Off-Broadway Theater Reviews

Review - One Arm

by Ben Peltz — June 19, 2011

There's much to be admired in director/adaptor Moises Kaufman's staging of Tennessee Williams' unproduced screenplay based on his 1942 short story, One Arm.

Review - The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World

by Michael Dale — June 14, 2011

Although there have been previous productions of The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World since the musical premiered in Los Angeles eight years ago, thanks to a 13-year-old girl's fondness for Friday, the show has never been more relevant.

Review - A Little Journey

by Ben Peltz — June 7, 2011

Though playwright Rachel Crothers was regarded as the toast of the town for many a Broadway season - she had 29 plays debut there in the years between 1906 and 1940 - she's scarcely know by 21st Century playgoers.

Review - I Married Wyatt Earp

by Ben Peltz — June 6, 2011

Under Artistic Director Cara Reichel, the Prospect Theater Company has earned a reputation for presenting unconventional musicals that explore interesting topics and their newest entry, I Married Wyatt Earp, co-produced with New York Theatre Barn as part of 59E59 Theater's 'Americas Off Broadway' se

BE CAREFUL! THE SHARKS WILL EAT YOU! Now through June 11th at the Stage Left Studio

by Trish Vignola — June 5, 2011

Be Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You! continues its run at the Stage Left Studio.

Review - Jesus, It's a Woman!

by Ben Peltz — May 28, 2011

Though the current tenants at the Eugene O'Neil claim to be presenting 'God's Favorite Musical,' the new gang moving into Circle In The Square this October may have something to say about that as the first Broadway revival of Godspell gears up for a November 7th opening.

Review - The Best Is Yet To Come: The Music of Cy Coleman

by Ben Peltz — May 26, 2011

With an uneventful 6pm coming and going on the evening of May 21st, I rested comfortably that night secure in the knowledge that any predictions of the arrival of Judgment Day were, at the very least, miscalculations.

Review - Knickerbocker: And None Of That Jazz

by Ben Peltz — May 20, 2011

Those who miss the patter of little urbanites that made Thursday night sitcoms so popular in the 1990s should welcome the arrival of Jonathan Marc Sherman's angsty new comedy, Knickerbocker; a play generously populated by an assortment of smart, funny and hip New Yorkers whose charm lies in their ab

Review - By The Way, Meet Vera Stark

by Ben Peltz — May 10, 2011

While older plays can often be interpreted to suit modern tastes and standards, films serve as permanent records of the public attitudes of their times; particularly when considering the ways ethnic minorities were portrayed.

BWW Reviews: If You Wanna Bump It...Gotham Burlesque at The Triad NYC

by Trish Vignola — May 8, 2011

Gotham Burlesque however breaks through the malaise of this neo-burlesque to give the audience a thoroughly fun ninety minutes.

Review - The School For Lies & Celebrate Hope

by Ben Peltz — May 5, 2011

Review - Go Back To Where You Are: Queer Interlude

by Ben Peltz — April 13, 2011

'This is kind of a weird play.

Review - Urge For Going

by Ben Peltz — April 11, 2011

'One man's facts are another man's fabrications,' notes Ghassan (Ted Sod) as he and several other characters in Mona Mansour's Urge For Going try to explain to the audience the circumstances that brought this family of Palestinian Arabs to live in a South Lebanese refugee camp that has been serving

Review - Marie and Bruce: Screams From A Marriage

by Ben Peltz — April 6, 2011

'Let me tell you something.

Review - Double Falsehood & The Broadway Musicals of 1932

by Ben Peltz — March 25, 2011

For nearly 300 years, theatre scholars have doubtEd Lewis Theobald's claim that his Double Falsehood was an adaptation of Cardenio, a lost collaboration by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher.

Review - Hello Again

by Ben Peltz — March 23, 2011

No, dear playgoers, the fact that you've ventured into an unmarked building on a dark SoHo street, walked down a long hallway draped in red and are now in an open loft sitting mere inches away from a young couple enthusiastically going at it in a standing position up against one of the building's pi

Review - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

by Ben Peltz — March 22, 2011

With a solidly funny book by Larry Gelbart and Bert Shevelove and a clever, under-appreciated score by Stephen Sondheim (It remains Broadway's only Best Musical Tony-winner with eligible music and lyrics that were not even nominated for Best Score.

Review - Where's Charley?: The Guy's Only Doing It For Some Doll

by Ben Peltz — March 19, 2011

Although I'll admit to not being completely familiar with Cole Porter's See America First and George M.

Review - Things To Ruin: It's Only Musical Theatre But I Like It

by Ben Peltz — March 18, 2011

Stephen Sondheim famously commented that his Sweeney Todd is an opera when performed in an opera house and a musical when performed in a theatre.

Review - Cactus Flower: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

by Ben Peltz — March 12, 2011

Though the sexual revolution was revving into full force in 1965, you'd never know it by America's popular entertainment.

Review - Peter and the Starcatcher: Never Again

by Ben Peltz — March 10, 2011

The thought crossed my mind more than once during the intermission of Rick Elice's delightfully funny romp, Peter and the Starcatcher, now playing at the New York Theatre Workshop.

BWW Reviews: Rude Mechs Take Aim at Gurus with THE METHOD GUN

by Molly Hagan — March 10, 2011

Austin, Texas-based ensemble, The Rude Mechanicals (fondly known as the Rude Mechs) are creating a spectacle at the Dance Theater Workshop with Kirk Lynn's THE METHOD GUN.

Review - Timon of Athens: I Just Want Someone to Love Me... For My Money!

by Ben Peltz — March 2, 2011

It isn't just Curtis Moore's action-accenting electric guitar licks that give Richard Thomas a rock star presence in director Barry Edelstein's swift and rowdy production of Timon of Athens, a stinging morality tale attributed as a collaboration of sorts between William Shakespeare and the younger s

Review - Compulsion

by Ben Peltz — February 19, 2011

The most touching, delicately nuanced and beautifully realized work in The Public Theater's premiere production of Compulsion is, quite honestly, a wooden performance.