Weekly Margin 2026, W20: American, Italian, Giant, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, MCC Miscast 2026

5/11/26: American, Italian

What: SOOP Theatre presents the world premiere of Anthony P. Pennino's new play, as part of The Chain Theatre's 2026 The Factory Series. Pennino's play follows a family of second- and third-generation Italians, as teenager Gio and his older cousin Vin attempt to navigate the expectations of their fathers and their own inner demons. As Vin descends into addiction, Gio tries to keep him from drowning.

And? full review here.

Donovan Counts as Gio and Dante Palminteri
as Vin. Photo by Grace Romanello.

5/12/26: Giant

What: Mark Rosenblatt's play exploring celebrated children's author Roald Dahl and his antisemitism, in the wake of his incendiary book review of Tony Clifton's God Cried, in which equated Jewish people with Nazis.

And? I was pretty wary going into this show, and I don't think I would have gotten a ticket without having it vetted by more than one Jewish friend. I was worried the show would somehow try to let Dahl off the hook, on the strength of his writing and how much his books mean to people. I was also worried I'd be sitting within a hostile audience ready to applaud some of his rhetoric, since antisemitism has become more and more permissible in recent years. But the audience was very well-behaved, not stopping the dialogue to applaud certain arguments, as if we were watching a debate (I really hate how often that happens at shows these days -- it happened a lot when I saw The Ally and it was distracting and disheartening). And Giant does not let Dahl off the hook. A note in the program indicates that, while aspects of the play itself are invented, both the text of his review and every word of the phone call that ends the play are verbatim. There is no hiding from what he said, in print and on the record to a reporter. And, as a great relief to me, the repudiation of his outrageous statements, delivered by a young Jewish woman representing his publisher, is clear and firm--and is everything I wish I could say to the people spouting hate-speech at every Jewish person they see. Chillingly, every cruelty spouted by Dahl is one we're still hearing today, with new rigor. Forty years after the founding of Israel as a sovereign state, Dahl was calling for its dissolution; forty years later now, people are calling for that yet again. Everything old is new again, and I wish this play wasn't as timely as it is.

John Lithgow is perfectly cast as Dahl -- not just because he bears an uncanny resemblance to the man, but because he moves so effortless, almost imperceptibly, from the avuncular if tetchy beloved children's book author to a chilling manipulator, glaring out with cold reptilian loathing and spitting insults like he's throwing darts in a pub. We knew Lithgow had that ability to turn on a dime from his run as Trinity on Dexter, but it's a treat to see him do it live in front of us. A treat, and profoundly unnerving. Aya Cash, as the main focus of his venom, is a worthy adversary, masking her iron spine with the friendly and slightly apologetic veneer women in the corporate world often adopt to smooth any ruffled feathers.

Aya Cash as Jessie Stone and John Lithgow as Roald Dahl.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Weekly Margin 2026, W18: The Lost Boys, You & Me, Bat Out of Hell, Merrily We Roll Along

4/28/26: The Lost Boys

What: A new musical adaptation of the classic 80s film about vampires.

And? Honestly? I had a great time. Is it a great show for the ages? Debatable. Did I stop listening to lyrics half the time? Maybe. Are the central couple strong actors or can they just sing really well? Very much the second option. Did the final moment annoy me deeply, only to be chased by a post-bow moment that annoyed me even more? Yeah you betcha yeah.

But really, I had a great time. Fantastic stagecraft, especially as it takes advantage of how damn tall the Palace is, both from an audience perspective and the stage itself. We were midway up the mezzanine and still had a great view, with the staging and design utilizing to great advantage three different levels of their scaffolded set. The flying looked fantastic and not even silly. David (the blond Kiefer Sutherland vampire) was properly threatening and charismatic--Ali Louis Bourzgui can do no wrong, as far as I can tell. The show leans into the campier aspects unapologetically, especially in the ridiculous Act Two opener (no spoilers). The Frog Brothers (Jennifer Duka and Miguel Gil) are delightful, younger brother Sam (Benjamin Pajak) is adorakable, Paul Alexander Nolan perfectly walks the subtle line of video store owner Max, and the always-excellent Shoshana Bean belts to the ceiling and back again. I don't remember the film well enough to speak to the musical's faithfulness to the source material, but Sax Guy is there, and they successfully translate a film's three-act structure into a musical's two-act structure.

