Saturday, June 14, 2025

A Marvelous Night – Irish Rep Celebrates the Music of Van Morrison by Jesse Ayala

By Alix Cohen June 14, 2025: Long a fan of Irish Repertory Theater, this is my second attendance at one of its annual galas. Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly know how to throw a part…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:27PM
Friday, June 13, 2025

Call Me Izzy *** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward June 13, 2025: Even though there is much that is familiar in Call Me Izzy, Jamie Wax’s new solo play at Studio 54, its star Jean Smart gives it a unique individual life.…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:51AM
Thursday, June 12, 2025

Prosperous Fools ** by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter (Note: Taylor Mac uses “judy” as a pronoun, but I’ve used conventional pronouns here.) June 12, 2025: Molière, Molière, he’s everywhere. Well, not quite, but…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:42AM
Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Lunar Eclipse ****, Bus Stop **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward June 10, 2025: Donald Margulies’ tender and moving new play Lunar Eclipse from Second Stage at the Signature Theater Center, is a simple, direct depiction of a long marr…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:44AM
Sunday, June 8, 2025

Lunar Eclipse by Barry Gordin

Potent and Beautifully Produced By Alix Cohen June 8, 2025: I’d be tempted to call this a perfect production were it not for the haunting Leonard Cohen quote, “There’s a crack in ev…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 06:48PM
Wednesday, June 4, 2025

2025 Drama Desk Awards by Barry Gordin

Photos from the 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards June 1, 2024: The 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards held at the NYC Skirball Center on Sunday, June 1 hosted by Tituss Burgess and Debra Messing.

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:00PM
Monday, June 2, 2025

EURYDICE **1/2 by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter June 2, 2025: It’s a bitter irony that, only days after the passing of Barry Gordin, Theater Life’s beloved editor-in-chief, the first two shows I’m reviewing for…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:01PM

THE IMAGINARY INVALID ** 1/2 by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter June 2, 2025: Molière’s 1673 farce, The Imaginary Invalid, has had perhaps half a dozen professional New York revivals over the past century, most of short duration,…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:00PM
Sunday, June 1, 2025

2025 Drama Desk Awards by Barry Gordin

Purpose and Maybe Happy Ending win Outstanding Play and Outstanding Musical Awards. Maybe Happy Ending leads with 6 total wins across all categories. June 3, 2025: The 69th Annual Drama De…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:00PM

Shellshocked **** by Barry Gordin

By Isa Goldberg June 1, 2025: Among the worst nightmares is the one where you’re watching a play, and the conversation on stage feels so deadly, the atmosphere so stifling, and the propo…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:46AM
Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Lights Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole **** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons May 28, 2025: Lights Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole, the new jukebox musical by Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor, is very different from other shows in its genre. In the …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 07:25PM
Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Bus Stop ***1/2 by Barry Gordin

By Isa Goldberg May 27, 2025: A playful revival of William Inge’s 1955 play, Bus Stop, at Classic Stage Company makes for a cheerful confection. Watching the classic film starring Maril…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 07:42PM
Monday, May 26, 2025

Goddess ***, Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole *** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward May 26, 2025: There are several thrilling elements in Goddess, the new musical at the Public Theater, and in Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole, the new play with music at th…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:49PM
Sunday, May 25, 2025

Cécile McLorin Salvant: Ogresse –  Enthralling by Barry Gordin

By Alix Cohen May 25, 2025: Ogresse is a musical fable billed as “both a biomythography (weaving myth, history, and biography in epic narrative) and an homage to Erzulie”, the Haitian …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:49AM

GODDESS***1/2 by Patrick Christiano

By Samuel L. Leiter May 23, 2025: The Public Theater’s latest musical, Goddess, on the same stage that introduced A Chorus Line and Hamilton,bursts onto the stage with an electrifying ener…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 03:00AM
Sunday, May 18, 2025

