Jersey Boys

The "Boys" are back in town and have settled at New World Stages! I checked them out for the Times last night. Click here for my review.

Jack and the Beanstalk

Panto has come to New York, and I for one am delighted! Mat Fraser, Julie Atlas Muz and co. have put together a scrummy spectacle at Abrons, so bring the kids. My Times review is here.

Cruel Intentions

There's now a musical adaptation of Cruel Intentions, which really was only a matter of time. Click here for my review in the Times.

Moogfest

Moogfest unveiled part of its 2018 lineup with a 50-hour livestream by female, non-binary and transgender artists, and I wrote about it for the Times.

Who's Holiday

Matthew Lombardo's twisted tribute/sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas is worth seeing for Lesli Margherita's comic turn as Cindy Lou Who. My Times review is here.

Spy of the First Person

An honor and a pleasure to review Sam Shepard's posthumous novel for Newsday. Here's the link.

The Black Madonna

Hey, my chat with the awesome Black Madonna is out in the Times! Click here, and make sure you listen to one of her mixes as your read!

Where to stream theater

If you don't have access to live theater — and even if you do — streaming is a pretty good option, and there are more and more ways to do it. I did a roundup for the Times.

Home for the Holidays

Broadway's Christmas offering this year doesn't compare to Donny and Marie Osmond's extravaganza, not by a long shot. Here's my review for the Times.

The Sisters Macaluso

This Sicilian import was a great reason to go to Montclair last week. Please, someone bring back Emma Dante and her company! Click here for my review.

Natalie Dessay and Michel Legrand

Natalie Dessay is premiering a Michel Legrand song cycle originally conceived in the early 1970s for Barbra Streisand. Is your head spinning already? Read all about it here.

Nellie McKay wanted to do a show about Joan Rivers

Nellie McKay is a huge Joan Rivers fan and wanted to do a cabaret show about her. Things did not quite go the way the anticipated, and I was there to watch the whole thing unfurl. My New York Times story is here.

A few tips to save money skiing in the northeast

Skiing isn't the cheapest pastime around, but in Newsday I gathered a few money-saving tips for those of us in the Northeast. Avoid holidays, buy early, and click here for more.

The Life and Times of Lee Harvey Oswald

The Eastern European puppet tradition is represented in this show at LaMaMa, from the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theater. I wish I'd liked it more — more in this review.

Red Roses, Green Gold

And there I was, at a Grateful Dead jukebox musical... My review for the Times is here.

Lonely Planet

I reviewed the Keen Company's revival of Steven Dietz's two-hander Lonely Planet for the Times. What fun it is to see Arnie Burton and Matt McGrath up front rather than (stealing the spotlight) in the ensemble. Click here.

/peh-LO-tah/

I reviewed Marc Bamuthi Joseph's dance-theater piece /peh-LO-tah/ at BAM for the Times (click here).  It's the kind of show that allows me to mention Zidane and Milton Friedman in the same review — a first for me!

Syncing Ink

Amazingly, I managed to review a hip-hop show without mentioning the H word — the genre is healthy and varied enough now that you don't have to measure everything by the one yardstick. Click here for Syncing Ink.

Time and the Conways

Extra! Extra! My review of the Roundabout's revival of Time and the Conways is out in Newsday. Click here for the goods. Hint: I really liked that show.

Skiing near NYC and Long Island: it's possible!

Here's my Newsday survey of ski areas within reasonable driving distance from New York City and Long Island. The season's almost upon us!

Interview with Olivier Py

The French writer-director-actor Olivier Py, who also happens to run the Avignon Festival, is in town with his alter ego, Miss Knife, and I got to talk to him after the show. Click here for the piece.

One Night Only (running as long as we can)

It's great to see the WP Theater expand the scope of its offerings into dance-theater, and I reviewed the show by Monica Bill Barnes & Company for the Times. Thataway!

Interview with Mikaela Shiffrin

So psyched to talk to one of the most dominant American athletes that most Americans haven't heard of! My New York Times interview with ski champ Mikaela Shiffrin is now online.

Stairway to Stardom

My latest review for the New York Times is the dance-theater piece Stairway to Stardom, at HERE. Mixed feelings — but it sure looks great!

Historic lodges of New York State

Sure you can get a room with AirBnB, but what about style? What about breakfast? What about a bowling lane on the premises? Click here for my survey of our state's grand ol' establishments.

Katrina Lenk

I chatted with Katrina Lenk about The Band's Visit, Indecent and playing the viola, among other fun things. Plus it's part of the Times' ginormous fall preview — what a treat! Click here for the article.

Where to catch fall foliage

My latest for Newsday is a guide to where and when to see fall foliage in the northeast — and even a bit of the south. Click here for more.

Afterglow

My latest review for the Times is Afterglow — I think I was one of just three or four women in the audience!