So, a few nits to pick, mentioned above, but still fun theater.

LJ Benet as Michael and Ali Louis Bourzgui as David, with
the cast of The Lost Boys. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

4/29/26: You & Me

What: A year after college student Delilah opened fire on campus, killing eleven people before killing herself, friends of both the murderer and the deceased gather for a memorial at their local diner. Attendees include Delilah's twin sister Chloe, her ex-girlfriend Mac, and a movie star in town to research an upcoming role. Over the course of one day, Chloe continues her pursuit to uncover why her sister did what she did, and friends and enemies alike reveal damning truths along the way.

And? full review here.

Courtnie Keaton as Mac and Brianne Buishas as Chloe.
Photo by Filip Rucewicz.

Weekly Margin 2026, W17: What Happened Was ..., Every Brilliant Thing, Becky Shaw, The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington

4/21/26: What Happened Was ...

What: Audible's Minetta Lane Theatre presents a revival of Tom Noonan's two-hander about an awkward first date between two coworkers who both feel a bit at sea in a life that hasn't turned out how they thought it would.

And? Great performances from both Corey Stoll and Cecily Strong, particularly Strong's reading of her character's grim and explicit "children's story." I appreciate that the play doesn't attempt to land on a sweet button that has not been earned by the preceding moments. Instead, it chooses to highlight the persisting loneliness of both characters, whether or not they will ultimately be able to cross their divide to find companionship in each other.

Corey Stoll as Michael and Cecily Strong as Jackie.
Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

4/22/26: Every Brilliant Thing

What: Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe's one-person interactive show, currently starring Daniel Radcliffe (but soon to be starring Mariska Hargitay), about a young man's attempt to reckon with his mother's recurring uncompleted suicides and his own depression, by making a list of "every brilliant thing" that makes life better. A number of audience members are drafted, to either read out individually numbered brilliant things (number one is ice cream), or to play characters in the young man's life, including father, spouse, and a nice couple in a hospital who give him a juice box (which he promptly returns because he doesn't like it).

And? Radcliffe is everything charming, a ball of energy whose battery never seems to peter out, even when getting into the heavier parts of the story. But in all honesty, even with its purportedly heavy topic, the play itself never feels that heavy. The concept/conceit of the show is exciting, but suffers in execution (it's often hard to hear the brilliant things being called out by audience members, and the audience-character-stand ins are, of course, inconsistent). And the whole thing just lacks a certain heft for it to really follow me home. I'm not saying I needed the gut punch of Macmillan's other work, People, Places and Things, but PPT knew how to land satisfyingly. EBT has a lighter heart than PPT, but it should still be able to land satisfyingly. It was a fine time, but not a great time.

Daniel Radcliffe. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Weekly Margin 2026, W9: Cold War Choir Practice, Marcel on the Train, Antigone (This Play I Read in High School), Hate Radio, Bug, The Other Place, Operation Mincemeat (Blizzard livestream)

2/25/26: Cold War Choir Practice

What: MCC, Clubbed Thumb, and Page 73 present Ro Reddick's play about Meek, a young Black girl in her local Cold War Choir (apparently this is a real thing), who gets caught up, along with her aunt, in intrigues involving the Soviet Union and a cult.

And? So there's a lot going on. It's a strange but interesting show with engaging performances, especially Alana Raquel Bowers's straightforward and sweet Meek, and Grace McLean's sly and purring Choir slash cult member. I don't quite know what to take away from the show, but it was a fun ride along the way.

Alana Raquel Bowers, center, as Meek, with Suzzy Roche,
Grace McLean, and Nina Ross as the Choir. Photo from the
Summerworks production by Maria Baranova.

2/26/26: Marcel on the Train

What: Ethan Slater co-writes (with director Marshall Pailet) and stars in bioplay about a young Marcel Marceau's role in the French Resistance during the German occupation of France during WW2, as he helped Jewish children escape Nazi capture.

