Richard Greenberg’s new play is of the school from which the story “The Lady or the Tiger?” sprang. It has enigmatic hints of Harold Pinter in it as well, though Mr. Greenb…
When you arrive at the American Airlines Theatre for a performance of Michael Frayn’s farce Noises Off, along with your Playbill, you will also be given a program for Nothing On, which…
Arthur Miller, in this, the celebratory season of his 100th birthday, is having a banner year, with productions of his major and minor works popping up all over the place. From the first…
I am so glad that Sheldon Harnick, the last surviving member of the creative team of the original production of Fiddler on the Roof, has been able to participate in this glorious revisica…
It was an active year, heavily marked by new and revisited musicals. The attendance and box office numbers were good, both on and off Broadway. I, as the only writer covering New York theate…
RICHARD SEFF’S LONDON WEEK Richard Seff recently flew over to London to see some shows and here’s what he thought: Guys And Dolls at the Savoy Theatre Guys and Dolls is or should…
Full disclosure: I am not a rock ‘n roller, and think its music has little to offer what we’ve come to know as “musical theater.” Before you start cursing me out a…
Andréa Burns. Note the accent over the e in the lady’s name. That puts the emphasis on its second syllable and indicates something latina in her background. And sure enough her mo…
In 1955, Johnny Mercer published these opening lines to a hit song of his: “When an irresistible force such as you meets an immovable object like me, something’s gotta give.&…
Author Joe DiPietro has delivered a cozy little play that sits comfortably somewhere between situation comedy and family drama. It starts in a tennis club locker room as a brisk and brittle …
Peter Parnell has been writing plays, television scripts, books to musicals, and winning two Emmy Awards citations for his work as co–producer of The West Wing. I remember admiring his…
The title is misleading. It leads one to think the play is going to be one long groan of sadness, and that’s not what unfolds for us in its ninety minutes of playing time. “Miser…
On Your Feet joins its fellow juke box musicals Jersey Boys and Beautiful in the growing list of this new genre that delivers a full evening’s entertainment using pop hits of another e…
If you haven’t heard of Charles III of Britain, don’t berate yourself. He hasn’t happened yet, but playwright Mike Bartlett has conjured up what might happen if and whe…
Michael Riedel, the theatre columnist for the New York Post and the co-host of the long running PBS show Theater Talk, sat with me for an hour on November 2nd, to discuss his valuable and re…
Young Therese Raquin is in terrible trouble. We realize this the moment the curtain rises revealing a small and desolate village on the Seine in the year 1868. The entrance of Therese, (…
AR Gurney is the rolling stone playwright that is certainly gathering no moss. As recently as August of this year I reviewed a new Gurney offering, Love and Money which deftly dealt with a m…
Way back in the dark ages (circa early 1930s) when musicals were musical comedies (if you don’t know what I mean, listen to “Musicals,” the showstopper in the light-hearted…
I was away in August when the musical Hamilton opened on Broadway so yesterday I caught up with it as it was about to enter its third month of sellout business at The Richard Rodgers Theatre…
David Lindsay-Abaire has an enviable record of success with a solid list of plays, and in many of them he has written rewarding roles for the actress Marylouise Burke. He’s done so aga…
Donald L. Coburn was born in 1938 in Baltimore to parents who were divorced two years later. His early life was unexceptional; he graduated from high school in 1957, then served in the U.S. …
Who doesn’t have great respect and admiration for the musical team of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick? Certainly no one who has seen and heard the great body of their work which include…
In 1969 Graham Greene published a light novel with this title, which was in the vein of earlier romps such as The Egg and I, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and most particularly – Aunt…
This play by Sam Shepard was first presented by Circle Rep in 1983; it was a great success for them with Ed Harris and Kathy Baker playing Eddie and May. It transferred from their home base …
Harold Pinter must be smiling down on 42nd Street where the Roundabout is currently presenting his Old Times at the American Airlines Theatre. For starters, that street would hardly seem …