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

Mourning David Bowie, Recording Lazarus We lost a legendary artist this week. David Bowie passed away on Sunday, January 10, just days after celebrating his 69th birthday and releasing his final (critically acclaimed) album, Blackstar . Tributes to the musician poured in from all over, including the theatre community , Hollywood , and the music world . On the heels of this news (but not necessarily because of it), the cast of Bowie's off-Broadway musical, Lazarus (which can now be interpreted as Bowie's farewell letter), headed into the studio to record a cast album. As Theater Mania reports, no release date has been announced. The cast is led by Michael C. Hall, and features Michael Esper and Cristin Milioti. Ensemble member Nicholas Christopher posted a photo of himself in the studio, saying, "Couldn't imagine a better way to spend today." HBO Premiere Dates HBO has announced premiere dates for several highly-anticipated shows and specials: Game of Th...

Noises Off , Michael Frayn 's backstage farce, has been one of my favorite plays since I was about 11. I remember first being exposed to the movie, and, ever since, I can't get Carol Burnett saying, "Take the sardines" out of my head. (This is a good problem.) I had the pleasure of seeing a production in DC several years ago, and now Roundabout and director Jeremy Herrin are bringing the hilarity to Broadway with a cast that is simply an embarrassment of riches. At rise, it's the final dress rehearsal before opening night of Nothing On , and director Lloyd ( Campbell Scott , a roguish frayed knot) is exasperated. (Herrin has Scott stalking around the theatre, even making his way into the mezzanine so one of Lloyd's cries of despair was delivered right next to me!) Nothing On , the show within the show, is, itself, a farce, and Lloyd's actors and stagehands aren't quite helping the cause. Dotty (Andrea Martin) can't get her stage directions ...

The late, great Wendy Wasserstein 's seminal work, The Heidi Chronicles , was something of a revelation when it debuted off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989, and once it transferred to Broadway, the play won the Tony Award for Best Play. Through the experiences of Heidi Holland ( Elisabeth Moss ), an art historian coming of age in the 60s, Wasserstein explored one view of the feminist movement, and where its progenitors ended up. (Through a series of vignettes, we see Heidi as an adolescent in 1965, and then check in with her over the years, all the way through 1989.) Seeing how relevant this is—how little has changed—is somewhat disappointing. Maybe it's not fair to say nothing has changed. Maybe a lot has, and what hasn't is simply amplified because of changes in technology. There are still institutional blockades against women, and women are still stigmatized for their choices (when the old, wrinkly men who write laws let...

Three Jews and a shiksa gather after a funeral. Sounds like the set up for a bad joke but instead it’s the set up for Joshua Harmon’s fantastic new play, Bad Jews . At rise, Jonah Harber (Philip Ettinger) is playing a video game. His cousin, Daphna Feygenbaum (Tracee Chimo), soon emerges from the bathroom and begins talking about Poppy, Jonah and Daphna’s dearly and recently departed grandfather. They are awaiting the arrival of Jonah’s brother, Liam (Michael Zegen), and Liam’s non-Jewish girlfriend, Melody (Molly Ranson), who have missed Poppy’s funeral but are nevertheless cutting short their ski vacation to be with the family. Daphna feels entitled to Poppy’s chai, which has particular familial and Jewish significance, and is about to be abruptly clued into the fact that Liam has the chai and intends to give it to Melody. Arguments (and some hilarity) ensue. I hope that doesn’t make Bad Jews sound like a bunch of people senselessly complaining. It isn’t. Instead, it’s an ...