Theater

Hearing Audra McDonald's glorious voice singing a very legit version of Alicia Keys' part in "Empire State of Mind" as Neil Patrick Harris rapped an on-the-fly recap was the perfect way to end this y

Is there a better contemporary American director of Shakespeare than Daniel Sullivan? This is the question we, as audience members, pose summer after summer upon departing Central Park's bucolic Dela

Wicked, Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's worldwide hit musical prequel to the classic film The Wizard of Oz, celebrated its 4,000th performance at the Gershwin Theatre on Tuesday, Jun

Green-Wood Cemetery, Variations Theatre Group, Off Off Broadway By Josh Penzell BOTTOM LINE: Poetic epitaphs presented by moonlight in Green-Wood Cemetery. As we walked through Green-Wood Cemetery, I was struck by how peaceful I felt—this was not at all the ghoulish, terror-filled stuff of horror films, but the quiet and serene resting place of hundreds of thousands of souls now interred in one of the first rural cemeteries of New York. And when we arrived at a small clearing of grass amidst a spattering of gravestones, the audience sat and waited, as darkness overtook us, for The Spoon River Project to begin. The Spoon River Project is a theatrical adaptation of an anthology of short, free-form poems by Chicago-lawyer Edgar Lee Masters published in 1915. Masters wanted to reflect on the small-town life of his childhood in Lewistown and Petersburg, Illinois, especially the hypocrisy and secrets of the villagers around whom he was raised. He thus created the fictional town of Spoon River (the name of a real river near his boyhood homes) and peopled it with a couple hundred inhabitants, some based on his memory, some completely made-up. The anthology, however, was not a collection of their remembrances or their stories, but rather a compilation of their epitaphs—the dead, after all, have no need to lie and no recourse to change the past. Truth can, therefore, prevail.

"The Comedy of Error" presented by The Public Theater at Delacorte Theater, June 2, 2013 (photo by Joan Marcus) The first of the Public Theater's presentations of Shakespeare in the Park is Shakespeare's take on Plautus' Menaechmi, complicated with an extra set of twins separated as small children.  There's no adaptation credit given in the playbill, but one might presume that dramaturg

Linda Gross Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, Off Broadway By Jordan Swisher BOTTOM LINE: Three radically different storytelling techniques form John Guare’s new production about Eastern Europeans in various stages of exile. John Guare’s 3 Kinds of Exile is an experiment in storytelling. The piece consists of three short plays, all presented in different styles but connected by similar themes. The first play features Martin Moran as an Actor alone on stage, telling a story. There are no props, aside from a single chair. It is simple and the story is profound. This piece in particular highlights Mr. Guare’s masterful use of lyricism in his language. The story the Actor tells is poetic and fascinating. It is the story of a friend of his who once had a red rash that grew until it covered his whole body, save for his hands and face. The Actor tells how his friend progressed from doctor to doctor seeking a cure for his strange ailment. Eventually looking to a psychiatrist for help, the Actor’s friend relives a memory from his childhood that has haunted him ever since. Moran tells the story simply, without flourish, and in that simplicity he captures the imagination. This first play in 3 Kinds of Exile reminds me of the theatre that existed before the sort of theatre we know today. It’s like Homer telling the story of the Odyssey to listeners around a campfire. It is a theatre of the mind and within this first play Mr. Guare’s text owns that space.

“What, in the name of Jaysus, is going on?” With their summer programme, the Donmar opted for a Conor McPherson double bill and so following on from the extremely good revival of The Weir is a new play from the Irish playwright – The Night Alive. And it is unmistakeably familiar territory – ruminative meanderings in an isolated Irish setting, probing into the delights, depths and depravity that humanity can stretch to in extraordinary circumstances but also in the day-to-day living of life. Well into middle age, Tommy is a chancer, skirting along the fringes of life in the bedsit he rents from his elderly drunken uncle as he tries to keep his ex-wife and kids at bay and make a success out of any number of crackpot schemes dreamed up with his pal Doc. When he comes to the rescue of the battered Aimee and brings her back to his abode to recuperate, she opens the door to the redemptive possibility of a new world but alongside the hope that she offers, comes a very real sense of danger. And it is this ominous edge that provides the dramatic tension in McPherson’s own production of his play, a creeping sense of menace that counters the customary banter that we’re used to. Michael McElhatton as the dopey Doc is brilliantly comic and moving in the same hangdog moment and Ciarán Hinds is extraordinary as Tommy – a haunted depth in his eyes suggesting he’s capable of great things yet knows they will never happen for him. Yet something didn’t quite click for me with The Night Alive, certainly not in the way that The Weir did. I found it curious rather than compelling – were the playtext cheaper I would likely have bought one as I wouldn’t mind reading it to soak in the lyricism of McPherson’s text as there’s an obtuseness to much that happens, an elusive almost dream-like quality (might the final scene be a fantasy?) that forces its audience make its own decisions about what is left unsaid and unexplained, and there’s a fair bit of it. But jokes about turnips, dance routines to Marvin Gaye and the wielding of some domestic appliances ensure that there is rarely a dull moment in Soutra Gilmour’s cluttered but expertly realised set. Caoilfhionn Dunne is suitably haunted yet grounded as the pragmatic Aimee and the Gleesons threaten to become the new Irish acting dynasty with Brian (son of Brendan, brother of Domhnall) making a glowering UK theatre debut here. Intriguing rather than essential, but definitely worth a punt on the £10 ticket deal I'd say. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes (without interval) Booking until 27th July

Here's the basic formula of reviewing: a bunch of people, frequently talented, sometimes brilliant, strive for weeks, months, or years, often at great sacrifice, and then I show up and judge them. It doesn't seem fair.And yet I don't plan to stop. I believe that reviewers can make a contribution. Minimally, we offer publicity; maximally, we add something valuable to the conversation. At least we try (many of us, anyway).The thing is, I know what it feels like to get bad reviews. I know how easy it is to remember the negatives and forget the positives. So, in the interest of full disclosure, I think it's time to share some of the bad reviews my book, The Lesbian Sex Book (later updated as The New Lesbian Sex Book) received. "Necessary but dull.""The humor is somewhat simplistic, even embarrassing at times.""Disappointing.""If you have ever had lesbian sex, there will be little for you to learn from Wendy Caster's book.""Unintentionally funny in places [with] a distinct lack of irony." "Full of . . . useless quirky hints to spice up your love life. It's American--need I say more." (From Dublin.)(I love that last one--not only can't I write, but I disgraced my entire country.)The book also received some good reviews and sold pretty well. Yet it's the bad reviews I remember, nearly 20 years later. (And, sigh, I don't think the bad reviews are particularly unfair.)I would love to hear what other people have to say about the role of reviewers. Comments welcome!

Jane Lynch, Lilla Crawford, and cast members from the 2012 Broadway revival of the classic musical Annie celebrated the show's newly released cast recording with a CD signing at Barnes & Noble on Tue

Two-time Emmy Award winner Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) is headed to Provincetown, Massachusetts this August. She plans to join the already-packed roster of talented artists scheduled to participate