Though the shows expected to rack up the nominations–Pippin, Matilda, Kinky Boots, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike–did just that, the 67th Annual Tony Award Nominations were filled with surprises. The biggest shocker, to me, is that the…
What is it that has kept us coming back to Shakespeare again and again for centuries? Is it the masterful wordplay? The colorful characters? The layers of meaning and themes interwoven throughout? The structure that binds each play together? Alan…
I recently had the pleasure of chaperoning a group of advanced high school theater students to a production of Tony Kushner’s little seen play A Bright Room Called Day. I’ve known for years about the problematic text (and even saw…
The year is 1936. The location is a remote ski lodge in the Italian Alps, formerly the Austrian Alps. An entrepreneur is struggling to keep his hotel in business. Just when his manager tries to tell everyone to clock out…
The 66th Annual Tony Awards were held last night and it was a great night if you were connected to Once or Peter and the Starcatcher. These two shows picked up the lion’s share of the statues last night. Once…
Despite what you may have been taught in school, not all of William Shakespeare’s plays premiered at the Globe Theatre. The theater was built for Lord Chamberlain’s Men, true, but it wasn’t constructed until 1599 and burned down in 1613.…
Shakespeare is hard. There’s no two ways about it. Even onstage, you have to get everyone in the cast on board with the same interpretation or the play does not flow. The rhythm, cadence, accents, and style have to fit…
Selling Shakespeare to a wide audience is tough. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say most people are first exposed to Shakespeare in a dry English classroom with rote analysis and forced participation in an unstaged…
The 66th Annual Tony Award Nominations were announced a few minutes ago and they’re filled with surprises. It seems that shows that closed were remembered fondly and shows that are still running but not so good were mostly ignored. Even…
Doctor Who: Worlds in Time is an online puzzle-rpg from the BBC. In it, you become the Doctor’s newest companion. Time shards have been scattered all over the universe, causing massive interruptions in day to day life. The Doctor gives…
Last season on Broadway, Stephen Adly Guirgis opened a high energy comedy play on Broadway abbreviated to The Mother with the Hat. Starring Chris Rock, Bobby Canavale, Yul Vasquez, and Elizabeth Rodriguez, the production went on to be nominated for…
You are in downtown NYC. You walk up to a man on a poorly lit street standing in front of a short metal gate. You whisper “cannolis” into his ear and are led down a staircase into an alleyway filled…
Same spiel, different list. Each book had to be vetted for enjoyment and quality. Great books I’m not crazy about were skipped and trashy books that I could read over and over again were dispensed with. In no particular order…
If you’ve paid attention the past few days, my posting schedule has been rather sporadic. I have my reason. Is it technically an excuse? Yes, and I will do my best to be more consistent in the coming weeks. I’ve…