New York theater

 ****/*****  (four out of five stars)

A minimalistic, intimate stage at the Gene Frankel Theater. Two powerhouse actors gravitating into the deep space of this suspended and evocative play, colliding and landing on planets of opposites and attractions, will and destiny, love and dissolution, past &...

***/***** Three out of five stars Broadway, unlike off-Broadway or regional theater, has a special advantage the others don’t: the ability to attract incredibly famous actors to the stage. Consequently, even if the play they’re in isn’t critically acclaimed, fans...

*****/***** (five stars out of five) Raleigh County, West Virginia may only be around 500 miles from New York City, but in social and socio-political terms, it may as well be 5000 miles away, with an enormous lifestyle gulf in...

***/***** (three stars out of five) There’s a strange, subtle change coming over certain storylines in American Theater. One which makes us aware that despite seeming deficiencies in acceptance and tolerance in our society, there have actually been some major...

*/***** one star out of five

****/***** 4 out of 5 Imagine, if you will, Harlem in the Prohibition Era. Black Americans are flooding into this city-within-New York City from all over the country, particularly the Jim Crow south; swing dance clubs are all the rage,...

*****/ *****  5 out of 5 stars Jukebox musicals are usually a gimmick. They’re designed to bring fans of a certain artist or band into the theater by appealing to their desire to hear their favorite songs performed live by...

***  3/ 5 stars In the latter half of the 20th century many American playwrights seemed to have an obsession with white, rural, working-class families. Their stories were, ostensibly, instructive insights into failures of the American Dream. Writers like Sam...