Thursday, April 25, 2024A steel hula hoop spins. When if falls it becomes a container. Then the container's soft outer lining forms, depending on one's point of view, a bed, boat or coffin. Deliberate randomness forms the strong visual story told by Chris Green's American Weather at HERE's Dorothy B.Williams Theatre. Thanks to Green and his collaborator's masterful multidisciplinary combination of puppetry, video, song, verse and live action, American Weather's barometer reads division. This self-contained stage storm is played out across a picket fence with sharp edges. Katie Melby is the slow-moving soul in front of the fence/screen and a puppet costumed as a fencer in back of it. The
Month: June 2018
Desperate Measures at New World Stages
It’s a rare thing when all of the elements come together perfectly to create true theatrical magic. One of the most recent examples of that kind of kismet is a delightfully riotous romp called Desperate Measures, now playing Off-Broadway at New World Stages after its multi-award winning (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Off Broadway Alliance) and numerously extended run at the York Theater last year. The plot, which examines how justice is served and manipulated, is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure. The setting is the Wild West where Johnny Blood (Conor Ryan) waits in jail with a drunken,
Othello at the Delacorte Theater, Shakespeare in the Park
The story of Othello has always bothered me. Simply put, Othello has to be country-bumpkin gullible to fall victim to Iago's plotting – smitten and jealous or not. Chukwudi Iwuji, in the title role in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, turned in such a performance that I could almost believe Othello is that naïve. I have seen Othello more times than I can honestly remember. This production, though, is beyond memorable, especially but not exclusively because of Iwuji's performance. Much of the play hinges on the performance of Iago, and Corey Stoll delivers the goods. He is both
Skintight from the Roundabout Theatre Company
What drew me to Joshua Harmon’s new play "Skintight" was the opportunity to see Idina Menzel in a non-singing role. Ironically the play starts with Ms. Menzel, as indignant divorcee Jodi Isaac, delivering a lengthy screed about her ex’s engagement to a young twit half his age. It is a comic tour de force and I doubt that anyone without her singer’s lungs could have pulled it off. Jodi has impetuously flown into Manhattan to seek consolation from her father, Elliot (Jack Wetherall), a wealthy fashion mogul who is about to turn seventy. But seeking solace from Daddy is like trying
Theatre: Elevator Repair Service performs Kate Scelsa’s “Everyone’s Fine with Virginia Woolf” at Abrons Art Center
Playwright Kate Scelsa and her Elevator Repair Service colleagues are completely at ease with Everyone's Fine with Virginia Woolf, a raucous re-imagining of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? George and Martha, perennial frontrunners for the unhappiest theatrical couple of all time, keep the gin, insults and laughs coming at Abrons Art Center. One is hard-pressed to find humor in Albee's peak into a marriage whose only common ground is destruction. The 1962 Tony winner is also something of a sacred cow because with the right actors (Liz and Dick in Mike Nichols' 1966 film, the 2005 Broadway revival starring Kathleen Turner
Brooklyn United Live! at La MaMa
I am still walking on sunshine after Brooklyn Unite Live! rejuvenated all of the cells in my body. I feel like I am ten years younger and that I’m the love child of Tony Robbins and Beyoncé – I am beyond motivated and feel like I can conquer the world. If you want to permanently turn your life dial to 100% pure positivity you have to experience these 33 Brooklyn youngsters whose drum and dance corps originality will blow out all of the cobwebs growing on your bucket list. I wish they had this after-school program for adults so we
Cannibal Galaxy: a love story at New Ohio Theatre
It’s a surprising exploration of the impossible space between us. It’s a harrowing look at how the everyman deals with self-implosion after an unexpected catastrophic supernova-style life event. While our “cannibal” galaxy devours the smaller ones in it’s orbit above, America seems to be eating itself below. The play questions if our violent collisions and interactions permanently leave vast distances between us that can never be traversed. It’s a riveting work where both the micro- and macrocosm share the stage, where the milky way feels present in the room as well as the smallest human quarks, leaving us clinging to
Tony Awards Dominated by A Band’s Visit, Harry Potter
The American Theater Wing and its partner The Broadway League held their 72nd Annual Tony Awards on June 10, in New York City. The Band's Visit came away with 10 awards from its 11 nominations (including Best Musical), and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II scored six Tonys from its 10 nominations (including Best Play). Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Play Andrew Garfield, Angels in America Best Leading Actress in a Play Glenda Jackson, Three Tall Women Best Featured Actress in a Play Laurie Metcalf, Three Tall Women Best Featured Actor in a Play Nathan Lane, Angels in America Best Direction of
‘This is Modern Art’, Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop
In this high stakes, adrenaline fueled “piece”, graffiti culture sneaks indoors to leave it’s tag on the blank canvas of the Fourth Street Theatre walls. You feel like you have illegally entered the secretive world of street artists and are peeping through a “window” to catch a glimpse of what muses motivate them. Popular media has up permanently rooting for the “underdog” and so we are well trained to cheer from the sidelines right from the start. Graffiti might be illegal but in the world of this play it somehow feels like a crime of passion, a revolutionary act, a