Off-B'way Review: The Saviors

Julius Rinzel and Ivan Howe in
The Saviors. Credit: Ahron R. Foster

Bubba Weiler emerges as a major playwriting talent with The Saviors, his second major Off-Broadway production, now at the Atlantic Theater Company. Apart from joining the American company of the Harry Potter play on Broadway, Weiner has appeared on the New York scene as an actor in Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State, portraying an ex-con barely holding on to a grinding truck delivery job. His sensitive performance of a desperate young man earned him nominations for Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Lortel Awards. He made his NY debut as a dramatist with last season’s multi-leveled and moving Well, I’ll Let You Go, a compassionate chronicle of a recent widow coming to terms with her loss and the varying reactions of her community. Weiler demonstrates he is no one-track pony with this new play, an equally probing examination of the painful search for faith in a confusing world.

Ivan Howe and Julius Rinzel in The Saviours.
Credit: Ahron R. Foster

The setting is a Catholic church in a suburban neighborhood, possibly in the Midwest where middle schoolers and best pals Michael and Paul serve as altar boys. Devout Michael eagerly prepares for his upcoming confirmation while Paul is doubting the very existence of God. Their friendship and Christian belief is tested when homeless drifter Julian enters seeking shelter during a snowstorm. Conventional Michael bristles at allowing Julian to stay, but Paul secretly grants him access after hours by leaving the side door unlocked. Meanwhile, Michael seeks advice from Judy, the adult advisor of the church’s youth group. Unfortunately, Michael is the only kid that shows up for the first meeting and Judy is experiencing hidden struggles of her own involving her son whom she says is heading a mission in Africa.

Book Review: Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy

(Bought at Time and Space Limited Used Bookstore in Hudson, NY for $7): Charles Busch's wildly entertaining memoir is as funny as his dozens of stage comedies (I've seen 13 of them as well as two musicals for which he wrote the book, his cabaret act and two of his movie screenplays.) He alternates a straightforward narrative of his career from childhood, college and stage and film triumphs with amusing later encounters with the likes of Joan Rivers, Valerie Harper, Linda Lavin, Beatrice Arthur, Patrick Swayze, Liza Minnelli, Milton Berle, Esther Williams, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller, and many others. Busch came to prominence with Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, which he wrote and starred in and which ran for over 2,000 performances Off-Broadway. (The long run is attributed to the salacious title which brought in curious theatergoers.) Rather than relying on waiting for a big break that might never come, he created his own vehicles. He realized his strength and passion was for playing female roles in tribute to great stars like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. He wrote his own plays to star himself. The book joyfully chronicles his self-made journey to cult-goddess status.

I recently encountered Busch at the Broadway Flea Market. We chatted about a Bette Davis film I caught on TCM called Payment on Demand, one of the few screen appearances by Broadway star Jane Cowl. I loved that he knew who I was talking about and that he celebrates classic film divas. 

Book Review: Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein

(Bought at the Little Red Book Shack in Hudson, NY for $1):  Julie Salamon's well-researched biography of Pulitzer and Tony winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein reveals a complicated woman. Wasserstein became the voice of a generation of women who were underrepresented in media, advocating for fulfilling identities outside of male protection and dominance. In her personal life, she gravitated to gay men, and attempted to have a child with many of them. Her "husbands" included playwrights Christopher Durang and Terrence McNally, director Gerald Guitterez, artistic director Andre Bishop and costume designer William Ivey Long. She recreated her relationships with her family in plays like Isn't It Romantic and The Sisters Rosensweig and the real-life connections were even more complex. 

The book also provides a social history of changing women's roles in American society and the theater from the 60s into the early 2000s when Wendy passed away at the age of 55. 

I interviewed her once for a book I was writing on long-running on and Off-Broadway shows. My cousin went to college with her. I was an usher for the Off-Broadway run of Isn't Romantic at the Lucille Lortel Theater, so I saw the play many times. So it was fascinating to get to know the real Wendy, funny, smart, maternal, and complex.

