All stories by ELISABETH VINCENTELLI on BroadwayStars

Friday, February 25, 2011

Location, location, location: enter 'Hallway' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Shared space plays a big part in Adam Rapp's new "Hall way Trilogy." It even extends to the Rattlestick Theatre itself, where the stage now runs along the entire side of the house. Hallways …

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

French Quarter tale only half-good by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Tennessee Williams would have turned 100 on March 26, and the past months have been jammed with revivals. Except we're not seeing his hits but late-period curios like "The Milk Train Doesn't…

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Get a rush from star's insanely good turn by Elisabeth Vincentelli

There are star vehicles, and then there's "The Diary of a Madman," which is like a gold-plated, diamond-encrusted Ferrari for Geoffrey Rush. And the Australian actor -- a leading contende…

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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Staged Q&A session is a Gray area by Elisabeth Vincentelli

In the early '80s, the late mono loguist Spalding Gray created a show called "Interviewing the Audience" in which he did just that. He brought random theatergoers onstage and got them to ope…

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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

WASP-y 'Black Tie' doesn't have much sting by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The prolific A.R. Gurney has made a specialty of docu menting a certain slice of America: Northeast-based, white, middle-class families bound by a strong sense of kinship and precisely delin…

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Monday, February 7, 2011

Can 'Spidey' fly by Elisabeth Vincentelli

EDITOR'S NOTE: After nearly 70 previews and five delayed openings, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has moved its official opening to March 15. Given the flurry of celebrity endorsements and …

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Friday, February 4, 2011

Apartheid tale a vital revival by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Although Encores! productions such as "Gypsy," "Chicago" and "Finian's Rainbow" have made it to Broadway, fans of the long-running City Center series know such transfers are beside the point…

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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Civil War-era drama goes out on a limb by Elisabeth Vincentelli

An early scene in the new off- Broadway play "The Whip ping Man" demonstrates the devastating power of words. We're in April 1865 and the war has just ended. A young Confederate soldier, …

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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Pain brings limited gain by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Doug is a living night mare for health- insurance companies: He's more than accident-prone -- he's a lightning rod for calamities. In Rajiv Joseph's uneven play "Gruesome Playground Injur…

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Sunday, January 30, 2011

It doesn't milk Williams' work for all it's worth by Elisabeth Vincentelli

While Tennessee Williams is acknowledged as a master, his later plays are theater's answer to the madwoman in the attic: Producers and directors either ignore them entirely, or tread gingerl…

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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Tabloid tycoon's tale back by popular demand by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The key character in "What the Public Wants" is a driven media tycoon who reaches millions via dozens of publications. Through them, he seeks to entertain the many and influence the mighty. …

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Pairs: when it doesn't sizzle by Elisabeth Vincentelli

When you think about David Auburn, author of the math-and-madness hit "Proof," farce isn't the first thing that comes to mind. So his decision to overhaul "The New York Idea" -- an obscure 1…

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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Moliére timely, but defanged by Elisabeth Vincentelli

MoliÈre's dark com edy "The Misan thrope" is one of the most cynical and twisted works in the canon, and deserves to be better known in America. Maybe we need a Hollywood update to sho…

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Friday, January 21, 2011

One person's political journey is another's schlep by Elisabeth Vincentelli

After the critical success of his epic "The Lily's Revenge" last year, all eyes were on Taylor Mac. Amid a cast of 40, the strikingly made-up and costumed writer-performer blossomed in the r…

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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

You won't want to leave 'Room' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The new "Room 17B" is like an anthology of clown haikus -- a se ries of self-contained routines, each one brief, elegant and perfectly balanced. Presented by the physical-comedy company P…

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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Star's not quite write by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A charismatic, seductive tycoon is key to Scott Brooks' new comedy, "ScreenPlay." Had a charismatic, seductive leading man been cast, this wan Hollywood satire might have gone somewhere. …

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Swindler you can bank on by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Ibsen's "John Gabriel Bork man" is nowhere near as popu lar as his "Hedda Gabler" and "A Doll's House." Yet crowds are flocking to this obscure 1896 play at BAM. What gives? One reason is…

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Friday, January 14, 2011

'Desert' blooms by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Misery springs eternal. We've seen dozens of fictional families clash be cause of a Big Traumatic Past Event, but that didn't deter Jon Robin Baitz ("The Substance of Fire," TV's "Brothers a…

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Heavy 'Stone' sinks by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A lot of energy is spent setting up an explo sive situation in the family drama "Blood From a Stone." But despite the efforts of a strong cast led by Ethan Hawke -- giving his best performan…

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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Hotel-room stage a Williams wake-up call by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Location, location, location: That motto applies not only to real estate but to theater. Tennessee Williams' one-act play "Green Eyes" may be slight, but staging it in an actual hotel room -…

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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Losing her grip, in a semi-gripping drama by Elisabeth Vincentelli

When we first meet Emily Bridges in the new play "A Small Fire," she's wearing a hard hat and chewing up her second-in-command. The head of her own construction company, this no-nonsense …

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Fangs for nothing, 'Dracula' by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The woefully inept drama "Dracula," which opened off- Broadway last night, is as close as we get to dinner theater in New York. There's no prime rib, but plenty of grating cheese. While i…

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Sunday, January 2, 2011

Get all wound up at provocative Coil fest by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Just when Broadway and off- Broadway go into their post- holiday hibernation, Performance Space 122 steps in with out-there productions aimed at the head, the guts and the heart. No wonde…

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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Respect the unexpected by Elisabeth Vincentelli

How tepid was Broad way this year? The most talked-about show didn't even open. While waiting -- and waiting, and waiting -- for "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" to take flight, we watched…

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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Piano paean can be a pain by Elisabeth Vincentelli

It's not often that you hear Schubert's melan choly song cycle "Win terreise" ("Winter Journey") in a down town theater. And not with classical musicians, either, but with three scruffy dude…

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Kitsch-mas with the Osmonds by Elisabeth Vincentelli

You can take Donny and Marie Osmond out of Vegas, but you can't take Vegas out of them. Or is that Branson, Mo.? No matter: The siblings' holiday concert at the Marquis delivers everythin…

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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Opposites distract during awkward date by Elisabeth Vincentelli

A waitress silently prepares for work. Her black-and-white uniform in place, she counts her teeth. No. 31 is AWOL, but she finds it somewhere behind her neck, and slides it back in place. To…

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

This isn't your garden-variety tale of adultery by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Irish novelist Edna O'Brien wrote a plum part for Brenda Blethyn in "Haunted," an oblique, wordy play about a waning marriage. The actress returned the favor by grounding the piece with real…

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In deeper by the dozen by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Central Asia is a hair-pulling mess. And as we see in "The Great Game: Afghanistan," it's been a mess for a long time. Covering the years 1842 to the present, this London import tracks a sit…

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Monday, December 6, 2010

Stunning Egon trip doesn't paint full picture by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Sausage, anybody? Actually, John Kelly's "Pass the Blut wurst, Bitte" has nothing to do with meat products and everything to do with Austrian painter Egon Schiele. A skilled chameleon, wr…

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Reasons for elf-doubt by Elisabeth Vincentelli

The head writer for "SpongeBob SquarePants," Steven Banks also moonlights as the dark and twisted Billy the Mime. Now, he tries to reconcile his sugar-and-spice sides in a new play, "Looking…

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