In another theatrical era, a pair of crackerjack musical comedy clowns like Alli Mauzey and Josh Grisetti would be introducing inspired novelty songs by the likes of Porter and Berlin on numerous Broadway opening nights. In this era, their charismatic talents are currently on display in a more modest Off-Broadway venue. Click here for my full review of Red Eye Of Love. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Sunday, September 21, 2014 @ 08:49 PM Posted by: Michael Dale
The difference between innovative and gimmicky can probably be found somewhere in the thirty-seven years since A.R. Gurney's The Wayside Motor Inn premiered. Audience members are more likely to leave the Signature Theatre Company's lovely new mounting remembering the play's non-traditional structure more than any particular plot point but the combination of fine writing, filled with genuine humor and touching pathos, and a strong ensemble of performances guided by Lila Neugebauer's fluid direction make for a satisfying stay. Click here for my full review of The Wayside Motor Inn. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Sunday, September 21, 2014 @ 08:48 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
No spoilers here, but after 54 years Tom Jones has changed the final spoken line of The Fantasticks. It's not unusual for the musical's bookwriter/lyricist to do some occasional tinkering to his script. Most famously, the lyric to "It Depends On What You Pay" was revised to remove the numerous repeatings of the word "rape." Jones had meant the word to refer to a literary abduction, as in The Rape of The Sabine Women, but as contemporary audiences grew less comfortable with the word, he felt a change was necessary to make his intention clear. Visitors to the current mounting at the Jerry Orbach Theatre have certainly noticed a few new gags inserted and some bits of dialogue that make the characters' motivations more clear, but this latest change is a big one. The previous final line was one that plainly stated the theme of the muisical. The new one completely dismisses that original theme. In any case, The Fantasticks is in absolutely splendid shape. If you haven't treated yourself to this intimate treasure lately it's by all means worth a visit. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Saturday, September 06, 2014 @ 01:11 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
Naomi Wallace's intimate drama, And I And Silence, has one of those titles that sends a theatre critic attempting some pre-performance preparation scurrying through the Internet to see if it might be some kind of literary reference. Impressively, a Google search results in page upon page of articles about Wallace's play, which was commissioned by a London theatre company to tour prisons, before you get to a couple of links that show the phrase is lifted from Emily Dickenson's poem, "I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain." I'll leave it you, dear readers, to interpret any further connections. Click here for my full review of And I And Silence. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Monday, September 01, 2014 @ 01:08 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
Theresa Rebeck's latest good-looking bad boy that women find irresistible is a smug, condescending pseudo-intellectual with a sexy Irish accent who thinks Americans are stupid and aggressively insists that the word "good" has no meaning. Click here for my full review of Poor Behavior. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 @ 01:28 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
Posted on: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 @ 01:28 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
Two years ago, in the last major production of Jean Genet's The Maids to hit Manhattan, director Jesse Berger played up the voyeuristic aspect of the erotically intimate piece by having the audience view the play by peeping into a lady's boudoir through cut-out holes from all sides of a four-walled set. Director Benedict Andrews' new production, a Sydney Theatre Company import taking temporary residence at City Center as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, utilizes a more exhibitionist angle. Click here for my full review of The Maids. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 @ 01:27 AM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
A priest performs a ritual with holy water before Shakespeare's text takes over in director Daniel Sullivan's Delacorte production of King Lear, and indeed the ensuing three hours convey the feeling of witnessing a ritual rather than being moved by a great human tragedy. Click here for my full review of King Lear. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Saturday, August 09, 2014 @ 12:41 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
Something rare and wonderful happens during the second half of Cirque du Soleil's Varekai, a touring production now making a stop at the Barclays Center. One of the clown routines turns out to actually be funny. If that remark seems unnecessarily sarcastic, please keep in mind that, with all due respect to the undoubtedly talented artists I've witnessed performing clown routines through my years of reviewing their shows, the troupe has never exactly come close to Emmett Kelly territory. Click here for my full review of Varekai. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Saturday, August 09, 2014 @ 12:41 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
Playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis' knack for crackling, streetwise dialogue and tension-packed drama that glides seamlessly from gripping conflict to realistic hilarity is in fierce evidence in the Atlantic Theatre Company's premiere production of Between Riverside and Crazy. Veteran character man Stephen McKinley Henderson, primarily known to New York audiences for his memorable supporting turns, takes on the central role in director Austin Pendleton's deeply engaging production and delivers a powerful, pathos-filled portrayal of a noble but flawed man who may have taken his fight for justice too far. Click here for my full review of Between Riverside and Crazy. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Saturday, August 09, 2014 @ 12:41 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
Like the difference between East Coast Hip Hop and West Coast Hip Hop - which I couldn't explain even if you threatened me with bottom shelf gin - you might say New York theatre drag can be divided between the disciples of Charles Busch's Theatre-in-Limbo and Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company. In contrast to the elegance and RKO Hollywood inspired sophistication of Busch's high drag, the Ludlam school camps in earthier gothic tones that relish what some may deem as grotesque. Since the master of the ridiculous passed on in 1987, his esteemed artistic partner Everett Quinton, the long-time second banana of the duo, has been stepping into the spotlight on occasion, demonstrating his beloved expertise in a theatrical form that desperately needs preservation. Click here for my full review of Drop Dead Perfect. Click here to follow Michael Dale on Twitter.
Posted on: Saturday, August 09, 2014 @ 12:40 PM Posted by: Michael Dale | Leave Feedback
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Newest Entry 
About Michael: After 20-odd years singing, dancing and acting in
dinner theatres, summer stocks and the ever-popular
audience participation murder mysteries (try
improvising with audiences after they?ve had two hours
of open bar), Michael Dale segued his theatrical
ambitions into playwriting. The buildings which once
housed the 5 Off-Off Broadway plays he penned have all
been destroyed or turned into a Starbucks, but his
name remains the answer to the trivia question, "Who
wrote the official play of Babe Ruth's 100th
Birthday?" He served as Artistic Director for The
Play's The Thing Theatre Company, helping to bring
free live theatre to underserved communities, and
dabbled a bit in stage managing and in directing
cabaret shows before answering the call (it was an
email, actually) to become BroadwayWorld.com's first
Chief Theatre Critic. While not attending shows
Michael can be seen at Shea Stadium pleading for the
Mets to stop imploding. Likes: Strong book musicals
and ambitious new works. Dislikes: Unprepared
celebrities making their stage acting debuts by
starring on Broadway and weak bullpens.
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