Monthly Archives: April 2014

Can’t get to Long Branch? Count your blessings…

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Philip Leave a comment

           Lee Blessing has written some 35 plays since “The Real Billy the Kid” in 1975. The first one I saw was “Cobb.” Co-produced off-Broadway by Kevin Spacey in 2001, it was a moody examination of the life and career … Continue reading →

Blog, Professional, Regional

Musicals: On and Off-off B’way

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Philip Leave a comment

          It’s déjà vu all over again. “Cabaret” is back, with Alan Cumming as the epicene Master of Ceremonies, and overseen once again by 1998 director Sam Mendes and co-director/choreographer Rob Marshall. This is my fourth Broadway “Cabaret,” including the … Continue reading →

Blog, Broadway, NY Theater, Off Broadway

“Trouble in Mind” (and “Chaos” too) in Red Bank

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Philip Leave a comment

           A review of “Trouble in Mind,” on stage at Two River Theater, could begin by praising artistic director John Dias for resurrecting the play by African-American playwright Alice Childress. Or by noting that the play employs the popular backstage … Continue reading →

Blog, Professional, Regional

“RAISIN” and Broadway Short Shots

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Philip Leave a comment

           A Raisin in the Sun is set firmly in its time (1950s) and place (inner-city Chicago), but it transcends those restrictions in its depiction of a family in crisis. The particular family is African-American (“colored” or “Negro” in context), … Continue reading →

Blog, Broadway, NY Theater

Moliere in Holmdel NJ

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Philip Leave a comment

 On February 17, 1673, during a production of his final play, Le Malade Imaginaire (“The Imaginary Invalid”), Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known as Molière, suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, was seized by a coughing fit and a hemorrhage while playing the hypochondriac … Continue reading →

Blog, Community, Regional