B'way Update: Purple Rain

Prince in Purple Rain (1984)

A stage version of Prince's Purple Rain film and album will open on Broadway next spring at the Majestic Theater. Previews begin March 12, 2027 prior to an April 12 opening. The opening will coincide with the 42nd anniversary of the film's debut in 1984. A previous version opened at Minnesota's State Theater last year, but this edition will feature some new creative staffing. Saheem Ali (Buena Vista Social Club) takes over the directing reins from Lileana Blain-Cruz and Peter Duchan takes over as book writer from Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The score features songs from the film by Prince who also starred in the movie. These songs include the title track, "When Doves Cry," "I Would Die 4 U," plus songs from Prince's oeuvre. The story follows an up-and-coming Minneapolis-based rock musician known as The Kid, struggling with his past and his rivalry with another scrappy rocker.

“Prince was an icon, and Purple Rain is iconic, one of the best musical films of my generation. I watched it as a teenager in Kenya, and though I was appropriately scandalized, it never left me, especially the music,” says Ali in a statement. “I am honored to join the Purple Rain family and help carry this story forward. Our aim is not only to honor the legacy that Prince built, but to make his timeless music feel urgent and alive, passing it on to the next generation of fans who will make it their own.”

Off-B'way Review: The Whoopi Monologues

Kecia Lewis (center) and cast of
The Whoopi Monologues.
Credit: Angela Marie Orellana

Back in 1984, the comedienne-actress Whoopi Goldberg seemed to come out of nowhere, bursting onto Broadway with an eponymous, self-written one-woman show presenting a quartet of characters rarely seen on what was then universally known as the Great White Way. She presented a sharp-edged, female, African-American perspective on our society. Her material was skewed in a comic way yet also achingly real and somewhat tragic. Goldberg went on to EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status and now is best-known as a political commentator/talk-show host on ABC’s The View. She did headline a revival of her breakthrough piece in 2004 called simply Whoopi, adding a fifth segment addressing then-current concerns. 

A revival of Goldberg’s show, with five different performers enacting each monologue, has been given an imaginative and vital staging by Whitney White at Lincoln Center’s Off-Broadway Mitzi Newhouse Theater. Though several of the allusions are dated (a commercial promoting Jamaican tourism, The Love Boat, dearth of racial minority representation on TV), the basic themes of political oppression of women, a lack of abortion access and little compassion for addiction are sadly still relevant. Divvying up the material diffuses the impact slightly and exposes the thinness of much of the material. Goldberg impressed with her versatility and comic timing (HBO filmed the event as a comedy special if you want to see Whoopi’s original performance). Fortunately, the current cast deliver complex, deep characterizations and encourage vocal audience reactions. In addition, White provides a varied staging with the aide of Studio Bent’s backstage-style set, Cha See’s versatile lighting, Hana S. Kim’s off-kilter videos and Fan Zhang’s edgy sound and original music. Qween Jean’s costumes combine street reality with individual style.

Saturday Morning Memories: Part 6

Lately out of sheer boredom, I watched two DVD cartoon collections from Mill Creek Productions I bought years ago at the upstate NY Walmart. They included several animated series I had totally forgotten. Some were hidden gems, others were so bad they were actually trainwreck watchable. Not all were on Saturday mornings. A few were syndicated and broadcast on our Philadelphia UHF channels (17, 29 or 48) while some were shown on local daily kiddie shows like Sally Starr or Adam Android which aired after school and after Dark Shadows (which played at 3:30pm on Channel 6, our ABC affiliate) and before the Mike Douglas Show. You notice there are no more kiddie shows with hosts and puppets showing cartoons? MeTV's Toon in with Me is a satire/parody and probably the only one. They've gone the way of Saturday morning cartoons in general since streaming and animated cable networks are available for adult and kid cartoon fixes 24/7. Here are some the rediscovered shows and a few others that resurfaced in my memory as a result.

Hoppity Hooper (1964-67): This amusing follow-up to Rocky and Bullwinkle from Jay Ward Productions

Waldo Wigglesworth, Hoppity Hooper
and Filmore the Bear

and Total Television was almost as clever as R&B. Like the flying squirrel and moose, it took place in a tiny Midwestern town (Foggy Bog, Wisconsin rather than Frostbite Falls, Minnesota) and follows the bizarre adventures of a diminutive hero (frog Hoppity) and a big, lumbering sidekick (Filmore the Bear whose voice was supplied by Bullwinkle's Bill Scott). The third recurring character was con man Professor Waldo Wigglesworth (Hans Conreid, who also voiced Snidley Whiplash in the Dudley Do-Right cartoons and played Danny Thomas' uncle on Make Room for Daddy) who claimed to be a fox but looked more like a wolf. Waldo's get-rich-quick schemes supplied the engine for the plots of the four-part stories. There were also occasional appearances by Waldo's girlfriend, the delightfully named Susan Swivlehips, who resembled a sluttier version of Underdog's Sweet Polly Purebread. Two segments began and ended each episode with the middle filled with repeats of Rocky and Bullwinkle features such as Fractured Fairy Tales, Aesop's Fables, Peabody's Improbable History and Total TV's Commander McBragg, The Hunter or Tooter the Turtle.

