By Samuel L. Leiter   Sharon Washington is an African-American actress of a certain age. I’ve seen her on stage before but never, in my recollection, in a role that demonstrated her considerable talents as vividly as in Feeding the Dragon, the one-woman play that she both...

      by Samuel L. Leiter   If you grew up during the mid-twentieth century you didn’t have to be a classical music fan (or even Jewish) to recognize, and probably recite, the names of the four internationally renowned, Jewish violin maestros who dominated the concert...

        by JK Clarke   At this point it’s fair to call Kate Hamill a one-woman cottage industry of theatrical interpretations of 19th century English Literature classics. Starting with the highly acclaimed and award-winning Sense and Sensibility, produced by Theatre...

    Daniel’s Husband opened last night at the Cherry Lane Theatre followed by an after party at Sushi Samba where cast members and guests celebrated.  Theater Pizzazz’ Emma Orland was on the scene. The esteemed cast consists of Ryan Spahn, Matthew Montelongo, Lou...

      By Sandi Durell     What makes a play an immediate ‘sit up and take notice!’ There’s the sense that the quality of fine performances deal with insightful realities in which the performers are notably invested. And even more, the playwright has an uncanny ability...

    By Martha Wade Steketee   Class, culture, language, appropriation, and integrity underscore the quiet power of Tanya Saracho’s Fade produced by Primary Stages at the Cherry Lane Theater. A story about storytelling, a play about the creative process, a demonstration of...

        by Samuel L. Leiter   In Ike Holter’s entertainingly relevant Exit Strategy, set in Chicago’s rundown Tmbldn (sic) High School, a volatile African-American senior named Donnie (Brandon J. Pierce, charismatic) rails about what inner city students have to...

      Primary Stages production, Exit Strategy, met with the press.  The cast – Michael Cullen (Bug, King Liz), Aimé Donna Kelly (Macbeth at Epic Theatre Ensemble), Rey Lucas (The Rainmaker at Roundabout Theatre), Deirdre Madigan (A Delicate Balance, Who’s Afraid of Virginia...

    by Susan Hasho Based on true events, The Body of an American by Dan O’Brien begins with an interview on podcast and an email, with visuals on a screen behind the actors. Paul (Michael Cumpsty) is talking about a battle that raged through the night in Somalia, and as a war...

    by: Magda Katz   Theater Pizzazz’ Magda Katz was front and center on media day to speak with the cast of The Body of An American  and find out more about the play and what cast and creatives had to say.   Winner of the 2014 Horton Foote Prize for Outstanding New...

        By: Sandi Durell   Topher Payne’s debut dramedy, Perfect Arrangement, gives insight into the Lavender Scare during the 1950s McCarthy era of witch-hunts for those who might be a security risk within the Federal government – in other words – sexual deviants...

                                          By: Sandi Durell     Do we all come from the same gene pool? From the original Eve (now called Mitochondrial Eve? If so, race is...

                    By Brian Scott Lipton The witty, wordy, and often wonderfully wacky plays of David Ives demand actors with remarkable vocal dexterity, physical agility, and complete fearlessness. Fortunately, director John Rando has...

      by Brian Scott Lipton Eloquent, erudite, witty. These words (and more) are frequently used to describe the work of playwright David Ives, author of such award-winning works as “All in the Timing” and “Venus in Fur.” Naturally, they also apply to “Lives of the Saints,” a...

            Primary Stages 30th anniversary season continues with Lives of the Saints, a world premiere collection of delightfully funny and unforgettable short plays by David Ives (All in the Timing, Venus in Fur) – humor, intellect, farce – and...

          NY Theater Review Sandi Durell   You must have heard at least one of these sayings growing up – spare the rod, spoil the child – children are to be seen but not heard. That’s how it was in the Pentecostal household in Pittsburgh where young Calvin was...

        NY Theater Review By Michall Jeffers   We’ve all been at that party. People start drinking too much, getting loud, and pretty soon, there’s an ugly scene. We feel uncomfortable, and lose our respect for the jerks who are involved. Oh, to be anyplace else. This...

  There’s a new comedy about to open at The Duke on 42nd Street – “POOR BEHAVIOR”  by Theresa Rebeck (Seminar, Mauritius, creator of NBC’s “Smash”) produced by Primary Stages in association with Jamie deRoy and Barry Feirstein.  The director is...

      (click to enlarge graphic)   The 2014/15 season launches with Poor Behavior, a new comedy by Theresa Rebeck (Seminar, Mauritius, The Understudy, creator of NBC’s “Smash”). Evan Cabnet (The Model Apartment, A Kid Like Jake) will direct the company...

        This new production of the 1995 Obie Award Winning dramedy, “The Model Apartment,” is set to preview Sept. 24th running thru November 1st, opening night October 15th, at 59e59 Theaters. Directed by Evan Cabnet, the play is the story about two Holocaust...

    If you love, or like, baseball – you don’t have to be a Yankee fan to see the Primary Stages exciting new production “Bronx Bombers” at The Duke on 42nd Street.  Bronx Bombers is written and directed by Eric Simonson, the same person who brought us...

Photos:Carol Rosegg   By: Sandi Durell       It would be hard to grow up with a white trash narcissistic, toilet mouth mother like Donna (Erin Cummings), especially if you’re a really bright 15 year old who carries around “House of Mirth” and spouts off literary jargon. ...

by: Sandi Durell David Ives’ six one-act comedies isn’t only ha, ha, ha. There’s a message behind each one and if you can stop laughing for a minute, you can also appreciate the cleverness of his brain. This grouping of shorts may be 20 years old, but everything is relevant. Currently playing...