Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Book by David Greig
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Scott Witty and Marc Shaiman
Directed by Jack O’Brien
Lunt-Fontain Theatre
June 12, 2017
Production website
💉 out of 5.

I am sitting in a sea of very young children and I a wondering why Broadway has so very few offerings on a Monday night of theatre going.  This is just not fun.  The moment I walked into the lobby and saw the concession stand pumping endless sugar candy into the mouthes of over-hyped children I panicked.

This show had lots of problems.   Continue reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory →

Marvin’s Room
Written by Scott McPherson
Directed by Anne Kauffman
American Airlines Theatre
June 11, 2017
Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.

As an acting teacher there are scenes and monologues that you see a hundred times (as in the “care of the wig” scene) in this play.  After awhile you almost become numb to the scene as it becomes more of an academic exercise then a real story .  . . so it was nice to go back and discover the rich story that is here.

I am not sure if the young students that I took with me could really connect with the gut of this story.  Dealing with chronic, prolonged illness just changes everyone.  More than the patient, the entire house becomes a sick place.  And even more acutely the ones who are the caretakers are sicker than the patients.  This, I pray, is years and years away from the experience of these teenagers. Continue reading Marvin’s Room →

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Music, Lyrics, Book and Orchestration by Dave Malloy
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Imperial  Theatre
June 10, 2017
Production website
💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.

This musical was like a full exotic dinner with course after course of food that you could never imagine, served in a way you couldn’t anticipate, with a flavor that was both familiar and exotic.  That is my best shot at describing the “experience” of seeing the Great Comet.  The entire theatre had been gutted and made into a Russian beer hall.   A similar attempt was made by Broadway’s Cabaret a few years ago – but this TRULY took the idea and ran with it,   Food was served (or rather tossed) at the show’s beginning and much of the audience sat at candle lit tables. Continue reading Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 →

The Play That Goes Wrong
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields
Directed by Mark Bell
Lyceum Theatre
June 10, 2017
Production website
💉💉💉💉 out of 5.

One of my most favorite guilty pleasures in the theatre is British farce!  There is something about such a proper, well-speaking group like the Brits suffer hilariously in front of an audience – – and deliciously suffer they do in this play.  In the vain of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off we have the classic comedy about the farce making fun of making farces.  It may sound like an inside joke to theatre people, but it was not.  EVERYONE sitting around me was laughing from the start to the finish. Continue reading The Play That Goes Wrong →

Six Degrees of Separation
Written by John Guare
Directed by Trip Cullman
Starring Allison Janney,  John Hickey, and Corey Hawkins
Barrymore Theatre
April 14, 2017
Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.

“For each of our dysfunctions, there is someone out there eager to meet us.”  This is NOT a line from the play but a line I have learned from my life – – the hard way.  I saw Six Degrees of Separation almost 30 years ago and all I could remember was the nudity and the reckless inclusion of gay hustlers.  Beyond that I am not sure I could tell you the plot.  But I am some 30 years older and now able to focus on those things beyond the scintillating and grab more of the story. Continue reading Six Degrees of Separation →