Blue Cowboy

David Cale's new show is soooooo good! Please go see it. My rave is here.

Paranormal Activity

I love scares at the theater, so it was really exciting to talk with Felix Barrett and Levi Holloway of their new show, Paranormal Activity. Click here for the deets and the cool videos.

Cut for space: Barrett is staging an immersive Arcane in China — yes, based on the Netflix series!

Theater to stream, fall edition

 Tons of great stuff to check out on the streaming-theater front this month! I picked some new (and vintage) releases for your enjoyment, starting with George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck.

A link to a podcast for a change

Jesse Green and I were on the Times' Sunday Special podcast to talk about experiencing theater, just not on stage. Yeah, audio counts, too! Here's a link to the link. 

Jen Tullock

I talked to the actress and writer Jen Tullock about her new solo play Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God. Religion and homosexuality and video: there was a lot to parse. Thataway for the feature.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

The movie based on the musical based on the book that also inspired a play and another movie is finally out! Jennifer Lopez: meh. Yeah, I was surprised, too. My review for the Times is here.

And Then We Were No More

 Like many people, I very much enjoy Tim Blake Nelson as an actor (we don't see him enough in The Lowdown!). But his play And Then We Were No More, at La MaMa, is the kind of hot mess we don't actually see often. My review is here.

James Graham's Punch

I had serious issues with James Graham's play Punch, which is on Broadway. It's tough to do a show about reparative justice without presenting both sides evenly. Click here for my review in the NY Times.

Natalie Palamides

Belatedly posting my profile of Natalie Palamides, whose show Weer, at the Cherry Lane Theater, is one of the hits of the fall here in NYC. I couldn't be a bigger fan.

Fall for science-fiction movies

Er, I'm getting around to posting a link to my sci-fi column for September, just as the one for October is about to drop. It's a time warp! 

Art

The Art section is the only one in the New York Times' culture pages that I haven't written for — is my review of the Yasmina Reza show as close as I'm going to get? "Art" is back on Broadway with Bobby Cannavale, James Corden and Neil Patrick Harris, and I have to admit I was a little surprised by how well the play has aged. My review is here.

Saturday Church

Back in August I talked to several of the people involved in the new musical Saturday Church, which sourced most of its score from Sia's catalogue and processed it through a house filter (joke intended, even if the show doesn't draw from the French Touch but from soulful gospel house). Click here for my preview.

A roundup of Off and Off Off Broadway shows for September

The fall season is a bountiful one for theater in New York, and it's easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of shows on offer. I took a whack at a first selection, and I couldn't even fit in everything. Have a look and get your tickets!

Fall is coming so it's time for science fiction

Fine, it's always time for science fiction, not just when the weather starts turning. You can find my latest batch of recommendations for (mostly indie) streaming sci-fi here.

A few thoughts on Mamma Mia! and Abba

Mamma Mia! is back on Broadway so of course I had to write about it, along with the concomitant phenomenon of Abba's eternal returns — and Chess is right around the corner! Here's my critic's notebook about the Abba ouroboros.

Elizabeth McGovern

Elizabeth McGovern takes on not just Ava Gardner but the very idea of biography in her play, Ava: The Secret Conversations. It was an absolute treat to chat with her. Thataway for the story.

Northern Sky

After American Players Theater last year, I returned to Wisconsin for a very different experience at Northern Sky Theater, in Door County. Check out the story here. And yes, dairy and fish boils come up.

Dennis Lim's culture diary

The latest installment in the Culture Diary series for the NY Times is Dennis Lim, the New York Film Festival's head honcho. I don't often say this but I'll have what he's having! Click here for a FOMO-inducing week.

Sci-fi movies for August

I'm starting to cook up what's going to be in my sci-fi column for September and realized I haven't yet linked to the August installment. Here it is.

Joy

I've seen some grousing online about the very existence of a musical about the inventor of the Miracle Mop. As long as there are movies about Beanie Babies and Cheetos, I think we can cope. It's always a pleasure to watch Betsy Wolfe on stage, but I wish I'd liked Joy more. My review is here.