Curtainup Founder & Editor Elyse Sommer's Epilogue -- I've passed the torch for reviewing and editing new theater productions on and off-Broadway and elsewhere. However, I'll continue to sound off here with my take on Live and Onscreen Entertainment. As for Curtainup's extensive content since 1996-- it's all sill available at www.curtainup.com

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

A less than divine chat with The Divine Miss M. . .




 I'll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers
I'll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers - The Divine Miss M is back on Broadway, looking and sounding like super agent Mengers, but that twinkle in the eyes is pure Midler. . . Read More

Cecily Tyson makes Trip to Bountiful worth taking



The Trip to Bountiful
The Trip to Bountiful - It's hard to know just how much this emotionally affecting revival rests in the masterly hands of director Wilson or in the instinctively magical moments created by Cecily Tyson. What's certain is that this is a trip you would be remiss to miss

Get out your dancing shoes for this show



Here Lies Love
Here Lies Love - Visionary musician and lyricist David Byrne takes a walk in Imelda Marcos's infamous shoes. The result is a great party. . . Read More

The Good Wife's Eli Gold isn't campaigning these days




 Macbeth
Macbeth - Alan Cumming takes his solo tour de force to Broadway . . Read More 6/30/13

Friday, April 19, 2013

Our critic hails this Julius Caesar in Africa



 Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar - Some Shakespearean renderings make loud footfalls. This production is one of them. . .

Jekkies will rejoice at the return Frank Wildhorn's musical



 Jekyll& Hyde
Jekyll & Hyde - The over-dosing Dr. Jekyll and his demented alter ego Mr. Hyde are back for the first time since they created their share of havoc on Broadway in 1997.

A more funny than menacing -- but well worth seeing Orphans




Orphans
Orphans - The cliche "better late than never" certainly applies to the belated Broadway debut of Lyle Kessler's much produced play, especially with its three orphans outstandingly portrayed by Alec Baldwin, Ben Foster and Tom Sturridge

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Bard's not-so-happy finale . . .



The Last Will
The Last Will - Featuring Austin Pendleton (who also directs the piece) as William Shakespeare, this bio-drama speculates on the Bard̢۪s final days as a man suffering from syphillis that severely debilitates his body and mind. . . Read More

A fine new family drama wth great acting & staging




The Assembled Parties
The Assembled Parties - Two parties, two decades apart, at which those assembled in a spacious Central Park West apartment to rejoice in the Amen moment when life's complicated times can be forgotten long enough for all to enjoy a dinner in a mood of joyous togetherness . .

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A brave attempt to turn a flop into a hit. .



The Big Knife
The Big Knife - Given the success of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy and The Big Knife's cult film status, it's understandable why the Roundabout Company has revived it hoping to give it the stage success that originally eluded it . . . Read More

Monday, April 15, 2013

The Nance is a triumph for Nathan Lane. . .



 The Nance
The Nance -Nathan Lane allows us to see into the heart-breaking core of a disconsolate man who is compelled to endure the slings and arrows of an unforgiving society, . . Read More

Bard & Marathon lovers save a weekend for Women of Will


Women of Will: The Complete Journey - After reviewing the overview, our critic decided to take the complete journey. No regrets . . Read More

Matida is a crowd pleaser despite clarity problems




 Matilda
Matilda: The Musical - The very, very British musical has landed on Broadway with all its deliciously scary snap, crackle and pop in place. . Read More

Will the music overcome Motown's book?




Motown: The Musical
Motown: The Musical - Despite its rambling dramatic arc the great music is certain to bring back memories for many of the decades as well being a reminder of how apropos was the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters a— Hitsville, U.S.A.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Something for young, adventurous theater goers



 Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero Is Born
Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero Is Born - Like its hero and heroine, this is an impressionable, over-excitable 20-something of a show. But what it lacks in grace, it makes up for with honest-to-goodness enthusiasm. . . Read More

Monday, April 8, 2013

The Broadway hit also a hit in London

The Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon - It is endearing to see how something so zany and off the wall can be a big Broadway hit. I think the show will also charm London audiences for quite some time. . . . Read More

Thursday, April 4, 2013

A so-so movie now a fun-tastic musical

Kinky Boots Kinky Boots - Cindy Lauper and Harvey Fierstein have proven themselves fortuitously formidable partners who have found a formula that has transformed a so-what film into a so-fine musical. . . Read More

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The "cellar" of this solo tour-de-force actually exists!s!



Buyer & Cellar
Buyer & Cellar - Jonathan Tolins'solo play is a hilarious and often poignant fiction exploring the role icons like Barbra Streisand play for a new generation of gays. . . Read More

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Return engagement for much produced 2-pperson musical



 The Last Five Years
The Last Five Years - Whatever it is, we end up feeling for Cathy and Jamie, it won't be for their lack of musical and dramatic commitment to Brown's ambitious score.. . Read More

Monday, April 1, 2013

Good People not so good in Philly

Philadelphia
 Good People
Good People - At the Walnut Street Teater this award winning play comes across more sitcom than humorously gritty and real. But as Abe Lincoln (probably erroneously) is credited with saying: People who like this sort of thing wwill find this the sort of thing they like. . .

London theater: Something old/something new on

The Low Road- Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Norris's third play at the London Court is an epic, sprawling "fable of free market economics and cut-throat capitalism" . . .



 Before the Party
Before the Party - Written in the late 1940s by Rodney Ackland, but based on an ealier short story by Somerset Maugham. It was a hit in London's West End and is revived by Matthew Dunster at the Almeida in a witty production. . . Read More