After 20-odd years singing, dancing and acting in dinner theatres, summer stocks and the ever-popular audience participation murder mysteries (try improvising with audiences after they?ve had two hours of open bar), Michael Dale segued his theatrical ambitions into playwriting. The buildings which once housed the 5 Off-Off Broadway plays he penned have all been destroyed or turned into a Starbucks, but his name remains the answer to the trivia question, "Who wrote the official play of Babe Ruth's 100th Birthday?" He served as Artistic Director for The Play's The Thing Theatre Company, helping to bring free live theatre to underserved communities, and dabbled a bit in stage managing and in directing cabaret shows before answering the call (it was an email, actually) to become BroadwayWorld.com's first Chief Theatre Critic. While not attending shows Michael can be seen at Citi Field pleading for the Mets to stop imploding. Likes: Strong book musicals and ambitious new works. Dislikes: Unprepared celebrities making their stage acting debuts by starring on Broadway and weak bullpens.
Review: AFTER MIDNIGHT Shimmers with Harlem Elegance
November 3, 2013
November 3, 2013
The new song and dance review features an all-star jazz orchestra and a dazzling company saluting the music and styles of Duke Ellington and The Harlem Renaissance.
Review: Taylor Mac's The Brecht Girl in THE GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN
October 30, 2013
October 30, 2013
Director Lear DeBessonet and star Taylor Mac turn Bertolt Brecht's morality parable into a rollicking good time.
Review: Wallace Shawn An Unlikely Stud in GRASSES OF A THOUSAND COLORS
October 28, 2013
October 28, 2013
Wallace Shawn spends most of his three and a half hour play talking about his penis. I'm not exaggerating.
Review: SMILE Gets Its Teeth Back
October 28, 2013
October 28, 2013
Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Ashman's short-lived beauty pageant musical is revived by Musicals Tonight! in a version that restores its pre-Broadway satirical tone.
Review: THE SNOW GEESE Sees America Through Chekhovian Eyes
October 24, 2013
October 24, 2013
Sharr White's drama of a family losing its wealth is enhanced by Daniel Sullivan's handsome, mostly well-acted production,
Review: Kron and Tesori's FUN HOME a Thrilling and Brave New Musical
October 23, 2013
October 23, 2013
Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori's adaptation of Alison Bechdel's graphic novel demands to be seen by anyone who takes musical theatre seriously.
Review: A TIME TO KILL Explores Courtroom Racism and Justifiable Murder
October 20, 2013
October 20, 2013
Rupert Holmes' stage adaptation of John Grisham's novel has a black man in 1980s Mississippi on trial for murdering the white men who raped and beat his 10-year-old daughter.
Review: Masterful Rees Heads THE WINSLOW BOY
October 17, 2013
October 17, 2013
Roger Rees leads an excellent ensemble in Lindsay Posner's crackling production of Terence Rattigan's drama of family honor.
Review: ROMEO AND JULIET: It's Not Shakespeare, It's HBO
October 17, 2013
October 17, 2013
Elizabeth Olsen's Juliet makes a good argument that William Shakespeare's tragedy of teenage lust could have been submitted as a continuing arc for Lena Dunham's hit series, Girls.
Review: Margulies' Disturbing Comedy THE MODEL APARTMENT
October 16, 2013
October 16, 2013
Primary Stages revives Donald Margulies' 1995 dark comedy about a pair of Holocaust survivors still trying to escape.
Review: Musicals Tonight! Offers Cole Porter Rarity, MEXICAN HAYRIDE
October 14, 2013
October 14, 2013
The 1944 comic romp that starred Bobby Clark and June Havoc returns to New York for the first time.
Review: Davies a Knockout in A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN
October 10, 2013
October 10, 2013
Mary Bridget Davies provides powerful full-throated vocals and an empathetic performance in Randy Johnson's concert-style bio-musical.
Review: BRONX BOMBERS Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
October 9, 2013
October 9, 2013
Eric Simonson's fantasy/drama about Yankee Pride is heavy on sentiment, but thin on content.
Review – HONEYMOON IN VEGAS: Snazzy, Jazzy and Hilarious
October 8, 2013
October 8, 2013
Jason Robert Brown and Andrew Bergman's big fat hilarious new musical comedy has old-school Broadway smash written all over it.
Review - BIG FISH Makes Wholesome The New Hip
October 6, 2013
October 6, 2013
Susan Stroman and Norbert Leo Butz deliver their best Broadway work in Andrew Lippa and John August's celebration of an everyday man who fights the dragons.
Review - Bridgewater Sublime in Cliché-Ridden LADY DAY
October 4, 2013
October 4, 2013
Dee Dee Bridgewater gives a terrific performance as Billie Holiday, but the play is a clunky collection of cliches.
Review – THE GLASS MENAGERIE Glimmers in Tiffany's Breathtaking Production
September 26, 2013
September 26, 2013
The theatre magic on display in director John Tiffany's production is the result of a masterful play being interpreted with sensitive, theme-enhancing imagination and acted to perfection by an extraordinary ensemble.
Review – ARGUENDO Riffs on the Legality of Public Nudity
September 24, 2013
September 24, 2013
Elevator Repair Service uses the text of a Supreme Court case regarding strip clubs and the First Amendment for a zany comedic rebellion.
Review - PHILIP GOES FORTH Saps Romantic Delusion From 1930s Bohemia
September 22, 2013
September 22, 2013
Mint Theater offers an enjoyable revival of George Kelly's 1931 look at downtown struggling artists.
Review – ROMEO AND JULIET: Deny Thy Director and Refuse Thy Production
September 19, 2013
September 19, 2013
David Leveaux's soggy production lacks tension, passion and romance.
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