A review of the Broadway production of Caroline, or Change starring Sharon D Clarke which is in performance at Studio 54 on West 54th Street in New York City.

There is a whopping cast of twelve in Fairycakes, Douglas Carter Beane’s new sendup of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and other assorted fairy tales, which just opened at the Greenwich House Theater. Its stage is of a large enough size, but it buckles under the weight of Beane’s bloated design: twelve performers, some playing multiple roles, struggling to find a spare minute with which to make an impression, and tools to help them.

More than 17 months after COVID-19 forced theatres around the country to cancel performances, Papermill Playhouse is back and rocking it to the rafters with a vibrant revival of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World. “Songs for a Thousand Cabarets” could be the alternative title for this revue-like collection of ardent musical theatre-pop-soliloquies given its popularity with soloists and cabaret artists. Those artists include stars as varied as Karen Akers, Betty Buckley, Audra McDonald, and Shoshana Bean―not to mention hundreds of thousands of aspirants around the world. Having grown up belting the original cast recording with my musical theatre friends as we skipped to rehearsal, I have always loved the show. But going into this Mark S. Hoebee directed production, I found myself wondering, “How does the full show of stand-alone solos, duets, and quartets stack up 26 years after its premiere?” As led by the sensational Carolee Carmello, as brilliantly as it did back in 1995.

You have to feel bad for the sole character in The Fever, Wallace Shawn’s 1990 monologue which just opened in a new production starring Lili Taylor at the Audible Theatre at Minetta Lane Theatre. The only thing worse than spending a night with your head in a porcelain bowl is doing so with a troubled mind, terminally regretful of every single thing you did to wind up here. Maybe you even start thinking about the state of the world, paralleling your own face-down demise to larger, global themes. The difference between such nights and this one-act performance, though, is that one is usually content to grab the toothpaste and move on.

The astonishing new thriller Dana H. opened tonight at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway, our review.

A review of The Lehman Trilogy on Broadway, by Stefano Massini and adapted by Ben Power, which is now in performance at the Nederlander Theatre on West 41st Street in New York City.

A Broadway review of Thoughts of a Colored Man, a new play by Keenan Scott II and directed by Steve H. Broadnax III and is now in performance at the John Golden Theatre on West 45th Street in New York City.

When I walked into the Tony Kiser Theatre on Sunday, I was greeted by a bluish-grey set with a desk downstage and a bench upstage, muted colored mountains traced the wings. Over the next 90 minutes, an intricate play about long distance companionship, and origami, glowingly unfolded itself. This new play, Letters of Suresh, by Rajiv Joseph opened tonight at Second Stage Theatre. The play starts with Melody, a Japanese-Korean woman who’s great-uncle (who she never met) recently passed away. Melody recently returned to Seattle from his funeral in Nagasaki with her great-uncle's only possessions: A box of letters from a man named Suresh. Melody writes a letter to Suresh informing him of her great-uncle's passing and to ask him if he would like his letters back. As the play continues, we learn more about the author of these letters and the relationship between Suresh and Melody’s great-uncle, Father Mitsuo Hashimoto.

Our Chief Critic Juan A. Ramirez reviews Is This A Room on Broadway, which is now in performances at the Lyceum Theatre on West 45th Street in New York City, conceived and directed by Tina Satter.

A review of the new Broadway comedy Chicken & Biscuits which is now in performance at the Circle in the Square Theatre on West 50th Street in New York City.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson is intimately familiar with Lackawanna Blues, his play which opened Thursday night at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, and not just because he based it on his own upbringing. The one-man ode to the woman who raised him premiered at the Public in 2001, was adapted by HBO in 2005, and has been performed here and there since. And yet, his eyes throughout the show reflect more than a glimmer of the bright lights of Broadway—they spark with the joy of generations and cultures finally expressing themselves on the largest stage in the country.

Juan A. Ramirez reviews Six The Musical, which opened on Broadway tonight and currently plays at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City.

Walking into the atrium for The Geffen Playhouse’s The Enigmatist, you are greeted by clumps of audience members peering at clues around the room, trying to solve puzzles before entering the auditorium. These are merely an amuse-bouche for David Kwong’s feast of puzzle, wit, and illusion that will commence shortly. There are ushers at hand to help out with hints, but almost everyone seemed game to get to the solutions on their own. Upon entering the Geffen’s intimate Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater, one notices that the room has been transformed from a traditional theater space to a paneled room that is reminiscent of an old pub, or a vintage study. The walls are lined with knickknacks that appear random, but on closer inspection make up a series of secret codes that exist solely for the audience’s decoding pleasure. 

A review of A Commercial Jingle For Regina Comet which is currently playing at the DR2 Theatre on East 15th Street in New York City through November 14, 2021.

It was fitting that I had to brave a superstorm to get to the theatre to see Sun & Sea, an opera about the impending climate disaster at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. After a critically acclaimed run in Europe, the piece has made its way to the shores of America. “Sun & Sea” plays its final performance at BAM on September 26. Following that, it will embark on a nationwide tour including stops in Philadelphia, Bentonville, AR, and Los Angeles.

The Getty Villa, a Los Angeles museum of Greek and Roman antiquities, is not the first location one might think of when mounting a musical tribute to Liza Minnelli. When that musical, however, is based on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and set in an amphitheater against the backdrop of an ancient Roman villa, everything falls into place. 

Critic Juan A. Ramirez reviews Dear Evan Hansen, the film adaptation of the musical which will hit theatres on September 24.

Kyle Turner reviews xXPonyBoyDerekXx, a new theatrical experience on OnlyFans from Brooklyn-based playwright Gage Tarlton and The Misfits Theatre Company.

Situated in the McKittrick’s Club Car, a dark and hazy locale with dim lights and alcohol flowing, guests are sat at tables with half a dozen or so chairs and might I add some delicious popcorn at Speakeasy Magick. Our review.

On paper, The Memory of Water seems like a sombre affair, it follows three sisters as they are reunited for their mother’s funeral and examines their relationships with each other and with their significant others. Currently playing at the Hampstead Theatre through October 16.

Juan A. Ramirez reviews "The Last of the Love Letters” which plays through September 26 at the Linda Gross Theater at the Atlantic Theater Company on 20th Street in New York City.

Arturo Luís Soria’s Ni Mi Madre plays at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater through September 19. Our review for Theatrely.

Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's PASS OVER is now open on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre. Read Juan A. Ramirez's review for Theatrely now.

A theatrical review of playwright Liza Birkenmeier and director Katie Brook’s Islander, currently playing at the HERE Arts Center through September 4, 2021.

I had not seen a micro-play before this afternoon, but let me tell you, after experiencing the sextet of micro-plays at Theatre for One: Here is Future at Brookfield Properties’ Manhattan West Plaza, I can confidently say I’m a micro-play stan.

Max Harwood stars as Jamie New in Everybody's Talking About Jamie film which lands on Amazon on September 17. Juan A. Ramirez reviews for Theatrely.

Following a world premiere on the West End earlier in May produced by Sonia Friedman, TheaterWorks Hartford has taken this new ambitious drama and produced a rather incredible US Premiere of Amy Berryman's Walden. One of the most thrilling and satisfying nights at the theatre that I have had the pleasure of attending in a very long time — this is one of those performances that will be with you for many days.