All stories by Frank Scheck on BroadwayStars

Friday, May 20, 2011

Review: A Minister's Wife by Frank Scheck

A little show called My Fair Lady provides ample demonstration that the works of George Bernard Shaw are certainly ripe for musical treatment. But the latest attempt, A Minister’s Wife…

SOURCE: Scheck on the Arts at 03:15AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 19, 2011

11th plague of Egypt by Frank Scheck

'Prepare yourself for a modern classic," says a soothsayer at the start of "The Sphinx Winx," before adding: "Eat your heart out, Shakespeare." The Bard has nothing to worry about. Neithe…

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Play grounds by Frank Scheck

Even if you're not usually moved by Shakespeare, you will be this summer " literally. From July 6 to 24, the New York Classical Theatre will shuttle theatergoers between England and France …

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Melodramatic script goes over the top by Frank Scheck

'Tearing Down the Walls" is the latest work from Daniel Beaty, who has enjoyed considerable success with such solo plays as "Emergence-See!" and "Through the Night." But this musical about t…

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Sunday, May 15, 2011

The chance he's been 'weight'-ing for by Frank Scheck

Ryan O'Connor eats his feelings. And judging by his size, he has a lot of feelings, as he is the first to admit. The 29-year-old performer has used his lifelong addiction to food to launc…

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Friday, May 13, 2011

Study in media-crity by Frank Scheck

You feel as if you've stumbled onto a rave when you enter the theater for the Irondale Ensemble's "Murrow's Boys." The young cast members are dancing happily to techno music, and invite you …

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Fails to go forth and Prospero by Frank Scheck

One of the most pow erful moments in all of Shakespeare's plays occurs at the conclusion of "The Tempest," when the aging magician Prospero renounces his otherworldly powers. But it only wor…

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Review: Lena: A Lovesome Thing by Frank Scheck

Nnenna Frelon's new tribute show at Feinstein's at Loews Regency showcase her goregous voice and emotional expressiveness.

SOURCE: TheaterMania at 10:30AM[SHARE]

Puppets take Neverland by Frank Scheck

We're so used to sunny versions of "Peter Pan" that the darkness of "Peter and Wendy" comes as a shock. Based on J.M. Barrie's 1911 novelization of his play, this is a richer, deeper telling…

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Review: King Lear by Frank Scheck

Most actors play King Lear as an imperial monarch, the better to contrast with the character’s subsequent descent into madness. But in the new production of the play at the Brooklyn Ac…

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Monday, May 9, 2011

Unfocused tribute a bit Vega by Frank Scheck

Ever since she saw her photo on a book jacket as a teen, Suzanne Vega's been obsessed with Carson McCullers. Sadly, that passion surfaces only occasionally in "Carson McCullers Talks About L…

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Review: Julia by Frank Scheck

That life doesn’t always offer the opportunity to neatly right past wrongs is a promising theme for a drama. Too bad, then, that Julia squanders it.       The centr…

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Friday, May 6, 2011

Review: The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures by Frank Scheck

If the title of Tony Kushner’s new play premiere puts you off, wait until you actually sit through it. The overlong and overstuffed The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitali…

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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

It's a very Gouda choice for the kids by Frank Scheck

You may want to think twice before tak ing your children to see "The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy": This exquisitely performed piece is so enchanting, they may never be content with your simpl…

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Review: The School for Lies by Frank Scheck

Playwright David Ives has clearly had a ball adapting Moliere for his screwball verse comedy The School for Lies, and his enjoyment is infectious. Retaining the basic characters, situations …

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Monday, May 2, 2011

'Future' apocalyptic satire now by Frank Scheck

The stock market's crashed. The Chinese have taken over. And "the world is falling apart." No, it's not Donald Trump's latest rant -- it's "Future Anxiety," an apocalyptic satire at the F…

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Friday, April 29, 2011

Review: The People in the Picture by Frank Scheck

A musical whose themes encompass the Holocaust and Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t exactly qualify as a feel good experience. That’s perfectly fine—there’s plenty o…

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Thursday, April 28, 2011

Review: The Normal Heart by Frank Scheck

It may be a time capsule of a play, but the sterling new Broadway revival of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart reveals that it has lost none of its urgency or power. A semi-fictionalized…

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Review: Baby It's You! by Frank Scheck

You can’t say that the new musical Baby It’s You! is shy about its intentions. In the opening moments of this show about the mega-selling ‘60s girl group The Shirelles, an …

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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Review: The House of Blue Leaves by Frank Scheck

In his revelatory production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, director David Cromer unearthed the darkness underlying a play that is usually presented as a paean to a more innocent Ameri…

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Monday, April 25, 2011

Review: Born Yesterday by Frank Scheck

The title of Garson Kanin’s play proves all too accurate with the new Broadway revival of Born Yesterday. This comedy about a crooked businessman in cahoots with corrupt politicians ma…

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Broadway Expands its Stage With Movie Theater Shows by Frank Scheck

If you can't come to Broadway, Broadway is going to come to you.That's the philosophy behind the upcoming nationwide movie theater showings of two current Broadway shows.

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Friday, April 22, 2011

Review: Jerusalem by Frank Scheck

Considering his brilliant comic turn earlier this season in the revival of La Bete and now his titanic performance in Jez Butterworth's new play Jerusalem at the same theater, we might as we…

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Review: Sister Act by Frank Scheck

There’s fun, if not musical comedy heaven, to be found in Sister Act, the new Broadway musical adaptation of the hit 1992 movie starring Whoopi Goldberg. Featuring plenty of talent bot…

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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Review: Clint Holmes by Frank Scheck

The charismatic performer delivers a wonderfully entertaining show at Feinstein's at Loews Regency.

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Review: High by Frank Scheck

That former sexpot Kathleen Turner, who so memorably raised temperatures in such films as Body Heat and Crimes of Passion, has become a formidable presence in middle age. Her body thickened …

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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Review: Sleep No More by Frank Scheck

Attention, theatergoers. Sitting in a seat and watching a show is so yesterday.   The truth of that statement is well demonstrated by Sleep No More, the wonderfully immersive theatrica…

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Nothing novel in this comedy by Frank Scheck

Heavy drinking, vicious cat fights and some hot girl-on- girl action would seem the perfect ingredients for a reality TV show. That all that and more are perpetrated by a women's book clu…

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Monday, April 18, 2011

Review: Wonderland by Frank Scheck

Down the rabbit hole indeed.   Wonderland is the sort of horrifically bad Broadway musical that doesn’t come along too often these days. Based on-- you guessed it—AliceR…

SOURCE: Scheck on the Arts at 06:26AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 15, 2011

'Western' circus a gold mine by Frank Scheck

The Wild West gets even wilder in "Boom Town," the new children's show by the clever Cirque Mechanics troupe. It's set in an 1860s mining town that's literally a springboard for circus ac…

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Review: War Horse by Frank Scheck

Stage wonders of the most magisterial sort are delivered in War Horse, the hit London production that has been remounted by the Lincoln Center Theater. This epic drama about the bond between…

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