Recent Comments
Richard Warren on “Raisin in the Sun… Brandon M. Stickney on A New “1776” Richard L Warren on As You Kink It Sylvia Toone on As You Kink It Richard L Warren on Watching a TV series reminds m…
Category Archives: theater
“Raisin in the Sun” at the Public
The first grown-up straight play I remember seeing was Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun in Chicago. I didn’t see it the first time it played Chicago, when it stopped there on its way to Broadway in February 1959 … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, Chicago theater, drama, film adaptation, New York, off-Broadway, playwriting, theater
Tagged Claudia Cassidy, Claudia McNeil, Danny Glover, Diana Sands, Esther Rolle, Francois Battiste, Jonathan Miller, Lloyd Richards, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Lorraine Hansberry, New York Public Theater, Phylicia Rashad, Raisin in the Sun, Robert O'Hara, Sean Combs, Sidney Poitier, Tonya Pinkins
1 Comment
As You Kink It
Because of serendipitous scheduling, I saw Kinky Boots on a matinee and the New York Shakespeare production of As You Like It that night. Kinky Boots is about a guy who gets to say and do some things because he … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, Chicago theater, drama, improvisation, musicals, New York, off-Broadway, theater, Uncategorized
Tagged Adrian Lester, As You Like It, BAM, Beauty and the Beast, Callum Francis, Cheek by Jowl, Christian Douglas, Cyndi Lauper, Danielle Hope, Harvei Fierstein, Henry V, Horacio Quiroga, Juan Darien Julie Taymor, King Boots, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Shaina Taub, Viola Spolin, William Shakespeare
2 Comments
“Hyprov”
I remember someone bringing up Whose Line Is It Anyway? to Del Close, the Chicago improvisational theater master. A student said something to Del about the players on the show flying without a net. Del retorted, “They may be flying … Continue reading
Review: “Heart” with Jade Anouka
If you saw Phyllida Lloyd’s series of Shakespeare productions set in a women’s prison you likely remember what an arresting impression Jade Anouka made as Mark Antony and Hotspur. She has returned to New York in a solo piece called … Continue reading
Posted in New York, off-Broadway, theater
Tagged Audible.com, Jade Anouka', Ola Ince, phyllida lloyd
Leave a comment
“The Bedwetter” and “Mr. Saturday Night”
Two new musicals are co-written by people who came to fame via stand-up comedy. Mr. Saturday Night, the Billy Crystal vehicle (which he co-wrote with Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, composer Jason Robert Brown and lyricist Amanda Green) is about … Continue reading
Telling it Clearly — “Macbeth” vs. “Cyrano”
I’m a story guy. I think the roots of the theater lie in people sharing stories. I’ve written before about a conversation I had in the mid-Seventies with novelist Louis L’Amour that influenced my thinking. He described how Native Americans, … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, drama, New York, off-Broadway, theater
Tagged BAM, Betrayal, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cyrano, Daniel Craig, Evelyn Miller, Harold Pinter, Ivo Van Hove, James Mcavoy, Jamie Lloyd, Louls L'Amour, Macbeth, Othello, Ruth Negga, Sam Gold, Shakespeare
Leave a comment
“American Buffalo” on Broadway
In 2001, I served on a grand jury. At one point, an ADA played for us a recording from a wiretap. It was a conversation between two members of a violent drug gang. One was assigning the other to kill … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, Chicago theater, drama, improvisation, playwriting, Second City, theater, Uncategorized
Tagged American Buffalo, David Mamet, Harold Pinter, Neil Pepe, St. Nicholas Theater
2 Comments
SPACE DOGS and ENGLISH
It’s no surprise that American playwrights usually write plays set in America. It is a little surprising that three current off-Broadway plays by American playwrights are, in fact, set outside our borders. I wrote recently about Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for … Continue reading
Posted in drama, off-Broadway, playwriting, theater
Tagged Atlantic Theater, English, Laika, Manhattan Class Company, Nick Blaemire, Sanaz Toossi, Space Dogs, Stalin, Van Hughes
Leave a comment
Thoughts on “Prayer For the French Republic”
At a time when we’ve gotten used to tasty 90-minute hors d’oeuvres, it’s exhilarating to encounter a play with enough on its mind to hold the attention for three hours (including two 10-minute intermissions). Joshua Harmon’s Prayer For the French … Continue reading
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night” – sort of
The program that comes with the off-Broadway production at the Minetta Lane Theater says the play on offer is Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill. And it’s true that every word spoken on the stage is by O’Neill. … Continue reading
Jeffrey Sweet--Making the Scene 