BROADWAY THEATER REVIEWS

The first annual HARVARD-YALE CANTATA at Feinstein's/54 Below, a musical competition modeled on the legendary boat race, was nothing short of electrifying. The sold-out show directed and produced by Tom Toce (Yale '78) was one of those evenings that make you grateful and happy to live in New York am...

On September 16, 2016, Artistic Director, Miro Magloire, and company New Chamber Ballet, kicked off its' 2016-17 season with an exciting mix of old and new works at the City Center Studios. With this not being my first time seeing the troupe perform, I was curious what to expect since I saw them las...

Sunday, September 18, 2016 marked the First Anniversary of Philadelphia's The Rrazz Room at the Prince Theatre for proprietors Robert Kotonly and Rory Paull. One year to the day when Karen Mason thrilled the audience, the legendary stage and screen star Ms Betty Buckley took the stage with composer ...

For her soulful, imaginative rendering of jazz, pop, and R&B music, Los Angeles native and septuple MAC Award winner Natalie Douglas has earned raves for two decades from American and British critics alike. Superlatives like 'transcendent,' 'heart-stopping,' and '[the] greatest' pepper reviews both ...

In her tour de force, one-woman show REASONS TO BE UNSUCCESSFUL at the Metropolitan Room on September 2, comedian Theresa Kloos used her endearingly quirky sense of humor to bring the audience closer than we ever could have hoped for, in a night of comic showtunes, sassy pop songs, and spunky rock b...

While listening to baritone Rod Gilfry's masterful, mesmerizing performance in the world premiere of David Lang's monodrama, THE LOSER, at BAM's “Next Wave Festival,” I thought I could listen to him sing the telephone book. Come to think of it, he came pretty close to that, at BAM's Howard Gilma...

After hearing Leoncavallo's I PAGLIACCI, on New York City Opera's new double bill with Rachmaninoff's ALEKO, I'll never think of it the same way again....

Arriving on stage in a tear-away USA tracksuit to wow the crowd with 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' Kevin Smith Kirkwood looked every bit the part of Whitney Houston in the return of CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! at Joe's Pub on August 31. But as everyone knows, a diva is more than just clothes (although ...

It is an actor's intent as old as time not to become boxed into a certain type of role or performative style, be it the ingenue, the sassy sidekick, or the bad boy too smolderingly handsome for his own good (not the worst problem to have, frankly). One essential key to eluding that conundrum is the ...

Summertime brings to mind nighttime fireflies, lemonade that makes your lips pucker, rocking chairs creaking on the front porch, and, like the famous Porgy and Bess tune of the same name, melodies that trickle into the night. Summertime Swing is the latest masterpiece and collaboration at its finest...

In his new solo show at Joe's Pub, John Epperson, the adored drag artist widely known as his character Lypsinka, sits at the piano dressed conservatively in a green blazer, a rarity for him--- no flashy dresses, wigs, or makeup. For this show, he's performing not as Lypsinka but as himself. But t...

Keala Settle has made a name for herself in the Broadway landscape due diligently portraying supporting roles, be it the bigoted Shirley in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Norma in 2013's Hands on a Hardbody (a show-stopping performance for which she earned a Tony nomination), or the affectionate bu...

When one describes a meal or a performance as 'interesting,' it's usually a euphemism for awful, or at least deeply flawed. But Rosemary Loar's STING*chronicity, the musical theater and cabaret performer's second show devoted to Sting's songbook, is genuinely interesting---and ballsy. Featuring 13 c...

Two masters of shape and color across media bring their creations to Manhattan -- and prompt museum-goers to see modernism anew....

When a show at the Metropolitan Room starts over thirty minutes late because the staff is frantically trying to find chairs and room for the better part of New York's cabaret community, you know you're in store for something truly special. And unless there's a chair thief on the loose in Flatiron wh...

'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 ...

Occasionally in cabaret, one encounters a performer with 'star power.' Other times, one sees a legitimate star in a cabaret setting---say, Patti LuPone or Ben Vereen---and knows instantly why the person is a star. But in his Feinstein's/54 Below solo debut show, Tony Danza: Standards & Stories, Tony...

On August 16th 2016, opening night of a six-day run at the Joyce, BalletX did not disappoint dancegoers anticipating a taste of the quirky fare for which the troupe has become known. Billing itself as 'Philadelphia's premier contemporary ballet', the company has from its inception in 2005 been what ...

A highlight of this year's Erasing Borders Festival was that it took place on Indian Independence Day; perhaps that is why each artist infused the work with such celestial splendor. We opened with Carolina Prada of Colombia - who is based in New Dehli, India - performing the choreography of her Guru...

A gracious speech given by Jonathan Hollander - Artistic Director of Battery Dance Company - opened the 35th annual Battery Dance Festival. There was a welcome emphasis on all that went into making this festival possible, including calls for thanks to: Council member Margaret Chin and her continued ...

'At last, at last, at long last.' These are the lyrics which ushered in the emotional climax of Broadway's Bright Star, the North Carolina-set musical which burned fast and, well, bright this past season on Broadway. So, too, did these lyrics close out the solo concert debut of the musical's inca...

The Illuminati Ball is indeed spectacular, though without divulging details I am sworn to keep secret, I cannot do justice to an experience which began on a rainy Saturday evening at 6PM on the Upper East Side---where a luxury limousine bus picked up 30 formally-attired 'candidates' for the Illumina...

'I hope you're not here to be entertained.' Norbert Leo Butz was all about managing expectations as he kicked off his week-long stint at Feinstein's/54 Below on August 5, though he had no reason to be worried. The two-time Tony Award winner (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can) has alrea...

Andy Mientus won a fictional Tony Award on television before ever actually having appeared on Broadway. However, following his concert debut with Teen Commandments at Feinstein's/54 Below on August 2, the first of a two-show engagement, it became clear that his fake Tony win may very well have been ...

Although the Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre has performed in NYC before, the company's appearance from August 4th to 6th 2016 as the second half of the American Dance Festival's first season in the Big Apple included the New York debut of Herrera's Carne Viva. The work was commissioned by ADF....