Off-B'way Review: Richard II; Kyoto

Michael Urie in Richard II.
Credit: Carol Rosegg

Michael Urie proves he is as adept at Shakespearean tragedy as he is at musical comedy and TV sitcoms in a powerful staging of the Bard’s Richard II from Red Bull Theater at the Astor Place Theater. Craig Baldwin’s modern dress adaptation has its idiosyncratic flaws, but the central thrust of Richard’s downfall due to his arrogance and lack of empathy comes across with intensity and power.  

Baldwin has set the tale of Richard’s selfish reign and the rise of his rival cousin Bolingbroke in 1980s Manhattan. Rodrigo Munoz’s period-perfect costumes and Bobbie Zlotnik’s wigs and make-up put us in that era of shoulder pads and big hair. Richard and his court are more interested in disco dancing to the Eurythmics and snorting coke than in governing a fractured realm. Also, Coleman does not shy away from Shakespeare’s gay subtext, bringing Richard’s homosexuality out of the closet. This king is clearly carrying on an affair with his cousin Aumerle (sly and slinky David Mattar Merten) and his Queen (a limp Lux Pascal) doesn’t seem to have a problem with that. There’s even a scene set in a steambath where all genders of the king’s court get extremely chummy. 

Emily Swallow, David Mattar Merten,
Grantham Coleman, Michael Urie, and Lux Pascal
in Richard II.
Credit: Carol Rosegg

Baldwin has also switched sexes in some of the casting with the Duke of York and Northumberland rewritten as women (masterful Kathryn Meisle and cunning Emily Swallow). This reversal and other shifts in Shakespeare’s text don’t always work. An imprisoned Richard is seduced by an assassination-bent Aumerle disguised as a stable hand, putting on a tumbleweed Southwestern twang. It’s as if the two are flirting at a leather bar just before Aumerle stabs the king. Because the Duke of York is now a woman, the Duchess’ lines in the last scenes have been reassigned to the Queen, who should be on a boat, returning to her native France after the deposing of her husband.

Off-B'way Review: The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire

Bobby Moreno, Bartley Booz, Cricket Brown,
Donetta Lavinia Grays, Jeff Biehl, and
Bruce McKenzie in The Burning Cauldron
of Fiery Fire. Credit: Carol Rosegg

I was looking forward to Anne Washburn’s The Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire, a co-production of The Vineyard Theatre and the Civilians playing at the former’s Off-Broadway space. Washburn’s Mr. Burns: A Post-Electronic Play was a clever and moving depiction of a grim electricity-free future where the only entertainment is re-enacting episodes of The Simpsons. Her 10 Out of 12 was a delightfully daffy send-up of tech rehearsals of a struggling theater company. Burning Cauldron has an interesting central premise, but Washburn fails to develop it significantly. None of the characters are relatable. The main action doesn’t go anywhere and its theme is unclear. The play is a rough first draft. Very rough. Steve Cosson’s indifferent direction and the flat performances fail to make up for the script’s shortcomings. By the end of two hours-plus running time, my only reaction was “What a waste of time and talent.”

The first act does show potential. We’re in a farming commune in Northern California. (Andrew Boyce’s homey set imparts rustic charm.) The crunchy-Granola residents’ goals appear to be getting away from the madness of modern civilization, conveyed by the cast reciting natural images of their property Greek-chorus style. One of the members, a painter named Peter (Tom Peckina), dies under mysterious circumstances and his co-habitants don’t want to contact the authorities. Government bad, remember? Milo (Bobby Moreno), one of the many children in the commune, speaks to the audience as a grown-up and informs us that he never liked Peter and also gives his impressions of life in the community from his perspective as a grown man. Washburn seems to offer foreshadowing that Milo had something to do with Peter’s death, also that the child was sexually molested by one of the other adults in the group, but these plot elements are never really developed. 

Off-B'way Review: Queens

 “I did the best I could,” cries the intense Marin Ireland as Renia, a Polish immigrant struggling to justify her questionable actions in abandoning her daughter while pursuing the American Dream in Queens, Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok (Cost of Living)’s affecting but overcrowded new play presented by Manhattan Theater Club. The anguished declaration comes at the end of the play as multiple storylines involving eight different women leaving their native land and scrapping by to build a remarkable legacy in the US come together. Majok creates indelible characters and heart-tugging plots, but there’s so much going on, the proceedings can get more than a bit confusing. 

