Have you ever thought back to some of the most difficult times in your own life, wishing that you could go back in time to reassure yourself that everything would turn out okay, if only we knew what unexpected events would come to reshape our lives? The Other Josh Cohen, running Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre […]
In Ise Lyfe and Matt Werner’s new play Agnus, everything about 2047 feels unnervingly familiar. A soothing artificial intelligence called “Sequoyah” relays information upon command, screen-obsessed citizens are stirred into fervors by corporate media sensationalism, privately run prisons become breeding grounds for unethical behavior and the government seeks ways to control both the content and distribution […]
In & Of Itself, currently playing at the Daryl Roth Theatre until the end of 2017, may be the smartest, most surprising, and most personal show that I have ever had the privilege of seeing, or more appropriately, of being a part of. Members of the audience are participants, to varying degrees, just as much […]
Tooting Arts Club’s production of Sweeney Todd at the Barrow Street Theatre is the perfect thing to see this fall: part dark theatrical masterpiece, part haunted house. It’s the most creatively staged production of Sweeney Todd that I have ever seen: the show is set in a pie shop (with fresh pies baked by the former White House pastry […]
“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Uncle Walt’s verse gets renewed life on stage in the millennial classic Dead Poets Society – an ode to nonconformity and self-expression in a world that vows to stamp out individualism in favor of conservative practicality. Despite its flaws, the film remains one […]
Last year, I gave a rave review to an off-Broadway play called Hand to God starring a (possibly) satanic puppet named Tyrone McHansley and Jason, the timid, church-going boy who brings Tyrone to life. Well, this shocking and outrageously funny play capitalized on its stellar reviews and is now one of the best shows on […]
“Into the woods you go again, you have every now and then.” If you have never been Into the Woods, now is the time. Between Hollywood’s adaptation of this beloved musical, the availability of the original Broadway cast production on Netflix, and stage productions of Stephen Sondheim’s best work popping up across the country, there […]
2014 ended much the way it began for many Americans – watching Idina Menzel give a cringe-worthy performance of “Let It Go” to a large crowd.* My 2014 ended in a dark theatre – a movie theatre, actually. As I waited for Breakfast at Tiffany’s to start, I recounted my rather whirlwind year of theatrical […]
I have a bit of a crush on Romola Garai’s professional acting choices. That’s not weird, is it? I mean, she is attracted to playing fantastic, intelligent, driven females. From her portrayal of an independent thinker and the wife of abolitionist William Wilberforce in Amazing Grace* to her portrayal of an ambitious young producer for […]
I know I said that the Tony Awards ended my 2014 theatre award season, but I lied. Sorry. Forgive my categorically untrue statement. This week, I attended the 2014 New York Innovative Theatre Awards, which honors the best shows, actors, designers, and technicians off off-Broadway (but, you know, still in New York City). Some call […]
The American Theatre Wing may be announcing the Tony Award nominations on April 29 (8:30 am ET if anyone wants to join me before work to watch it live), but we here at My Entertainment World are getting a jumpstart by announcing our first ever New York My Theatre Award winners right now! The New […]
As the director of the new show “Nothing to Hide” at The Pershing Square Signature Theatre astutely points out in his Playbill note to the audience, there are two types of people who watch magic: those who simply enjoy the spectacle and those who try to figure out the secrets behind the trick. Despite the […]
The secret to successful entertainment in any form is conceptually simple: know your audience. I suspect that the producers of Samuel Beckett’s All That Fall at 59E59 Theatre had an audience in mind when they chose to produce the show. I am also confident that I am not that audience. In a single word, I […]
Politically charged and culturally relevant plays face a significant hurdle on the revival circuit – historical context. Popular social commentary is ever changing and playwrights that take up causes are, in part, dependent upon their audience knowing the historical and cultural backdrop for their message. Therein lies the problem for the Keen Company’s revival of […]
It is difficult to graduate with a college degree without drinking at least one White Russian at a The Big Lebowski viewing party. My college experience was no exception, and I have developed an appreciation for Ethan Coen’s sharp use of language, his dark comedic style and his eccentric characters through many viewings of his […]