All stories by Frank Scheck on BroadwayStars

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Dead man walks, tale feels stale by Frank Scheck

Death-row dramas have been a theatrical staple since the '30s, and "When I Come To Die," Nathan Louis Jackson's new take, adds little that's fresh. Damon Robinson (Chris Chalk), in prison…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:27PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Disappearance comedy gets slightly lost by Frank Scheck

Who, younger readers may wonder, was Michael Rocke feller? Back in 1961, former Gov. Nelson's 23-year-old son went to Papua New Guinea on an anthropological expedition and never returned.…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:50PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 7, 2011

Better take a detour! by Frank Scheck

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby would be spinning in their graves at the thought of "The Road to Qatar!" -- a lame musical comedy in the style of their classic "Road" movies. Based on its creators'…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:47PM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 6, 2011

'Witch' casts a spell by Frank Scheck

JACOBEAN drama is so rarely performed on these shores that any halfway decent production is bound to attract serious theatergoers. So it's doubly satisfying that the enterprising Red Bull Th…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:47PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Catch her in the eye by Frank Scheck

The best way to ap preciate "Molly Sweeney" may simply be to shut your eyes. As he did in "Faith Healer" a few seasons back, Brian Friel uses three intersecting monologues, this time tell…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:44PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 25, 2011

These views on news a clever ruse by Frank Scheck

If the news makes you want to cry, there's an antidote in town: "NEWSical the Musi cal." This new edition of the topical musical revue does for current events what the late, lamented "Forbid…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:37PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 21, 2011

Death takes a holiday by Frank Scheck

The character at the heart of "Carnival Round the Central Figure" doesn't look at all well. Lying in a hospital bed, his mouth slack, he has a ghastly pallor and dark eyes that make him l…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:51AM[SHARE]

Sings a merry Carol by Frank Scheck

Anyone who's seen Carol Channing in one of her recent appearances -- say, at the Kennedy Center Honors -- knows that she's remarkably spry for an almost-90-year-old. But she's even more dyna…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:49AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Lively tale makes for memorable 'Suicide' by Frank Scheck

They say truth is stranger than fiction -- but fiction's often far more entertaining. So it is with British comedian Daniel Kitson's "The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church," a one-man s…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:55PM[SHARE]

Bard to the bone by Frank Scheck

'Are there more plots to unravel?" complains the title character of Shakespeare's "Cymbeline," and he might as well be speaking for the audience. Luckily, the Fiasco Theater's charming ne…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:40AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 16, 2011

Robots' chat is all tech by Frank Scheck

If the idea of watching two machines chatting to each other sounds exciting, then "Hello Hi There" is the show for you. Nirvana for computer geeks, this bizarre theater piece by Annie Dors…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:38PM[SHARE]
Monday, January 10, 2011

Fool's CliffsNotes make 'Lear' a laughing matter by Frank Scheck

No need to bother with that revival of "King Lear" arriv ing in April at BAM. Why sit through the entirety of Shakespeare's classic when you can get pretty much the same story in less than 7…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:37AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 9, 2011

Vivid visuals in Ovid update by Frank Scheck

You'd expect cheeki ness from a theater troupe named Pants on Fire, and that's exactly what you get in this rollicking British import at the Flea Theater. "Pants on Fire's Metamorphoses" …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:29PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Marriage made in musical heaven by Frank Scheck

Marital difficulties? Try watching Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano in ac tion. These husband-and-wife performers have so much personal and musical chemistry, they're practically providing c…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:55PM[SHARE]

All the world's onstage by Frank Scheck

The problem with being a cutting-edge theater festival is that it gets harder and harder to keep things sharp. That's the challenge faced by Under the Radar, presented each year by the Pu…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:42AM[SHARE]
Monday, December 27, 2010

Puppet space drama's out of this world by Frank Scheck

The first sign that "Baby Uni verse: A Puppet Odyssey" isn't your ordinary puppet show comes in the lobby, when a small, wheelchair-bound robot with a striking resemblance to Stephen Hawking…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:23PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 26, 2010

