All stories by Frank Scheck on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Hot club fun time machine by Frank Scheck

'She's a real drama queen, that one," whispered a shady-looking guy. And I, sipping from the coffee cup a winking bartender had just poured some liquor into, had to agree. Even as immersive …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:28AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 31, 2013

Beating a dead 'Moose' by Frank Scheck

It took nearly three decades and countless therapy sessions, but I finally thought I was over the post-traumatic stress of having suffered through the original 1983 Broadway production of "M…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:33PM[SHARE]

Under-par 'Man' on wrong track by Frank Scheck

You'll think twice about taking advantage of the Missed Connections section on Craigslist after seeing "The Man Under." Paul Bomba's strained drama about a man who falls in love with a woman…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:08AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Manilow on Broadway: Theater Review by Frank Scheck

The veteran pop star and "Justin Bieber of the '70s" returns to Broadway in a hits-laden show. read more

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 11:03AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Sat. night fever set in MTV heyday culture by Frank Scheck

'Totally Tubular Time Machine" bills itself as "NYC's only interactive, intergalactic, pop music experience." That's true enough, but whether you'll want to go back in time to attend this "1…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:32AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 24, 2013

Review: Not by Bread Alone by Frank Scheck

If the performers onstage at NYU’s Skirball Center seem to be in their own world, that’s because they really are. They’re the members of Israel’s Nalaga’at Thea…

SOURCE: Scheck on the Arts at 05:31PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 23, 2013

All jammed up and nowhere to go by Frank Scheck

A Brooklyn lug dreams of roller-skating to stardom in "The Jammer," a new comedy that strains so hard for laughs, it makes "Starlight Express" seem weighty by comparison. It's the 1950s, an…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:29AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Clothes make the man in cuckold's tale by Frank Scheck

Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. That striking proverb comes to mind while watching "The Suit," the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord's haunting piece at t…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:22AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 20, 2013

Bethany: Theater Review by Frank Scheck

America Ferrera stars in this dark off-Broadway dark comedy about a young single mother struggling to survive in the depths of the financial crisis. read more

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 09:00PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 18, 2013

Review: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Frank Scheck

There are plenty of fireworks in the new Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but sadly they’re all offstage. For this production marking Scarlett Johan…

SOURCE: Scheck on the Arts at 03:59AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 17, 2013

Gimmicks galore in melodrama by Frank Scheck

'working on a Special Day" is one of those shows that takes pains to constantly remind you that you're watching THEATER. This is a simple story of an emotionally charged encounter between a …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:10AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Forgotten play fails by Frank Scheck

UNSUNGMusicalsCo.'s mission is to restore and present obscure musicals that merit another look. But their revival of "The Fig Leaves Are Falling" demonstrates that some musicals are better l…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:24PM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 13, 2013

'Airswimming' barely stays afloat by Frank Scheck

Two women are locked up for decades in a British hospital for the criminally insane. Their crime? Bearing children out of wedlock. At least, that's how the Irish Rep describes "Airswimming,"…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:46PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 11, 2013

The Bard's backside by Frank Scheck

'is that the sort of thing you find funny?" hisses the title character (and target) of Tim Crouch's solo show, as he endures one humiliation after another. Well, yes. At least, it's funny i…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:27PM[SHARE]

Review: The Other Place by Frank Scheck

The central character in Sharr White’s drama The Other Place is suffering the disorientating effects of a condition she’s self-diagnosed as brain cancer. Her helpless confusion i…

SOURCE: Scheck on the Arts at 08:33AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 10, 2013

Let's talk about race, 'Baby' by Frank Scheck

I am not a racist. And yet there I was, sitting in the audience at "Tar Baby" " comedian Desiree Burch's provocatively titled new show about race " wearing a sticker calling me one. That lab…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:31AM[SHARE]
Monday, January 7, 2013

'Losers' give the skinny on weight loss by Frank Scheck

Eager to shed those holiday pounds? You may want to check out "The Diet Show." Not only might it provide some powerful motivation, but it's the only show in town that at one point requires y…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:57PM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 6, 2013

Plays go off the grid by Frank Scheck

You can say one thing about this year's Under the Radar festival: It has something for every attention span. Do you suffer from theater-induced attention-deficit disorder? There are three s…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:12PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 24, 2012

Hands-on drama by Elisabeth Vincentelli and Frank Scheck

Maybe it's because we live in a world where everybody's connected, but this year has seen an explosion of "immersive" shows that blur the line between audience and performers. In some, you w…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, December 17, 2012

'Soldier' haunts by Frank Scheck

It seems a reasonable request: The dead young soldier standing in front of you forlornly asks for a coin, so he and his men can pay the ferryman to get across the River Styx. It's easy enoug…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:44PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 16, 2012

'13' is a lucky number for this charmer by Frank Scheck

Here are 13 things about "13 Things About Ed Carpolotti": 1. It's a solo chamber musical, with Penny Fuller " of Broadway's "Applause" and "Barefoot in the Park" " as a widow who finds her l…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:43PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A bawdy bacchanal . . . and it's a show, too by Frank Scheck

'Are you having a good time?" an actor asked me during the intermission of "Restoration Comedy," the new party " sorry, production " at the Flea Theater. It was a fair question, considering…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:40PM[SHARE]

It's a wonderful live play by Frank Scheck

Spoiler alert: Clarence gets his wings. That you know absolutely everything that's going to happen doesn't spoil the pleasures of "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play." Anthony E. Pale…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:38PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Irish eyes (and songs) will have you smiling by Frank Scheck

It's apt that "The Songs I Love So Well" begins with that old chestnut "Danny Boy." This show starring venerable Irish musician Phil Coulter is suffused with such a warm glow of nostalgia th…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:18AM[SHARE]

'Romeo' musical poisonous by Frank Scheck

The action in the rock musical "Bare" revolves around a Catholic high school production of "Romeo and Juliet." But here, the star-crossed lovers are two gay teens whose illicit romance has t…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:18AM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 9, 2012

Review: Glengarry Glen Ross by Frank Scheck

Ah, the benefits of diminished expectations. Since it began previews in October, the Broadway revival of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross has been the target of…

SOURCE: Scheck on the Arts at 09:56AM[SHARE]
Friday, December 7, 2012

Review: Golden Boy by Frank Scheck

Clifford Odets’ rarely seen 1937 drama Golden Boy is receiving a loving revival courtesy of the Lincoln Center Theater, which previously mounted his classic Awake and Sing! to great ac…

SOURCE: Scheck on the Arts at 06:29AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 5, 2012

'Mice' roars by Frank Scheck

Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Frances Conroy: They're just a few of the actors who began their careers touring with the Acting Company. That long list of illustrious alumni may one day include …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:34PM[SHARE]

Let's kill this play instead by Frank Scheck

Given its title (and a subtitle that's not fit to print in a family newspaper), it's pretty clear that "Let's Kill Grandma This Christmas" isn't aimed at the Rockettes crowd. Or anyone else …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:23PM[SHARE]

'Zelda': The fitful life of a Fitz on the fritz by Frank Scheck

It wasn't easy being Zelda Fitzgerald. The talented wife of "Great Gatsby" writer F. Scott Fitzgerald suffered from bipolar disorder, for which she was often institutionalized. Her marriage …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:23PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Golden Age: Theater Review by Frank Scheck

Terrence McNally's new play conveys the chaotic backstage goings-on during the 1835 premiere of Vincenzo Bellini's final opera. read more

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 10:00PM[SHARE]

All that Chat