Monthly Archives: July 2009
Review: Hair
You could easily argue (and many people have) that without “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” we wouldn’t have “Rent” and “Spring Awakening” today. This overstates the case: While “Hair” did create a rock musical trend on Broadway in 1968, … Continue reading
Review: West Side Story
I’m biased here: I’m a complete Leonard Bernstein nut. I’ve been very excited ever since I first heard about the new Broadway revival of “West Side Story,” perhaps with a twinge of worry that director Arthur Laurents’s self-professed “radical vision” … Continue reading
Review: God of Carnage
I appreciate that playwright Yasmina Reza is aiming at some kind of satire of bourgeois values in “God of Carnage.” As always with her plays, however, her aim is neither as exact—nor her insight as deep—as she seems to all-too-smugly … Continue reading
Review: Blithe Spirit
There’s a Noel Coward song that opens with the line “I’ve been to a marvelous party,” and that’s the feeling I had exiting the effervescent new Broadway production of his “Blithe Spirit.” It’s simply the most outright fun I’ve had … Continue reading
Interview: Charles Busch
From March 2009: Legends!—a hilarious comedy about two glamorous, Hollywood has-beens and arch-rivals forced to consider working together on a new project to resuscitate their careers—is one of the most notorious theatrical properties ever written, mostly for what happened behind-the-scenes. … Continue reading
Filed under interview, Off-Broadway, play, theatre
Review: Shrek
Big, well-funded Broadway musicals based on proven properties and aimed at children don’t have to be great (“The Lion King” to the contrary). They just have to be good enough, solidly structured entertainment. By those standards, the musical version of … Continue reading
Review: Billy Elliot
The new Broadway musical “Billy Elliot” has been hyped over the moon. The real story: The show is, yes, truly impressive, but something just a bit less than the “best new musical in years.” Based on the indie Brit movie … Continue reading