The Workshop

Only a few days left to catch The Workshop, which I highly recommend! My review for the Times is here.

A chat with Elizabeth Olsen

Elizabeth Olsen is an interesting actress, with interesting things to say. We talked about her new movies, but mostly about what it means for her to be an actress these days. Click here for the Q&A in the Village Voice.

Summer Shorts Series A

This year's edition of Summer Shorts is quite good, or at least Series A here. Thataway for my review in the Times.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Lear deBessonet tackled A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare in the Park and, well, I guessed she did tackle it to the ground. There were a lot of actors I usually love, and the one who did best was Jeff Hiller. Here's my take for Newsday.

The Bubbly Black Girl

I'd missed Kirsten Childs' The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin back in 2000 but I loved Robert O'Hara's production for Encores! Off-Center. My review for Newsday is here.

New York Musical Festival

I sampled three shows at the New York Musical Festival, and wrote about them for the Times. Click here for my take. More to come on NYMF, I'm sure!

Martin Denton, Martin Denton

I went down to the Kraine to check out this double-named tribute to the godfather of a certain kind of Off Off Broadway scene. Click here for my review.

The Three Musketeers

Classical Theatre of Harlem is doing The Three Musketeers outdoors and I reviewed it for the Times. Click here for my take on this take — featuring a Mademoiselle D'Artagnan!

Assassins

And here's my review of Sondheim's Assassins at City Center, for Newsday! I can't say the production worked, but I had a swell time because 1) the score and 2) the cast. I especially enjoyed the scenes between Erin Markey and Victoria Clark, a meeting of downtown alt-cabaret and Broadway establishment (both worthy institutions of course).

Profile of Cole Escola

After years following Cole Escola's career, I finally got to write about him for the Times. Very happy about that one! Click here for the story.

Sampling Soulpepper's wares on Canada Day

I spent Canada Day with Toronto's Soulpepper company. Many hours of Canadian immersion, and I couldn't have been more interested. Click here for the lowdown.

Bastard Jones

A musical adaptation of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones novel: what a great idea! The show still needs work but there's real potential. My review's here.

A feature about Say Something Bunny!

I hope you will be as charmed by Say Something Bunny! as I was — one of the most inventive, effortlessly (despite the amount of work that went into it) charming shows I've seen in a while. My feature for the Times is here.

Harbored

En Garde's latest, Harbored, doesn't work as well as I wish it would, but it's great to see the company back in action. My New York Times review is here.

1984

The only reason I could follow the stage 1984 is that I'd re-read the book shortly before going. But you can't disregard the show's visceral impact — it's great to see something so unabashedly genre on Broadway. My review for Newsday is here.

EST Marathon of One-Act Plays, Series C

One-act-play evenings are, by definition, a mixed bag, and so it goes with this latest offering from EST. My review for the Times is here.

Articles of Faith

I certainly do not wish a catastrophic event on anybody, but Cynthia Hopkins did make wonderful art of her house burning down. My review of her show Articles of Faith is here.

Streepshow!

What a marathon that was: almost five hours spread over two evening! My review of Streepshow! is now out in the Times.

The Artificial Jungle

I reviewed the new revival of Charles Ludlam's The Artificial Jungle for the Times, and it's here.

Julius Caesar

When I saw Julius Caesar at the Delacorte, the audience responded more to this Trumpian avatar emerging naked from a bath tub than from his being assassinated. My review for Newsday is here.

A chat with Rebecca Hall

Here's what I didn't want to do in my Rebecca Hall piece: I didn't want to go on and on about her father. It's in every single article about her. Yes, he casts a long shadow but she's 35, let her be her own person! 

Here's what I wanted to do: try to find a thread linking her stage and screen roles — with an emphasis on screen because it was easier to see a whole bunch of them. My favorite discovery was Please Give, which sent me on a Nicole Holofcener bender.

The resulting Village Voice article is here.

The End of Longing

Matthew Perry tries his hand at playwriting and believe it or not, my review for Newsday was among the kindest ones! Click here.

Ducklings

Always a pleasure to go to Jack (especially since it's one of the theater venues I can walk to from my house) and this time didn't disappoint. Click here for my review of Ducklings.

Rotterdam

My latest review for The New York Times is Jon Brittain's Rotterdam, right this way.

The Whirligig

My latest review for Newsday is Hamish Linklater's The Whirligig, at the New Group.  Click here for the goods.

A chat with Brendon Urie

Brendon Urie's enthusiasm when we chatted about his going into Kinky Boots really, really made me want to see him in the show. Click here for the interview.

What to do upstate this summer

This theater actually loves the outdoors, and upstate has plenty to offer. My (necessarily limited) selection for Newsday is here.

Will I ever get tired of writing about Eurovision?

Short answer: no. And it was tons of fun to pundit the 2017 edition for Slate.

See you in Lisbon next year!

