All stories by Jesse Green on BroadwayStars

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Review: In 'Three Kings,' Hot Priest Sheds His Cassock by Jesse Green

The "Fleabag" star Andrew Scott is the entire brilliant cast of a penetrating play about toxic fathers and sons.

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Friday, September 4, 2020

Review: A Pandemic 'Othello,' Socially and Otherwise Distant by Jesse Green

The actors quarantined together all summer to produce Shakespeare's tragedy safely. But they can't overcome the remove of a camera.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:42PM[SHARE]
Monday, August 31, 2020

Review: It's Just You and Me and Zoom in 'Here We Are' by Jesse Green

Theater for One was built on the idea of face-to-face encounters. Moving it online could have been a disaster, but instead it's a heartbreaker.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:18PM[SHARE]
Monday, August 10, 2020

Review: Packing 14 Up-to-the-Minute Monologues in 'One Room' by Jesse Green

A collection of short solo works from the Weston Playhouse furthers the redefinition of theater online " and of life in isolation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:42PM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 6, 2020

'A Killer Party' Review: The Case of the Online Musical by Jesse Green

With broad winks to Agatha Christie and the limitations of remote theater, a serialized song-and-dance mystery goes on. Well, not so much dance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:54PM[SHARE]
Monday, August 3, 2020

The (Virtual) Theatrical Fringe Moves Front and Center by Jesse Green

Expanding content and experimenting with form, the avant-garde finds a congenial new home online, as two recent offerings demonstrate.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:48PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 31, 2020

Review: A Sci-Fi Classic Featuring a Multiverse of Stooges by Jesse Green

In "The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy," an experimental theater lab operating from a closet adapts a timely tale about the solitude of cramped quarters.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:24PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Review: Reliving 'Private Lives,' This Time Mostly Women's by Jesse Green

Eight short plays take cues from the 1930 Noël Coward comedy " but now the stakes are different.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:48PM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 16, 2020

The Time I Saw Angela Lansbury Instead of the Horse Show by Jesse Green

Not so long ago, top stars brought top musicals to suburban arenas that started their lives as tents.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:36PM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 9, 2020

Review: Covid Responders Have Their Harrowing Say in 'The Line' by Jesse Green

A documentary play based on interviews with New York doctors, nurses and paramedics underlines the inequities of a medical system "flawed from its root."

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:03PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 8, 2020

This Is Theater in 2020. Will It Last? Should It? by Ben Brantley, Jesse Green and Maya Phillips

Our critics discuss the last four months, which thanks to Zoom (and Meryl Streep) have been full of experimentation and playfulness.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Hoping for a Theater Bailout? Better Head to London. by Jesse Green

The British government has promised $2 billion to save its cultural institutions, while the American theater, lacking meaningful leadership, is left to fend for itself.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:48PM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 2, 2020

Review: Apple-Picking Time Again, in 'And So We Come Forth' by Jesse Green

Richard Nelson's fictional family returns, but for the first time this drama of connection in the age of American bewilderment feels smaller than life.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 29, 2020

Review: When 'Tartuffe' Meets Trump, It's Revolutionary by Jesse Green

A streaming production of the Molière comedy, with allusions to the White House as well as Black Lives Matter, tears down walls to rebuild a classic.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:03PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 16, 2020

First the Play. Then the Soul Searching. But What Comes Next? by Jesse Green

An Atlanta theater company addresses racial inequity in a series of virtual dinners that mix drama with discussion.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:42PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 12, 2020

12 Streamable Plays That Depict Black Lives Pierced by Racism by Ben Brantley, Jesse Green and Maya Phillips

From the documentary works of Anna Deavere Smith to brief monologues written in this moment of unrest, dramatists are sounding an alarm.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:03PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Larry Kramer, Prophet and Pussycat by Jesse Green

On the stage and on the page, his fury was fueled by an often-cloaked belief in the power of love.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:24PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 15, 2020

20 Broadway Musical Albums to Listen To by Jesse Green and Ben Brantley

What we plan to listen to in perpetuity (or right now) in our Spotify-enabled isolation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:42AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Who Says You Can't Give Tony Awards in an Abbreviated Season? by Jesse Green and Ben Brantley

Our chief theater critics have no nickel-plated medallions to hand out, but they find plenty to celebrate among shut-down Broadway offerings.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:42PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Terrence McNally, Tony-Winning Playwright of Gay Life, Dies at 81 by Jesse Green and Neil Genzlinger

Mr. McNally, who died of coronavirus complications, introduced audiences to characters and situations that most mainstream theater had previously shunted into comic asides.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:42PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 18, 2020

54% of the People. 12% of the Plays. Atlanta, Do We Have a Problem? by Jesse Green

One of the country's most racially diverse cities struggles, nicely, with representation and inclusion on its many bustling stages.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:02PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 12, 2020

Stephen Sondheim is Not Just a Great Composer. He's a Great Playwright. by Jesse Green

Let's not underrate Stephen Sondheim any longer: Theater's greatest songwriter is also one of theater's greatest playwrights. Here's why.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:06AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 9, 2020

Review: In 'Endlings,' the Pain of Swimming Between Worlds by Jesse Green

What do Korean divers and Manhattan playwrights have in common? A new play looks for the connection.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:03PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Review: In 'The Perplexed,' Moral Gridlock on Fifth Avenue by Jesse Green

Richard Greenberg's overstuffed new play about family feuds and ethical choices turns a wedding comedy into a crisis.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Review: In 'We're Gonna Die,' Pop Songs for the Reaper by Jesse Green

Young Jean Lee offers upbeat tunes about downbeat lives and inevitable ends.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:03AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 24, 2020

Review: 'The Headlands' Nods to San Francisco Noir by Jesse Green

A cold case. An amateur sleuth. A new clue. But sometimes the murder isn't the real mystery.

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Is Broadway Stuck on Replay? by Jesse Green

With this season promising so many revivals and touring productions, our critic wonders whether it's possible for audiences to treat them as exciting arrivals.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:03PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Review: Camp and Compassion in 'The Confession of Lily Dare' by Jesse Green

Charles Busch's mash-up of mother-love weepies finds both pathos and hilarity in the tough talk of Hollywood divas.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:03PM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 23, 2020

Review: In 'Grand Horizons,' Marriage Is a Long-Running Farce by Jesse Green

Bess Wohl's new play puts a Neil Simonesque spin on the story of a couple considering divorce after 50 years.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:36PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Review: In 'A Soldier's Play,' an Endless War Against Black Men by Jesse Green

The Broadway premiere of Charles Fuller's 1981 drama finds premonitions of today in the story of a 1944 murder.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48PM[SHARE]

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