And? It's really quite an extraordinary piece of history on its own, and one I hadn't heard. Scenic Designer Scott Davis evokes the train car in which Marcel escorts the four orphan children with a wooden platform and benches, and a curved metal scaffolding overhead to represent the train's roof. This is where we are for the whole show (with a few flashbacks and flashforwards): a place with no apparent escape but also no evident protection. The ceiling is an illusion, the walls invisible. Studio Luna's lighting design plays dramatically with light and shadow, creating a world where darkness is safer than the threat of light. Against this, director Marshall Pailet crafts a taut 100-minute production, with each raised voice a potential siren to bring on capture and execution, while also teetering over a future uncertain enough that--even knowing Marcel Marceau goes to become a world-renowned mime--survival does not feel guaranteed. And indeed, with the flashforwards we see that no one escapes this time unscathed or free from trauma. Are these flashforwards the truth, or only what the children hope for--what Marcel hopes for?

The four children we see Marcel ushering are fictionalized but each serves as an interesting foil to the twenty-year-old man (in addition to being fully realized characters on their own): Henri (the sweet and funny Alex Wyse), whose gift for blather and determination to survive inspires a self-doubting Marcel to keep moving forward with his mission; Adolphe (my favorite, Max Gordon Moore), a preteen with a strong sense of right and wrong, and a distaste for lying, who holds Marcel accountable for his responsibility to four vulnerable children; Etiennette (a mute but expressive Maddie Corman), terror-struck but drawn out of her shell by mirroring Marcel's playful impulses and clown work; and Berthe (the always wonderful Tedra Millan, here bringing a brittle brine to her performance), whose blend of pessimistic and realistic perspective force Marcel to extend himself beyond gentle play into action and decision. Aaron Serotsky, who plays Everyone Else, brings an especially terrifying energy to the Nazi search of the train car, delicately tip-toing along the line between a benevolent authority figure performing an unfortunate necessity, and a snake waiting patiently for his prey to stumble in biting range. As the titular Marcel, Slater beautifully embodies the charisma and showmanship, while also delving into the vulnerability of a young man only just out of his teens, risking not only his life but the lives of children unable to protect themselves.

Tedra Millan as Berthe and Max Gordon Moore as Adolphe.
Photo by Emilio Madrid.

Weekly Margin 2026, W8: Bigfoot!, Chinese Republicans, An Ark, Poor Judge

2/17/26: Bigfoot!

What: New York City Center presents Amber Ruffin, Kevin Sciretta, and David A. Schmoll's new musical about Bigfoot.

And? It's very uneven. Amber Ruffin and Kevin Sciretta's book is full of some really funny one-liners, but the pastiche of the scenes feels more like sketches rather than pieces of a larger story. By contrast, the score by Ruffin and David Schmoll is nowhere near the level of humor, nor the level of pastiche, needed to really make a show like this soar (and the music just sits there, rather than pushing forward momentum or leaning in harder to the comedy). The show owes a heavy debt to late nineties/early aught musicals Bat Boy and Urinetown, but it hasn't paid off its arrears yet. The cast, though, is excellent. I saw it in the first week of previews so they're still working out some of the kinks with line delivery and timing, but when they nail a line it's nailed. It's a treat to see Crystal Lucas-Perry onstage again, and to see Katerina McCrimmon for the first time (the voice coming out of that tiny frame!). And of course the standout is Grey Henson as Bigfoot himself. Henson has an uncanny knack for delivering any line, no matter how ridiculous or dad-joke-groan-worthy, earnestly and almost thrown-away, that will never not be hilarious to me (he was distinctly my favorite part of Shucked). He's absolutely delightful and as immediately likeable as a fluffy puppy bounding onstage. The show is worth it for him, honestly, though I'm glad it's only ninety minutes.

Grey Henson as Bigfoot. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.

2/18/26: Chinese Republicans

What: Roundabout presents Alex Lin's play about four Chinese American women in the corporate world and the question whether assimilation will ever be allowed for them in that environment (and if they want it to be).

And? It's fine. The arguments are interesting, and the cast is strong, particularly Jodi Long as the groundbreaker of the group, the first Asian woman to be a Managing Director in New York, and Jully Lee as a snarky Iris, the only one among them to have actually been born in China. 