Marin Ireland, Nicole Villamil, Brooke Bloom,
and Nadine Malouf in Queens.
Credit: Valerie Terranova

Nevertheless, she makes you feel for these resilient, flawed women by the end of the tumultuous, event-filled evening. Director Trip Cullman’s straightforward, clear-eyed staging, with a big assist from set designer Marsha Ginsberg (more on her amazing environment anon), allows us into this complex world and helps us keep all the stories straight.

The main setting is a crowded basement apartment in the Masbeth section of the titular New York City borough, with a side trip to Ukraine. Ginsberg’s detailed set perfectly evokes the desperate, makeshift life of the characters from the cluttered kitchen to the tiny sleeping areas to the flickering overhead lighting fixtures. Majok trips back and forth in time as well as locale. Initially we are in 2017 Queens as Renia is violently confronted by Inna (heartbreaking Julia Lester), a Ukrainian emigre, who is searching for her mother. (No spoilers, it may or may not be Renia.) From this starting point, we flashback to 2001 when Renia first arrives at the apartment which she shares with Aamani from Afghanistan (Nadine Malouf), Isabela from Honduras (Nicole Villamil) and Pelagiya from Belarus (Brooke Bloom). Eventually we also meet Agata (Anna Chlumsky), also Polish; Lera (Andrea Syglowski) who never makes it out of Ukraine, and Glenys, Isabela’s daughter (Sharlene Cruz). 

Off-B'way Review: Bat Boy The Musical; Oh Happy Day!

Two fantasy-based productions are currently running Off-Broadway, one darkly satirical, the other raucous yet reverential. The campy comedy is Bat Boy, New York City Center’s annual gala presentation, and the roof-raising and religious offering is Oh Happy Day! at the Public. Both have moments of joy, fun, and outrageous theatrical flair.

Taylor Trensch, Mary Faber, and
Christopher Sieber in Bat Boy The Musical.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Bat Boy opened Off-Broadway in 2001. It was one of many funny spoof-ical shows, satirizing pop culture and musical conventions. Inspired by a sensational tabloid story, Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming’s jokey book focuses on a bat-like youngster found in a West Virginia cave. A veterinarian’s family takes the boy in and attempts to assimilate him into their conservative community, but his natural blood lust, not to mention his vampirish appearance, causes issues. Like Little Shop of Horrors, Urinetown, Hairspray, Reefer Madness, and Book of Mormon, the goofy show takes a parodistic tone and Alex Timbers’ confident new staging combines a cartoonish viewpoint with slick professionalism.

Taylor Trensch, Alex Newell, and
Gabi Carrubba in Bat Boy The Musical.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Laurence O’Keefe’s songs still hit the bull’s-eye on their satiric targets, especially as staged by choreographer Connor Gallagher with a tip of the hat to Broadway tropes. The Sondheim-esque “Three Bedroom House” retains its driving energy, reminiscent of “Another Hundred People” from Company, delivered with humor and power by Kerry Butler as Meredith, Bat-Boy’s adoptive mother, and Gabi Carrubba as Shelley, his more than sisterly temporary sibling. (Butler originated the role of Shelley and has beautifully transitioned to the more mature role.)  “Show You a Thing or Two,” in which Edgar aka Bat Boy is given a crash course in history and culture, is a delightful tribute to Eliza Doolittle moments and Main Stem pizzazz, complete with a Chorus Line kick line, courtesy of Gallagher. “Children, Children,” a forest-set sexual fantasy with Edgar and Shelley teetering on the brink of sexual awakening, makes fun of Julie Taymor’s Lion King menagerie. The chorus is transformed into horny woodland creatures, led by a delightfully Dionysus-like Alex Newell as the God Pan. Jennifer Moeller’s crazy critter costumes are a hoot (as is David Korins’ Halloween-ish haunted-house set.)

Subway Encounter #3: A Poem

A singer with a guitar was performing Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car
On the number 7 subway platform at Grand Central
The song always made me cry
But the singer was blurring and mumbling the lyrics
I couldn’t understand them
I tried to remember them and they only came back in snatches
“You got a fast car.”
“Leave tonight or live and die this way.”
“I-I had a feeling that I belonged. I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone.”
My eyes misted up.

The train arrived and I entered a near empty car.

Immediately there was an overwhelming smell 

I only smelled it a few times before—always on the subway.

Like unwashed bodies. Like ammonia.

In the corner of the car were two people, a man and a woman, youngish.

The man was black, sitting up,

The woman who was brown-skinned was lying down with her head in his lap. 

She seemed to be sleeping.

She wore a red jacket.

The four other people in the car sat far away from them.

I felt bad for them

They really stank.

I wondered if they just rode on the 7 train back and forth from Shea Stadium to Hudson Yards all day.

When did they sleep? Where did they go? Were they in love or did they just cling to each other for protection with no home outside of the subway?

