Not your usual Broadway fare--and highly recommended

The Scottsboro Boys- Kander and Ebb's dark musical dances to Broadway with its jazzy pizazz heightened

The event of the season-- Angels in America

Angels in America - Hats off to the Signature Theatre Company for launching its Tony Kushner season with a magnificent new production which fully realizes the play's epic and enduring theatricality. . .

Spirit Control- The teeth and fist clenching situation makes for a slam-bang first ten minutes or so of this world premiere by up and coming playwright Beau Willimon. It's also a bravura acting opportunity for Jeremy Sisto >.

The Beatles brought back to life on Broadway

Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles- forty-five years have not dimmed the brilliance of the Beatle canon, certainly none of the thirty-one songs performed. . .

A memorable new Hamlet in London

Hamlet-Rory Kinnear acts with his heart but is also naturally intelligent and contemplative, called for in the great soliloquies. He owns the role and is sure to be counted as one of the great actors to play the role and be nominated at the upcoming theatre awards for Best Actor. . . .

Star-powered revival a likely new-old Broadway hit

Driving Miss Daisy- Can a cast with box office pizazz help to make the gradual friendship that evolves from Miss Daisy's resistance and her chauffeur Hoke's persistence still work

New from Curtainup/DC

A Fox on the Fairway-Expert farceur Ken Ludwig is currently making audiences chuckle heartily in this world premiere at Signature Theatre.

A classic solo at Curtainup/NJ

An Iliad-Stephen Spinella's performance and Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare's adaptation at the McCarter Theater prevents this grimly realistic anti-war story from ever being boring. Instead, it bores its way into your heart and mind and forces us to think and wonder if we will ever learn from the past . . .

New at Curtainup/newjersey

The Lion in Winter - James Goldman's wittily conceived 1966 play bring this medieval squabbling back to life at the Shakespeare Threatre of New Jersey. . . .

Curtainup-California news

Bell, Book and Candle -Clairvoyant in its witchery, John Van Druten's play tinkles like a charm! . . .

New recommendation from Curtainup's London critic

Tribes-Nina Raine has written an excellent and at times very amusing play about a modern family and the challenges they all face. Highly recommended

A world premiere especially for the Irish Rep

Banished Children of Eve- The Irish Repertory Theatre's adaptation of Peter Quinn's novel about the 1863 Draft Riots should be more gripping than it is

Judith Light and Dan Lauria headline Vince Lombardi bio-play

Lombardi - A provocative play about the back-room negotiations of football could be a healthy and refreshing stretch/departure from traditional Broadway fare. The problem is that this one about the famous Green Bay Packer coach is not provocative enough

Review of annual bouquet to musical theater

The Broadway Cabaret Festival- the 3-part festival is now in it's 6th year .

Report on California stop of Merry Wives. . .tour

The Merry Wives of Windsor- this light-hearted musical production makes merry in Santa Monica before moving on to Pace University in New York

The cheeky Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson looks like a Broadway hit

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson- the move to Broadway hasn't spoiled its offering a bloody good time

Our London critic takes a tough look at the famousGreek

London

Onassis- Stage adaptation of book about the famous shipping magnate's patriarchal world. . .

New York premiere at Roundabout's second stage

The Language Archive-Julia Cho isn't a playwright who repeats herself. Even when imperfect, her plays tackle new themes, characters and styles. Her exploration of the language of love is no exception . . .

The wittiest Swan Lake ever returns to Manhattan

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake- The pantalooned male swans are back for another not to be missed evening of enthralling choreographed story telling

Odets revibal in London is a thumbs down

The Country Girl-Clifford Odets' 1950 play just doesn't row my boat in this production.

LA premiere proves Fugard hasn't lost his power

The Train Driver- Another searing picture of South Africa today by Athol Fugard . .

TV star cachet to make Mamet's early comedy Broadway worthy

A Life in the Theatre-Mamet's 1977 backstage drama remains a great gift to two actors--currently Patrick Stewart and T.J. Knight . . .

A classy London production aims to turn an old flop into a new hit?

LaBête-Is Broadway ready for a farce in rhyming couplets -- even iwith the brilliant Mark Rylance and a stellar supporting cast?

