Juan Michael Porter II - Page 3

This remarkable feat is the sort of thing that old school actors and worshipers of the craft fetishize over for hours. Galinsky's accomplishment as an actor and writer are such that one regrets that the production is less than exciting.

Somewhere within this exhausting exercise of cliches there is a joke about mustiness overtaking MUST.

Though these freedom fighters stand diametrically opposed to what I believe in, I recognized that they could have been members of my own family.

When Eliza McKelway picks up her guitar to sing one last song at the opening of the Vietnam War Memorial, a well spring of hope is unleashed.

NIGHT WITCH's tour de force physical production made use of evocative physical theatre effects, minimal production elements, and wonderful staging by Kathleen Anne Hefferon but failed to overcome its soggy script.

At curtain call I joined the entire audience in standing to applaud these excellent performers. I could have stood clapping all night.

Whether you have a child or are a child at heart, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR SHOW is a fabulous work of art that should be experienced by all.

Following a by-the-numbers formula, FERGUSON rolls out like the sketch of a LAW & ORDER episode during which the results are foretold without bothering to connect the dots.

Set in modern-day Red Bank, Tennessee, PETIE is essentially a Greek tragedy and like the heroes of those classics, Bonnie is a sad portrait of proud thoughtlessness that corrodes over self-inflicted loathing.

My jaw sat agape as tears of laughter rolled down my face for the full 5 minutes of UncleDave's Fight-House's gut busting fight choreography. Complete with Raul Abrego's gorgeous interactive set - the cloud by itself deserves awards - NEIGHBORS stands as the most fully realized production I have seen on or off-off-Broadway this year.

Somewhere in the second act of BLOOD BOUNDARY there is an interesting play to be found with alert performances and a powerful storyline that seamlessly resolves. Of course one has to sit through the long slog of act one's 'exposition mountain' to get to there.

Though effectively retired from performing since 1996, Darshan Singh Bhuller recently started taking classes at Gibney Dance and rehearsing Mark Morris Dance Center in NYC. The reason? He is dancing at the upcoming gala celebration honouring Nadine Senior, the founding principal of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance who passed in January 2016.

Moshe Yassur's direction is bold and intelligent. Eli Rosen's translation is clear. Susannah Norris-Lindsay's costumes are simple and effective. Unfortunately most of the performances are delivered in one mode: whiny, angsty, and loud.

This simple folk tale focuses on falling in love, taking on responsibility, and learning how to fly. Told through fantastic music, a clever use of masks, and puppetry, BEFORE THE SUN AND MOON casts a spell of enchantment across the entire audience.

The thunderclap of energy that opened LOVELESS TEXAS on Friday evening was enough to jolt even the most tired of businessmen awake. Almost everything about this joyful musical is first rate, from the production values to the amazing tech crew to the excellent performers who belt it out to the rafters.

LOVE IS DEAD! is a modern day penny-dreadful, though with more South Park style than Grand Guignol wit and style to balance it out.

This artfully square rendering of a radio studio serves as the set for Radicals in Miniature, an oral history that excavates the lives of non-celebrities. Created by Ain Gordon and Talvin Wilks - Gordon is joined in performance by Josh Quillen - Radicals begins with its performers chanting the word 'fan' over and over again while unleashing a litany of facts that would be obscure even if their subject matter weren't.

With much pretending at being someone who may or may not have been there - and tons of fun puns in this toiling word-play of a French farce - our minds are sent into a dizzying dervish of delight as the four main characters battle it out over who was a true genius and what the meaning of meaning amounts to once those geniuses have left the room.

The state of any company's dancing can be gauged by looking at how it performs its founder's work. Of course that is no easy feat to assess with City Ballet, what with its glorious repertoire. All the same, Wednesday October 12th's program found the company disconcertingly off the mark. In politics, we follow the money; in ballet, we follow the casting.

'Lovely, never, never change. Keep your breathless charm. Won't you please arrange it? 'Cause I love you.' Those glorious Dorothy Fields penned lyrics to Jerome Kern's evergreen 'The Way You Look Tonight' bubbled through my head during Kilowatts Dance Theatre's joyful performance of Jaime Shannon's 'Flights and Follys'. It was just a couple of swells dancing with their lady-friends to the type of tunes that Gram and Pops listened to when new; back when 'it weren't no sin' to revel in the unabashed sunshine of life. How wonderful to visit those times again.