Once we got into Queens, the car filled up and the smell of other bodies

covered up the couple’s stink.

People sat and stood near them and I couldn’t see them anymore. Did they feel like someone?

B'way Review: Little Bear Ridge Road

Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock in
Little Bear Ridge Road.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

You would think Samuel D. Hunter would run out of ideas. Every one of his plays takes place in his native Idaho and usually features a gay man struggling with loneliness and finding his identity in a straight-dominated world. Yet all of his works I’ve seen Off-Broadway including The Whale, Pocatello, Greater Clements, A Case for the Existence of God, and Grangeville are uniquely individual and heartfelt. So it is with his Broadway debut, Little Bear Ridge Road at the Booth Theater after a successful run at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. We’re back in rural Idaho and the hero is an alienated, troubled gay young man, but his journey is specific to this compassionate, funny, tender piece.

Joe Mantello masterfully and subtly directs Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock in two outstanding, compassionate performances in one of the best plays of the Broadway season so far. Scott Pask’s minimal setting accurately fulfills the description in the program: “A couch in a void.” We are in the home of Sarah (the magnificently curmudgeonly Metcalf), a cranky nurse on the titular isolated country road. She is reluctantly welcoming her estranged nephew Ethan (awkward and desolate Stock) after the death of Ethan’s father (her brother) so that the estate may be settled. Sarah and Ethan have both been damaged by life and are wary of each other. Sarah had a series of miscarriages and her partner Tony left her years ago and she is undergoing chemotherapy for rapidly advancing cancer. Ethan was rejected by his homophobic father, a meth addict, and he’s still recovering from a bad breakup in Seattle and his failed ambition to become a writer. Their shaky, tentative connection forms the action of the play as the two navigate the emotional minefield that lies between them. 

Off-B'way Reviews: Romy and Michele: The Musical; Endgame

Laura Bell Bundy, Kara Lindsay and the cast
of Romy and Michele: The Musical.
Credit: Valerie Terranova

Quirky, silly fun can be had at Romy & Michele: The Musical, based on the 1997 cult film comedy Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. Yes, this is yet another tuner based on a popular movie from decades ago about outsiders getting their revenge on the cool, cruel kids. A revival of Heathers is still playing, and there’s also Mean Girls in recent memory, plus there have been originals with the same theme such as The Prom and Be More Chill. But Robin Schiff’s book based on her screenplay, which is in turn based on her play Ladies’ Room, is strongly constructed, takes several inventive twists and turns and has two hilariously original characters at its center. In addition, Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay’s score is bouncy, clever and funny.

Kara Lindsay and Laura Bell Bundy in
Romy and Michele: The Musical.
Credit: Valerie Terranova

Laura Bell Bundy and Kara Lindsay are brilliantly ditsy yet emotionally sympathetic in the title roles of two best friends drifting through life, originated by Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow in the film. The action beings in the year of the movie, or B.G. (Before Google) as a projected supertitle informs us at the opening (Caite Hevner created the splashy, colorful projections.) Romy and Michele spend their time watching TV, hitting the clubs, designing and making their own clothes (Tina McCartney created the kicky, frolicsome costumes), scrambling by either at a menial job (Romy) or on unemployment (Michele). An invitation to their 10-year high school reunion triggers flashbacks to their adolescence when they were each others’ only companions and the source of mockery from the A-group, led by evil cheerleader Christie (a zestfully nasty Lauren Zakrin). 

B'way Update: Daniel Radcliffe; Rocky Horror; Ian McKellen

Daniel Radcliffe

Tony winner Daniel Radcliffe (Merrily We Roll Along, Harry Potter films) will return to Broadway in Every Brilliant Thing, a one-character play by Olivier Award nominee Duncan Macmillan (People, Places and Things) with Jonny Donahoe. Directed by Olivier and Tony nominee Jeremy Herrin (People, Places and Things, Wolf Hall), the play will begin previews on Feb. 21, 2026 at the Hudson with an opening scheduled for March 12 for a 13-week engagement through May 24. Every Brilliant Thing follows a man looking back at his life and the glimmers of hope that carried him through. All told through a list of every wonderful, beautiful, and delightful thing—big, small, and everything in between—that makes life worth living. The list was originally made for the character's mother and carried her through her depression. Audience participation is involved. This one-of-a-kind solo show, which has been performed across the globe in over 80 countries on stages of all sizes—and for an HBO Special starring co-creator Jonny Donahoe—makes its long-awaited Broadway premiere following a hit season @sohoplace in London’s West End, where it is currently running with Minnie Driver through November 8. The show opened at the Edinburgh Festival and then played Off-Broadway's Barrow Street Theater in 2014 with Donahoe. (So I am counting it as a revival in my Broadway Breakdown list. See below.)

