Cellino v. Barnes Written by Mike B. Breen & David Rafailades Directed by Wesley Taylor & Alex Wyse AsylumNYC Theater October 10, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Anyone who has spent any time walking the streets of New York, looking at billboards or the sides of busses – but especially listening to TV and the radio has heard the ubiquitous, simple jingle of “Cellino and Barnes, Injury Attorneys, 1-800-888-8888.” It was EVERYWHERE!” When the firm fell apart in 2019, followed shortly after by the death of Barnes in a small-plane crash, it became a tale of machismo, hubris, and lawyers where were doing a few to many shady things on the side.
N/A Written by Mario Correa Directed by Diane Paulus Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center Theater June 15, 2024 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
N/A is a two woman play between N (a quite obvious Nancy Pelosi – right down to the look, clothes and hairstyle) and A (a near look-alike for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The two women meet on stage shortly after A has won the election to join the House of Representatives and makes her introduction to N. The playwright, Mario Correa, who actually served as a Congressional aide prior to writing this play, sets out to tell the story of the person whom many consider the most powerful woman in American history – and the “once-in-a-generation political talent who defied her.”
The Fires written and directed by Raja Feather Kelly Soho Repertory Theatre June 13, 2024 Production website 💉 out of 5.
The story focuses on 3 black men who live in the same claustrophobic “shotgun apartment” (a very shallow apartment that spans the entire width of the stage). The time happens over three different decades- but rather than tell the stories in different acts the stories overlap and brush up against each other. The principal character, Jay, owns the apartment and shares it with his lover, Jay. This relationship and story is set in 1974 as Jay struggles with mental illness and fills mountains of journals with stories of love and other obtuse family matters.
Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel directed by Charlotte Moore Irish Repertory Theatre June 12, 2024 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
Molly Sweeney tells the story of an independent, affable blind woman living a simple life in Northern Ireland. Her life takes a huge change in direction when she meets her husband who has a passion for self improvement and wonders if his wife’s sight can be restored. At his prompting, they seek out the advice of a surgeon who claims that although the success may be slim an operation is worth the risk. After all, what does she have to lose.
All of Me by Laura Winters directed by Ashley Brooke Monroe The New Group at Signature Theatre June 11, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉 out of 5.
All of Me is a boy-meets-girl romantic comedy that follows the love story between Lucy and Alfonso, who have a sweet first meeting outside in a hospital parking lot. Lucy, who dreams of being a jazz singer, and Alfonso, a healthcare researcher, face hurdles that have plagued lovers since time immemorial, including race, class, and disapproving mothers. But their story has an added layer: The dynamic pair use mobility devices and text-to-speech device and apps to communicate. It is interesting that what is very new to the audience – at least to me – is the text-to-speech device that gives that unmistakable “Stephen Hawking voice” is not what is the source of the conflict. The complex disability is really not the disability.
