All stories by Darryl Reilly on BroadwayStars

Friday, March 30, 2018

92Y's Lyrics & Lyricists Series: "Irving Berlin: American" by Darryl Reilly

This biographical survey concert fused together several strands. There were the zesty performances by Danny Gardner, Emily Hsu, Holly Butler, Richard Riaz Yoder, Jada Temple and Bryonha Mari…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:24AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Rocktopia by Darryl Reilly

Eleanor Roosevelt gets the biggest round of applause during the projected cultural icons slideshow as Queen's "We Are The Champions" is histrionically performed in "Rocktopia." It's a hokey …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:04PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 26, 2018

Distant Observer: Tokyo/New York Correspondence by Darryl Reilly

Noted theater artist John Jesurun wrote the opening sequence. From 2014 to 2017, Mr. Jesurun engaged in a collaboration with Japanese playwright and director Takeshi Kawamura. They each wrot…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:46AM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 25, 2018

Grand Hotel, The Musical by Darryl Reilly

"We'll Take a Glass Together" is an exhilarating production number. Brandon Uranowitz's animated youthfulness is up to the task of equaling the impact of Michael Jeter's legendary turn in th…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:59AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 21, 2018

My Brilliant Divorce by Darryl Reilly

The lithe and silvery-haired Ms. Gilbert dazzles for 90 minutes as she addresses the audience directly with her warm and joyous presence. She tells jokes, sings, and dances, all while convey…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:55PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 17, 2018

Shooter by Darryl Reilly

Mr. Graber's trite scenario is rendered as a superficial by-the-numbers treatment and the presentation is overwrought.  Near the end there is an exchange between Jim and Gavin as they sit…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:53PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Dogs of Rwanda by Darryl Reilly

Dan Hodge commandingly plays the American narrator who has written a book about his youthful experiences in Rwanda during its 1994 civil war and genocide. Mr. Hodge created the role in the 2…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:52PM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 11, 2018

Halcyon Days by Darryl Reilly

One sits there for two hours numbed by the experience of watching the talented cast often vigorously playing for laughs that aren't there. They are Rand Guerrero, Ralph Guzzo, William Laney,…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:16PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 9, 2018

Speed Queen by Darryl Reilly

Hilariously impersonating Marlene Dietrich while playing an accordion, singing and trotting about, is one of the grand highlights of performer Phoebe Legere's "Speed Queen."  Spanning fro…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:19PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Breitwisch Farm by Darryl Reilly

Esperance Theater Company's artistic director Ryan Quinn directed the production. Mr. Quinn's inventive staging is vigorous and aesthetic yielding in visually charged sequences that energize…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:53PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Folk Wandering by Darryl Reilly

They're friends in the present. Someone picks up yellowed newspaper articles from the past.  Then we're in New York City's Lower East Side in 1911. We meet the spunky 13-year-old Roselia.…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:09AM[SHARE]
Friday, March 2, 2018

92Y's Lyrics & Lyricists Series: "Lenny's Lyricists" by Darryl Reilly

"Candide"'s giddy overture was of course the euphoric opening number of the 92nd Street Y's Lyrics & Lyricists Series: "Lenny's Lyricists." This was a splendid concert celebrating…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:32AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 1, 2018

The Loneliest Number by Darryl Reilly

Author Lizzie Vieh's brilliant play "The Loneliest Number" initially appears to be a slight off-beat comedy about a swinging couple's encounters but after its first third evolves into a prof…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:03AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Time No Line by Darryl Reilly

In the moving and affirmative final sequence, journal entries from 1989 to 1990 are projected as text that details deaths of friends. Kelly is on the floor silently drawing shapes with white…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:57PM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 25, 2018

High Noon by Darryl Reilly

Conceived by the Axis Company, this treatment oddly renames the characters which is just one of its many baffling qualities that perhaps seeks to comment on the present. It's really "High No…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:51AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Platonov, or A Play with No Name by Darryl Reilly