BOWL EP** by Patrick Christiano

By David Sheward May 18, 2025: When you walk into the Vineyard Theater for Nazareth Hassan’s Bowl EP, a co-production between Vineyard and the National Black Theatre in association with Th…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:43PM
Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Fat Cat Killers ***1/2 by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons May 14, 2025. There’s something deliciously anarchistic about Fat Cat Killers, Adam Szymkowicz’s new play now at the Gene Frankel Theatre, under the direction of And…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:46PM

The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse ****, All-Nighter **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward May 14, 2025. The impact of our celebrity-obsessed digital culture is explored in the intimate and funny new musical The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse from The New Group at …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:38AM

WHITE ROOM GALLERY by Patrick Christiano

LA FEMME at The White Room Gallery featuring the works of Terry O’Neill, Elise Remender, Sabrina Cabada, Rob Brinson and more on view at The White Room Gallery on view through June 16, 202…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:37AM
Tuesday, May 13, 2025

THE LAST BIMBO OF THE APOCOLAPSE **1/2 by Patrick Christiano

By Samuel L. Leiter May 13, 2025: In an era where, as they say, nostalgia is currency and irony king, The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse arrives at the Pershing Square Signature Center with as…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:41PM
Monday, May 12, 2025

Basil Twist and ‘Puppetopia’ by Patrick Christiano

By Alix Cohen May 12, 2025. “Anything inanimate that you animate is a puppet.” Basil Twist How does a program like HERE’s Dream Music Puppetry (producer of Puppetopia) get started in …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:48PM

OCC AWARD WINNERS by Patrick Christiano

MAYBE HAPPY ENDING wins 4 Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best New Broadway Musical and JOHN PPROCTOR IS THE VILLIAN won Best new Broadway Play May 12, 2025: The Outer Critics Circle…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:23AM
Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Irishtown **** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons May 6, 2025. If you thought all Irish plays are dark and depressing, think again. Irishtown, by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth may be one of the funniest plays of the season. It�…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:23AM
Monday, May 5, 2025

JUST IN TIME****, FLOYD COLLINS**1/2, ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE **** by Patrick Christiano

By David Sheward May 5, 2025: The 2024-25 Broadway season closes out with a pair of wildly divergent musicals featuring stunning star turns by two of the musical theater’s brightest stars.…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 02:53PM

JUST IN TIME***** by Patrick Christiano

By Paulanne Simmons The main artifice of Justin in Time, the new jukebox musical about Bobby Darin, is that it’s all artifice. The first thing Jonathon Groff says as he strides onto Der…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 01:17AM
Saturday, May 3, 2025

JUST IN TIME ****1/2 by Patrick Christiano

By Samuel L. Leiter May 3, 2025: In recent seasons, Jonathan Groff, now 40 but still boyishly handsome, has become Broadway’s definition of a modern musical matinee idol, masculine yet…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 07:28PM
Friday, May 2, 2025

REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL **1/2 by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter May 2, 2025. In a season low on original musicals that spotlight underrepresented voices (The Buena Vista Social Club excepted), Real Women Have Curves: The Musical arri…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:53AM

Becoming Eve**** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons May 2, 2025. Abby Stein was born Srully Abraham Stein to a Hassidic family living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She grew up speaking Yiddish and Hebrew. She attended an all…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:44AM
Thursday, May 1, 2025

​PIRATES! THE PENZANCE MUSICAL ***** by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter May 1, 2025. As its new title suggests, the Roundabout Theatre Company’s sparkling, New Orleans jazz-inspired revival of Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1879 comic opera, The…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:33AM
Monday, April 28, 2025

Stranger Things: The First Shadow *****, Real Women Have Curves ****, Becoming Eve **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward April 28, 2025. If you’ve been waiting for the must-see production of the Broadway season to justify plunking down your hard-earned bucks, wait no more. Stranger Things: …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:13PM
Sunday, April 27, 2025

WHITE ROOM GALLERY by Patrick Christiano

STRIPPED – MUSIC THAT CHANGED OUR WORLD/ The Work of Steve Joester at The Whie Room Gallery, also featuring Brad Beyer, on view through May 11, 2025. April 27, 2025: The White Room Galler…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:01PM