Weekly Margin 2026, W4: Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Murder at Midnight

1/21/26: Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

What: The Broadway transfer of the West End two-hander musical about a young British man visiting New York for the first time to attend the wedding of a father he's never met, and his antics with the sister of the (much younger than the groom) bride.

And? It's cute. It's definitely cute. Both actors are doing good work (nice to see Christiani Pitts again). I like Soutra Gilmour's seemingly simple but magic box surprise of a scenic design. Several of the songs in the second half are clever. But I was not in a good headspace when I saw this--which is not the show's fault--so I found a lot of the humor unimpressive, the plot turns predictable, the first half of the score unsurprising, and the piece as a whole not unusual enough to transcend any of that. Someone said to me it's being described as this season's Maybe Happy Ending, and I can see that, in terms of a small-cast chamber musical telling a sweet story of two polar opposite people on a quest learning to appreciate each other. But Two Strangers slides closer to a number of movies I've already seen, whereas MHE surprises in staging, scenic and projection design, clever lyrics and earned character arcs, and ultimately managing to skirt a number of predictable archetypes of this type of story to show us something new.

Two Strangers doesn't show us something new, even if it is charming enough at what it's showing us. I don't want to come down to hard on it. But I think it got overhyped for me, and then with my brain being what it was when I saw the show, I was underwhelmed.

Christiani Pitts and Sam Tutty as Robin and Dougal.
Photo by Matthew Murphy.

1/22/26: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

What: The Off-Broadway revival of Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn's adorable musical about, well, what the title says, and the oddball kids who compete.

And? A perfectly fine and fun revival, if not particularly transformative. The sweet and tart nature of the show remains intact, as well as the humor. And it's good to hear this score live again. I had hoped to catch Justin Cooley, a delight in Kimberly Akimbo, but he was out; luckily, his understudy Jahbril Cook did excellent and endearing work. The contemporary script updates were mostly fun, and a good way to keep surprising people who already know the show well from its original run. I particularly enjoyed a number of the women in the cast: Jasmine Amy Rogers (Miss Betty Boop herself!) is an endearingly earnest Olive without being cloying, Leana Rae Concepcion's Marcy is a hilarious taut wire until her euphoric explosion in my favorite song in the show, "I Speak Six Languages," and the always excellent Lilli Cooper is polished, wryly funny, and in excellent voice as the bee's emcee Rona Lisa Peretti. My one real beef with this production is the missed opportunity seized by the original production. When this show first arrived on Broadway back in the aughts, it featured three principal roles played by larger bodied actors. It was great representation of three talented performers (and their talented understudies and replacements--I got to see Josh Gad), and there were no jokes made about their size. With this revival cast, there is none of that, and it's a damn shame.

The company of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Streaming Theater

• Original Theatre's Murder at Midnight.

Weekly Margin 2026, W1: Marjorie Prime, Twelfth Night

1/03/25: Marjorie Prime

What: 2nd Stage revival of Jordan Harrison's play about Marjorie, a woman in her 80s with Alzheimer's interacting with a new technology of holographic people called Primes who are taught to be the embodiment of lost love ones, through the stories told to them by those who still remember. Marjorie's adult daughter Tess struggles with the idea of this technology, both as an evocation of her dead father and as an imperfect and filtered version of reality: a Walter who is taught a gussied up version of his marriage to Marjorie and who isn't told about his son Damien who died many years ago.