Hoppity's voice was done by actress Chris Allen. Back in the 1980s, I remember she gave voice-over classes in NYC. A friend took her class and Chris did Hoppity's voice for them.

I hadn't watched these stories in over 50 years, but they hold up. One particularly amusing sequence satirized the Twilight Zone with narrator Paul Frees imitating Rod Serling. The spoof was called The Traffic Zone and when Hoppity, Waldo and Filmore enter it, they are transformed into vegetables. To solve their dilemma, they, along with a female avocado, go off to see the Grand Asparagus rather than the Wizard of Oz. Another fun sequence had Hoppity in a blonde wig become a singing sensation as Baby Jane with The Croak. But then Susan knocks him off the charts with her own song, The Boing! (Come and do the Boing/It's not hard to loin.)

Off-B'way Update: Atlantic Season

The family musical Finn at Kennedy Center
before Trump (or his minions) pulled the plug.
Credit: Teresa Wood

Atlantic Theater Company has announced its 2026-27 season schedule which includes world premieres by Lucas Hnath (Dana H., A Doll's House, Part 2), Clare Barron (You Got Older), Jackie Sibblies Drury (Fairview), and Mona Pirnot (I Assume You Know David Greenspan). The company is currently presenting Bubba Weiler's The Saviors. Their fall season opens with Pirnot's I Became We (Oct. 16--Nov. 15) with music by Jack D. Coen and lyrics by Pirnot and Coen. This is a one-person monologue performed by a 30-person choir. 

Atlantic will also present children's theater with Finn, a family musical whose Kennedy Center tour was cancelled when Trump took over the venue, supposedly because it promoted tolerance of those who are different from you. (Dec. 12-Jan. 31 at Atlantic Theater Stage 2).

Deirdre O'Connell in Dana H.
Credit: Carol Rosegg

Next is Clare Barron's Too Bad for Her (Jan. 9-Feb. 14) about a 30-year affair. Anne Kauffman (The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window) directs. Lucas Hnath's Old Actress follows (March 18--April 25) reuniting him with his Dana H. star Deirdre O'Connell and director Les Waters. O'Connell won a Tony Award for playing a version of Hnath's mother. The play is described as a meta-threatrical experience about learning lines for a show.

The final attraction will be Push from Pulitzer Prize winner Jackie Sibblies Drury (May 27-July 3) with direction from Justin Peck and choreography by Peck and Patricia Degado, about the American premiere of a Russian defecting dancer and the American choreographer creating a piece for him. Set in 1976, it sounds a bit like it could be modeled on Mikhail Baryshnikov and Twyla Tharp.

Book Review: Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!

(Borrowed from a friend) I have a lot more respect and sympathy for Liza Minnelli after reading this memoir, "as told to Michael Feinstein with Josh Getlin and Heidi Evans." (The writing process must have been interesting. I suspect Liza would have long tape-recored conversations with the singer and cabaret artist Feinstein, her best friend. Then Getlin and Evans would fashion the transcribed talks into the book.) Regardless of how the book was written, it does come across as Minnelli speaking to the reader like a close chum (hence the title.) In the latter part of her career, she was reported to be frequently drunk, high, in and out of rehab and detox programs (not just Betty Ford), and involved in a scandalous fourth marriage to a crook who stole almost all of her money. She was repeating the pattern of her famous mother Judy Garland who succumbed to her various addictions at 47. 

