103 stories by "Jesse Oxfeld"
Playwright Robert O'Hara considers how family stereotypes and racial politics clash with reality during a raucous drug intervention in this Public Theater premiere.read more
The Atlantic Theater Company stages the first major New York revival of Caryl Churchill's landmark 1979 comedy about gender politics and sexual identity.read more
Christopher Abbott, Georgia Engel and Lois Smith star in this contemplative new work by Annie Baker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright behind 'The Flick.'read more
The short take on Long Story Short: It's fine.
'If/Then'
Mothers and SonsGolden TheatreOpens March 24Terrence McNally's latest stars the indefatigable Tyne Daly as a mother who pays an unexpected visit to her dead son's former partner 20…
Bryan Cranston in 'All the Way.' (Photo by Joan Marcus)
The curse, and the blessing, of an initials-based moniker is that those simple, monosyllabic sounds rhyme with so much. There's "Hey, …
Lauren Valez and Anthony Chisholm in 'The Happiest Song Plays Last.'
In early 2012, Quiara AlegrÃa Hudes won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. A year later, her prize-winning work, Water By t…
You gotta get a gimmick, a trio of wise women once advised. But to succeed on Broadway these days, what you really need is a star. Mounting a Broadway show has become so expensive, and the b…
You gotta get a gimmick, a trio of wise women once advised. But to succeed on Broadway these days, what you really need is a star. Mounting a Broadway show has become so expensive, and the b…
'Almost, Maine.'
If you're going to object to Almost, Maine"that it's too saccharine, too sentimental, a little too impressed with its own quirkiness"then its title is as good a place as any…
Frank Langella in 'King Lear.' (Photo by Johan Persson)
Ruth Snyder, whom Wikipedia pithily if reductively identifies as "an American murderess," was electrocuted by the State of New York at…
The Shirelles in 'Beautiful.' (Photo by Joan Marcus)
Where you lead, Carole, I will follow, anywhere that you tell me to.
And if it happens that you lead me to a mediocre bioplay that combin…
'Pippin.' (Photo by Joan Marcus)
So, comes the inevitable question when someone learns what I do for a living, what should I see?
It depends, I reply with equal inevitability. What do you li…
Amanda Quaid and David Costabile in 'The (Curious Case Of The) Watson Intelligence.'
"Mr. Watson"come here"I want to see you."
They're some of the most famous words of the late 19th century,…
'Regular Singing.' (Photo by Joan Marcus)
At Marian and Barbara Apple's house in Rhinebeck, N.Y., it's time to eat again.
As the lights come up, dimly at first, the women are setting the tab…
Ian McKellen, left, and Patrick Stewart in 'No Man's Land.' (Photo by Joan Marcus)
Let's get this part out of the way: Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are very good, every bit as good as yo…
'Taking Care of Baby.' (Photo by Joan Marcus)
"The following has been taken word for word from interviews and correspondence," says an offstage voice just after the actors have taken their c…
Mark Rylance in 'Twelfth Night.' (© Joan Marcus)
Is the lack of a gimmick itself a gimmick? After a motorcycle-riding, movie-star Romeo on Broadway this fall and a video-projection Atheni…
NY Observer review of "Bring It On" and "Last Smoker in America."
'Peter and the Starcatcher.' (Courtesy O & M Co.)
Don't worry too much about Peter Pan and his Lost Boys. They've found their way to Broadway, and they're doing just fine.
Pete…
Bell, Bowen and Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff in 'Now. Here. This.' (Photo by Carol Rosegg)
Even though I was supposed to, I didn't love [title of show] a few years back.
The swee…
'Jesus Christ Superstar.' (Photo by Joan Marcus)
Religion goes down so much more easily when it's accompanied by guitar.
Innumerable youth-group leaders and Reform rabbis know this t…
