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

I was enjoying The Fortress of Solitude  as I was watching it. Actually, I was enjoying it before the performance began, looking at the tagged scrim that served as a curtain (scenic design by Eugene Lee ) and at the cultural timeline provided in the Playbill. The show began and I was struck by the harmonies and different but blended songs the talented cast was singing (music direction by Kimberly Grigsby ). I continued to be in awe of some of the performances, the natural dialogue (book by Itamar Moses ), the terrific pastiche score (by Michael Friedman ). But as the adaptation of the Jonathan Lethem novel, directed by Daniel Aukin ( Bad Jews ), came to an end and then once it was over, I thought, "That's all?" It wasn't so much that the ending came too quickly (although, it sort of did); rather, it was that the ending left too much unexplored. Though the creative team and the company made a valiant effort, it would appear that the parts are greater than their su...

Shortly before seeing Nobody Loves You , I was watching a reality program. ( The Next Food Network Star , to be exact. I was  Team Viet .) I had no idea what Nobody Love You would be about; I could barely keep in mind that I was going to see it. (It’s been a busy summer, so far.) But as I watched the Food Network hopefuls give their direct address testimonials, I thought, “Could you do reality TV on stage?” Apparently you can. This new, original musical from Itamar Moses (book and lyrics) and Gaby Alter (music and lyrics), conceives a reality dating show, "Nobody Loves You," and for 90 minutes explores whether or not one character’s assertion is true: “You can perform or you can connect; you can’t do both.” At rise, we meet Jeff (Bryan Fenkart), an academic who loathes reality TV. He is an ontology student trying to complete his thesis while his girlfriend tunes into the season finale of "Nobody Loves You." In short order, she deems them incompatible, brea...