This Land is Bore Land: ‘Giant’ Aims High but Falls Short

Written by Doug Strassler on . Posted in Arts & Film, Theater

Photo by Joan Marcus. One hates to write anything negative about a show like Giant. Book writer Sybille Pearson has maintained the progressive themes from Edna Ferber’s classic novel, and musician Michael John LaChiusa has, in typical fashion, crafted character-centric songs rather than hollow showstoppers. Michael Greif, a director known for leading rich musicals as varied as Rent and
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‘Christmas’ is a Sweet Gift for All

Written by Doug Strassler on . Posted in Arts & Film, Theater

Photo by Carol Rosegg. An ever-growing subgenre has emerged within the movie adaptation umbrella constantly covering Broadway: the holiday movie adaptation. In addition to Elf and White Christmas, both making return engagements this season, A Christmas Story, The Musical, the earnest adaptation of the cult film that grew into a yuletide tradition, has arrived for a limited engagement at
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Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson

Written by Doug Strassler on . Posted in Arts & Film, Theater

Photo by Chris Bennion. Carolee Carmello gets the star treatment she deserves in an underwhelming new musical Life stories are a tricky business. Every individual weathers enough ups and downs to have their own experience merit the telling – but that doesn’t mean that all lives translate to cogent dramatic arcs. Aimee Semple McPherson, however, one of the more
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R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet” Headed to Broadway

Written by NYPress on . Posted in Arts & Film, Music, Theater

I have to be honest and say — while admittedly a bit out of the pop culture loop at times — I lost track of R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet” about six years ago. Apparently, what “Rolling Stone” calls the singer’s “epic opus” has not fizzled out alongside my interest. On the contrary, it’s
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Adults Acting Out: A Murky ‘Mother’ Leaves Many Unanswered Questions

Written by Doug Strassler on . Posted in Arts & Film, Theater

Photo by Monique Carboni There is a difference between complicated and convoluted, though it can be tricky to adhere more toward the former than the trappings of the latter. One merely involves the involvement of multiple entities occurring beneath the surface at the same time, some of which having a direct effect on others. The other throws these variables
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Dance Hall Daze: Great Cast Helps Revive Edwin Drood

Written by Doug Strassler on . Posted in Arts & Film, Theater

Photo by Joan Marcus. Sandwiched in-between he monolith musicals that stormed their way from the West End to Broadway throughout the 1980s (Evita, Cats, Les Miserables, etc.) was a different kind of British import, one that was, in fact, given new life by an American. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a 1985 Public Theater production, was musicalized and adapted
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City Arts: In Search of Lost Jazz

Written by Our Town Downtown on . Posted in Our Town Downtown, Theater

SearchLostJazz600 ‘Cotton Club Parade’ brings back musical history  By Valerie Gladstone Cotton Club Parade opens with the robust Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars, directed by Daryl Waters, swinging into “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” “I’ve Got the World on a String” and “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” offering a tantalizing
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Getting Down to Business With Henry Winkler

Written by NY Press on . Posted in Arts & Film, Our Town, Our Town Downtown, Theater, West Side Spirit

In his latest Broadway role, “The Fonz” plays a porn star (no, really) with a heart of gold By Rachel Sokol When one hears the name “Henry Winkler,” what often comes to mind is a leather jacket, a thumbs-up, an “aye!” and a best friend named Richie Cunningham. But Henry Winkler, porn star? Well …
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A Whale of a Tale: Samuel D. Hunter’s Play Offers Plenty of Food for Thought

Written by Doug Strassler on . Posted in Arts & Film, Theater

thewhale-joanmarcus What is it with writers and whales? Ever since Herman Melville’s magnum opus, Moby-Dick, was published 160 years ago, cetaceans have provided an interesting allegory for man’s quest to defeat others and understand himself in literary forms. Just last year, Melvillean influence permeated Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding, arguably the best novel of the year.
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