Category Archives: Off Broadway

Forsooth? Fuggedaboudit! “Romeo and Bernadette”off-Broadway

If, as hypothesized, there are only seven basic plots, it is a sure bet that Shakespeare used them all. (I count four in “Hamlet” alone.) It is no wonder, then, that playwrights through the years have gone to the Bardly … Continue reading

Blog, NY Theater, Off Broadway

New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players: Doing What They Do Best!

Want to be like the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players? Just pick a niche-market art form and become a world-class expert at it. Founded in 1974, NYGASP’s performance-ready repertory of all thirteen of the writing team’s extant Savoy Operas … Continue reading

Blog, NY Theater, Off Broadway

Dad is getting on in years: “Harry Townsend’s Last Stand”

If it is true, as often stated, that there are only seven basic plots from which all plays are derived, one of the seven certainly involves conflicted parent-offspring relationships. Think “King Lear” and “Death of a Salesman” for prototypes. While … Continue reading

Blog, NY Theater, Off Broadway

Paper Mill Playhouse is giving a ball! “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” in NJ

“Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” comes by that official title honestly. Having gone through several revisions since its debut as a TV special in 1957, the show depends for its success (or not) on how well (or not) that legendary team’s … Continue reading

Blog, Off Broadway, Professional, Regional

“Cyrano” gets a couple make-overs (including nose jobs)

Two recent adaptations of Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” both titled simply “Cyrano,” play fast and loose with the 19th-Century French playwright’s masterpiece. At Two River Theater Company in New Jersey last month, the play, stripped of its revered open-verse … Continue reading

Blog, Featured, NY Theater, Off Broadway

Organs, Oral and Orgasms, Oh My: “Get On Your Knees”

Let us clarify up front: the title of Jacqueline Novak’s 90-minute theater piece is not an invocation to prayer. Rather, it refers to a position oft identified with the performance of oral sex, a phrase Ms. Novak scorns in favor … Continue reading

Blog, NY Theater, Off Broadway