Posts in New York
Review: “Time Stands Still” at Theater for the New City

Anyone who’s ever been in love knows that it isn’t always easy, and that it doesn’t always end pretty. As people grow with each other, they realize that their interests aren’t as mutual as perhaps they once were, and that perhaps the idea of the person whom they once loved no longer matches up with whom they really are. This is a very basic premise that is explored in the play Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies, which was recently revived for an Off-Off-Broadway run at Theater for the New City.

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Review: “Phantom of the Paradise in Concert” at the Secret Loft

There are plenty of classic shows, books, and films out there that are just ripe for parody. Among this endless list of such examples is The Phantom of the Opera, both the musical we often think of when we hear that title, as well the novel it was based on. Yet despite this, it’s not frequently common to find very many Phantom parodies out there. However, there is one – Phantom of the Paradise – which I had the chance to see staged in a concert format at the Secret Loft earlier this week.

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Off-Broadway Review: “Kings” at the Public Theater

It is difficult for a script and a cast of actors, even as talented at this “King’s” cast, to compete with the reality of the headlines. The challenge comes not only from the vigor of the daily news but also from the somewhat dated material in the narrative itself. Under Thomas Kail’s uneven direction, the actors often appear to be talking “at” one another instead of engaging in believable conversation.

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Off-Broadway Review: “The Amateurs” at Vineyard Theatre

Under Oliver Butler’s direction, the actors wrestle with the plays disparate themes (perhaps too many unresolved conflicts?) with honesty. Happy Endings, guilt, fear, catharsis – all get bandied about at the play’s end with more questions raised than answers given. Whether catharsis is “innately complacent” (Playwright) or “delicious” will be up to the audience to decide. We are all, after all, amateurs at this humanity gig.

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Review: “Rut” at the Kraine Theatre

As a critic, I get to see all kinds of different shows, which often leave me with varying emotions, ranging from laughter and singing to deep thinking and holding back tears to simply straight-up boredom…and that’s when I’m not feeling mixed feelings, due to my praise for certain aspects of a show, and criticism of other aspects, which is often the case.

Sometimes, however, I see shows that simply leave me with a sense of frustration, due to a lingering sense that the play had the potential to be significantly better, but was clearly underdeveloped. The one-act drama Rut – which is currently in its final performances at the 2018 FRIGID Festival – is a perfect example of such a play.

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Off-Broadway Review: “An Ordinary Muslim” at New York Theatre Workshop

Hammaad Chaudry’s new play, “An Ordinary Muslim,” currently running at the New York Theatre Workshop, addresses the difficulties Azeem and his wife Saima (Purva Bedi) experience in West London in 2011 and invites the audience to connect their personal histories to the experiences of Muslims globally who face the increase of nationalism in the countries where they were born or settled as immigrants.

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Review: “Stiff” at the Barrow Group Theatre

Anyone who’s ever been in show business before knows that there’s nothing quite as demoralizing as receiving a negative review from the press. As someone who has been on both sides of the artist/critic dynamic, I know all too well the wide-ranging impact that a review can have – for better or for worse – on one’s career and self-esteem. In Jeff Swearingen’s new play Stiff – currently being produced by Fun House Theatre and Film – a bad review is exactly what a new theatrical production in 1950s NYC is about to be in store for.

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Off-Broadway Review: “A Walk with Mr. Heifetz”

Although “A Walk with Mr. Heifetz is more docudrama than drama, Mr. Inverne chooses not to document the complexities of the Jewish migration into Palestine under British rule, complexities which continue to exist in the present. Obviously, this was not the purpose of his play; however, this omission leaves the audience with only a partial understanding of the development of the State of Israel and the continued absence of a Palestinian State.

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Review: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Sheen Center

Valentine’s Day is soon, and I suspect many theatergoers – including some readers of this blog – are looking for something to do (and by that, I mean an event to attend) with their significant other, for this occasion. If they’re also a lover of theatre, obviously it should go without saying that any Valentine’s Day date ought to include a night at the theater. More specifically, perhaps one that involves watching a bright adaptation of a romantic classic.

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New YorkChristopher Peterson
Review: “Rosemary and Time” at Paradise Factory Theatre

The feeling of running into a long lost relative – one whom you’ve searching for, or perhaps even presumed to be dead – is a rare and emotional experience that few of us can truly understand. What could easily make the feeling of that experience even more unique is if you realize that that relative has been in front of you, the whole time. That’s exactly the feeling which Rosemary and Time, a new drama set in 1970s Yorkshire, attempts to capture during its run at the Paradise Factory Theatre.

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New YorkChristopher Peterson
Review: "Mr. Chekhov and Mr. Porter” at Medicine Show Theatre

It can often be risky to pull off an adaptation of a previously done work, when it deviates from the original in any way, shape or form. Needless to say, it’s even more risky to attempt to conceive a show that blends the work of one artist with that of another. Yet that’s exactly what we are treated to at the Medicine Show Theatre, in the form of the show Mr. Chekhov and Mr. Porter, and the result is a show that, for the most part, plays out relatively well.

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Review: “As Is” at the Workshop Theater

For some of us, it often feels easy to forget just how recent of a cultural shift the embrace of LGBTQ equality has been in the United States has been. Prior to the beginning of this decade, a vast majority of the public – including in supposedly progressives states such as California in 2008 – viewed non-heterosexuals with disapproval, if not outright disgust. While there’s still more that can be done, things were far worse in the past.

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Review: “Constellarium” at Access Theater

I found this to be a very admirable children’s show, which does as fine a job as anyone could at explaining issues concerning refugees to young audiences. I myself have written many times before here at OnStage Blog about how children’s theatre needs to do more to tackle important issues, and judging by the description I read in the program, it seems that Rebel Playhouse is no stranger to doing exactly that.

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