All stories by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI on BroadwayStars

Monday, September 12, 2011

Only score's of note by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In the right hands, "Fol lies" is a punch in the gut -- set to a fantastic score. Stephen Sond heim and James Gold man's 1971 musical juxtaposes past and present, reality and fantasy. It can…

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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Something new under 'Sun' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Probably the last things that come to mind when thinking about Ernest Hem ingway are "laughs" and "awesome dance moves." And yet there are plenty of both during "The Select (The Sun Also Ris…

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Monday, August 29, 2011

Irish eyes are not smiling by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The Mint Theater spe cializes in unearthing obscure material, but a year ago it dug particularly deep: It presented an arcane 1930s drama, originally written for radio by an Irishwoman large…

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Seoul-ful, tuneful Korean 'Hero' welcome by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A fearless resistance fighter sings out about his dreams and beliefs. A sexy spy seduces her opponent with her wiles and lung-busting power ballads. Romantic scenes alternate with kinetic ch…

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

'Tenant' leaves you dwelling on its many flaws by Elisabeth Vincentelli

When it rains, it pours: New York now hosts two site- specific, choose-your-own-narrative works in which the audience roams all over a large, custom-decorated building. Since April, the f…

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Monday, August 22, 2011

Not a perfect 'Ten,' but 'Cents' pays off by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Williamstown, Mass. -- It's not often that you leave a musical revue thinking, Wow, that looked great! But John Doyle's tribute to Rodgers and Hart, "Ten Cents a Dance," is full of stylish, …

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This car's too small for its star by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Britain's Simon Russell Beale has been hailed as the great est stage actor of his generation. The 50-year-old virtuoso interpreter of Shakespeare and Chekhov is versatile, too: He sent up hi…

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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Taymor tale a tad too tame by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The problem with "The Legend of Julie Tay mor, or The Musical That Killed Everybody!" isn't that it was written in a mere six weeks. Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Leonard Bernstein coughed …

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'Devil' may care, but you won't by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There's good storytel ling, and then there's "Tricks the Devil Taught Me." Minutes tick by in Tony Georges' new off-Broadway play as you wait for a point, any point, to emerge. By intermi…

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Doesn't rise to occasion by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The New York Fringe Festival's single big gest success story is "Urinetown," which not only made it to Broadway in 2001, but won Tonys for best book and best score. So when that show's creat…

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Sharp zingers make for salty 'Olive' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

You've got to hand it to Charles Busch: He doesn't make it easy for his audience. The title character of his latest comedy, "Olive and the Bitter Herbs," has to be the sourest puss on the Ne…

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Monday, August 15, 2011

Diverting, but falls short by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Isabelle is 17 and bright. She's a valedicto rian, and she's about to lose her virginity. It doesn't take Nostradamus to foretell a coming-of-age story. At least the period setting of you…

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Not quite grand Larson-y by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Jonathan Larson's hit musical "Rent" left the Great White Way a mere three years ago, and now it's back where it started: in an off-Broadway theater. Yet the production that opened at New Wo…

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Praise for 'Hotel,' with reservations by Elisabeth Vincentelli

People get up to all kinds of shenanigans in a rented room. No surprise, then, that a few butts are bared in "HotelMotel," a site-specific doubleheader staged in a small suite at the Gershwi…

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Monday, August 8, 2011

Cate's great as Kennedy Center tries 'Uncle' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

WASHINGTON, DC -- THE word "slapstick" isn't often used in conjunction with Chekhov. And yet here's the imperious Cate Blanchett, nearly tumbling down as the door against which she was strik…

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Sunday, August 7, 2011

Where to binge at Fringe by Elisabeth Vincentelli and Barbara Hoffman

There's a reason some people call it "the Cringe Festival." Regulars at the New York International Fringe Festival know it's a crapshoot " emphasis on the first syllable. For every success l…

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Monday, August 1, 2011

Not the big Brecht you've been waiting for by Elisabeth Vincentelli

If aliens came to New York in the summer, they'd assume the only plays here are by Shakespeare. Everywhere you turn, there he is: in the park, in the parking lot (see above) and on Park Aven…

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Sunday, July 31, 2011

All hail RSC's 'Julius Caesar' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

With "Julius Cae sar," its fifth and last production at the Park Avenue Armory, the Royal Shakespeare Company's local season ends in an orgy of violence and gore. Director Lucy Bailey cou…

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Thursday, July 28, 2011

'Tale' of discontent by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It had to happen: The Royal Shakespeare Company's taken a tumble. The troupe's first en tries in its five-play season at the Park Avenue Armory ranged from a delightful "As You Like It" t…

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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

'House' needs work, but you'll rave for Rabe by Elisabeth Vincentelli

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Lily Rabe isn't yet 30, but she commands the stage with calm, steady authority. This daughter of Jill Clayburgh and playwright David Rabe more than held her own agains…

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War's hell, show doesn't jell by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The Royal Shake speare Company isn't the only theater happening at the Lin coln Center Festival. Back for a spin is Ireland's Druid Theatre -- the troupe that brought six plays by John M. Sy…

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Little new in 'People' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Zach Braff must have had fun last year at Sec ond Stage, where he played a dominatrix's client in Paul Weitz's "Trust": The engaging star of "Scrubs" is back -- this time making his playwrit…

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Sunday, July 24, 2011

One man in many roles 'part' of the problem by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The Transport Group has been on a roll lately. There was Mart Crowley's 1960s homosexual classic, "The Boys in the Band," done as a real-time party in a Chelsea penthouse, and the reinventio…

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

Tuneful 'Death' not the be all and end all by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Death has been very busy over the years, and it sure has range: It's had star turns in movies as diverse as "Bill and Ted's Bogus Holiday," "The Seventh Seal" and "All That Jazz." Now the Gr…

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Hear! Hear! for tragic 'Lear' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

'King Lear" is no picnic: The play's world is one where "machinations, hollowness, treachery and all ruinous disorders follow us disquietly to our graves," as Lear's confidant, the Earl of G…

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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Hip, hippie hurray for the ever-hot 'Hair' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

What "The Nut cracker" is to Decem ber, "Hair" is to July. Not only does the musical take place during the Summer of Love, but its "turn on, tune in, drop out" message feels particularly rig…

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Young love, loudly played by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Smoke! Pyrotechnics! Battle gear! When the Montagues and the Ca pulets duke it out in this "Romeo and Juliet," it feels like a Kiss con cert -- and it's almost as loud. Needless to say, t…

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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Self-deprecation adds punch to 'Judy' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Judy Gold's new solo outing, "The Judy Show: My Life As a Sitcom," begins slowly. For someone who describes herself as a "6-foot-3 Jewish lesbian mother of two," Gold's childhood was utterly…

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Saturday, July 9, 2011

Stratford-upon-Armory by Elisabeth Vincentelli

At times, the Lincoln Center Festival is the high-art answer to Ep cot's World Showcase -- building entire ven ues from scratch so we can see foreign companies in their home environment with…

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Thursday, July 7, 2011

She's no callous Callas by Elisabeth Vincentelli

She's a major diva with an ego to match, but her prime years are behind her. So she takes eager-beaver young performers under her wing and mentors them, teaching them the art of interpretati…

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

A look back at not-so-gay days at Harvard by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It was possible to be gay at Harvard in 1920, but it was risky. Exactly how dangerous was detailed in a 2002 article in the Harvard Crimson, which revealed "secret court files" documenting t…

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