2,405 stories by "Barry Gordin"
By Paulanne Simmons
July 16, 2025: It has been said, with a good deal of truth, that short stories make the best screenplays. This is certainly the case with the film, The Man Who Shot Lib…
By David Sheward
July 16, 2025: Unconventional storytelling methods are on display in two Off-Broadway productions, offering brave theatergoers unusual and exciting experiences. John Krasi…
A 1938 Radio Writers Room, as much refuge as employment
By Alix Cohen
July 13, 2025: Howard Edison (Dylan Smith) is new to a radio writers' room where personnel have been confederates for…
The Price of Popularity
By Alix Cohen
July 12, 2025: A splashy satire that bakes bullying, teenage suicide, and sexual assault in dark, subversive humor. Heathers has been around since th…
By David Sheward
July 11, 2025: Heathers the Musical (Off-Broadway at New World Stages) is one of many recent teen-angst tuners. Others of this new genre include Tony-winning Best Musicals …
By Samuel L. LeiterÂ
July 10, 2025: Eleven years ago, in 2014, I reviewed a show called Heathers: The Musical at New World Stages. So it wasn't very fresh in my mind when I visited its …
By Alix Cohen
July 8, 2025: On the fifth anniversary of Charles Kirsch's Backstage Babble, the young uber- fan/interviewer (250 and counting) again takes to the stage at 54Below to present…
By David Sheward
July 7, 2025: When Prince Harry of England married Meghan Markle, an African-American actress, in 2018, I was teaching high school. On the Monday morning after their royal…
By David Sheward
July 3, 2025: In a program note for her play Trophy Boys (at MCC Theater), Emmanuelle Mattana observes, "Gender is a scam but it is also a gift. Drag is radical joy and lib…
Behind every child who believes in themselves is a parent who believed first.
By Alix Cohen
June 30, 2025: Lorelei Edwards comes from a musical family. "I'm Irish/Italian. Everybody sing…
By Alix Cohen
June 28, 2025: Canada 2025 Duke, a successful, American rap artist, is questioned by an interviewer about a visit to Kabul, Afghanistan. At the insistence of his record comp…
By David Sheward
June 28, 2025: Two unconventional plays about odd romantic pairings recently opened Off-Broadway. Both attempt to tackle significant topics outside of the "boy-meets-girl"…
By Isa Goldberg
June 21, 2025: During gay pride one should experience at least one gay happening " it's a stereotypical thing to do. Such an event, Beau the Musical, performed on nativ…
By David Sheward
June 20, 2025: Moliere is having a modern moment. Two adaptations of the 17th century French playwright's comedies are now on display Off-Broadway. Both employ contemporar…
By Paulanne Simmons
June 17, 2025: Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid (Le Malade Imaginaire) premiered in 1673, but its themes of narcissism, greed and the failures of healthcare, are just as…
By Alix Cohen
June 15, 2025: As Producing Artistic Director of Musicals Tonight, Mel Miller began his endeavor with no experience managing to build an enthusiastic subscription audience fo…
By David Sheward
June 13, 2025: Even though there is much that is familiar in Call Me Izzy, Jamie Wax's new solo play at Studio 54, its star Jean Smart gives it a unique individual life. T…
By Samuel L. Leiter
(Note: Taylor Mac uses "judy" as a pronoun, but I've used conventional pronouns here.)
June 12, 2025: Molière, Molière, he's everywhere. Well, not quite, but certain…
By David Sheward
June 10, 2025: Donald Margulies' tender and moving new play Lunar Eclipse from Second Stage at the Signature Theater Center, is a simple, direct depiction of a long marria…
Potent and Beautifully Produced
By Alix Cohen
June 8, 2025: I'd be tempted to call this a perfect production were it not for the haunting Leonard Cohen quote, "There's a crack in everythi…
Photos from the 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards
June 1, 2024: The 69th Annual Drama Desk Awards held at the NYC Skirball Center on Sunday, June 1 hosted by Tituss Burgess and Debra Messing.
By Samuel L. Leiter
June 2, 2025: It's a bitter irony that, only days after the passing of Barry Gordin, Theater Life's beloved editor-in-chief, the first two shows I'm reviewing for it ar…
By Samuel L. Leiter
June 2, 2025: Molière's 1673 farce, The Imaginary Invalid, has had perhaps half a dozen professional New York revivals over the past century, most of short duration, a…
Purpose and Maybe Happy Ending win Outstanding Play and Outstanding Musical Awards. Maybe Happy Ending leads with 6 total wins across all categories.
June 3, 2025: The 69th Annual Drama De…
By Isa Goldberg
June 1, 2025: Among the worst nightmares is the one where you're watching a play, and the conversation on stage feels so deadly, the atmosphere so stifling, and the propose…
