A whole bunch of new shows are opening this week, and I’m still catching up from week before last. My review of The Book of Mormon just went up on CultureVulture.net. Check it out and let me know what you think, f**ker.
Archive for the 'theater reviews' Category
Theater review: THE BOOK OF MORMON
April 12, 2011Theater review: ARCADIA
March 28, 2011
Bel Powley, Raul Esparza, Lia Williams, and Tom Riley in ARCADIA (photo by Carol Rosegg)
My review of the Broadway revival of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia has just been posted on CultureVulture.net. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Here’s the gist:
“I remember when I saw the original New York production being so dazzled by the density of the language and ideas in Arcadia that most of it went right over my head, leaving me with few last impressions except admiration for Stoppard and the play. This time around, I took the precaution of reading the play the day before I saw the production, which I highly recommend. That is to say, I highly recommend seeing the show, AND I recommend you read the play first. The production isn’t perfect, but I liked it better than Trevor Nunn’s version at Lincoln Center. As he did with The Real Thing, director David Leveaux has worked very hard to ground Stoppard’s irrepressible flights of speech and metaphor and theatrical fireworks in recognizable human behavior. I consider it a tribute to Leveaux’s staging that I left not just cerebrally stimulated but genuinely moved by the understated tragedy that ends the play.”
You can read the entire review online here.
Theater review: PRISCILLA Queen of the Desert, the Musical
March 25, 2011My review of PRISCILLA Queen of the Desert, the Musical was posted the other day on CultureVulture.net. Check it out and let me know what you think.
The gist of it: “It’s like a Vegas floor-show, a somewhat racy but ultimately inoffensive homo/bi/transgender sing-along musical for the whole family. Every queen who’s already seen Mamma Mia three times now has a new show to bring Aunt Minnie from Cincinnati to.”
See the whole piece online here.
March 16, 2011
Yes, I broke down and bought tickets for the damn thing just to see Julie Taymor’s work before somebody else comes in and starts “improving” it. What I saw did not match any of the reviews or word-of-mouth I’d heard before. It’s not the greatest show ever, but hardly the worst thing. Check out my review on CultureVulture.net and let me know what you think.
Also, get a load of Annie Leibovitz’s photo spread in Vogue — the costumes (clothing + mask + sculpture + rigging) are spectacular. The few glimpses in the show of Swiss Miss (below), whom I describe as “a cross between Grace Jones, the Terminator, and a Swiss army knife,” left me wanting to see more more more.
Theater review: the Wooster Group’s VIEUX CARRE
March 10, 2011
My review of the Wooster Group’s production of Tennessee Williams’ Vieux Carre has just been posted on CultureVulture.net. Check it out here and let me know what you think. The show runs through Sunday at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and I highly recommend it.
another eye opens 