“Every Brilliant Thing tackles some serious subject matter, but the overall experience is one of joy and celebration,” said Macmillan. “Every performance is unique and unpredictable and it requires virtuosic skill from its central performer. When Daniel told us how much he loved the play, I couldn’t have been more thrilled. He has the intelligence, quick-wit and charm to roll with the spontaneous moments that the show invites – he can be a clown one moment, then grab you by the heartstrings the next. He has huge depth and humanity. I can’t wait to get started.”

Off-B'way Review: Let's Love!

Noah Robbins and Aubrey Plaza in
Let's Love! Credit: Ahron Foster

Love is a battlefield in Let’s Love!, Ethan Coen’s trio of darkly funny one-acts at Atlantic Theater Company. Sex can be a weapon, a bargaining chip or a source of solace on a rainy night in these short, piercing vignettes. Similarly, the emotional component is an elusive prize the characters are willing to fight, scheme and strive for. Coen employs the same devilish cynical humor on display in his many films, mostly collaborations with his brother Joel, such as Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and A Serious Man. But there are also hints of romance and joy amid the bleakness and potential violence. It’s a delightfully droll and satisfying evening, blistering and comforting at the same time, directed with a deft hand by Neil Pepe who balances the sharp bite of satire with sweet sentiment.

Chris Bauer and CJ Wilson in Let's Love!
Credit: Ahron Foster

The main piece of the three vignettes is an extended farce involving an ever-shifting series of love triangles. It’s a combination of the snark of Coen’s complex screenplays and the rollicking revolving romances of La Ronde. Aubrey Plaza, famous for playing wickedly nasty yet secretly vulnerable characters on the TV series Parks and Recreations and Agatha All Along, rips into the role of Susan, a vengeful virago out to get retribution on her soft-hearted ex Dan (comically gooey-centered CJ Wilson). She claims all she wants in a good roll in the hay, but she really longs for affection. Susan plots to retaliate against Dan for leaving her by hiring a thug to beat him up. But its turn out the hired muscle, known simply as Tough, has feelings too. Chris Bauer is hilariously deadpan as the surprisingly sensitive hit man. Add in Dan’s current girlfriend Faye (sly Mary Wiseman), who is just as manipulative and duplicitous as Susan, and Howie (goofily endearing Noah Robbins), a blind date for Susan who also has his own secret perversions, and you get a wild ride through the minefields of relationships.

Mary McCann and Dion Graham in
Let's Love! Credit: Ahron Foster

This highlight is bracketed by two shorter works of varying quality. The evening opens with a pair of alternating interior monologues between a been-around-the-block Broad (yes, that is how she is identified in the cast list) and a lonely businessman, refers to as The Man. It’s a rainy night in a deserted bar on Second Avenue. In isolated spotlights, the two patrons spill out their life stories and desperate need for connection. Mary McCann and Dion Graham deliver subtle soul-stirring performances of these nighthawks.

Nellie McKay in Let's Love!
Credit: Ahron Foster

The last piece comes across as a kind of one-joke afterthought. The Boy (Robbins again, just as adorable) overcomes his insecurities to form a bond after a disastrous first blind date with The Girl (equally tender Dylan Gelula). This piece is a slight doodle with one low-grade big laugh involving food poisoning and a stuffed panda. The three playlets are punctuated by brilliantly sung love standards and originals sung by the accomplished and endearing Nellie McKay whose light, child-like voice reminded me of the legendary Blossom Dearie. The last piece is slight, but fortunately, McKay and the entire cast bring the tone back up with a delightful musical finale. Riccardo Hernandez’s versatile sets convey multiple locales with efficiency while Reza Behjat’s lighting provide the appropriate mood, dark and depressed to warm and cosy. Peggy Schnitzer’s costumes perfectly each character, denoting their attitudes towards love and themselves. Let’s Love! scores two out of three, which ain’t bad.

Oct. 15—Nov. 22. Atlantic Theater Company at the Linda Gross Theater, 336 W. 20th St., NYC. Running time: 90 mins. with no intermission. atlantictheater.org.

New Zoo Snafu

In reaction to Attorney General Pam Bondi's rumored statement that inflatable frog costumes are really antifa uniforms and Doug and Emmy Jo doing a Facebook Live and podcasts.

Freddie the Frog, Charlie Owl and Henrietta 
Hippo from New Zoo Revue

The scene: the home of Henrietta Hippo from New Zoo Revue. Henrietta is hosting Doug and Emmy Jo for afternoon tea.

