Thursday, April 3, 2025
The Manhattan Theatre Club has revived Paula Vogel's “How I Learned to Drive,” using the same two main actors who performed it back in 1997, David Morse (Uncle Peck) and Mary-Louise Parker (Lil Bit) with the same director Mark Brokaw. While a quarter of a century has passed since its award-winning run at the Vineyard Theatre, the subject matter (a noxious mix of incest, misogyny and pedophilia) remains sadly relevant. Told in a non-chronological series of reminiscences, the story details years of abuse, using the metaphor of driving and driving lessons for control and sex. The relationship is not the stereotypical
Reviews
To My Girls – Second Stage Theater
In mid-2020 with the theaters closed and the pandemic raging, Second State Theater;s President and Artistic Director Carole Rothman checked in with playwright JC Lee to see how he was doing and if he was writing. He told her about a play he was considering, about a group of gay male friends gathering when the pandemic had subsided. “He was pretty sure he wanted to write something that would be healing and laughter would be a means to that end,” she writes in the Playbill. The result is “To My Girls.” Despite getting a little lost trying to find the ending,
IRT Theater presents Arthur Schnitzler’s ‘Round Dance’
Does love make the world go round? Is there such a thing as a random encounter? In 1897, Viennese playwright Arthur Schnitzler asked these questions in Reigen (Round Dance). which in turn was questioned by censors. Yet what was considered pornographic in 1897 is now rather tame - but still audacious - as translator/director H. Clark Kee shows in The Round Dance at the IRT Theatre. Schnitzler's plot device is deceptively simple as he reveals the complexities of emotional and physical love in one act and several scenes. A Hooker (Ruth Guimera) turns tricks with a Soldier (J.P. Stewart). He then puts the
The Accidental Futurist Ensemble: SITI Company’s “The Medium” at BAM
The year is 1993: Bill Clinton becomes president of the US; the World Trade Center is bombed by Islamic Fundamentalists; the FBI raids Branch Davidians, a religious cult in Waco, TX; Russia and the US sign a treaty; an earthquake and tsunami devastate Japan; brush fires ravage Australia; ethnic fighting causes turmoil in Bosnia; Ty introduces plush toys called Beanie Babies; the tech company Intel launches its Premium Processor. And an ensemble-based theater company called SITI Company devises the play The Medium in Toga-Mura, Japan. The Medium returns almost 30 years later to BAM Fisher, Fishman Space from March 15-20. As Shakespeare
American Utopia at St. James Theatre
David Byrne is far from your typical rock star. The fast car, fast women, drug-addled stereotype just doesn't fit him. It should not be a surprise, therefore, that his show on Broadway is not a typical musical. America Utopia is more of a deconstruction of a rock show than anything else. From the grey set and grey suits the cast wear to Byrne's remarks between songs, this is a different entertainment and philosophical experience. Rock 'n' roll has always had a theatrical side to it. From Elvis and his hips to Alice Cooper's snakes and guillotine to David Bowie's characters and
NAATCO’s OUT OF TIME at The Public Theater
OUT OF TIME, a collection of five brand-new monologues by five award-winning Asian American playwrights could have been titled “Long Overdue.” Now playing at the Public Theater through Sunday, March 13, OUT OF TIME was commissioned by NAATCO (National Asian American Theatre Company), conceived and directed by Obie Award-winning director Les Waters, and stars five Asian American actors over the age of 60. The pieces were written especially for them, and it shows. While over two hours of monologues can feel exhausting and more like an actor’s showcase than a full production, when done well (Eve Ensler aka V’s Vagina Monologues,
J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company’s Revival of ‘A Day in Hollywood/A Night at the Ukraine at Theatre Row
It was hard not thinking about what was happening in Ukraine (the "The" was dropped when independence was declared in 1991) when J2 Spotlight Theater's captivating revival of A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine opened last weekend and finishing up its sold out run at Theatre Row on March 6. However, it's important to remember that the infrequently seen 1980 Dick Vosburgh, Frank Lazarus and Jerry Herman musical doesn't have a Marx named Karl, but those named Groucho (David B. Friedman), Harpo (Suzanne Slade) and Chico (Mike Cefalo). This love letter to 1930s Hollywood is about as far from the myopic disaster Carnegie
Mdou Moctar & Bartees Strange launch Music at BAM Curated by Hanif Abdurraqib
There are moments when music can break down all borders and boundaries to touch something deep within the soul. Those rare experiences make an individual recognize their place in their collective community and within humanity as a whole. This is not an intellectual process but requires the heart's opening. It is a possession of sorts that takes you over as if seized by some supernatural force. That was the feeling that permeated BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House when Mdou Moctar and Bartees Strange kicked off Music at BAM, a series programmed by Hanif Abdurraqib, Guest Curator-at-Large. The vast space was jam-packed
‘Space Dogs’ Blast Off at MCC Theatre
The Jetsons had Astro. Doctor Who K-9 and Karvanista. Boxey adopted robotic Daggit after the first Battlestar Galactica survived the Cylon attack but the poor kid's pet didn't. The original Enterprise crew ended up with two dogs (one good, one bad and both in unintentionally hilarious costumes) in The Enemy Within. Science fiction has long been a dog's world, but so was science at one testosterone-fueled time. In what was not such a Cold War secret, the Soviets used/abused dogs during the Space Race (1955-1975). The best-known stray was Laika ("Barker"), the first earther to orbit the planet in 1957. Her dedication to the
Revisiting 2 Icons: A Dance Solo and a Legacy
Recipes, coffee franchises, fashion, even outfits worn to museum galas are labeled "iconic." The performing arts have no shortage of them either. Towards the end of 2021, two very different ones who deservingly earned that moniker received renewed interest, partially untied by themes of female empowerment. It was the audience at the December 4th evening performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre who helped make it perfect. They willingly showed vaccination cards, applauded the "mask on" announcement and cheered non-stop. To quote the Gospel lyrics heard at the end of the evening in Revelations, "There is trouble all over this world."