Swiss tease with fun mime in its prime by Frank Scheck

Even if you're allergic to mime, Mum menschanz enchants. This durable Swiss troupe makes nonverbal magic with ordinary and not-so-ordinary objects, transforming them into abstract creations …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:38PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas show is hard to bare by Frank Scheck

It's a good thing there's a bar inside the Ace of Clubs basement theater where "Naked Holidays" is playing: You're going to need to down some seriously spiked eggnog to endure this holiday s…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:53AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 22, 2010

A bright Brit of Xmas cheer by Frank Scheck

The first time she per formed in New York -- 36 years ago -- Bonnie Langford, then 10, played Baby June to Angela Lansbury's Momma Rose in "Gypsy." Judging by the manic energy of "Bonnie …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:08PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 20, 2010

Groom for improvement by Frank Scheck

If you've ever sat through a boring wed ding speech, you'll probably wince during the opening scene of "If That's All There Is." But while it captures such moments with comically painful acc…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:26PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 16, 2010

Yule catch the Xmas spirit by Frank Scheck

Like spiked eggnog, "A Child's Christmas in Wales" assaults you with sweetness while adding a bracing kick of something stronger. The Irish Repertory Theatre's production includes an abundan…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:09PM[SHARE]

The gospel truth is, it's entertaining by Frank Scheck

'Black Nativity," the all- black retelling of the Na tivity story, has been a holiday staple since 1961. This year's edition -- an updated, retitled "Black Nativity Now" -- commits the Scroo…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:09PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Reply 'See this' to all who e-mail by Frank Scheck

'You've Got Hate Mail" is the perfect bed room farce for an era in which there's more action online than in actual bedrooms. Composed entirely of e-mails and text messages riotously enact…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:04AM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 11, 2010

Dandy from a Baby by Frank Scheck

A full-throated belter one minute, a sensitive chanteuse the next: Either way, Baby Jane Dexter is the real deal. In her nearly four decades on the cabaret scene, she's lived her life in …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 07:50AM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 9, 2010

Theater in prison for good 'Measure' by Frank Scheck

AS theater audiences go, the one for "Measure for Measure" last week was pretty uniform " an all-female contingent that was in uniform: the dark-green pants and shirts of the Bayview Correct…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:57AM[SHARE]
Monday, December 6, 2010

Borrowed concept full of talented energy by Frank Scheck

Part "Stomp," part "Blue Man Group" and part "Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk," "Momentum" is as infectious as it is derivative. This kinetic production from the Israel-based company M…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:10AM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 4, 2010

No M*A*S*H in the pan by Frank Scheck

"Hot Lips to Cool Blues!" isn't just the title of Sally Kellerman's new cabaret show -- it's a pretty fair summary of her career. This is, after all, the woman who gained fame and an Osca…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 04:27AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Not really sold on solo 'Sellers' by Frank Scheck

It can't be easy being David Boyle. As the sole performer in "Being Sellers," part of the Brits Off Broadway series, he not only has to embody Peter Sellers, but Inspector Clouseau, Chance t…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:17PM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 28, 2010

Powerful Pinter plays make dynamic duo by Frank Scheck

A canny pairing of early and late one-acts by Harold Pinter, "The Collection & A Kind of Alaska," makes it clear that the Nobel Prize-winning playwright's talents only deepened over the year…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:06PM[SHARE]

It nails politics to a Tea by Frank Scheck

A country racked by in tense division be tween the right and left; character assassination by a biased press -- and ruthless political figures willing to do whatever it takes to achieve thei…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:00PM[SHARE]
Friday, November 26, 2010

A thrilling look at a boro haul by Frank Scheck

Even by the daunting standards they've set for themselves, the Civilians' latest effort is a stretch. "In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards" is the musical-theater equivalent of …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:08AM[SHARE]

All that Chat