Searching for the Right Space

Audition, rehearsal, and performance spaces in the New York City area come in all shapes and sizes, with enough variables to suit almost any show or situation.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Picking Palin Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Writer-director Stephen Padilla's predictable play tells us little we couldn't figure out for ourselves at the time.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Second Stage seems to be out to corner the market on emptiness. Hot on the heels of the vacant but flashy Bachelorette, we get Paul Weitz's schematic, wafer-thin Trust.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Summer Shorts 4: Series B Reviewed by Nicole Villeneuve

The one-acts of "Summer Shorts 4: Series B" are linked by moments of development and personal growth: a graduation ceremony, a reconciliation, a pregnancy, a reunion.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

No matter what the ministrations of this talented company, there was nothing it could do to get this politically naive, toothlessly satirical, tediously melodramatic show going.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Whistling Away the Dark: A Celebration of Julie Andrews Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Soprano Shana Farr shows promise in this boite tribute to the beloved international musical star, though they are as different as chalk and cheese.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Playwright Jonathan Tolins hits the bull's-eye with his new comedy-drama.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

4Play - Reviewed by Tom Penketh

The four Karamazov Brothers can keep objects flying through the air between them with incredible speed and precision.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Delaney Britt Brewer's loosely connected triptych plays like a series of acting-class scenes. There's some good work here and there, but a satisfying whole never coalesces.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by David Sheward

The playwrights in this collection explore dysfunctional relationships by varying means and with varying results.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Julius Caesar Reviewed by David Sheward

It's not clear where we're supposed to be in the Drilling Company's confusing production of Shakespeare's classic. At least it's free.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A Little Night Music Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Trevor Nunn's take on the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler classic gets an infusion of Broadway royalty from Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. Is it worth a trip back? You bet.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Trevor Nunn's take on the Stephen Sondheim–Hugh Wheeler classic gets an infusion of Broadway royalty from Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. Is it worth a trip back? You bet.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Julius Caesar - Reviewed by David Sheward

It's not clear where we're supposed to be in the Drilling Company's confusing production of Shakespeare's classic. At least it's free.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A Little Night Music - Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Trevor Nunn's take on the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler classic gets an infusion of Broadway royalty from Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. Is it worth a trip back? You bet.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Civil War Voices Reviewed by Lisa Jo Sagolla

This stirring musical celebration of the Civil War era, featuring period writings and new arrangements of traditional songs, isn't sure if it's a concert or a theater piece.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Bachelorette Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

Leslye Headland's depressingly shallow new comedy prizes shock over substance and judgment over character.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by David Sheward

Viewing this new multipart musical is like leafing through a friend's vacation photos—some of the segments work well, while others leave you with that "you had to be there" feeling.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Battle of Stalingrad Reviewed by Jason Fitzgerald

Rezo Gabriadze's puppet-theater piece is at once a requiem, a ghost story, an anti-war protest, a grim fairy tale, and a welcome encore presentation at the Lincoln Center Festival.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Viagara Falls Reviewed by David Sheward

This exercise in TV nostalgia and pandering to the senior set is a total washout, an extended sitcom with unfunny jokes on erectile dysfunction that had me longing for a rerun of "The Golden…

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Parting Glass Reviewed by Gwen Orel

Diehard football fan Eoin moves his family back home to Ireland from Germany in 2008-just in time for the crest and crash of the Celtic tiger-in Dermot Bolger's messily sentimental one-man p…

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Until We Find Each Other Reviewed by Clifford Lee Johnson III

Any theatergoer wishing to see a smart, ambitious playwright wrestling with divinity will likely find a visit to the Abingdon Mainstage Theatre worthwhile.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Forever Art Reviewed by Cindy Pierre

Several things get lost in the German to English subtitle translations, but the admiration for Andy Warhol and his love affair with pop art in this charming mini-biography is clear.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Irish...and How They Got That Way Reviewed by Andy Propst

Frank McCourt's revue somberly serves up the history of the Irish people in song in an evening that inspires respect and admiration but never total enjoyment.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Freud's Last Session Reviewed by David Sheward

Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis debate the existence of God in a stimulating, intense "what if" drama transferred from Massachusetts' Barrington Stage Company to Off-Broadway.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