Emmy Jo: Thanks so much for asking us to tea, Henrietta. These cookies are delicious.

Henrietta: Why think nothing of it, Emmy Jo sugar. With all the trouble and confusion in the world today, I thought it would so nice to just sit down and relax with a nice cup of my special honeysuckle tea and some mint julep cookies.

Doug: Yes, it been so long since we've had a nice visit and forgotten the cares of the world. (This restive mood is broken by Freddie the Frog who bursts in crying his eyes out)

Freddie: Oh no. What a terrible day.

Emmy Jo (rises to comfort Freddy): Freddy, what is it? What's wrong?

Freddie (sitting down): My teacher says that because I'm a frog I hate America and I'm a terrorist and I'm a member of Aunt Tefa. I don't even have an Aunt Tefa. And what's Hamas? Isn't that a dip for Greek food?

Doug: No, that's hummus.

Freddie: Then the other kids all made fun of me and threatened to shame me on social media. (To Doug) Doug, what's happening? I didn't do anything wrong, did I? Can people hate you just because you're different?

Doug: I'm afraid so, Freddie. This is a terrible lesson we all have to learn someday.

Emmy Jo: But Doug, why would the teacher pick on Freddie like this just because he's a frog?

Henrietta: Yes, it doesn't make any sense. (Charlie the Owl enters in an equally distraught state)

Charlie: Oh no this is terrible. What am I going to do?

Doug: What's wrong with you, Charlie?

Charlie: I just got an email from Owl University where I serve as adjunct professor in general smartness. We're being told by the government that if we don't stop all our DEI policies, they'll cut all our federal funding. That means I won't have any financing for my research project on the nutritional value of field mice. What's worse they might fire me because I got the position through DEI.

Emmy Jo: But you're an owl, why would you have gotten a job at Owl University through DEI?

Charlie: I'm a forest owl. They only used to hire barn owls. 

Doug: This is ridiculous. 

Henrietta: Yes, it seems the whole world has gone crazy and unreasonable. What next? (The wall to Henrietta's house suddenly bursts in like the East Wing of the White House. A bulldozer driven by Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi plows into the room, following by 20 or 30 masked ICE agents.)

Pam Bondi (pulls out a megaphone and announces): This is a raid. You're all under arrest for suspicion of belonging to Antifa and thinking independent thoughts.

Doug: Oh come on, we haven't done anything. What happened to due process?

Kristi Noem: Save it for the libs, pinko! You're all being deported to South Sudan.

Freddie: What's the lesson here, Doug?

Doug: Don't vote Trump. (Pam and Kristi proceed to put zip ties on Doug, Emmy Jo, Freddie, Charlie and Henrietta and haul them off to detention.)

Note: this is satire, so don't sue me, Pam. (The president is allowed to do satire--like in his poop-dropping AI video--so I can too.) It turns out Pam probably didn't say anything about frog costumes, it was just an Internet joke, but it is funny.

Off-B'way Review: The Other Americans; Mexodus

John Leguizamo and Luna Lauren Velez
in The Other Americans.
Credit: Joan Marcus

John Leguizamo has carved out a unique position for himself in the American theater with a series of riotously funny solo plays, including Freak, Spic-O-Rama, Sexaholix, and Ghetto Klown, documenting his experiences as an Hispanic citizen and performer. With his new play The Other Americans in which he also plays the lead at the Public Theater, Leguizamo attempts to branch out and depict the impact of blindly pursuing the American Dream on a Latino family in terms of traditional narrative drama. His heart and intentions are in the right place and the first act has some strong moments, but his plot is too melodramatic and contrived, borrowing too heavily from previous similar works, particularly Arthur Miller’s classic Death of a Salesman. The playwright’s performance and that of the tight ensemble and Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s muscular staging are proficient and professional, but the play feels thin and forced.

Like Miller’s Willy Loman, August Wilson’s Troy Maxon in Fences, and O’Neill’s Hickey from The Iceman Cometh, Leguizamo’s protagonist Nelson Castro is a self-deluded hustler. A would-be big-shot who always has a lucrative scheme in the works, Nelson is actually a bankrupt businessman whose fanciful deals are more hot air than solid planning. The setting is the Castro family’s expensive home in Forrest Hills, Queens (beautiful design by Arnulfo Maldonado) where Nelson and his wife Patti (marvelously maternal Luna Lauren Velez) are nervously awaiting the homecoming of their son Nick (appropriately volatile Trey Santiago-Hudson) after a stay in a mental health facility. It’s gradually revealed Nick is suffering from post-traumatic stress from a vicious attack by white racists. They are joined by daughter Toni (spunky Rebecca Jimenez) and her fiancee Eddie (adorably nerdy Bradley James Tejeda), and Nelson’s more successful sister Norma (intense Rosa Evangelina Arredondo) and family friend Veronica (funny Sarah Nina Hayon). 

