Drama Desk Award Nominees for 2018 Announced

Award season is approaching, and the Drama Desk Award nominees for 2018 have been announced. The organization say "The Awards are bestowed annually in May in numerous categories. Nominations are made by the Drama Desk Nominating Committee, the members of which may change each season. The entire active membership then votes on those nominations." It adds, "Professional productions in Manhattan that have a minimum of 21 public performances may be eligible for Drama Desk Award consideration. Our awards season begins immediately following our awards show (check our website for the announcement of our spring awards ceremony) and continue into the following

“KNOCK!” at BAM Fisher Hillman Studio

I had the good fortune of spending an hour in the company of four Magnet Theatre actors who have travelled all the way from South Africa to jumpstart our imaginations with their unique brand of physical theatre for young children. I can think of no better joy than to hear the feather light laughter of young children totally entranced with the magic of these spellbinding theater makers. Their giggling and delight were totally infectious. My adult self took a vacation as my inner child came up for air and had a much needed, transcendent theatrical experience. I did not feel

‘FITTING ROOMS’ at Triskelion Arts

Lacan’s mirror stage provides the trampoline for Denisa Musilova’s haunting new work, “Fitting Rooms”. The rich psychological substrata of the piece allows for a deeply complex unpacking of the adult games people play in their search for identity and belonging. This is the fourth work I have seen by this meticulous Czech choreographer and I again found myself engaged in an intense dialogue with the work as it unfolded before me. It brings up questions that demand thoughtful answers and the work probes your subconscious looking for resonance with your shadow side. She sets off a series of chain reactions

“Saint Joan” at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

Three-time Tony nominee Condola Rashad stars in the title role of Saint Joan at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Her performance all but guarantees a fourth, and I expect her to win this time. She is, simply, a brilliant actor. In addition to her talents, the Manhattan Theatre Club has assembled a cast with chemistry and expert craftsmanship under the direction of Daniel Sullivan. When the weak link is George Bernard Shaw's rather long script, you have the makings of theatre at its best. The story is set in 15th century France during the Hundred Years' War, and the English are

Cirque du Soleil VOLTA Brings Its New Big Top Show to The New York Area

There is simply nothing that can compare to the circus -- the dazzle, danger and derring-do, the shrieks of joy and gasps of amazement at the sheer feats of human accomplishment, both bizarre and beautiful at the same time. The “under-the-big-top” traveling, tented circuses have been around for hundreds of years and the origins of the acts, from juggling to contortion, for thousands of years, utilized to entertain both royal courts and street corners. But like all art forms, circus has fallen in and out of fashion over the eras as increasingly sophisticated audiences demanded much more than the mere

Travesties at American Airlines Theatre

All great writers—especially playwrights—become, at some point, drunk on their own words. Ben Johnson accused Shakespeare of such literary inebriation. I think the same could be said of Eugene O’Neill, Edward Albee and James Joyce—which brings me nicely to Tom Stoppard and his own great, besotted spillage of verbiage, TRAVESTIES, revived by the Roundabout Theatre Company. I first saw this play on Broadway in 1975 with the wonderful John Wood as Henry Carr. That was in my salad days, when I was green in judgment—by which I mean a lot of the play was WAY over my head. Yet I still

One Thousand Nights and One Day at A.R.T/New York Theatres presented by Prospect Theater Company

Humankind is made up of stories: the stories we tell others, those we tell ourselves, our version of the story, and even history is only a series of stories stamped with a seal of approval to be considered by the ruling power as “the truth,” though it is no more than yet another observation or opinion on what transpired. Stories have the ability to make us -- for they are the foundation where legends and heroes are born. But they also have the power and capacity to break us and tear us apart from our own kind, to separate us

The Orchestra Now Presents Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

The Orchestra Now (TŌN) lined up their end of March concert with two well-curated pieces, one lesser known, Walter Braunfel’s Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hektor Berlioz, Op. 25, and one renowned, Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14. Violinist Coline Berland opened the evening with a commentary on Braunfel and his piece, noting the composer’s tumultuous life, beginning as a successful musician and composer in the 1920s and 30s, but falling after the 40s when his music was labeled as degenerate. Berland added that Bruanfel’s work was “straight out of the romantic vein,” and emphasized TŌN’s effort to “revive a

A Dancer In A Million Places: Danielle Marie Fusco

       Headshot by Joi Ong,   Dzul photos by Chris Comfort,    Jazzy photos by Jan LaSalle for Ladies for Luigi Project, Aerial photos by Tyler McAuley Educational photo by Eastern Suffolk Boces C3Squared Dance has always held a significant place in my heart. Though I only took dance classes in high school for 4 years what I gained mostly, other that the ability to bust out a buffalo step, is how impenetrable the dancers work ethic is. One can be a mediocre actor or singer and still get work in the entertainment industry. One can’t really be a bad dancer and work in this business. One

Music: Exploring the Sights and Sounds of ‘Symphonie Fantastique’

Recently, two opportunities arose to hear Hector Berlioz's "Symphonie Fanstatique" within days of each other.  This isn't surprising - it's been a crowd pleaser since its 1830 premiere .  With that also comes with a lot of  "over"s" as in over-programmed and overwrought.  Happily, both Bard College's Orchestra Now (TŌN ) conducted by Music Director/College President Leon Botstein at Lincoln Center's Frederick P Rose Hall and Basil Twist's landmark abstract puppet ballet at HERE encouraged audiences to forget everything they thought they knew about this music to discover it for themselves.  Their thoughtful invitations to do so succeeded. Limited program notes made

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