And?  The wildest thing about this play to me is that it was written years before ChatGPT existed, because it seems like such a good conversation piece to have in regards to that particular AI application, full of half-truths culled from many sources, but also full of hallucinations (and frankly terrible counting skills--ask my sister). Walter Prime tells Marjorie the story of the night he proposed, but Marjorie asks him to overwrite it so they saw Casablanca rather than My Best Friend's Wedding. The death of their son Damien irrevocably changed the entire family, and yet Marjorie hasn't spoken Damien's name since he died. Walter Prime learns from her the story of their marriage, their daughter, their two dogs, but not a word about their son. And as each memory is overwritten with a newer glossed-over draft, it steps further and further away from reality and into the realm of fairy tales. Spoilers ahead, so stop reading now if you don't want them! As each subsequent character passes away, to be reincarnated into their blank page version to be written and rewritten, we step further and further away from reality: each new self has softened edges, removing conflict and unkindness, erasing trauma and baggage for theoretically easier communication, but instead creating smudged carbon copies. In the final sequence, the three remaining Primes sit around a table telling each other their stories, each one not quite true, but yet in full consensus. It's an excellent demostration of the inferiority of AI art to human-created art: AI art can regurgitate and collage, but it cannot invent, whereas human-created art can do both. The final sequence of these three Primes in their loop of half-truths and elided facts also got me thinking about the line I heard once, that you only truly die when there's no one left alive who remembers you (Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt explores this theme beautifully). Here at the end when only Primes remain, with no one left alive to remember Damien, the poor unhappy son is dead at last.

June Squibb and Cynthia Nixon as Marjorie and Tess.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Streaming Theater

• Shakespeare in the Park's summer production of Twelfth Night, hosted on PBS.

Best Theater of 2025: Another Year End, Another List

Hello hello and it's time for another year-end round up of my favorites of all the theater I saw in 2025. I've been thinking this month about what a shame it is that the Fall season brings us so many strong pieces of theater, many of which don't survive past the new year for one reason or another (if it's a star-studded play, it's often a limited run anyway), and can therefore be forgotten come awards season, even if they're remembered fondly for these end of the year Best-Of lists. But then, I wonder if the weightedness of the Spring season representation at the Tonys et al is mirrored for the year-end lists. Do Spring shows that burned brightly but briefly make the cut? (Not to brag, but it looks like my list is almost evenly divided between first half of the year and second half. Go me!)

This is just me musing. I haven't run the numbers. But hey, speaking of numbers, this year I saw 128 pieces of theater with 9 repeats, leaving 119 unique pieces of theater. Of those 119, 70 were plays, 39 were musicals, and 10 were streaming.

In order of appearance, these ones stuck around in my brain, my heart, and/or my gut.

Weekly Margin 2025, W45: Oh Happy Day, Bat Boy: The Musical, Broken Images, Masquerade, About Time

11/04;25: Oh Happy Day

What: The Public Theater presents Jordan E. Cooper's new play about a man granted a brief reprieve from death to try to save his estranged family from an oncoming storm of biblical proportions.

And? Cooper knows how to lull you into the complacency of thinking you know what kind of show you're watching, then wallop you by upending your expectations. While the pacing of this script doesn't yet feel tight enough to keep momentum driving forward (sometimes it's there, sometimes it lags), there's enough sense of stakes and urgency that I think it will get there. At first I was worried I'd feel too estranged by the religious element of the play (as I often do with works whose sense of Christianity overdominate the piece), but the characters end up interrogating what it means to be religious enough--and indeed what God means--that I was drawn in to the conversation. This drawing in is in large part because the actual important relationships that need healing are not between human and God, but between father and son, brother and sister. And this play makes the characters work very hard for that healing, but when it lands, it truly feels like a burden of decades has been lifted.

Jordan E. Cooper, center, as Keyshawn, with Latrice Pace, Sheléa Melody
McDonald, and Tiffany Mann as Glory Divine, Might Divine, and Holy Divine,
repsectively. Photo by Joan Marcus.

11/05/25: Bat Boy: The Musical

What: The gala presentation at Encores! this year is that cult hit musical inspired by the Weekly World News's tabloid star, about the attempt to "civilize" a half-bat/half-human boy found in a cave, and the catastrophes attached to that attempt.

And? I don't think I'd realized how much the show had been revised since its Off-Broadway premiere in 2001. Though, knowing how much O'Keefe has continued to revise his other shows since their premieres, I shouldn't have been that surprised. I do hope we get a cast album out of this, just so I have a record of the new songs (the West End album has some, but not all, of them). I have mixed feelings on the revisions. The new songs are by and large good, catchy and often improving on earlier versions (boy do I not miss "Dance With Me, Darling"), while retaining the best lyrical moments from the removed songs ("I heal real fast"). I did notice the eyebrow arch of some of the lyrics was lowered quite a bit at points, especially in the group songs, but that happened with Heathers, too, so perhaps it's done with regional play in mind. Still, it feels odd to defang a show called Bat Boy.