Off-B'way Review: André De Shields Is Tartuffe

Amber Iman and André De Shields in
André De Shields in 
 Is Tartuffe. 
Credit: Joan Marcus

For an intimate and raucous evening with a slightly modern twist, you can’t do much better than the current revival of Tartuffe, Moliere’s classic comedy satirizing religious hypocrisy, or, as it is officially titled, André De Shields Is Tartuffe. The Tony-winning Broadway veteran of The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and Hadestown is indeed the main attraction in the title role of a conniving conman posing as a sanctimonious scold in order to take over a gullible aristocrat’s household. But Keaton Wooden’s clever, fast-paced production has many additional surprises and delights.

Chief among these is the very setting. The show takes place in the library of the House of the Redeemer, an landmarked Upper East Side mansion, built by Vanderbilts and now an Episcopal retreat house. The library is especially appropriate for Tartuffe since it was constructed in the 1600s (reconstructed by the Vanderbilts) and the play was first performed in 1664. The seating capacity is only 100 and set designer Kate Rance incorporates the audience into the cosy environment, complete with a grand piano upon which Drew Wutke provides elegant musical accompaniment. Costume designer Tere Duncan outfits the cast in contemporary stylish clothes and Moliere’s message of religious hypocrisy is given modern relevance.

Hannah Beck and André De Shields in
André  De Shields Is Tartuffe.
Credit: Joan Marcus

De Shields is a marvel as the titular duplicitous charlatan. Costumed by Duncan in a cardinal-red gown, his fingers bedecked with flashy bling, he sweeps into the library, delivering a soulful rendition of “Feelin’ Good,” relishing his mastery over the pliable Orgon (comically dim Chris Hahn). He employs gospel flourishes and exaggerated piety in his renditions of Ranjit Bolt’s verse translation of Tartuffe’s self-righteous sermons on sin and morality. The highlight of the evening is De Shields’ lascivious wooing or Orgon’s wife Elmire (an elegant and fiery Amber Iman), who pretends to welcome his advances in order to trap him. Wooden’s intricate staging and the precise timing of the players produces gales of guffaws. Lighting designer Yang Yu achieves spectacular effects here as the library is transformed into a sleazy nightclub for Tartuffe’s attempted seduction.

André  De Shields (c. seated), Marcus Fitzpatrick,
Todd Buonopane, Phoebe Dunn, Amber Iman, 
Chris Hahn, Alexandra Socha, Tyler Hardwick,
Hannah Beck, and Charlie Lubeck in
André  De Shields Is Tartuffe.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Alexandra Socha and Charlie Lubeck are comically ardent as the besotted young lovers Marianne and Valere. Tyler Hardwick makes Orgon’s son Damis a delightful caricature of puffed-up valor. Phoebe Dunn is sassy and cheeky as the truth-telling maid Dorine and Hannah Beck displays the sharp intelligence of Elmire’s no-nonsense sister Cleante. Todd Buonopane in a tiara has a hilarious cameo as Orgon’s overbearing mother Madame Pernelle. He does not raise his voice into a falsetto or employ obvious drag cliches, but simply conveys the force of her stubborn personality. Though the play is billed as André De Shields Is Tartuffe, the entire ensemble is the star.

Oct. 9—Nov. 23. House of the Redeemer, 7 E. 95th St., NYC. Running time: 90 mins. with no intermission. tartuffenyc.com

B'way Update: All Out, Casts for Joe Turner, Giant

Ray Ramono, Jon Stewart and Ashley Park
are among the performers announced for
All Out: Comedy About Ambition.

The creators of last season's All In: Comedy About Love will follow up with All Out: Comedy About Ambition, employing the same format with a revolving cast of four enacting Simon Rich's short stories with Tony winner Alex Timbers directing. Performances begin Dec. 12 at the Nederlander Theater for a limited run through March 8, 2026. The rotating cast will include Eric Andre  (December 12-28), Jim Gaffigan (December 12-January 11, 2026), Abbi Jacobson (December 12-28), Jon Stewart (December 12-21), Ben Schwartz (December 22-January 11, 2026),  Wayne Brady (December 29-January 18, 2026), Cecily Strong (December 29-January 18, 2026), Mike Birbiglia  (January 13-18, 2026), Heidi Gardner (January 20-February 15, 2026), Jason Mantzoukas (January 20-February 15, 2026), Craig Robinson (January 20-February 15, 2026), Sarah Silverman (January 20-February 15, 2026), Nicholas Braun (February 17-March 8, 2026), Ashley Park (February 17-March 8, 2026), and Ray Romano (February 17-March 8, 2026). Additional casting to be announced.

