Paint Your Wagon (Encores Musicals in Concert, New York, March 2015)
By my count, Encores, now in its 22nd year, has produced 65 musicals (not counting some gala concert evenings, and a couple […]
Macbeth (Arden Theatre, March 2015)
Thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it. Thus Shakespeare’s Lady pithily sums up her […]
I Want to Love Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — But …
Is there a more fertile comic imagination today than Tina Fey’s? Collaborating on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with co-creator Robert Carlock, the wit […]
Field Hockey Hot (11th Hour: Adrienne Theatre)
Remember that Robert Frost’s poem about the importance of taking the right road? Well, Monday night, I took the low road – and […]
Ariadne auf Naxos (Curtis Opera Theatre / Opera Philadelphia: Perelman Theater)
Every time I immerse myself in Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Ariadne auf Naxos (and I do, often – decades ago, I even wrote […]
Stairs to the Roof (EgoPo Classic Theatre) — and the Unpredictable Magic of Tennessee Williams
Among my favorite writers (in any language, in any genre), there’s a special place for Tennessee Williams. Of course, like theater goers […]
Oscars 2015 — Bah, Humbug
I saw more movies-in-theatres this year than I have in ages, but still managed to miss a number of important nominees in […]
The Cherry Orchard (People’s Light, February 2015) — and the Joys and Perils of Chekhov
Last week, I saw The Cherry Orchard at People’s Light. Before commenting on that estimable, thought-provoking and often excellent production, please humor […]
DF Reviews The Whale (Theatre Exile, February 2015)
It hit me the minute the curtain went up on The Whale, Samuel D. Hunter’s marvelous, heartbreaking play, in an exceptionally fine […]
DF Reviews Mothers and Sons (Philadelphia Theatre Company, February 2015)
“Sometimes – there’s God – so quickly!,” Tennessee Williams famously wrote. Here, though, He doesn’t show up till 9:15. Roughly 70 minutes […]
reclining standards 