Capital New York

In 'Sons of the Prophet,' young playwright Stephen Karam shows he's earning the hype

After the success of 2007's Speech and Debate, the Roundabout Theater Company commissioned a second play from him, which resulted in Sons of the Prophet; his opera, with music by Nico Muhly, opens Nov. 9. It's easy to see why. A commission for a third play and an extension on Sons are only his latest coups off Broadway. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on October 31st, 2011 2:09pm

An early play by Gurney examines the life of the New England WASP, with a slightly too-heavy hand

Children came at the start of Gurney's career, and it bears the marks of an early work by a writer needed to develop his craft: The dialogue is occasionally stagy, the themes a bit too obvious. Even the title seems a bit on the nose, especially as the characters' speeches are littered with constant self-referential proclamations like "All we've done is play games." More

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By Mark Sullivan

on October 28th, 2011 12:15pm

An evening of familiar kneeslappers that could have been trite succeeds in the expert hands of Woody Allen and friends

The familiarity isn't necessarily a bad thing anymore than the familiar-tasting plate of cheese blintzes you get at a diner might be. But when the familiarity is a main feature, you don't want the recipe to be mucked around with. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on October 20th, 2011 9:52am

In Tennessee Williams' centenary year, an early work by his artistic heir Lanford Wilson gets a stunning revival

Instead of focusing of William's late failures, The Keen Company is revisiting an early work by Williams' artistic heir, Lanford Wilson. Lemon Sky reveals how Williams' early success influenced one of the most prominent among the next generation of playwrights. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on September 28th, 2011 4:35pm

The tears don't swell, but the music does, in the latest 'Follies'

Jane Houdyshell brings a sly sense of humor and a surprisingly powerful set of pipes to "Broadway Baby," but Bernadette Peters doesn't seem to have the patience to slowly reveal her character's inner sadness. It's already there when she makes her first entrance, so Sally has nowhere to go. "Losing My Mind," her torch song that comes late in the second act, doesn't tell us anything we don't already know. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on September 13th, 2011 11:24am

A stage production of Hemingway that, ultimately, satisfies

This is what Elevator Repair Service does—and did last year in the award-winning Gatz, the company's seven-hour version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, staged at the Public Theater. If it seems like a natural progression from Fitzgerald to Hemingway—their books came out about the same time, and they were friends, even if their styles were arguably opposite—this adaptation from a novel is handled slightly differently. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on September 12th, 2011 8:44am

'Cymbeline,' not one of Shakespeare's greatest, gets a rollicking re-up

"Are there more plots to unravel?" wonders the title character in this revival of Cymbeline. It's one of the evening's biggest laughs, and it's hard to imagine that audiences in Shakespeare's day weren't also guffawing at this point. After all, Shakespeare wasn't even halfway through with his last-minute plot twists. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on September 9th, 2011 11:41am

Charles Busch's muse, an aging actress in Kips Bay, channels high and low, uptown and down

Busch wrote his latest play with actor Marcia Jean Kurtz in mind, and you can see why. It’s a difficult role, as Olive doesn’t let up on the kvetching until the last scene. Kurtz keeps the volume turned up, but now and then lets the audience see her sensitive side. That's why we stay in our seats and stick with Olive until the last scene, even as the characters on the stage throw their hands up in frustration and manage an exit. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on August 18th, 2011 1:00pm

In McNally's 'Master Class,' Tyne Daly gives us the Maria Callas we want, if not the one we had

McNally’s stroke of genius was to give us Callas not as she was in these sessions—lighthearted and generous, if sometimes stern—but as we wanted to imagine her: A dominating diva whose way with withering criticism was outmatched only by her mastery of the blunt weapon of faint praise. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on July 11th, 2011 9:37am

In Herzog's latest, politics (and generational confusion) take a smaller stage

The playwright's After the Revolution made a splash last year at Playwrights Horizons (I reviewed it here in November); and there, too, a grandparent and grandchild are tasked to find common ground when politics clash. But where After the Revolution served as a rather large interrogation of 90's politics, 4000 Miles, now playing at the Duke on 42nd, is a smaller play about a particular relationship. More

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By Mark Sullivan

on June 21st, 2011 2:24pm