Category Archives: Off-Broadway

Archive Review: Black Nativity

From December 2007: There’s a whole lot of black gay tradition going into the joyous Black Nativity, now playing at the Duke on 42nd St. Originally staged in 1961 Black Nativity is one of the most beloved works of Langston … Continue reading

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Filed under From the Archives, musical, Off-Broadway, review, theatre

Archive Review: Die Mommie Die!

From October 2007: Die Mommie Die! is the fourth New York premiere of a play by playwright Charles Busch I’ve seen, and the second to feature him acting a leading drag role. Saying that it’s the most predictable isn’t that … Continue reading

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Archive Review: The Beebo Brinker Chronicles

From October 2007: The early 60s are very much in the air these days – the new Hairspray flick barely scratches the surface. One of the most critically acclaimed television series of 2007 is AMC’s Mad Men, a stylish and … Continue reading

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Review: Angels in America

Who are the actual angels in Tony Kushner’s epic masterpiece Angels in America? The winged creatures that show up in the course of the work’s seven hours and two parts are more like spiritual bureaucrats, albeit majestic and fearsome ones. … Continue reading

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Archive Review: Some Men

From April 2007: Terrence McNally’s expansive new gay dramedy “Some Men” is, by any reasonable measure, a resounding success. I mean, it is what it is: A theatrical revue of moments in 20th century gay history—tied together by a handful … Continue reading

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Archive Review: Prometheus Bound

From March 2007: Not much happens in the ancient Greek tragedy “Prometheus Bound” (long thought to be by Aeschylus, but now the center of a major authorship debate). Despite the lack of action, it is a starkly powerful piece of … Continue reading

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Archive Review: Our Leading Lady

From March 2007: One of our leading gay playwrights is stretching a bit, with mixed results. In “Our Leading Lady,” Charles Busch tells the story of Laura Keene (Kate Mulgrew) as she prepares to perform her greatest hit “Our American … Continue reading

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Archive Review: Bill W. and Dr. Bob

From March 2007: For anybody who knows anything at all about twelve step programs, “Bill W and Dr. Bob” will feel like a prequel. “Oh, that’s where ‘one day at a time’ comes from,” you’ll think, or “boy their wives … Continue reading

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Review: The Divine Sister

They don’t make ’em like this anymore, and there’s only one Charles Busch. In the most recent play Busch wrote before The Divine Sister, called The Third Story, he experimented not only with the serious theme of McCarthyism, but also … Continue reading

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Review: The Grand Manner

  The phrase “love letter to the theatre” gets bandied around a lot in reviews of backstage dramas. So let’s be more specific about The Grand Manner. The play is based on a brief encounter that playwright A. R. Gurney … Continue reading

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