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→
Eclipsed
starring Lupita Nyong’o
written by Danai Gurira
directed by Liesl Tommy
Golden Theatre
June 18, 2016 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
It is hard to believe that a play created as a female-driven drama about sex slavery and genocide could make to the same Broadway that features Dirty Rotten Scoundrels across the street and School of Rock a few blocks away. Much of this success is due to the debut of Academy Award winning Lupita Wyong’o who has stepped away from her Lancome cosmetic ads to tell this story of 5 women trapped in a Nigerian camp where they survive by selling their bodies. What a transition this young actress has made! Continue reading Eclipsed→
Hughie
written by Eugene O’Neill
starring Forest Whitaker
directed by Michael Grandage
Booth Theatre
March 23, 2016 Production website
💉💉💉💉 out of 5
Stuck in the lobby.
I often talk with my students – particularly my seniors about how much of their senior year is spent in the “hallway” between the world of high school/adolescence and the next, soon to be open, door of their adulthood. It sucks to spend time in the hallway, I get it. Continue reading Hughie→
My body tingled from the very first moment – – and all the way through the curtain call. I tingled. The hair stood up on my arms. I was in theatre nirvana. Never for a moment did I disengage from this show. In fact I tried to sit in the audience after the curtain call just to enjoy the high of the show for as long as I was able. Continue reading Spring Awakening→
This play has appeared on my Theatre History test for the last 25 years. The question reads, “What classic naturalistic novel established the writing career of Emile Zola?” The answer is – – you got it!
I was so anxious to see this almost-never-done play to see if my lectures had any truth to them. To begin, I thought it a bit odd that this production was on Broadway. To me this play just seems to scream Off-Broadway. How in the world did this choice translate to the huge Studio 54 venue? I was more then curious. Continue reading Therese Raquin→
School of Rock