Here Liza explains, but doesn't justify, her numerous falls from grace with humor and humility, also the tremendous highs of performing live. Her addiction was inherited from her mom and so was her enormous talent. But she has overcome the former and tried to use the latter as best she can. I've seen her live twice on Broadway in her concerts Minnelli on Minnelli and Liza at the Palace. Both were electric experiences. She also details her many love affairs with everyone from Mikhail Baryshnikov to Ben Vereen. The book concluded with a furious backstage account of her wheelchair appearance to the 2022 Oscars. Apparently according to Liza, it was all Lady Gaga's fault. Maybe. A fast read from a fabulous lady I understand better now.

Off-B'way Review: Dad Don't Read This

Sophie Rossman, Kayta Thomas, Amalia Yoo, 
and Renee-Nicole Powell
in Dad Don't Read This.
Credit: Valerie Terranova

“You can’t be bad at this game. It’s like life but on the computer,” says one of the four young girls comprising the character list in Eliya Smith’s compelling and insightful play Dad Don’t Read This at the Greenwich House Theater after a run at St. Luke’s Theater. That line sums up her young characters’ conflicts between living real life and in the digital realm. As she did with her previous play on adolescent angst Grief Camp, Smith’s intense script is jagged, funny, painful, messy and very real. Dad follows a quartet of teen girlfriends obsessively playing the computer game SIMS where they create artificial worlds rather than cope with the actual one. The play begins with Mal reading a warning to her father, quoting the title, and pleading with him to stay away from her computer. The action takes place in Mal’s bedroom (Forest Entsminger designed the accurately chaotic set) as she negotiates the rocky path of adolescence and yearns to break out of her central Ohio town. Her friends Noelle, Sophie and Lida bicker, share secrets, and sleep over as they go through similar identity crises.

Smith compassionately documents the young ladies’ attempts at forging their own life stories and being kind to each other while surrounded by gossip and peer pressure. Director Chloe Claudel smoothly stages the action so the scenes flow into each other as Mal deals with her warring parents, creating homes and activities for her SIMS creations, fighting feuds and making up with her pals. Choreographer Lena Engelstein devises expressive dance moves to interpret the girls’ frustrations and eagerness to become grown-up. Mitchell Polonsky’s sound design provides an evocative aural environment including the muffled offstage voices of Mal’s mom and dad. Abigail Sage and Finn Bamber’s lighting design reflects the violently shifting moods from a dreamy starscape to harsh reality when one of the girls switches on an unforgiving overhead bulb in the middle of a sleepover. Costume designer Olivia Vaughn Hern dresses them in character-defining casual wear. 

At the performance attended, director Chloe Claudel covered for Amalia Yoo as Mal and was movingly convincing in conveying her struggles to find self-actualization outside of Ohio and the SIMS world. Sophie Rossman is especially touching as Sophie, particularly in a frightening monologue in which she describes a sleazy encounter with a predatory adult in a family restaurant. You can see the conflicting emotions play across her face as Lida expresses revulsion and then guilty excitement and finally shame. Katya Thomas captures the clingy neediness of Lida who shyly hides her empathy for fear of appearing weak. Renee-Nicole Powell displays the athletic Noelle’s seeming confidence, actually a shield for her insecurity. 

Recent plays like John Proctor Is the Villain, Grief Camp, Indian Princesses, and this striking one are dealing with the pain and challenge of being young in the 21st century. Let’s hope more playwrights emerge to address this relevant topic.

June 23—July 18. Try for Baby Productions and The Goat Exchange at Greenwich House Theater, 27 Barrow St., NYC. Running time: 95 mins. with no intermission. daddontreadthis.com.

Off-B'way Update: All-Star View from the Bridge; Irish Rep

Sam Rockwell, Marin Ireland, and 
Alfred Molina will star in an Off'B'way
production of A View from the Bridge
at LaMaMa.

An unusually starry production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge will play the legendary Off-Broadway La MaMa Theater this fall with preview performances beginning Nov. 27 before a Dec. 13 opening. Oscar winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards) stars as Eddie Carbone, Obie winner and Tony nominee Marin Ireland (Queens) plays his wife Beatrice and Tony winner Alfred Molina (Art) will be Alfieri the narrator and Greek chorus. Neil Pepe of Atlantic Theater Company will direct. (Side note: Ireland's play Pre-Existing Condition will return for a run at the Greenwich House Theater opening Sept. 14.)

