Waitress
book by Jessie Nelson
music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles
directed by Diane Paulus
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
June 21, 2016 Production website
💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
I was just a breath away of standing up on my seat and giving a single song a standing ovation. Jessie Mueller simply hits the signature song, “She Used to be Mine” out of the ballpark. That one song alone was worth the ticket price. Not sense the original Dreamgirls have I felt so compelled to give a song a standing ovation. Continue reading Waitress→
School of Rock
book by Julian Fellowes
Lyrics by Glenn Slater
music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
directed by Laurance Connor
Winter Garden Theatre
June 20, 2016 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
I knew it was going to be loud. I knew that lights were going to bounce out and blind you. I knew that the audience was going to be full of tourists that would be flashing their cell phones, chomping their gum, and and doing live-time commentary on the show as it played out. I knew that the stage was going to have lots and lots of cute kids. I mean seriously cute kids. I mean where in the world did they grow these cute kids? I knew that the electric guitar was going to be the selling point of the evening. And I went. Continue reading School of Rock→
Skeleton Crew
by Dominique Morisseau
directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Atlantic Theatre Company
June 19, 2016 Production website
💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
This story took me to a world I have never been. It introduced me to an occupation I had never considered – to a city I would never want to live in – to a group of people that I would never think twice about and likely judge and dismiss – to struggles that I will likely never face – – and here I was lapping up each and every moment. I was sitting in my seat through the entire production KNOWING exactly where this story was going – and being WRONG each and every time. Continue reading Skeleton Crew→
Indian Summer
by Gregory S. Moss
directed by Carolyn Cantor
Playwrights Horizon
June 19, 2016 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
In that I teach high school, I am always concerned when a production begins with a teenager sitting on a mound of dirt emptying his shoes. I can just smell the expected angst and “teen issues” that the play will move toward. But I was surprised and delighted with Indian Summer.Continue reading Indian Summer→
Hadestown
by Anais Mitchell
developed and directed by Rachel Chavkin
New York Theatre Workshop
June 18, 2016 Production website
💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Everything about this works. This was one of the most full, delicious meals of theatre that I have had in a long time. I have always loved the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and that fateful trip into hell to rescue love – – I did see the Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses set in the swimming pool twice! I just love watching what contemporary drama can do to the Greek classic tales. Continue reading Hadestown→