Book Review: Three Days in June

(Borrowed from NYPL at 50th St. and 10th Ave.) Anne Tyler's latest is a novella-length charmer on marriage, mothers and daughters, and second chances. Gail Baines is on the verge of falling apart. She's in danger of losing her long-time job at a private girls' school, her only daughter's impending wedding could get called off and her ex-husband shows up with a shelter cat! With only 160 pages, Tyler gives us Gail's whole lifetime. The author captures the nuances of Gail's marriage to Max and her relationship to her daughter Debbie whose pre-wedding crisis dredges up Gail's past with Max. This book reads fast, but it doesn't feel shallow. There are many acute observations on marriage and parenting.

B'way Review: Ragtime

Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, and 
Brandon Uranowitz in Ragtime.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Ragtime has been never been more relevant and Lear deBessonet’s epic production for Lincoln Center Theater where she has recently been installed as artistic director, fills the vast Vivian Beaumont stage with passion, pageantry and an uncompromising view of the American dream. The musical is especially timely now as the Trump administration attempts to retell our national story from a fraudulently rosy perspective. 

E.L. Doctorow’s sleek, ironic novel emerged as a best-seller in 1975 as the Watergate scandal forced us to reevaluate our past. Through the intertwined stories of three disparate families in the early 20th century, Doctorow explored the American experience both glorious and shameful. American-American ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker, Jr. attempts to live the American Dream, but when crushed by racism, he resorts to vengeful violence. Latvian immigrant Tateh forges a new identity and emerges from poverty to stake a claim in the infant media of moving pictures. A nameless wealthy white family, who has built their fortune on patriotic firework displays (get the symbolism?), finds it must adjust to the rapidly changing times or be left behind. 

Book Review: Bluebeard's Egg

(Borrowed from NY Public Library on 40th St.) Margaret Atwood's 1983 collection of short stories has a folkloric title, but all the tales are reality-based. Bluebeard's Egg derives from a folk tale read by a housewife in a narrative fiction course. The fantasy parallels her own marriage which is beginning to show cracks. I enjoyed all the stories, particularly Scarlet Ibis and Significant Moments in the Life of My Mother. In the former, a woman recounts a tourist-trap boat ride with her grumpy husband and whiny daughter. In the later, the narrator recalls moments from her childhood and her mother's life. I liked Betty also about a woman recalling a childhood neighbor who endured a then-taboo divorce and how it changed her. Atwood documents the little details that make up our lives with compassion and precision. 

Off-B'way Review: The Honey Trap

Michael Hayden and Molly Ranson in
The Honey Trap.
Credit: Carol Rosegg

“I didn’t think it made any sense to build an oral history of a three-way conflict that only spoke to two of the sides,” says Emily, an American of Irish descent conducting an interview for her graduate history project with Dave, a veteran of the British occupying forces during the ravaging conflict known as The Troubles (1968-1998) in Northern Ireland. The three sides she’s referring to are the warring Catholic and Protestant factions and the British Army sent to quell the brutal violence there. Emily and Dave’s dialogue forms the crux of the first act of Leo McGann’s pulse-pounding and thought-provoking The Honey Trap, at the Irish Repertory Theater.  

As Dave and Emily, Michael Hayden and Molly Ranson dance a tense tango, probing and testing each other as Dave relives a fateful night in 1979 when he and fellow soldier Bobby hooked up with a pair of Irish girls at a unionist pub and things went south. The second act goes in a different direction as Dave seeks revenge for the consequences of that encounter. McGann compassionately tells all perspectives on the story as participants on every side of this deadly triangle reveal the pain and anguish their people have endured.

Annabelle Zasowski, Doireann MacMahon,
Harrison Tipping and Daniel Marconi 
in The Honey Trap.
Credit: Carol Rosegg

McGann constructs his story like a taut-as-a-violin-string thriller, slowly building the tension and revising history as different narrators tell their versions of the same events. Director Matt Torney keeps the suspense tight, balancing terror with touches of humor. The contemporary action is interrupted with flashbacks as Dave is haunted by ghosts of his unresolved past. Michael Gottlieb’s eerie lighting and James Garver’s spooky sound design, suggesting haunted memories, help create a menacing atmosphere. 

