If The Concert is any indication, than the contemporary musical theater scene is overwhelmingly characterized by pop rock stylings and a crazy high belt. Celebrating the launch of the Direct…
A PLAYFULLY PROFOUND MASTERPIECE "Oh my God, I can't believe we're doing this. Okay …" Warm laughter of recognition spread across the audience. This thought had undoubtedly crossed all our…
BREAKING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER The French expression “C’est du Chinois” means “It’s all Greek to me” " or, literally translated, "It's Chinese." The phrase…
BACK TO BACK BRINGS ISSUES TO THE FRONT The concept for Ganesh versus the Third Reich is staggering: the Indian god Ganesh travels through Nazi Germany to confront Adolf Hitler and reclaim t…
The 2013 Under the Radar Festival, tracking dynamic new theater from around the world, is bringing an electrifying hustle and bustle to the Public Theater from January 9 " 20. Theatergoers c…
MULTI-DIMENSIONAL The virtuosic Fleur Elise Noble (performer, director, and set designer) constructs a world of artistic possibilities in 2 Dimensional Life of Her. Across a series of flat s…
NOTHING HOLLOW ABOUT IT Is it possible for a person of color to have a "neutral narrative": A story untainted by race or gender, disentangled from the ghosts of the past, unaffected by theor…
2012 has been a year of travel and transition. When compiling my Best of 2012 list from the reviews I had written for L.A. Weekly and Stage and Cinema, not to mention the playbills I had acc…
Working:Â Review for Stage and Cinema
P.S. Jones and the Frozen City: Review for Stage and Cinema
WORKING TOO HARD The actors mingle around onstage dressing room tables as the audience takes their seats. The stage manager (Rebecca McBee) calls cues from a corner upstage. Even the band, l…
JONESING FOR MORE PIG SHIT Early in terraNOVA Collective's comic book adventure P.S. Jones and the Frozen City, the villainous Great Glass Spider spins out of the wall. The regal Sofia Jean …
Frisk Me: The Songs of Max Vernon: Review for Stage and Cinema
FRISK ME AGAIN The hubbub in the lobby of the Public Theater late last Friday night suggested we were in for a dynamic show. Frisk Me: The Songs of Max Vernon packed Joe's Pub with one of th…
Mies Julie: Review for Stage and Cinema
HOT AUGUST STRINDBERG NIGHT St. Ann's Warehouse inaugurates its new space with an often gripping production of Mies Julie, adapted to post-apartheid South Africa. A dense fog sweeps over the…
House for Sale: Review for Stage and Cinema
HOUSEÂ NOT ATÂ HOME IN THE THEATER My theatergoing companion left the Duke on 42nd Street last night with tears welling in her eyes. She spent much of the subway ride home taking deep br…
Director/lyricist Lane Williamson and I have recently composed several songs for his upcoming production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in Lancaster, CA. I had the pleasure to premier…
Love’s End: Review for Stage and Cinema
A POETIC BREAKUP The plot of writer/director Pascal Rambert's play Love's End is astoundingly simple. A long-term romantic relationship finally reaches a breaking point. The man confronts th…
Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812: Review for Stage and Cinema
The Old Man and the Old Moon: Review for Stage and Cinema
I Hate Fucking Mexicans: Review for Stage and Cinema
DRINKS WITH A RAKE Find the nearest bottle of vodka and drink up. Ars Nova's world premiere of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 " an electro-pop musicalization of a self-contain…