Mark Sullivan

Nathan Lane runs away with 'The Nance':

The role is tailor-made for the great Nathan Lane, and he brings to it his usual affable manner, insinuating inflections, and impeccable comic timing. But here there's also deep despair that seems to ooze from his pores.

Bio: Mark has written about the arts for Billboard, Interview and other magazines. He’s edited scores of travel guides for Fodor’s Travel and has written about his favorite destinations for Out Traveler, In Style and online. He’s also a composer, and is hard at work on a new musical set to an '80s beat.

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Nathan Lane runs away with 'The Nance'

nathan-lane-runs-away-nance

The role is tailor-made for the great Nathan Lane, and he brings to it his usual affable manner, insinuating inflections, and impeccable comic timing. But here there's also deep despair that seems to ooze from his pores. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on April 16th, 2013 4:59am

 
Article

'Hands on a Hardbody' is a challenging experience for everyone

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Hands on a Hardbody finally kicks into high gear near the end of the first act when Keala Settle sings the first few notes of the gospel-tinged "Joy to the Lord." More

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By Mark Sullivan

on March 22nd, 2013 2:39pm

 
Article

Now I know how Joan of Arc felt: Stripped down, a production of Shaw's 'Saint Joan' crackles with energy

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Andrus Nichols makes a fascinating Joan, more of a rough-and-ready soldier than the banner-waving waif most often portrayed in painting and statues. Her confidence and strength on the battlefield make her breakdown during her trial all the more moving. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on March 12th, 2013 4:14pm

 
Article

Vincent D'Onofrio and Ethan Hawke star in a mostly gassy Brechtian exercise

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Baal is a seldom performed piece, written when Brecht was a 20-year-old university student and before he settled into the "epic theater" style that's associated so closely with him today. Clive, which overall feels like an empty exercise by playwright Jonathan Marc Sherman and director Ethan Hawke, roughly follows the outline of its source material. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on February 13th, 2013 1:19pm

 
Article

Noah Robbins and Deirdre O'Connell run away with Hamish Linklater's 'The Vandal'

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The show belongs to the wonderful Deirdre O'Connell, playing the central role of Margaret that was originally announced for Holly Hunter. O'Connell, so poignant as a no-nonsense foreign-aid worker in Lisa Kron's In the Wake, seems to specialize in women who are barely holding things together. There's nothing flashy about the performance, which is what makes it so moving. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on February 6th, 2013 12:52pm

 
Article

A new revival of the 1978 musical failure 'Working' almost works

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The young Lin-Manuel Miranda's new songs for this revival outshine those of many of the theatrical heavyweights who contributed to the original. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on December 14th, 2012 1:48pm

 
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Holmes holds her own, but Butz does the heavy lifting in sometimes funny, sometimes leaden 'Dead Accounts'

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Holmes does just fine, I'm happy to report. She even has a couple of moments when she's pretty darn good; a hilarious tirade about the immorality of the banking industry, late in the second act, stands out. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on November 30th, 2012 10:00am

 
Article

At the Public, a 'Giant' musical with great moments, but a lack of proportion

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In adapting Edna Ferber's sprawling novel of Texas cattlemen and oil barons and their families, LaChiusa has given some of the best songs to minor characters, allowing the trio at the story's center—Texas cattle baron Bick Benedict (Brian d'Arcy James), his new bride Leslie (Kate Baldwin), and his roguish hired hand Jett (P.J. Griffith)—to fade into the background. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on November 28th, 2012 1:17pm

 
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A rousing, reimagined 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'

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As sparring partners, Letts and Morton are more than evenly matched. Any time either of them seems to get the upper hand, the other lands a crushing blow. And although fists and voices are often raised, most of the war is waged with words. These are the "quips with a sting" and "jokes with a sneer" that Stephen Sondheim would write about a decade later in Follies. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on October 22nd, 2012 2:02pm

 
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Paul Rudd is out of his depth opposite Michael Shannon in Broadway's 'Grace'

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He's as likable as always, which seems wrong for a character who intimidates his wife and bullies strangers about their religious beliefs. When Steve snaps, it's because the script says so, not because his character was heading there on his own—at least not the way Rudd has played him. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on October 5th, 2012 12:34pm