Director Jessica Burr's fast-paced yet thoughtful staging includes over-lapping dialogue, rapid entrances and exits all over the space and striking visual flourishes. Ms. Burr's tremendous g…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:43PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 16, 2018

Pete Rex by Darryl Reilly

The homeowner Pete is wearing gym shorts and a T-Shirt and is a biology teacher with an Associate's Degree who wanted to be a paleontologist. Bo is his childhood best friend. Pete has broken…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:02AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Harriet's Return: Based Upon the Legendary Life of Harriet Tubman by Darryl Reilly

Employing an authentic and strong Southern dialect, Ms. Meadows sounds and looks like she really is a person in the 1840's. This vocal expertise combined with Meadows' altering of her physio…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:55PM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 10, 2018

Hey, Look Me Over! New York City Center Encores! at 25 by Darryl Reilly

Writer-performer Bob Martin recycles his sweater-clad disaffected "Man in the Chair" character from his 2006 Broadway musical "The Drowsy Chaperone." The conceit is that he's a disgruntled E…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:00PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 8, 2018

Against the Hillside by Darryl Reilly

The production is not helped by William Carden's heavy-handed direction.  Scene transitions are punctuated by sound designer and composer Shane Rettig's blaring, pulsing and overwhelming …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:00PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 7, 2018

A Portrait of Maureen Stapleton by Darryl Reilly

Darryl Reilly, Critic Maureen Stapleton by Raphael Soyer (1968) This striking portrait of Maureen Stapleton was painted by Raphael Soyer in 1968, a pivotal year in her life and career. It's …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:05AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 6, 2018

The Cult Play by Darryl Reilly

Mr. Cusumano has crafted a scenario that though familiar is gripping.  The timeless craving for lost souls seeking a purpose in life by handing over their existence to charlatans is fresh…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:35PM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 4, 2018

The New York Pops: Heart and Soul by Darryl Reilly

"September" by Earth, Wind and Fire was gorgeously mashed up with Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" and was the soaring opening number of The New York Pops' exhilarating rhythm and blues …

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:53PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 2, 2018

Mr. Chekhov and Mr. Porter by Darryl Reilly

The first act is a faithful and skillful hour-long condensation of "The Seagull." The second act is a clever hour-long vaudeville-style amalgam of "The Cherry Orchard," "Uncle Vanya" and "Th…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:33PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Delta in the Sky with Diamonds or Maybe Not by Darryl Reilly

Classic movies such as "It's a Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street" and "Moonstruck" are citied in the play and author June Daniel White is clearly inspired by and seeks to emulate them…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:46PM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 27, 2018

WinterWorks 2018: "Look Me in the Eyes" by Darryl Reilly

"I never met a peanut butter junkie" is one of the many sharp zingers in Fran Handman's romantic park bench meetup, "A New York Encounter" (directed by Elowyn Castle) between an older man an…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:03PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 26, 2018

Balls by Darryl Reilly

Playwrights Kevin Armento and Bryony Lavery take the well-known facts that have been explored in documentaries and in the feature film "Battle of the Sexes" and shovel on a cascade of imagin…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:51PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 24, 2018

92Y's Lyrics & Lyricists Series: "The Bobby Darin Story" by Darryl Reilly

Whether bantering with the audience, displaying energetic dance moves, reciting factual details or performing Bobby Darin's signature songs, the boyish Groff was sensational. "Splish Splash,…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:09PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Diary of a Madman by Darryl Reilly

Soviet born actor Ilia Volok is quite personable and definitely commands the stage; his performance is heroic but it is so intense and his accent is often intrusive. Comical and sensitive po…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:11PM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 20, 2018

Sheila by Darryl Reilly

Murky, glacial and hypnotic, "Sheila" is a dreamy reunion drama among two 28-year-old women who haven't seen each other in 10 years. It recalls the sort of off-beat female-centric play direc…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:20AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 19, 2018

Until the Flood by Darryl Reilly

Ms. Orlandersmith skillfully organizes the material into short monologues that are revelatory, insightful and often tinged with humor.  Visually striking with her animated facial features…

SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:59PM[SHARE]

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