“Some of my earliest theatre memories are of coming to La MaMa as a kid and hanging out backstage while my mom was doing experimental theatre of the day. To now return to the Ellen Stewart Theatre with Arthur Miller's masterpiece with these remarkable collaborators feels like coming full circle," says Rockwell in a statement. "I started my own career downtown, and institutions like La MaMa have always inspired me—as an artist and as an audience member. They're the lifeblood of our culture, championing bold new voices and reminding us why the theatre matters. I've always considered myself incredibly lucky, and this opportunity feels like kismet.”

View concerns the longshoreman Eddie Carbone who comes to tragedy because of his unspoken passion for his teenaged niece. The play began life on Broadway as a one-act play on a double bill with Miller's A Memory of Two Mondays in 1955. He later expanded it to full length and an Off-Broadway revival starring Robert Duvall and Jon Voight ran for 780 performances. Subsequent Broadway productions starred Tony LoBianco (1983), Anthony LaPaglia (1997), Liev Schreiber (2010), and Mark Strong (2015). 

Off-B'way Review: Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo

Jennifer Nettles and company in 
Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo.
Credit: Andy Henderson

You really have to admire author-actress Jennifer Nettles. In addition to playing the title role, the Grammy-winning vocalist of the duo Sugarland wrote the songs and book for the new musical Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo, now at the Perelman Performing Arts Center. She (or the producers) enlisted Tony-winner Mary Zimmerman to direct. Plus the basic idea is intriguing. The plot is based on a true story of a 17th-century Italian female apothecary who aided the women of her community by poisoning several abusive husbands including her own. Nettles creates a proto-feminist heroine, sort of a socially progressive Sweeney Todd. 

Unfortunately, while there are several entertaining elements, Giulia doesn’t quite come together for a satisfying whole. Nettles’ book is earnest in its desire to create a plucky protagonist challenging an oppressive patriarchy represented by a hypocritical cardinal (powerful Quentin Earl Darrington) and a villainous civil governor (mustache-twirling Christopher M. Ramirez). But Nettles doesn’t seem to be able to make up her mind as to what kind of show this is. The tone is mostly deadly serious, but switches to dark humor halfway through the first act, but then switches to girl-power tract as Giulia gleefully massacres all the nasty men who assault their spouses and sets up a women’s talk therapy session in her shop. The show opens like Pippin with a commedia dell’arte troupe performing a scene-setting intro number led by an overplaying Bre Jackson. But then the play-within-a-play concept is dropped. 

B'way Update: Dolly Parton Musical

Carrie St. Louis, Katie Rose Clarke and
Quinn Titcomb in
Dolly: A True Original Musical in Nashville.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

That Dolly Parton musical is coming to Broadway after all. After receiving mostly negative reviews for its world premiere in Nashville last year, the show's future appeared uncertain. But it has just been announced Dolly: A True Original Musical will begin preview performances at the St. James Theater on Dec. 7 and open on Parton's 81st birthday on Jan. 19, 2027. The score will be composed of Parton's past hits and new tunes she has written especially for the show. Parton also collaborated on the book with Emmy winner Maria S. Schlatter (Parton's Christmas on the Square TV movie). Tony winner Barlett Sher (The King and I, South Pacific) directs. No word on casting as of yet. In Nashville, the lead role was played by three actresses, enacting different phases in the 11-time Grammy winner's life. Bio musicals on Cher and Donna Summer were similarly split three ways. Parton previously wrote the score to the musical version of 9 to 5, based on the movie in which she co-starred with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.

“My whole life has been a musical. A grand ole opera really and I can’t wait to present it to you on Broadway," says Parton in a statement. "I hope you enjoy watching as much as I’ve enjoyed livin’ it.”

“During our world premiere in Nashville, I was overwhelmed by the deep connection audiences have with Dolly. You mention her name and people light up and share a time that she has inspired them and brought them joy," says Sher. "But despite all of that genuine love, Dolly has never really shared her story before. She’s offered glimpses and peeks, but this musical allows her to reveal the unfiltered story in her own words. As we prepare to come to Broadway, we’re thrilled to show that rhinestones were never her whole story.”

