LEMPICKA (Triggering vs Earning—Part 1) Book, Lyrics and Original Concept by Carson Kreitzer Book and Music by Matt Gold Directed by Rachel Chavkin Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer In my recent review of Teeth, I opened with a rumination on how, when functioning as a critic, I now have to take in and assess […]
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THE GREAT GATSBY (Triggering vs Earning—Part 2) Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald Book by Kait Kerrigan Music by Jason Howland Music by Nathan Tyson Directed by Marc Bruni Broadway Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer The Great Gatsby is best described as factory fresh Fitzgerald. It looks Art Deco great, it
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SUFFS (Triggering vs Earning—Part 3) Book, Music and Lyrics by Shaina Taub Directed by Leigh Silverman Music Box Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Suffs is about the fight for women to vote in America, book-music-lyrics by Shaina Taub—who, shades of Lin-Manuel Miranda, has also written herself the leading role of suffragette Alice Paul.
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WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (Triggering vs Earning—Part 4) Book by Rick Elice Music and Lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co. Based on the novel by Sarah Gruen Directed by Jessica Stone Imperial Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Water for Elephants is a musical adaptation of the novel by Sara Gruen, a memory story as
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TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE By Jeffrey Hatcher & Mitch Albom Based on the book by Mitch Albom Directed by Erwin Maas Starring Len Cariou and Christopher J. Domig A Production of Sea Dog Theater at St George’s Episcopal Church Reviewed by David Spencer I was surprised, looking into the old review archive, to find that my
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THE NOTEBOOK Book by Bekah Brunstetter Music and Lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks Directed by Michael Greif and Schelle Williams Schoenfeld Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks (perhaps most famous for The Horse Whisperer), The Notebook dramatizes a lifelong romance by
TEETH Book and Music by Anna K. Jacobs Book and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson Based on the screenplay by Mitchell Lichtenstein Directed by Sarah Benson Playwrights Horizons Reviewed by David Spencer With experience and—at nearly 70, I guess I have to say it at last, age—variously comes wisdom (one hopes)—and over decades I have
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by James Lapine Directed and Choreographed by Eamon Foley Axelrod Performing Arts Center Reviewed by David Spencer I write this on Wednesday, March 20, 2024—and I write quickly and in brief because as of tonight, there are only seven more performances (through
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THE WHITE CHIP by Sean Daniels Directed by Sheryl Kaller MCC Theater Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer [I wrote most of what follows in 2019, when The White Chip made its off-Broadway debut at 59E59 with a 2/3 different cast. It’s one of those Zeitgeist coincidences that this show should cme around again, exactly as
THE CONNECTOR Book by Jonathan Marc Sherman Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown Direction and Concept by Daisy Prince MCC Theater Reviewed by David Spencer I was a little surprised, after I saw the new musical The Connector, to note that it had received a fair amount of mixed-negative notices (I usually don’t look; I’m
THE LIFE AND SLIMES OF MARC SUMMERS Written by Alex Brightman Music by Drew Gasparini Directed by Chad Rabinowitz Starring Marc Summers New World Stages Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer I texted a good friend and sometime collaborator that I was en route to seeing The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, and ID’d the
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THE CHRISTINE JORGENSEN SHOW By Donald Steven Olson Directed by Michael Barkavia and Zoë Adams Featuribng Jesse James Keitel and Mark Nadler 59E59 Reviewed by David Spencer The Christine Jorgenson Show took me completely by surprise, and in a way it would be good if it took you by surprise too—the power of a genuine, sneak-up-on-you
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DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES The Musical Book by Craig Lucas Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel Based on the teleplay and screenplay by JP Miller Directed by Michael Grief Starring Brian D’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara Studio 54 Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Days of Wine and Roses falls into an interesting category: It’s
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SPAMALOT Book and Lyrics by Eric Idle Music by John Du Prez & Eric Idle A new musical (lovingly) ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python And The Holy Grail Directed and Choreographed by Josh Rhodes St. James Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Since its debut in 2005, there have been three
HARMONY (Broadway Transfer) Book and Lyrics by Bruce Sussman Music by Barry Manilow Directed and Choreographed by Wayne Carlyle Ethel Barrymore Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer [Some of the following material is drawn from my original 2022 notice.] The Comedian Harmonists were a German, all-male singing group of six. They performed between 1928 and
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THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA by Tennessee Williams Directed by Emily Mann Pershing Square Signature Center Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer It is high summer, 1940, in the Coste Verde Hotel in Puerto Barrio on the west coast of Mexico. Jungle territory, really, with a no-frills motel dropped in the center, for naïve tourists
