Be More Chill
Music and Lyrics by Joe Iconis
Book by Joe Tracz
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Lyceum Theatre
June 7, 2019 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
I made a big mistake in planning this trip with teenagers.I had thought that the most obvious of shows to take them to – the one that they are obviously jamming to on YouTube would be Be More Chill.I had thought that there wouldn’t be much for me in this production – but I was happy to “take one for the team.” Continue reading Be More Chill→
King Lear
Starring Glenda Jackson
Written by William Shakespeare
Music by Philip Glass
Directed by Sam Gold
Cort Theatre
March 11, 2019 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
This is a major chew for an audience. For a crowd that is going to the theatre expecting all to be would up in a 90 minute intermission-less night, Lear coming in at almost three hours and thirty minutes is a test. Of course to see the incandescent Glenda Jackson take on this role of lifetime at the age of 82 is worth the wait!
Head Over Heels
Songs by the Go-Go’s
Based on The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney
Conceived & Original Book by Jeff Whitty
Adapted by James Magruder
Music Supervision, Orchestration & Arrangements by Tom Kitt
Choreographed by Spencer Liff
Directed by Michael Mayer
Hudson Theatre
November 21, 2018 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
Sometimes I get the urge to be a total tourist I’m New York.I want to walk around Times Square and run into people by taking pictures of all the tall buildings. I want to do that avoidance dance as all of those poorly masked cartoon characters waddle to you to take the pictures with mandatory tips. I want to read each of the jumbo-trons and plan a meal in one of the oversized restaurants.And to this perfect tourist day, I would get tickets to see Head Over Heels.This musical, struggling at the box office, is an odd fairy tale like adventure of a kingdom held bound by a curse and threatened to “loose their beat.”For an out-of-towner this really could be the perfect show. Continue reading Head Over Heels→
What the Constitution Means to Me
Written by and starring Heidi Schreck
Directed by Oliver Butler
New York Theatre Workshop
October 26, 2018 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
Great things come in the most unexpected of places.I am not sure what attracted me to spend a night in New York watching a one woman show about the U.S. Constitution – but that is how I chose to spend the night and boy, was I grateful for the choice.It is a mighty odd show to put down in simple terms.Essentially it is set in the meeting room of every American Legion in the middleof anywhere America as they are holding one of their annual oratorical contests for high school students to compete with their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution.Continue reading What the Constitution Means to Me→
The Boys in the Band
Written by Mart Crowley
Directed by Joe Mantello
BoothTheatre
August 1, 2018 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
I have always had a morbid fascination with cutters.Who in their right mind would pick up a sharp object and stab themself in the arm or leg over and over?Crazy.I mean seriously crazy.As best I can tell the cutter wants to FEEL something and to be the one in charge as to why and when it will be felt.The ORIGINAL Boys in the Band that I saw decades ago felt like that.Why would gay men put themself in such places of self-hatred and why would they continue to remind themselves how ugly and unloved they are- – – or at least were in this revival of the classic from the gay theatre of the 1970’s. Continue reading The Boys in the Band→
Be More Chill