Book Review: Stone Mattress

(Bought at the Little Red Book Shack in Hudson, NY for 50 cents.) In an afterword, Margaret Atwood explains the difference between tales and stories. She labels these "nine wicked tales" as influenced by folk lore and are less likely to require the verisimilitude of "stories." Atwood brilliantly takes elements of speculative futuristic fiction, fantasy, murder mystery and horror and weaves them into realistic settings. Each tale was totally absorbing. I especially enjoyed The Dead Hand Loves You, Torching the Dusties and the title story. In the Dead Hand, she satirizes the horror genre as an author seeks revenge on his former roommates. Torching the Dusties imagines a future where senior citizens are terrorized by entitled youngsters who feel they've been cheated of a decent planet by their elders. Stone Mattress details the perfect murder scenario. Atwood is such a master. 

Off-B'way Review: Birthright; A Walk on the Moon

Zoe Winters, Eli Gelb, Molly Ranson, Nate Mann,
and Hale Appleman in Birthright.
Credit: Emilio Madrid

Two new Off-Broadway shows deal with Jewish characters. One deeply examines the complexities of Jewish identity while the other is a shallow musical treatment of familiar tropes combining a few acceptable songs with a tired plot. Jonathan Spector’s Birthright at MCC Theater is an overwhelming wallop of a play, encompassing America’s frayed relationship with Israel as well as the individual struggle to reconcile religious affiliation with personal ethics. Pamela Gray and AnnMarie Milazzo’s A Walk on the Moon, based on Gray’s 1999 screenplay, at the Laura Pels after productions at New York Stage and Film and the George Street Playhouse, is more like a walk in the park—a familiar, not unpleasant, but not particularly exciting park. 

As he did with the vaccine controversy in Eureka Day, Spector skillfully presents multiple sides of a difficult issue in Birthright. No one is a hero or a villain, the characters are just of a group of people muddling their way through the confusion of modern life. Running at three hours and 20 minutes, the play covers 18 crucial years, 2006 to 2024, in the lives of six young Jewish friends. Director Teddy Bergman miraculously keeps the action flowing so that those three hours never drag. Each of the three acts takes place during a reunion after their trip to Israel sponsored by the titular organization to encourage American Jews to explore their connections with the homeland. As the conflict between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration and the Palestinians metastasizes, each of the group differently deals with their raging reactions and their own sense of Judaism.

Eli Gelb and Zoe Winters
in Birthright.
Credit: Emilio Madrid

In Act One, subtitled “Two Jews, Three Opinions,” the sextet wrestles with the implications of their recent trip and their personal and political entanglements with Israel and each other as they start lives outside of college and family. The continuous action takes place at the home of Chaya’s parents in a Washington DC suburb, though we only meet Chaya’s mom. Scott Pask designed the handsome set. Act Two (“A Palace in Time”), set ten years later, is a series of brief, fractured scenes on the night before the wedding and move to Israel of Alona (fragile yet ultimately strong Molly Ranson). In Act Three (“Right of Return”), the group is reunited by tragedy and split by Hamas’ terrorist massacre and Israel’s retaliatory war on Gaza. Here, as he did in Eureka Day, Spector incorporates text messages and Google searches projected onto Pask’s set. Bergman cleverly stages these scenes with Natasha Katz’s evocative lighting focusing on the reader of the digital messages with the rest of the cast in darkness and sounding like they’re underwater. David Bengali created the imaginative projections. 

Not only does Spector portray the personae’s tortured connections to their faith and culture, but also explores such weighty topics as the course of Jewish history, the changing means of communication, the coarsening of political dialogue and the meaning of community. 

The 15th Annual David Desk Awards

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

The 2025-26 theater season is now over and that means it's time for the 15th annual David Desk Awards with my choices for the best onstage in NYC theater out of everything I've seen in the past twelve months. Shows like Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Libertation are not included because I considered them last year for their Off-Broadway runs. I categorize Masquerade, the immersive version of Phantom of the Opera as both a revival and a Unique Theatrical Experience. 

Play:
The Balusters (David Lindsay-Abaire)
Cold War Choir Practice (Ro Reddick)
Giant (Mark Rosenblatt)
Kyoto (Joe Murphy, Joe Robertson)
Little Bear Ridge Road (Samuel D. Hunter)
Meet the Cartozians (Talene Monahon)
Prince Faggot (Jordan Tannahill)
Punch (James Graham)

Musical:

The Lost Boys

Mexodus

My Joy Is Heavy

Saturday Church

Schmigadoon!