Hayden delivers an explosive performance as the bottled-up Dave, covering his rage with ribald jokes and slowly peeling back layers of hatred and defensiveness to expose his guilt. Ranson is his equal in their intense interview scenes, going toe to toe with him and his manipulations as she stands her ground and digs for honesty from her subject. Harrison Tipping is full of naive charm as the innocent Bobby and Daniel Marconi is an effective blustering bully as the young Dave (though the actor bears little resemblance to Hayden as the older edition of the same character.) 

Samantha Mathis and Michael Hayden
in The Honey Trap.
Credit: Carol Rosegg

Doireann MacMahon and Annabelle Zasowski are cheeky and barbed as the duplicitous damsels they pick up and Samantha Mathis is stunning as the older version of one of them. She passionately delivers a searing monologue detailing her reasons for joining the Irish Republican Army and justifying the harm she has caused Dave. In this moment and throughout the play, McGann’s larger theme of the immeasurable cost of war comes through as those who seem to be heartless villains are revealed to be wounded and reluctant combatants. You can apply that message to many contemporary conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East, rendering The Honey Trap a timeless cautionary tale.

   

Sept. 28—Nov. 23. Irish Repertory Theater, 132 W. 22nd St., NYC. Running time: two hours and 20 mins. including intermission. irishrep.org.

B'way Update: Cats Dates and Theater

The company of Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Cats: The Jellicle Ball, the re-imagined revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running meow-fest which was a hit Off-Broadway, has announced dates and a theater for its long-awaited Broadway transfer. Previews will begin March 18 at the Broadhurst ahead of an April 7 opening.

Directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, the production sets TS Eliot's feline-inspired poems in a drag ballroom setting. For its Off-Broadway run at the Perelman Performing Arts Center last year, Cats: The Jellicle Ball won a special citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical. Most of the original company will repeat their roles on Broadway including Tony winner Andre De Shields as Old Deuteronomy, Jonathan Burke as Mungojerrie, Baby Byrne as Victoria, Tara Lashan Clinkscales, Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tugger, Dava Huesca as Rumpleteazer, Dudney Joseph Jr. as Munkustrap, Junior LaBeija as Gus, Robert “Silk” Mason as Magical Mister Mistoffelees, “Tempress” Chasity Moore as Grizabella, Primo Thee Ballerino as Tumblebrutus, Xavier Reyes as Jennyanydots, Nora Schell as Bustopher Jones, Bebe Nicole Simpson as Demeter, Emma Sofia as Cassandra and Skimbleshanks, Garnet Williams as Bombalurina, and Teddy Wilson, Jr. as Sillabub. Additional casting will be announced.

B'way Update: Lost Boys Dates, Cast and Theater

Billy Wirth, Kiefer Sutherland, Brooke McCarter,
and Alex Winter in The Lost Boys (1987).

The Lost Boys, the new musical based on the 1987 horror-comedy film, has announced dates, casting and a theater for its Broadway run. Previews begin March 26, 2026 at the Palace Theater, prior to an April 26 opening. The cast includes Caissie Levy (LCT's current Ragtime) as ‘Lucy Emerson,’ LJ Benet as ‘Michael Emerson,’ Ali Louis Bourzgui (The Who's Tommy) as ‘David,’ Benjamin Pajak (The Music Man) as ‘Sam Emerson,’ Maria Wirries (Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends) as ‘Star,’ Paul Alexander Nolan (Water for Elephants, Slave Play) as ‘Max,’ Jennifer Duka as ‘Alan Frog,’ Miguel Gil (Kimberly Akimbo) as ‘Edgar Frog,’ Brian Flores (Oratorio for Living Things) as ‘Marko,’ Sean Grandillo (Spring Awakening) as ‘Dwayne,’ and Dean Maupin as ‘Paul.’ 

The new musical, based on the Warner Bros. Pictures film THE LOST BOYS, story by James Jeremias & Janice Roberta Fischer, will feature direction by two-time Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Parade, Maybe Happy Ending), a book by David Hornsby (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” writer/EP) & Chris Hoch, music & lyrics by The Rescues (Kyler England, AG, Gabriel Mann), choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant (Parade) & Christopher Cree Grant (Parade), music supervision by two-time Tony Award nominee Ethan Popp (Tina, The Tina Turner Musical), orchestrations & musical arrangements by Ethan Popp  & The Rescues, and Vocal Arrangements by The Rescues.

The plot follows two teenaged brothers who move into a California town which turns out to be a haven for vampires. Previous Broadway musicals with vampire themes such as Lestat, Dracula, and Dance of the Vampires, have not fared well. Hopefully Lost Boys will break that curse.