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I NEED THAT By Theresa Rebeck Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel Starring Danny DeVito A Production of the Roundabout American Airlines Theatre Reviewed by David Spencer Theresa Rebeck is not only one of the most prolific American dramatists ever, and among the best; she’s also one of the most versatile. A veteran TV seies dramatis
MIND MANGLER by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Fields Directed by Hannah Sharkey New World Stages Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer English actor-writer-raconteur Stephen Fry, during an interview some 11 years ago, made a fascinating comparison between American and British comedic heroes, in particular as featured in sitcoms. American sitcom heroes, he said, always
THE GARDENS OF ANUNCIA Book, Music and Lyrics by Michael John La Chiusa Directed and Choreographed by Graciela Daniele A Production of Lincoln Center Theater Mitzi Newhouse at Lincoln Center Reviewed by David Spencer The Gardens of Anuncia is a sweet and intimate little musical whose appeal is that of a tone poem. That it’s
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SCENE PARTNERS (Vineyard) WAITING FOR GODOT (Polonsky) ARCADIA (Bedlam) Reviewed by David Spencer Here’s a quick overview of some shows that are nearing their run—in some cases extended run—completions Scene Partners, at the Vineyard—live-streaming its final four performances this week, worldwide—is a kind of mash-up play by John J. Caswell, Jr. Ostensibly it’s about the saga
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MONSIEUR CHOPIN A Play With Music Written by and Starring Hershey Felder Directed by Joel Zwick 59E59 Theatres Reviewed by David Spencer Every one of Hershey Felder’s one actor composer-bio plays is something of an event for me, Being both a composer and a dramatist, I experience it with a certain “speaks my language” b.
LONE STAR by James McClure Directed by Joe Rosario Theatre Row Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer A friend of mine says of productions featuring conspicuous messaging that “there’s a lot of ‘Get-It’ Guy in there”; shorthand for his contention that the creative team might just as well have hired an actor to sit on
PURLIE VICTORIOUS A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by Ossie Davis Directed by Kenny Leon Starring Leslie Odom, Jr Music Box Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer It’s not a totally unknown phenomenon, but it’s one that never fails to fascinate me: the way in which an especially hip and insightfully written play
ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE Created and Performed by Patrick Page Directed by Simon Godwin DR2 Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Patrick Page’s All the Devils are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain is, say I, one of the last half-century or so’s great one actor shows. There aren’t many. And at least
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Written by Scott Brown and Anthony King Directed by Alex Timbers Starring Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells James Earl Jones Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer It has sometimes happened in my reviewing career that a revival comes along and I really don’t need to write an entirely fresh review, because what I’ve written
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DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen Directed by Gordon Greenberg New World Stages Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Theatrical parody of genre tropes is tough to get right. Too often, the target is misunderstood, or not sufficiently understood (under-understood?) and the proceedings descend into camp—or worse, are used as
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PARTNERSHIP by Elizabeth Baker Directed by Jackson Gay A Production of the Mint Theatre Theatre Row Reviewed by David Spencer Partnership by British dramatist Elizabeth Baker (1876-1962) is the latest in what the Mint Theatre’s three-production “project” celebrating her work. As some of you know, the Mint is dedicated to the rediscovery of unjustly neglected
JOB by Max Wolf Freidlich Directed by Michael Herwitz Closed but of note Webpage at Soho Playhouse Site Reviewed by David Spencer I don’t really want to say that much about Job, because to say too much is to enter the Land of Spoilers. Because Job is a fooler. And though its initial Soho Playhouse
BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL Book by Bob Gale Music & Lyrics by Alan Silvestri & Glen Ballard Based on the film, screenplay by Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale Starring Roger Bart and Casey Likes Directed by John Rando Wintergarden Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Lest I bury the lead, this will
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THE COTTAGE by Sandy Rustin Directed by Jason Alexander Featuring Eric McCormick and Laura Bell Bundy Hayes Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer The Cottage, strictly as a script, by Sandy Rustin, is the proverbial hat upon a hat. Though a contemporary script, it’s a riff on British drawing room comedy and British sex
HERE LIES LOVE Concept, Music and Lyrics by David Byrne Music by Fatboy Slim Additional Music by Tom Gandey & José Luis Pardo Developed and Directed by Alex Timbers Broadway Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer Here Lies Love, which I have come to think of as Imeldavita, is a glossy overview of the
THE SHARK IS BROKEN by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon Directed by Guy Masterson Starring Ian Shaw, Alex Brightman and Colin Donnell John Golden Theatre Official Website Reviewed by David Spencer The Shark is Broken isn’t much of a play, not if you’re looking for story or deep meaning. And it isn’t particularly revelatory if
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PART TWO 23/24 Season Jump Start Reviewed by David Spencer Same principle here: I’ll sum up each of the following relatively new offerings by telling you exactly what you need to know, as I see it, to determine if you’d care to see it. Eisenhower: This Piece of Land at the Theatre at St. Clements,
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