Revival of a Play:

Becky Shaw

Bug

Death of a Salesman

Galas

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

You Got Older

Revival of a Musical:

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The Baker’s Wife

The Gospel at Colonus

Masquerade

Ragtime

The Rocky Horror Show

Actor in a Play:

Jon Bernthal, Dog Day Afternoon

Will Harrison, Punch

John Krasinski, Angry Alan

Stephen Kunken, Kyoto

Nathan Lane, Death of a Salesman

John Lithgow, Giant

Okieriete Onaodowan, The Monsters

Micah Stock, Little Bear Ridge Road

Mark Strong, Oedipus

Actress in a Play:

Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Well, I’ll Let You Go

Carrie Coon, Bug

Lesley Manville, Oedipus

Laurie Metcalf, Little Bear Ridge Road

Aigner Mizzelle, The Monsters

Alia Shawkat, You Got Older

Actor in a Musical:

LJ Benet, The Lost Boys

Alex Brightman, Schmigadoon!

Nicholas Christopher, Chess

Luke Evans, The Rocky Horror Show

Joshua Henry, Ragtime

Actress in a Musical:

Abigail Bengson, My Joy Is Heavy

Sara Chase, Schmigadoon!

Caissie Levy, Ragtime

Marla Mindelle, Titanique

Book Review: Chilly Scenes of Winter

(Bought at the Little Red Book Shack in Hudson, NY for 50 cents): I've read many of Ann Beattie's story collections and novels, but never this one, her first big hit which put her on the literary map back in 1976. It was later filmed as Head Over Heels (the studio didn't like her original title). There isn't much of a plot. Unhappy twentysomething Charles pines for married Laura while tending to his mentally-ill mother Clara, and coping with hostile feelings towards his stepfather Pete. His sister Susan is still in college and engaged to a med student Charles doesn't like and his best friend Sam has just lost his job and moves in. The novel follows Charles through a cold winter as he stumbles his way through life, trying to find love and meaning in a boring government job and a frustrating romantic life.

I couldn't help liking Charles, even though he's a whiny complainer. Beattie gives him so many human flaws and foibles, it's hard not to sympathize with him. The book was proclaimed as a 1970s answer to Catcher in the Rye. Charles is not as disaffected and rebellious as Holden Caulfield, but he is a realistic example of the youth of the decade after the 1960s seeking their identity in a society that provides few role models. He is damaged because his father died when he was young and his mother has lost her grip on sanity. He becomes a needy desperate loner with few friends (except for Sam) and longs for the unattainable Laura. I enjoyed this work by Beattie more than her others. The quirkiness doesn't feel as forced as in many of her short stories.  

Off-B'way Review: La Cage Aux Folles

Billy Porter and Wayne Brady in
La Cage Aux Folles.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The mission of Encores! is to give obscure or forgotten musicals with some worthy elements—either a witty score, a fun book, or an opportunity for a contemporary performer to stretch themselves—another look. La Cage Aux Folles doesn’t really fit any of these criteria. The original 1983 production ran for over five years and there have been two revivals (2004 and 2010). The show has not slipped beneath notice and holds a place in the cultural memory for its trailblazing depiction of a loving gay couple humorously challenging bigotry. Jerry Herman’s spritely score contains many tunes which remain on the short-list for Favorite Broadway songs. Harvey Fierstein’s book retains its sitcom-y punch, with only a few dated spots.

However, Robert O’Hara’s new concert staging does give us chance to “see things from a different angle” as the lyrics to “I Am What I Am,” the show’s hit anthem of gay rights, suggests. With an all-black cast and an infusion of transgender imagery, O’Hara brings La Cage up to the present moment. David Zinn’s set and Clint Ramos and Michelle Ridley’s costumes evoke black, gay icons from Sylvester to Eartha Kitt’s Catwoman.

When the original production opened, stars George Hearn and Gene Barry made it abundantly clear in interviews they were both big, strapping straight guys only playing at being queer. (I even recall one feature article on the show in a national magazine telling of a straight chorus boy in drag harshly rejecting the flirtatious advances of a male stagehand.) I don’t recall any kissing between the two leads and I believe they only went as far as handing hands. Here, Wayne Brady and Billy Porter—the former has identified as “pansexual” and the latter as gay—are entirely believable as a married couple of many years. They aren’t afraid to display intimacy. At one point, Porter’s extravagant Albin recoils from a public display of affection from his husband Georges (Brady). This is the only moment that rings false. 

