Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

I had the pleasure of seeing Joshua Harmon 's Significant Other in summer 2015 , when it premiered off-Broadway. I loved it. I had never laughed and cried so much in a single show. Just like in his breakout play, Bad Jews , Harmon beautifully fused humor with pathos, making for a thoroughly entertaining and moving work. It has lost nothing in its transfer to Broadway, and, in fact, gained the terrific Rebecca Naomi Jones ( American Idiot , Marie and Rosetta ) as a cast member. Significant Other deals with how relationships change over time, as seen through the eyes of Jordan (an affecting Gideon Glick ( Spring Awakening , Speech and Debate )), a 29-year-old single gay man whose three best girlfriends are beginning to marry off and develop their own lives. (Jordan also has regular visits with his grandmother ( Barbara Barrie ), whose age, of course, comes with wisdom.) We begin at Kiki's bachelorette party. Kiki (a hilarious Sas Goldberg ) is the first of the crew to w...

Are You Aaron Burr, Sir? Pretty soon, Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon ( Shuffle Along or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All that Followed ) will be able to say yes. The actor is set to take on the role beginning in mid-August. Leslie Odom, Jr., who won a Tony last month for originating the role of Burr, plays his final performance on July 9. In the absence of an announcement otherwise, expect an understudy from Hamilton 's bench to fill in as Burr between Odom's departure and Dixon's arrival. Beginning July 11, Lexi Lawson will assume the role of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, taking over for Phillipa Soo, who also plays her final performance on July 9. And Michael Luwoye ( Invisible Thread ) will become the new Hamilton alternate. Javier Munoz will play Hamilton at seven performances each week, and Luwoye will play one. Broadway.com has more. Casting News Utkarsh Ambudkar ( Modern Terrorism , Freestyle Love Supreme), as well as Matt Lauria an...

Early in Joshua Harmon 's fantastic new play, Significant Other , our protagonist, Jordan ( Gideon Glick ), says to his friend, Laura ( Lindsay Mendez ), that the point of life is finding someone to go through it with. Laura replies that that seems easy. Jordan is adamant: No, it's not easy. It's the hardest thing ever to know  that's the point and then spend you life trying to find that significant other. Preach, Jordan. Jordan, a gay man in his late twenties, is close with his friends, Laura, Kiki ( Sas Goldberg ) and Vanessa ( Carra Patterson ). At rise, the four are celebrating at Kiki's bachelorette party. One by one, we watch as Jordan's friends—his significant others—couple up. ( John Behlmann and Luke Smith also appear as multiple characters, some significant some not.) Throughout, he fulfills his grandson duties by visiting his grandmother (usually played by Barbara Barrie; played by Alice Cannon when I saw the play), who's lived long enough ...