PLAZA SUITE by Neil Simon Directed by John Benjamin Hickey Starring Sara Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick Hudson Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer I was worried about Neil Simon’s 1968 trilogy of one-acts, Plaza Suite, being revived for 2022 Broadway. Simon was undoubtedly a comedy master, his success remains unparalleled, and I’m old …
BIRTHDAY CANDLES by Noah Haidle Directed by Vivienne Benesch Starring Debra Messing A Production of the Roundabout Theatre Company American Airlines Theatre Reviewed by David Spencer In Birthday Candles, playwright Noah Haidle gives us a life that progresses in birthdays. The setting is a kitchen in a very nice house, which could be anywhere (literally; in …
HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE by Paula Vogel Directed by Mark Brokaw Starring Mary Louise Parker, David Morse and Johanna Day A Production of Manhattan Theatre Club Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Reviewed by David Spencer Quite remarkably, How I Learned to Drive is even more effective and unsettling in 2022 than it was upon its …
TO MY GIRLS by J.C. Lee Directed by Stephen Brackett A Production of 2nd Stage Tony Kiser Theatre Reviewed by David Spencer In 1968, there was The Boys in the Band. In the great tradition of American plays that conflate one from each column gathering with liquor flows, truth revealed plays, it was the primer …
ON SUGARLAND by Aleshea Harris Directed by Whitney White New York Theatre Workshop Reviewed by David Spencer I try to veer from hyperbole, so do understand my sincerity when I say that On Sugarland, by Aleshea Harris, currently at the New York Theatre Workshop, is a great, and I hope soon-to-become major, new American play. It’s …
SPACE DOGS Performed and Written by Van Hughes and Nick Blaemire Directed by Ellie Heyman MCC Theatre Reviewed by David Spencer I’ve long since understood—and accepted, which is a little harder—that not everyone is going to follow in the footsteps of the greats of musical theatre, in terms of honoring received principles of craft; and more, …
MADE BY GOD by Ciara Ní Chuirc Directed by Olivia Songer Irish Repertory Company Reviewed by David Spencer I can’t quite make up my mind about Made By God, currently in the downstairs space of the Irish Repertory Company. Playwright Ciara Ní Chuirc, in a program note, states that she wanted to write a play about …
ENGLISH by Sanaz Toossi Directed by Knud Adams Atlantic Theatre Reviewed by David Spencer A sweet little ensemble play with flashes of profundity is English by Sanaz Toossi, currently at the Atlantic Theatre. Taking place in and immediately outside an Iranian classroom in the city of Karaj, it takes us through the term of a class …
BAROCOCO Happenstance Theatre at 59E59 Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Interesting word, Barococo. As you might imagine, if your mind makes such associations, it’s a mashup of Baroque and Rococo. Coined by musicologist H.C. Roberts-Landon, it was his way of describing a certain type of “crisp, impersonal” easy listening music of the Baroque and …
THE MUSIC MAN Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson Book by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey Directed by Jerry Zaks Starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster Winter Garden Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Since anywhere you sit in the Winter Garden Theatre these days will cost you upwards of $190 through $480 for …
KIMBERLY AKIMBO
Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Based upon his play
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Jessica Stone
Atlantic Theatre
KIMBERLY AKIMBO
Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Based upon his play
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Jessica Stone
Atlantic Theatre
MRS. DOUBTFIRE Book by Karey Kirpatrick and John O’Farrell Music and Lyrics by Wayne and Carey Kirkpatrick Based on the film of the same name Screenplay by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon from the novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine Starring Rob McClure Stephen Sondheim Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer You …
COMPANY (Gender Reversal Version) Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by George Furth Directed by Marianne Elliott Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer The revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s trailblazing 1970 musical Company, re-imagined as a gender-reversal update by director Marianne Elliott, is very much an eye-of-the-beholder experience and you should take …
SIX Book by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss Music and Lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss Directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage Brooks Atkinson Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer More and more as we get deeper into the new millennium, the determination of what may or may not be a “real” …
TROUBLE IN MIND by Alice Childress Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright A Production of the Roundabout Theatre Company American Airlines Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer There’s a lot to admire about Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress; the time in which it was written and first debuted marks it as one of history’s overlooked …
MORNING’S AT SEVEN by Paul Osborne Directed by Dan Wackerman Theatre at St Clements Official Website Closed Reviewed by David Spencer It’s a sweet play, Morning’s at Seven, Paul Osborne’s fictional homage to his real life elderly aunts, portrayed as four sisters in a small town, living as neighbors…two of them in the same house, …