Porter is blazingly flamboyant and touching, unashamedly proclaiming his identity. His rendition of “I Am What I Am” at the first act finale brings down the house. He’s entirely at home as the top-billed drag entertainer and loving maternal figure in his family. Brady is equally professional and commanding as the—you should excuse the expression—straight man to Porter’s flashier role. He provides a solid anchor for Porter to take off from. 

As Jean-Michele, the son who requests Albin get tucked away in a closet to please his prospective conservative in-laws, Alaman Diadhiou gets an impressive dance solo. Tonya Pinkins is a delight in the beefed-up role of Jacqueline, the world-weary restauranteur as is James Jackson Jr. as the sassy servant Jacob. Peter Francis James overplays the stuffy right-wing leader, emerging as a straw bogey man.

The staging can be rough at times. The lack of prep time shows. At one point, Porter flubbed a line and ad-libbed, “Only ten days, bitches,” referring to the abbreviated Encores! rehearsal period. The design elements are uneven, particularly Adam Honore’s harsh lighting which sometimes causes glare and audience members have to shield their eyes. Some Encores products have been so polished they could open on Broadway with little transition, but this one would require additional work. However, the choreography by Edgar Godineaux and Dormeshia is brilliantly executed and is a highlight. 

Despite the rough patches, this La Cage is a fun frolic and a bracing reminder of how far we’ve come in 40 years. Gay couples are now regularly in TV commercials and game shows (like Brady’s Let’s Make a Deal.) Musicals like this one were there first, making it a fitting way to end Gay Pride month.

June 18—28. Encores! at City Center, 131 W. 55th St., NYC. Running time: two hours and 30 mins. including intermission. nycityenter.org.

Billy Porter and cast
in La Cage Aux Folles
Credit: Joan Marcus

B'way Update: Three Days of Rain

Francois Arnaud in Heated Rivalry
Credit: HBO

The trend for revivals continues as the latest entry in the 2026-27 Broadway season is announced. Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain, previously seen Off and on Broadway, will begin performance in February 2027 at a Shubert theater to be announced with a cast mainly known for their film and TV credits. The cast of three who will play two roles each is comprised on Francois Arnaud (Heated Rivalry), David Corenswet (Superman), and Emmy nominee Yvonne Strahovski (Serena Joy from The Handmaid's Tale). Tony winner Anna D. Shapiro will direct.  

Anna D. Shapiro said, “THREE DAYS OF RAIN is truly one of the most beautiful plays I’ve ever done or experienced. Steeped in the brilliantly funny and enchantingly complex world of Richard Greenberg, the story follows two generations of New York intelligentsia as they navigate the burden of family, the seduction of art and the necessity of love over time and eternity.”

David Corenswet as Superman
Credit: Warner Brothers

Three Days of Rain premiered in NYC Off-Broadway in a 1997 Manhattan Theater Club production with Patricia Clarkson, John Slattery and Bradley Whitford. The play was a Pulitzer finalist and won an Obie Award. A 2006 Broadway revival was headlined by movie stars Julia Roberts, Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper.

This brings the number of Broadway play revivals for 2026-7 to ten with only four new plays scheduled (five if you count Billy Crystal's autobiographical solo show). 

Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy
on The Handmaid's Tale.
Credit: Hulu

B'way Update: Warriors Musical

Eisa Davis and Lin-Manuel Miranda

Warriors, a musical based on the 1979 Paramount Pictures release The Warriors and the 1965 novel by Sol Yorick, will open on Broadway in Spring of 2027. Previews begin in March with an opening in April at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. Book, music and lyrics are by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights) and Eisa Davis (Bulrusher). Jeffrey Koons directs and Andy Blankenbuehler of Hamilton co-directs and choreographs. The plot follows a NYC gang as they travel from Coney Island to the Bronx and back in an effort to prove their innocence of a murder. The musical originated as a concept album realesed in 2024 and featuring Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Billy Porter, Coleman Domingo, and many others.

“With Warriors, we take a fateful journey through New York City full of heart and grit as our characters fight to survive,” said co-writers Miranda and Davis in a joint statement. “Musicalizing such a vibrant world for the concept album has been a thrill, and now we're coming out to play on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne. We can't wait.”

A scene from The Warriors film (1979)