Regarding the rest of the revisions, I'm realizing that part of what I loved about the original was the sense of ensemble to it (yes, yes, Zelda's favorite thing: a company collaboratively telling a story): with such a small cast, everyone but the core family played many roles each, infusing group scenes with a real joy in the character switches, as well as necessitating strong choices being made for each characterization. This strategy not only allowed the whole ensemble individual moments to shine, but also made all the townspeople feel like individuals and not just a crowd of folk ready to sing, celebrate, or rampage. So I missed that element.

The flip side of that, of course, is that this revision is much more tightly focused on the family, albeit at the expense of the ensemble. Which is probably for the overall good of the show, but oh, my heart longs for "Another Dead Cow." 

The cast is top shelf. Taylor Trensch dives into the physicality of the title role with gusto, nailing the camp comedy of the show, and then belting out his songs to reach us up in the balcony. Christopher Sieber is so consistently good in all his roles over the years, it's tempting to just go "yeah as usual he's brilliant," but that's giving short shrift to the specific and hilarious work he's been doing the past twenty years. His comic timing is perfectly honed, and he's fearless when it comes to being the butt of a joke. Kerry Butler, a hilarious sparkplug Shelley in the original production, returns to play Shelley's mother Meredith, and again here we have a star with a perfectly honed comedic delivery and a honeyed voice able to knock any note out of the park, paying homage to Kaitlin Hopkins's performance while still making the role her own. Gabi Carrubba makes a strong City Center debut as Shelley, balancing angsty teen against the clowning necessary for the camp of this show. And there are a number of strong performers in smaller roles--Marissa Jaret Winokur as Mrs. Taylor, Andrew Durand as Rick, Jacob Ming-Trent as Reverent Hightower, and of course Alex Newell as The God Pan, but I'm still missing a bit of the joy of seeing the same person play Mrs. Taylor as Hightower, and other juxtaposed doublings. But that's a me-issue. Everyone onstage here is great. It's just the rest of the ensemble has less to do.

Kerry Butler, Taylor Trensch, and Christopher Sieber as Meredith, Edgar, and
Dr. Parker. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Weekly Margin 2025, W43: Punch, Truman vs. Israel, Theater in Quarantine: Phantom of the Opera

10/22/25: Punch

What: Manhattan Theatre Club hosts the Broadway transfer of James Graham's adaptation of Jacob Dunne's Right From Wrong, about a young man whose punch in a brawl inadvertently causes the death of the man hit, and the aftermath of the asault, his time in prison, and the time afterward.

And? Due to a combination of jetlag and insomnia the previous night, I had a great deal of difficulty taking in this production and unfortunately can't do a write up of it. I'm sorry; the show deserves better and I wish I could have given it that.

The company of Punch. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

10/24/25: Truman vs. Israel

What: A fictionalized encounter between Bella Abzug and Harry S. Truman as Truman contemplates a libel lawsuit against journalist David Rosenfeld.

And? full review here.

Helen Laser and Willy Falk as Bella Abzug and Harry S. Truman. Photo by
Darin Chumbley.

Streaming Theater Content

• Theater in Quarantine's Phantom of the Opera.

Weekly Margin 2025, W30: Sacco & Vanzetti are Dead, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Summer Day

7/23/25: Sacco & Vanzetti are Dead

What: Good Crack Productions presents a satirical bent on the 1921 trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

And? full review here.

Matt Ferrera as Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Joey DeFilippis as Nicola Sacco.
Photo by Bay One Entertainment and Kevin Mora.

7/25/25: A Midsummer Night's Dream

What: Ensemble Shakespeare Company presents Shakespeare's comedy of love spells, forest sprites, and an amateur theater troupe.

And? full review here.

Streaming Theater

• Wilma Theater's A Summer Day.

Weekly Margin 2025, W23: Nine Moons, Old Friends, OUT/PLAY Presents: Summer Shorts, Good Night, and Good Luck, Tony Awards

6/02/25: Nine Moons

What: Blessed Unrest presents Keith Hamilton Cobb's new play, a prequel to Othello.