Ciurtainup's NYMF reporter has filed her final update

New York Music Festival 2010r-- Final Update: Fellowship; Jay Alan Zimmerman�s Incredibly Deaf MusicalMy Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding; Anthony Rapp's solo memoir, Without You; Things As They Are; Bloodties

Our review of new solo show about Sylvia Plath

Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath- Edward Anthony's new multi-media play about Sylvia Plath's suicide is surprising funny and entertaining

Amanda Cooper reports on a theatrical financial lesson

Microcrisis- Some fictional financial mayhem loosely based around the same concepts that caused our latest recession and housing bubble

A New Jersey premiere about autism

New Jersey

Love and Communication- James J. Christy's new play at the Passage Theatre in Trenton is conceived and executed with a kind of wacky cleverness that comes close but doesn't completely neutralize its otherwise provocative subject matter: autism . . .

If you see this, leave the kids at home . . .

The Deep Throat Sex Scandal-For all the laughs and titillating x-rated stuff, David Bertolino's first play also is the often painful account of how this super money-making porn flick became an inadvertent player in a First Amendment rights battle

Our Philadelphia critic liked this fun version of Stephen King's novel

Erik Ransom in Carrie

Carrie -Surprise! Not scary or gory or a musical but an elongated comedy sketch, well-directed by Michael Alltop at Philadelphia's Underground Arts . . .

Circle Mirror Transformation in New Jersey

Circle Mirror Transformation- Annie Baker's Off-Broadway hit opens the George Street Theater season

Review of a playwright's revisit to his turbulent youth reviewed

Dramatis Personae-Playwright Gonzalo Rodrigues Risco reconstructs and re-imagines his native Peru's political instability of the nineties fueled by the president Alberto Fujimori's dissolution of the allegedly corrupted judicial system with the authenticity and, remarkably, humor

Gregory Wilson's rave of modernized Macbeth

Radio Macbeth -a haunting and powerful work . . .

Julia Furay updates her New York Music Festival Report

New York Music Festival 2010 Overview and Review Sampler--My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding; Anthony Rapp's solo memoir, Without You; Things As They Are; Bloodtie

Our review of Lawrence Wright's journalistic theater piece

The Human Scale- a philosophical treatise as well as a painful account of what author-performer Lawrence Wright aptly describes as a bitter family quarrel between two similar peoples, blighted by their endless war over a small plot of land. . . .

Time Stands Still. . .still good and good to have back on Broadway

Time Stands Still-Donald Margulies' play still resonates and Christina Ricci is a dandy Mandy

Les Gutman liked Gatz but had some caveats

Gatz-There are any number of levels on which one can appreciate this undertaking by Elevator Repair Service. Among them, the sheer ballsiness of asking its its audience to sit for six hours and fifteen minutes of theater seems the most obvious

Our critic enjoyed subway musicals acapella music

In Transit- We don't often get to enjoy the purity of the a cappella musical, but this is one that winningly asserts itself with its lyrical and harmonic charms

Our London critic raves about this Faust

London

Faust-This is cutting edge theatre and not to be missed. . . .

Curtainup reports on new look at LA's Ahmanson

California

Leap of Faith- It's a feel-good musical, no doubt about it. .

Curtainup pm tje mew ,isoca; at :LA's Ahmanson Theater

California

Leap of Faith- It's a feel-good musical, no doubt about it. .

Curtainup's reports on being an audience of 1 at Hotel Savoy

Hotel Savoy- a truly personalized and certainly unique hour-long experience

Cherry Jones back on Broadway-- Just call her Madam

Mrs. Warren's Profession- The Roundabout has fulfilled its well-earned reputation for attracting top talents by casting the great Cherry Jones as George Bernard Shaw's Rags to entrepreneurial riches Kitty Warren . . .

Julia Furay reports on this year's NY Music Festival

New York Music Festival 2010 Overview and Review Sampler-- Anthony Rapp's solo memoir, Without You; also Things As They Are and Bloodties

Curtainup's London cric on stage version of 1980s BBC hit series

London

Yes Prime Minister- The 1980s hit BBC television series has been staged as a well honed formula -- bright, vain civil servant professional manipulates vain, self regarding, less intelligent prime minister . . .

Another old Noel Coward Hit i in London

London

Hay Fever- No expense has been spared to give us an idea of opulent but chaotic country house living in Noel Coward's comedy. . .

Curtainup's London Critic reviews new richard Bean play

The Big Fellah- Richard Bean again demonstrates that he is not afraid to tackle subjects that other playwright shy away from. . . .