OFF-BROADWAY THEATER REVIEWS

The legendary Puerto Rican salsa singer Hector Lavoe, who died of AIDS in 1993 at age 46, has been long gone when Paola Lazaro's humorous drama, Tell Hector I Miss Him, takes place, but his absence has the same symbolic meaning as when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel asked, 'Where have you gone, Joe Di...

As soon as you enter the Lortel for director Trip Cullman's tight and tense production of Anna Jordan's unsettling, hard-edged drama, YEN, the intention to catch audience members a little off-balance is evident....

When Jerry Herman was pegged by producer Gerard Oestreicher to write the score for a Broadway musical set in the fledgling State of Israel, he was a 28-year-old composer/lyricist mostly known for writing clever lyrics and snazzy tunes for Greenwich Village topical reviews like NIGHTCAP and PARADE. B...

Teetering somewhere between an incisive study of human fidelity and a sexy comedy of manners, Miles Malleson's Yours Unfaithfully is the kind of play that, under different circumstances, might have been made into a classic Hollywood romantic comedy starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall....

Recently arrived for its off-Broadway premiere at the New Victory Theater is Mo Willems' musical extravaganza 'Elephant & Piggie's We Are in a Play!,: written especially for the little guys in a theater that caters to children of all ages. When not watching their children squeal with laughter, even ...

Press performances for David Ives' sharp and funny verse comedy THE LIAR began just around the time when political headlines were being made about the phrase 'alternative facts.'...

Theatre enthusiasts will be thrilled by the LaBute New Theater Festival now onstage at 59E59 Theaters. There are four distinctive one-act plays being performed in the venue's intimate theater space through February 5th....

The New York premiere of Albatross is now onstage at 59E59 Theaters through Sunday, February 12th. This is a gripping one-man show written by Matthew Spangler and Benjamin Evett, directed by Rick Lombardo, and performed by Benjamin Evett....

'Are you ready for autobiographical solo performance!?!' Marga Gomez would enthusiastically ask the crowd to commence performances of her recently concluded run at the Public Theater's 2017 Under The Radar Festival....

Traditionally, you can regard the name of the Public Theater's annual January festival, Under The Radar, as a reference to the relative obscurity of the theatre companies and artists involved. But in the case of Belarus Free Theatre, the meaning is a bit more literal and a lot more serious....

You won't want to miss 'Made in China' now at the 59E59 Theaters through February 19th. It is an entertaining, socially relevant adult puppet show that is full of humor and heart....

The 1998 Tony Award ceremony was quite a history-making night, as THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE's Garry Hynes became the first woman to be awarded a Tony for directing a play. Her honor was received mere minutes before THE LION KING's Julie Taymor became the first woman awarded a Tony for directing a...

An eleven-year-old orphaned boy living with his uncle receives a letter telling him he will be a student at a British wizard's school - sound familiar? Think again. This isn't Potter, it's Puffs: Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, a 100-minute whirlwind play...

While the title MARK FELT, SUPERSTAR may receive befuddled reactions from those not fully familiar with American political scandals, you can't blame bookwriter/composer/lyricist Joshua Rosenblum for not naming his smart, breezy, informative and extremely enjoyable show 'Deep Throat, the musical.'...

When Americans think of the shows that entertained soldiers during World War II, visions of Bob Hope on a temporary outdoor stage wisecracking for thousands of servicemen, courtesy of the USO, are what usually comes to mind....

One can only imagine why a person chooses to write, filling the desolate borders of blank pages with untold stories; one can only imagine the reasons. It probably more often than not has to do with a need to create and less so the recognition or desire to see what comes of it. To dedicate a life to ...

Written by David Harms and directed by Drew Foster (in association with Skyhook Productions LLC) for its current run at the Clurman Theatre (NY's Theatre Row), What We Wanted is truly one of the most intriguing plays I have ever seen performed. After a few moments' adjustment in understanding exactl...

As the history books and Stephen Sondheim tell us, in 1853 Matthew C. Perry, Commodore of the United States Navy, sailed to Japan on a mission to forcibly end the island empire's policy of national seclusion and establish trade with America....

New York theatre stuck it to the patriarchy this year with healthy-for-the-soul offerings like A 24 Decade History of Popular Music, O, Earth, The Wolves, and more!...

'Life is for Living: Conversations with Coward' is now onstage at 59E59 Theaters through January 1st. This very engaging show is co-created and performed by Simon Green and David Shrubsole with research by Jason Morrell. The performance is an inspired tribute to the life and times of Sir Noel Coward...

While the McKittrick Hotel's ongoing attraction SLEEP NO MORE requires audience members to seek out its immersive entertainment as they venture from floor to floor and room to room, the venue's new co-tenant, the National Theatre of Scotland's delightful production of David Greig's cleverly done THE...

While David Yazbek's moxie-driven melodies and clever, character-creating lyrics are best known from his fast and funny Broadway hits THE FULL MONTY and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, his captivating and charming new Off-Broadway musical of cultural and romantic exchanges, THE BAND'S VISIT, begins with se...

'His Royal Hipness, Lord Buckley,' an outstanding production, is now at 59E59 Theaters through January 1st. Written and performed by Jake Broder and directed by David Ellenstein, there's no other stage show like it....

Since its first publication in 1843, Charles Dickens' holiday classic, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, has been adapted countless times for various stages, screens and pages, but undoubtedly the most authentic presentations of the story of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts who assist in his transformat...

Sometimes when somebody offers you a job you have no time for that's a lot of work for no pay and no credit you just have to reply, 'Yeah, I'm in.'...