A courtroom thriller at Arena Stage in DC

Dion Grahamand Sebastian Arcelus a in A Time to Kill
(Photo: Joan Marcus)

A Time to Kill - best-selling legal thriller novelis, John Grisham's first book is entertainingly adapted for the stage, . .

The kind of songs they don't write any more

The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman - Lillas White is the standout of this Ü jazzy musical revue. . .

Babies-- damned if you do/damned if you don't

Cradle and All- Daniel Goldfarb's play views the to be or not to be a parent question as a damned-if-you do and damned-if you don't situation though he does stack the deck in favor of one . . .

At over 3 hours, this 1-act series demands patience

A. Acuna and C. Hudson--EST 2011 Marathon of one-Acts

EST 2011 Marathon of One-Act Plays, Series A- a worthy series but in wrong order and overly long

Follies i prompts musical fan march to DC

Ron Raines and Bernadette Peters in Follies
(Photo: Joan Marcus)

Follies-Bernadette Peters fillig the cavernous Eisenhower Theater is filled with her clear-as-a-bell voice is one of many delights of this revival

Comedy and Tragedy in repertory in Boston

David Newman as Luciana in Propeller's Comedy of Errors.

The Comedy of Errors - Propeller's production at the Huntington confirms their status as my favorite Shakespeare Company. At this point, I'd pay to watch them dramatize the phone book. . .

Londoners get a grim view of Chekhov's "comedy"

Zoë Wanamaker and Conleth Hill in The Cherry Orchar

The Cherry Orchard- Chekhov described his play as a comedy, but there is little to laugh at in this the cruellest version I have seen. . . .

A dad-to-be-centric, well acted, navel gazer

Bob Dishy in Knickerbocker

Knickerbocker- The best thing about Jonathan Marc Sherman's play now part of the Public's wonderfully affordable LAB series is that Bob Dishy, who was in the Williamstown premiere, is again on board . . .

Lucky Guy -- hokey fluff but great fun

Lucky Guy- At at time when bad things keep happening to good people, you could do worse than watch mean schemes crash, a villainess turn heroine, and a potential victim really turn into a lucky guy. . . .

A walk around young Spiderman's neighborhood

In anticipation of finally  going to an official  press preview of Spiderman on June 9th,  I took a walk around  my Forest Hills neighborhood—the same neighborhood  where  Peter Parker (Spider-Man),  lived with his aunt Ben and May Parker at 20 Ingram Street in  the Gardens section of  Forest Hills, designed by Frederick Olmstedt,  whose father designed Central Park.  He went to Forest Hills High School from 1962 to 1965;  Other notable  graduates (yours truly modestly omitted):  Paul Simon ('58) and Art Garfunkel ('58) [3], Bob  (Captain Kangaroo) Keeshan,  pera singer Tatiana Troyanos ('56), TV personality Jerry Springer ('61, Punk rockerrs The Ramones ('74),  Pulitzer prize winning author Art Buchwald ('43 drop-out),

This new musical just isn't new enough

Erika Amato & Bruce Sabath
(Photo: Peter James Zielinski)

The Sphinx Winx- a musical full of insistently Broadway-type tunes and actors straining to make every joke work even though many seem to be pulled in from nowhere and everywhere: references . .

Londoners have a chance to see/revisit Albee's first Pulitzer

Tim Pigott-Smith in A Delicate Balance

A Delicate Balance- a fine revival of Edward Albee the 1967 Pulitzer prize winner . .

A coup de theater event -- but wear sneakers!i

Sleep No More- Curtainup's critic found her 3-hour visit with Shakespeare's tragic brainchild dressed in Hitchcock's noir clothing both exhausting and exhilarating. It's been extended to June 25th!. .

Shaw's Candida doesn't sing easily. . .

Kate Fry A Minister's Wife

A Minister's Wife — Austin Pendleton has trimmed Shaw's Candida to accommodate music, so much so that it comes off as a play version of Condensed Reader's Digest Book. . .

Pulitzer Prize winner Nottages clever new Hollywood satire

By the Way, Meet Vera Stark — Lynn Nottage's clever script is full to the brim with acting opportunities, hilarious scenes and imaginative stagecraft, all of which are fully realized under Joe Bonney's direction. . .

It Could use cutting-- but those Cole Porter Tunes still sting. . .

Lesli Margherita and Tom Hewitt in Kiss Me Kate-Reprise

Kiss me, Kate - Reprise thisl-oving and occasionally lusty production f makes the nearly 3 hours spent at the Freud Playhouse a kick in the breeches. . . .

Derek Jacoby's great, accessible Lear

Derek Jacobi as Lear (Photo: Johan Persson)

King Lear-Happily, this British transfer doesn't get swallowed up in the cavernous Harvey Theater and Derek Jacoby's Lear is unforgettable. . .

A musical fairy tale at Princeton's McCarter

Aspen Vincent and cast members in Sleeping Beauty Awakes

Sleeping Beauty Aakes- a musical of many small delights, including some pithy declarations and just as many missed opportunities.

A midwestern Norah tries to slam the door on her dismal life. . .

Tobias Segal and Nina Hellman (Photo: Kerry Long )

Little Black Dress- Ronan Noone's black a comedy paints an unflinching portrait of a contemporary American heartland that sustains itself with shoddy dreams, frayed moral values and with delusions of grandeur .

A long play to go with a long title-- all very Kushnerian!

The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures-despite taking too much time to tell its story while not taking the time to clarify the erudite historic references, this is a play that no Tony Kushner fan or serious drama enthusiast will want to miss . . .

New Jersey's Papermill Playhouse does Kander & Ebb's Curtains

Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer in Curtains

Curtains-The Papermill Playhouse's lively revival of Kander and Ebb's Curtains . . .

This new Moliere farce is L.O.L. and gorgeously staged

The School for Lies- Moliere is duly honored by the crispness and cleverness of David Ives' couplets and the company of farceurs who appear entirely respectful to the genre to which they are showing an alliance as well as their allegiance . . .