Venus

Very happy to review the Signature revival of Suzan-Lori Parks' Venus for Newsday. Check it out here!

Ski End

It's the rare event that combines two of my great loves: theater and skiing. Lo and behold, I give you my review of Piehole's Ski End!

The Dreyfus Affair

The Ensemble for the Romantic Century's latest dives into the Dreyfus Affair, one of the darkest episodes of French history. And you think it's in the past now, you're sadly mistaken. My review's here.

Multi-resort ski passes

Multi-resort passes have changed the way the ski industry sells tickets and the way people plan their ski vacations. I rounded up the best passes for next season for the New York Times.

Interview with Corey Hawkins

It's always great when actors you've seen shine in supporting parts or in big parts but smaller shows suddenly find themselves propelled to the kind of stardom that lands you first row at the Paris Fashion Week. My chat with Corey Hawkins is here.

Cuisine & Confessions

Les 7 Doigts de la main's new show isn't quite as good as Traces but still a treat for kids of all ages. My review's here.

How Steve Earle got back into downtown theater

Some people object to Steve Earle's radical positions (come on, the Yankees?!?) but they should read my interview with him anyway!

Gently Down the Stream

Harvey Fierstein starring in a Martin Sherman play about gay history and its transmission from one generation to the next? If someone would know about that topic, it's these two men. I reviewed the show for the Times.

A double dose of Inge

We don't see plays done in rep very much in New York, so right after the Acting Company at the New Vic it was interesting to see the Transport Group do it. Lo and behold, it was another good pairing, this time of a couple of William Inge classics. My joint review for the Times is here.

Chess Match No. 5

The first Anne Bogart show I ever saw was Bob, almost 20 years ago. So I was more than happy to get a stab at her latest, which is another cerebral look into a genius' mind. Click here for my review.

Shakespeare meets Black Power

Always interesting to consider plays done in repertory, and it doesn't happen all that often in New York. I reviewed the Acting Company's double bill of X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation and Julius Caesar for the Times. 

The Strangest

One of the most fascinating things about Albert Camus' The Stranger is how open it is to interpretation, and to riffs on the story. The latest is The Strangest, a play I just reviewed for the Times here.

A travel guide to Aspen

I never thought Aspen would be my bag but darn, it does ski well! My report for CNN Travel is here.

Tim Minchin

What a treat to profile Tim Minchin for the New York Times! Click here for the piece.

Marilyn in Manhattan

My review of Elizabeth Winder's Marilyn in Manhattan is just out in Newsday.

The View Upstairs

My latest for the Times is The View UpStairs, set at the New Orleans bar that was arsoned in 1973. Click here for more.

The Expanse

The Expanse is science fiction and proud of it! I wrote about why its low-budget, sometimes cheeseball genre charms are so wonderful for the Village Voice. Click here for the intergalactic fun.

A chat with Sarah Ruhl and Joshua Harmon

It was great fun to spend some time with Sarah Ruhl and Joshua Harmon, who both have new plays opening soon (well, his is a transfer and was seen Off but still). And they seemed to dig each other, too. Click here and scroll down the interactive Times spring preview.

August Wilson's Pittsburgh

A few weeks ago, I went down to Pittsburgh and had the privilege to tour the Hill District with August Wilson expert Chris Rawson. The resulting article is in The National, Amtrak's excellent magazine.

King Woman

It's been fun to return to music writing, and chatting with King Woman's Kristina Esfandiari was a treat. Click here for the Bandcamp interview.

The Mother of Invention

For his latest play, James Lecesne stretched a bit, but it didn't quite come together. My review is here.

The Great American Drama

My latest review in the New York Times is of the latest show by the New York Neo-Futurists. What happens when you write a play by committee? Click here to find out.

Incident at Hidden Temple

I reviewed Damon Chua's latest play for the New York Times. Click here for the deets.

Drop Dead

Borrowing the Daily News' notorious headline is a great idea for a book. You can read my review of Hillary Miller's new tome about theater in 1970s New York here. Yay, American Theatre magazine!

Winter sports in upstate New York

Winter has come, and there's a lot more to do than skiing or snowboarding in upstate New York. Did you know what Old Forge is the snowmobile capital of the east? Did you know there is an Old Forge, for that matter? All this and more in my latest piece for Newsday.

Profile of Harriet Walter

It was a pleasure and a honor to chat with Harriet Walter for this New York Times profile. It's rare to meet such an upstanding actress and person.

Top Secret International + Real Magic

A joint review of Top Secret International and Real Magic, at the Under the Radar and Coil festivals, respectively. Click here for the fun.

Amtrak lets you go to Winter Park in comfort

I just wrote about the return of rail travel between Denver and Winter Park — what a civilized way to go skiing! Click here for the story.

Five foreign series to watch

I ingested a lot of TV for the Village Voice just so I could give you, dear readers, some informed tips. Head that way if you want to know what to binge on next.