’: Snapshots of Immigrant Lives by Laura Collins-Hughes

A musical adaptation of “Curves” and a play about two Asian women becoming friends both look at immigrants’ experiences, with mixed results.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:42PM
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Review: ‘Madwomen of the West’ Is Comedy as Comfort Food by Laura Collins-Hughes

In Sandra Tsing Loh’s zany play, the stage is star-studded but familiarity alone can’t sustain this story about a group of old college friends.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:54AM
Thursday, December 7, 2023

Review: In ‘The Salvagers,’ a Battered Family Finds Strength by Laura Collins-Hughes

Harrison David Rivers’s new drama, featuring a strong cast, is having its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:48PM

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