OFF-BROADWAY THEATER REVIEWS

'Vassar. See yourself there,' a successful adult advises a high school student who has impressed him with her talent for writing poetry, but not with her low expectations for securing a spot in a good college....

Commencing in 1958, Chairman Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward was a 5-year plan to convert Communist China's largely agricultural economy into government-run farming collectives, freeing up resources for manufacturing and building infrastructure. It didn't end well....

Secret Life of Humans, written by David Byrne, directed by David Byrne & Kate Stanley is now being performed at 59E59 Theaters through July 1. There's no other show quite like this. It has an intriguing plot, a talented cast, and clever staging that makes the production totally unique....

From the mid-1960s through to the early years of this century, the musicals scored by the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb have exemplified Broadway pizzazz while exploring darker issues under the glitzy polish....

Now playing at the Lion Theatre in Times Square, Stage Life is truly an ode not only to the actor, but anyone who has ever been inspired by the theater to make it their life's work. From actor to playwright, to producer and teacher alike, this is theater in its truest, diverse and most appreciated f...

The fact that Broadway hasn't seen fit to provide a role for Lois Smith in over twenty years can be regarded as one of the top arguments denouncing the popular assumption that Times Square is where you go to take in the best of New York theatre....

The setup would make a hell of a piece of theatrically-minded erotica. Call it Cat (On A Hot Tin Roof) and Mouse, as sexual sparks ignite when elegant playwright on the verge of stardom, Tennessee Williams, visits the home of shy aspiring playwright William Inge for a newspaper interview to promote ...

There's an empty casket on display and a pants-less mourner screaming. 'What kinda fuckin' world is this?!' when the lights suddenly go up on Stephen Adly Guirgis' wild New York escapade, Our Lady of 121st Street....

Depending on how snobby you are about the belief that no American play can truly be said to have premiered until it has opened in New York, Paradise Blue, the ravishing new jazz noir drama by Dominique Morisseau is either the second or third installment in the playwright's trilogy set in her hometow...

Brits Off-Broadway 2018 continues at 59E59 Theaters with the highly acclaimed production of 'Operation Crucible.' Make time to see it. The show will be on the Upper East Side stage through June 3....

Ranking up there with MEDEA and OEDIPUS REX, Eugene O'Neill's family tragedy LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT would most likely make any playgoer's list of inappropriate classics to revive on Mother's Day weekend....

Playgoers in the know will arrive at any production of the 1937 West End smash ME AND MY GIRL already humming a bit of its legendary Act I closer 'The Lambeth Walk,' looking forward to a rousing showstopper where composer Noel Gay's peppy earworm is matched with co-bookwriter/lyricists L. Arthur Ros...

'How're you gonna cap off your prepubescent years?', a stony-faced teacher asks his competitive dance team members, shortly after winning a competition that saw one of their own suffer a season-ending injury....

Though the characters in bookwriter/lyricist Bill Russell and composer Janet Hood's sweet, funny and very entertaining new musical UNEXPECTED JOY are all women, there's a guy in the mix who still has a lot to say....

The stage is set and the time is now to get tickets for A Brief History of Women. It is being performed as part of the Brits Off-Broadway 2018 at 59E59 Theaters. This production is brilliantly written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn and features a superb cast....

Despite only three Broadway credits, Marin Ireland must be regarded as one of the absolute best actors to regularly grace New York stages during this century. Through her steady work Off-Broadway (15 productions since 2001 and playing leading roles for several of the city's major non-profits) local ...

The Brits off Broadway Festival at 59E59 Theaters continues with the United States premiere of 'Replay,' a one-woman play that will be on stage through May 13. Written and performed by Nicola Wren, it is directed by George Chilcott. With Wren's talent for storytelling and Chilcott's superb direction...

'Raise your hand if you've ever been underestimated,' instructs Program Director Stephanie Ybarra before every performance of Shakespeare's HENRY V, as performed by The Public Theater's Mobile Unit....

The New York City premiere of 'We Live By The Sea' is now on stage at 59E59 Theaters through Sunday, May 6. It is an insightful portrayal of a teenager on the autism spectrum that shouldn't be missed. This is a show that both entertains and informs....

"When I was young I was taught by my grandmother to listen to the night," says the title character of Lynn Nottage's nobly lyrical drama of the ivory trade, MLIMA'S TALE....

The willingness to suspend disbelief is a long-standing tradition in live theatre, and as long as playwrights and directors firmly establish their boundaries of realism, it's reasonable for audience members to go along with them....

The New York City premiere of The Edge of Our Bodies is now being performed at 59E59 Theaters through April 22. Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist, Adam Rapp and directed by Jacqueline Stone, this is a coming of age story like no other. The show stars Carolyn Molloy who performs Rapp's well-crafted ...

The current American president is never mentioned in bookwriter/lyricist Quiara Alegria Hudes and composer/lyricist Erin McKeown's lovely and touching chamber musical MISS YOU LIKE HELL.  But even though the piece has been in development well before anyone thought of the former reality TV star as a...

Magazine ads and television commercials may reach millions more, but perhaps the highest compliment I can pay Havana Club Rum's immersive theatre experience, AMPARO, is that it effectively guides visitors through a brief history of the company's trailblazing founding family, including generous taste...

Older character men hungry for fresh scenery to chew will certainly look forward to the day when Shem Bitterman's The Stone Witch becomes available for regional and amateur productions....