Overview of 2011 theater season

A 2011 to 2012 overview: — a look back and forward by Curtainup's  critic and editor in chief.

New pre-holiday musicals: 2 thumbs up, 2 thumbs down

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  4 Pre-Holiday Musicals: 2 thumbs up, 2 thumbs down


Of  our 2 recent visits  to  new musical productions,   our off-Broadway trips  were by far the most fun and satisfying.  Schlemiel the First  is  a  rarely seen but well worth  weeing revival--  Once  is something of a master class on  how  to  adapt a  movie for the stage -- keeping its char but creating a new art form.  If you don't get a chance to see it at NYTheatre Workshop   in the East Village--  it  is moving to  the Bernard Jacobs Theater  and ore likely  to  transfer successfully  than  the  misguided revised revival of  On a Clear Day You Can See Forever  or  the  silly  Lysistrata Jones which    overreached by  transferring its  downtown run to the Great White Way.


Shlemiel the First- Besides being imbued with Klezmer this offers many lessons. And you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate them and enjoy the show . . .

Once - a rare screen-to-stage adaptation that retains the charms of their source but as a work of art in its own right .

Lysistrata Jones - the move uptown is a case of overreaching. It's still light-hearted and purposefully silly fun, but it's just too slight and limited in broad audience appeal . .

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - if anyone can bring out the very best in a show and make a half-full cup of entertainment filled to the brim, Mayer's the man. At least I thought he was . . .

Once - a rare screen-to-stage adaptation that retains the charms of their source but as a work of art in its own right .

Off Broadway News:  The high profile  War Horse, gets a low-budget-low-key   sequel. For XMas fun, consider   a kvetchy Jewish Scrooge   and  nostalgic Dylan Thomas Christmas concert
Farm Boy- a far more low-keyed but cleverly conceived sequel Michael Morpurgo’s 1997 novel than War Horse, the play or the soon to be released movie. . . .

Jackie Hoffman

A Chanukah Charol- Who better to give Dickens' famous holiday story a Jewish twist than Hoffman, the queen of side-splitting stand-up kvetch? Who indeed! After all, Hoffman's kvetching is a way of saying "Bah! Humbug." . . .

A Child's Christmas in Wales-Howard McGillin leads the five-member cast in Dylan Thomas's concertize d story that's as good as a striped and colored peppermint stick . . .

Recent NJTheater Reviews@curtanup.com

Bakersfield Mist- an out-of-the-ordinary, almost out-of-the-blue —, but more importantly, outstanding— two-hander . . .

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol - this is definitely unlike any other version you have seen before. . . .

The Nutcracker and I- Despite its occasional treats, this needs a more amusing book if it wants to qualify as a traditional holiday entertainment. . .

Jill Paice &Meredith Patterson in White Christmas

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas- a better than ever dose of nostalgia awaiting

Recent London Theater Reviews@curtainup.com

The Comedy of Errors- this traditional comoedia from the Greco-Roman tradition, and rests on the enjoyment of farce, slapstick and caricature and director Dominic Cooke wastes no time in getting into the action. . .

Cinderella- Over recent years, Hackney Empire has established itself as home to arguably the best pantomime in London, and this year’s offering only strengthens its reputation.. . .

Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull and Lauren Ward as Miss Honey in Matilda the Musical

Matilda the Musical- Matthew Warchus's delightful production for all ages about the precocious little girl who loves books and is born into a family of book hating telly addicts . . .

Collaborators- Simon Russell Beale gives an affectionate, quizzical and jokey portrait of Joseph Stalin in John Hodge's play. . .

Reasons to be Pretty- The last of Neil LaBute trilogy about how we look and relationships opens in London where it all started. . .

 Judgement Day- Ibsen’s last play has a reputation for impenetrable symbolism, but in this new adaptation by Mike Poulton, the language takes on a hypnotic rhythm worthy of his earlier verse dramas.. . .

The Lion in Winter- Trevor Nunn’s production of James Goldman's play sadly fails to satisfy even as a historical pastiche comedy because it isn’t outrageous enough for 21st century humour. . . .

Juno and the Paycock- The National Theatre and The Abbey Theatre (Ireland's National Theatre) have come together for the first time with a co-production that must have taken great consideration to ensure that neither side of the Irish Sea felt excluded. . . .

Salt, Root and Roe- Tim Price’s enthralling second play, . . .

EX - This new ‘play with songs’ by Rob Young and Ross Lorraine seems something of a strange choice for the Soho Theatre with it's usually challenging and thought-provoking, political and cutting-edge. . . .

This fast-paced Cherry Orchard really is a comedy--

John Turtorro  and  Juliet Rylance in The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard- The Classic Stage production has ratcheted up the comedy of Chekhov's last play more than any I've seen; it's also the trimmest