ROCKLAND / WESTCHESTER THEATER REVIEWS

What did our critic think of ITALIAN AMERICAN RECONCILIATION at Elmwood Playhouse?...

What did our critic think of THE GREATER NEWBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOW at Acquainas Hall?...

The excellent ensemble's work across the board is as riveting as it is skillful, testament also to director Kathleen Mahan...

What did our critic think of A DIVINE SISTER ACT AT ACT at Actors Conservatory Theatre? Actors Conservatory Theatre brings a delightfully entertaining production to Bronxville’s Taylor Hall. Based on the hilarious 1992 hit film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Sister Act, received five Tony Award nominat...

The Dumb Waiter is built with the trademark tropes and techniques that comprise a vintage Pinter. There is no room – or need – for exposition, so if you’re waiting to discern a decipherable story line, you might as well be waiting for Godot....

In 3-Way Stop, a threesome of short plays on stage through Oct. 29 at Schoolhouse Theater in Croton Falls (Putnam County, N.Y.), playwright James Sheldon brings to the fore miniature slices of life that cut close to the bone – sibling rivalry, marital meanderings, the search for life’s meaning (...

What did our critic think of THE TOXIC AVENGER at Town Players Of New Canaan? The show is a comic satire with an irreverent, kooky edge, similar in style to “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Urinetown” and “Zombie Prom”. The opening number describes the play’s setting as “a place between ...

When I heard that The Katonah Classic stage was doing a Harold Pinter Festival, I was pleasantly surprised! Pinter in the Hudson Valley? The last time I saw any Pinter was on a long-ago trip to London....

THE PINTER PLAY FESTIVAL at KATONAH CLASSIC STAGE is performed by a professional cast and crew in a beautiful theater. You'll have enough money left over for dinner and drinks next door....

What did our critic think of LET THERE BE LOVE at Penguin Rep? Quite often dramas concerning race, immigration, family squabbles (and other issues that we can’t reveal here without spoiling) tend to be in-your-face, preachy and heavy-handed.  “Let There Be Love” is a play about all of the for...

What did our critic think of DRACULA at Elmwood Playhouse?...

What did our critic think of GENE AND GILDA at Penguin Rep?...

In 'Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help,' playwright Katie Forgette mixes nostalgia with timeless lessons about the folly and disservice of parental stereotypes, and the abuse of power by the powers that be, a role that, in this case, is portrayed by organized religion....

1994, I was crazy in love with Sally Murphy.  She was starring in the Lincoln Center theater import of Nicholas Hytner’s National Theater production of Carousel.  I got a friend who works at Lincoln Center to give me a tour backstage, in hope of “running into” Sally.   Long story short, I ...

For this production, tables and chairs have been pushed to the perimeter, lining the parallel side walls that face each other. That leaves the middle of the room and the fore and aft walls for the performers to move about, and move they do, in constantly fluid motion, under the sure-handed and sure-...

What did our critic think of POPCORN FALLS at Penguin Rep?...

What did our critic think of LATER LIFE at Katonah Classic Stage?...

Whether or not you've heard of art immortal Mark Rothko, John Logan's 'Red' is thrilling, mind-expanding theater that plumbs the human condition with vibrant dramaturgy and acting and stagecraft...

The good news is that almost all the seven short pieces (averaging 10 minutes each) in RTB’s 2023 menu of theatrical hor d'oeuvres justify their place in the program well enough. Nobody will leave hungry for diverting entertainment.  ...

Henry Fielding's picaresque plot animated by witty lyrics from playwright Cary Gitter and ear-pleasing music by Max Silverman performed by a standout quintet of singing actors add up to a tour de force of a farce....

Creating an ambitious odyssey of time travel based on three short stories from Tom Hanks's collection 'Uncommon Type' sounds like an intriguing idea ... on paper. The challenge is how to transfer it effectively from page to stage. In its current form, it feels more like a workshop than a ready-for-p...

The show made a splash on Broadway a dozen years ago, garnering several Tony Awards, mainly in the craft categories (scenic design, sound, lighting, choreography). The sketchy book is like a sketchbook of rapid-fire episodes that leans heavily on the strength of the ensemble to pull it off. This ens...

Gunderson’s characters are two high school seniors who could not be more unlike each other. Yet, as we find out, they end up soulmates in the most surreal way imaginable....

Apart from the infectious, wall-to-wall music, which is rousingly played live on stage by all the actors, what makes Million Dollar Quartet a crowd-pleaser is the interpersonal dramas driven by the egos of four pop music pioneers.  ...