An exciting reprise of a beloved musical.     By Joel Benjamin   Ain’t Misbehavin’ was the little engine that could in the 1977-78 New York theatrical season.   How what basically was a cabaret showcase of the music associated with the legendary Fats Waller became the hit of...

  A nifty, literate literary mystery       By Joel Benjamin   Peter B. Hodges’ Marlowe’s Fate is a nifty, literate mystery.  For centuries scholars and theater specialists have debated whether a middle class, uneducated man like William Shakespeare could have produced so much...

  By Joel Benjamin   I have covered so many of Scott Siegel’s productions that I fear I have simply run out of superlatives to describe this Diaghilev-of-the-Cabaret world.  His recent 54 Sings Hollywood’s Greatest Hit Songs! at Feinstein’s/54 Below is another feather in his...

  Eight great singers sing the hell out of a familiar repertoire.   By Joel Benjamin   Every time I assume Scott Siegel has topped himself, he does it again. The Great Jewish American Songbook at Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center was the perfect combination of programming,...

    By Joel Benjamin   Legendary theatre director, Ariane Mnouchkine, famous for her imaginatively crafted, large-scale creations has brought her Théâtre du Soleil to the sumptuous Park Avenue Armory for a limited run of her new work, A Room in India. A Room in India, as is usual...

An opportunity to see a little-known Japanese art form performed by an expert.     By Joel Benjamin   Rakugo is a 400-year-old Japanese performing art form which has somehow escaped notice here in the United States, unlike its sisters Kabuki, Noh/Ryogen and Bunraku. With the...

  A brilliant, intimate look at a giant of modern pop songwriting.   By Joel Benjamin   Anyone attending Scott Siegel’s thorough-going tribute to Billy Joel—even those who formerly either took him for granted or disliked the songs—had to leave 54 Sings Billy Joel with an...

  A character study delicately played out in an intimate space.      by Joel Benjamin   Bob Glaudini’s Jack Goes Boating, known mostly from its initial production turned into a film directed by and starring the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, was staged at the Paradise Factory in the...

  Spamilton’s Gerard Alessandrini gives songwriter, Maury Yeston his due.     By Joel Benjamin   Gerard Alessandrini’s resume may seem overflowing with his many legendary Forbidden Broadway shows and his current Spamilton but this genial genius of theatrical satire has produced yet...

  A pleasant, but not very original combination of lights, music and choreography   By Joel Benjamin   Frantic Beauty, reduced to its basics, was just a not very imaginative light show combined with repetitive, not very inventive choreography. This “Project by Ximena Garnica...

   An imaginative, frenetic combination of film noir, puppetry, political intrigue and sci-fi       By Joel Benjamin   In the distant future, New York City becomes Nyorg (pronounced nigh-yorg) and is ruled by an uneasy melding of shamanism and technology, at least...

      A gleeful revival of a musical that still manages to keep audiences laughing.         by Joel Benjamin   It’s impossible to imagine a more talented and energetic a cast than the five brilliant actors who reprised their roles in the off-Broadway...

  A tribute to Michael Lavine, musical theater’s secret treasure.       By Joel Benjamin   Michael Lavine is a very important showbiz personality, one whose name perhaps only insiders would recognize immediately. He is a brilliant vocal coach, easygoing performer and...

  Feinstein’s/54 Below does New York a favor with its 54 Sings Man of La Mancha.     By Joel Benjamin   There probably are numerous productions of Man of La Mancha circulating around the world right now, but New York hasn’t seen this imaginative take on Don Quixote since...

  Two dissimilar artists join in a radiant, thoughtful portrait in song.     By Joel Benjamin   Could there be two more dissimilar singers than Edith Piaf and Christine Andreas?   Piaf was tiny, frail and possessed a straightforward piercing voice upon which she hung...

  A robust, sensual take on our favorite patriotic musical.           By Joel Benjamin     “So, sue me, sue me, what can you do me,” *I prefer 1776 to the theatrical juggernaut Hamilton. If the recent robust and inspiring performance of a trimmed down...

  Despite nudity and explicit gay sex, this is a substantial drama with believable characters whose emotions are real and tug at the heart.       by Joel Benjamin   Is there really such a thing as a “gay play”? As homosexuality is being more and more normalized and gay...

54 Sings breathes new life into a forgotten, but quality, Broadway musical     By Joel Benjamin     Henry, Sweet Henry, the 1967 Broadway musical, based on Nora Johnson’s comic novel, The World of Henry Orient wasn’t a hit, but it also wasn’t a total flop. Admired by many...

  A newly minted American citizen takes the Broadway repertoire to Brazil and back.       By Joel Benjamin   Paulo Szot’s Salute to Broadway was as close to perfect as a cabaret act can be. This newly minted American citizen sang a generous set of Broadway songs,...

  The Red Bull Theater’s Gogol staging is quite a stylish extravaganza.         By Joel Benjamin   The Government Inspector, based on the 19th century Russian author, Nikolai Gogol’s Revizor, has been given a pleasantly chaotic production by the Red Bull Theater at The Duke on...

  Three characters dredge up a hopeless romance in a contemporary love story         By Joel Benjamin   Reprise, at the Paradise Factory Theater in the East Village, is a three-character study about obsessive, but unrequited love. Written and directed by Eric Maierson,...

  by Joel Benjamin     The New York Film Academy’s School of Musical Theatre’s faculty got their chance to shine in a fun concert at Feinstein’s/54 Below, performing for an audience of cheering student and the general public. Hosted by Rob Maitner whose naughty, bawdy...

        by Joel Benjamin   The first thing you notice about Lewis Flinn is that he is immensely likeable. Tall, handsome and enthusiastic, he hosted this program of his songs like a proud parent. Although a pleasant personality is surely not a prerequisite for a...

    By Joel Benjamin   My heart dropped a couple of inches as I stood outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre in the West Village awaiting the start of the new musical, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. More than half the audience pouring into the theatre were kids,...

      By Joel Benjamin   That showbiz magician, Scott Siegel, pulled yet another rabbit out of his endlessly deep hat. His 54 Sings Broadway’s Greatest Hits!, despite being the thirteenth chapter, was as fresh and solid as all its preceding incarnations. Nine performers...