Nassim
Written and performed by Nassim Soleimanpour
with guest actor Thom Sesma
Directed by Omar Elerian
New York City Center Stage II
January 2, 2019 Production website
💉💉 out of 5
Man did I want to like this play – because I adore Performance Art.A week at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland is my idea of theatre heaven!But tonight it was Nassim at NY City Center Theatre.Nassim Soleimanpour is an actual playwright from Iran known here in the US for his big hit White Rabbit Red Rabbit – a play that Nassim, himself was never able to see in America as he was having trouble leaving his country and coming to the US. Continue reading Nassim→
Kinsey Sicks in Things You Shouldn’t Say
Soho Playhouse
December 22, 2018 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
The Kinsey Sicks is an institution in the gay community, and I never knew it!Thinking this was going to be just another drag show to fill a chilly New York winter, I came to the theatre with little expectations.I imagined that they were going to either 1.) be doing some off-color re-wordings of Christmas tunes or 2,) going to go down the “we are Jews revolting against Christmas, or 3.) Trump commentary. We got some of this – but, thankfully much more.
The Hard Problem
Written by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Jack O’Brien
Lincoln Center Theatre Company
October 25, 2018 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
In all my theatre going days, I don’t think I have ever been to the FIRST preview of any play.The very first time a New York audience was going to see the play – pretty cool!I was surprised to see the imperfections I did see a few.Light cues were bringing up lights on audience members when the audience was not involved in the story.It certainly made a few people last night very self conscious as they were pointed out in plain view for several minutes.Set pieces got spun around to face the wrong direction and there were a few traffic jams with all the cast moving too much furniture around this thrust stage. Continue reading The Hard Problem→
The Pattern at Pendarvis
Written by Dean Gray
Directed by Joseph Megel
New Dog Theatre Company
August 3, 2018 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
New York is full of gay theatre! That’s for sure. Gay men of the city love to hear themselves talk and talk! These stories are mainly set in Greenwich Village or Castro Street, in Fire Island or Provincetown. They are set in Boys Town in Chicago or on the beaches of Miami – but were there any gay folk outside of major cities? Were there any gay people in Rust Belt, Corn Belt, middle of America? Pattern at Pendarvis answers that question with a resounding or, perhaps, more quiet, “yes.” Continue reading The Pattern at Pendarvis→
Mean Girls
Book by Tina Fey
Music by Jeff Richmond
Lyrics by Neil Benjamin
Directed and Choreographed by Case Nicholaw
August Wilson Theatre
June 14, 2018 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
Mean Girls was a very loud show.That is my professional opinion.Done.Imean seriously folkshow loud do you have to mic a belt? This is going way beyond trying to balance the singer with the orchestra.This is bringing the concert experience into the very small, intimate world of the theatre.I thought it might be my age showing, but even the teenagers I was with claimed it was getting a bit painful. Continue reading Mean Girls→
Nassim