And? full review here.

Sophia Marilyn Nelson and Robert Manning, Jr. as Desdemona and Ot'Teo.
Photo by Maria Barnova.

6/03/25: Old Friends

What: The newest Sondheim revue, this time produced by Cameron Mackintosh and starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga (with Gavin Lee, Beth Leavel, and others).

And? It's pretty great. There are always going to be some weirdnesses, but it's pretty great for a revue. There are an awful lot of act one finales in this (which makes sense, because Sondheim really knew how to write a good one). We could worry that having so many could mess with the dynamic of the evening but, to quote another show from this season, the audience as a whole is "too much in love to care." We're all just so damn happy to be hearing songs we love from across Sondheim's canon. Whereas the pandemic revue, Take Me to the World, often specialized in some lesser-known gems, this leans into the beloved in a big way, with numerous songs from oft-revived shows like Funny Thing, Company, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, and Into the Woods. I will admit to being a bit troubled that the program credits only Sondheim for music and lyrics for the evening, as it includes songs from his collaborations with Leonard Bernstein and Jule Styne; especially when they're careful to note when they're using text by James Lapine, it's a weirdass omission, because the music for both West Side Story and Gypsy are rather iconic.

But let's get to some praise. It's truly lovely to see some familiar and talented faces back on the Broadway stage, like Gavin Lee and Beth Leavel (Kate Jennings Grant was not in the night I went, but her role was ably filled by Scarlett Strallen). Also shining were some faces I knew less well, like Joanna Riding nailing the patter in "Getting Married Today" and Jeremy Secomb bringing his powerful vocals to the role of Sweeney Todd. Bernadette is always Bernadette, but manages to do a delightful sendup of her concert persona as she sings "Broadway Baby" as an audition piece, asking the pianist to play it as slowly as possible, like "Bernadette does it." And Lea Salonga, well known for her clear and bright voice, shines in a new way by letting her bawdy and belty side out as Mrs. Lovett and Madame Rose.

There are lines that find new resonance these days. Bonnie Langford, nailing "I'm Still Here" with brassy aplomb, sings "I got through all of last year, and I'm here," and we feel the weight of surviving it together. And then there's the photo montage of Sondheim through the years, starting with infancy. When Bernadette looks at those photos (some of which include Steve with herself), and sings "Not a day goes by, not a single day, but you're somewhere a part of my life," we feel both her ache and ours. He's gone, but we keep him here with us.

The show ends with an audio of Sondheim singing the cut song "Love is in the Air," and I found myself weeping. The woman next to me asked if I was okay. All I could say was, "I miss him."

Jacob Dickey, Bernadette Peters, and the  cast perform "Sunday."
Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Weekly Margin 2025, W22: Just in Time, Dead Outlaw, Next to Normal, Yellow Face

5/27/25: Just in Time

What: Jonathan Groff stars in the Bobby Darin biomusical.

And? I'd read someone make the crack online that it's not Jonathan Groff playing Bobby Darin, it's Jonathan Groff playing Jonathan Groff playing Bobby Darin, but I thought at the time that was just someone dismissing his impression of Darin, rather than describing what the show is actually doing. Groff begins his audience banter by introducing himself as "Jonathan, I'll be your Bobby Darin tonight" and proceeds to make a few cracks about himself (growing up in Amish country, the low viewer count for Mindhunter) before stepping into the actual narrative of Bobby Darin's life, which includes just as much of Bobby himself breaking the fourth wall to narrate, often snapping his fingers to freeze the rest of the cast in order to do so. It's an interesting idea, though I wonder about the legs of this show past its initial run. Both this show and A Wonderful World tried to upend the usual expectations of a biomusical (Just in Time with the Groff-as-Darin lens, and Wonderful World by focusing on the wives), but they do both inevitably slide back into the usual moves of this genre, like an audience member gradually slouching in their seat as the show goes on (this metaphor brought to you by my poor tailbone, which was in a lot of pain that night).

Groff himself brings all his natural charisma and joy at existing to the performance (and all his sweat and spit, as he jokingly acknowledges during the Hi I'm Jonathan prologue. Seriously, y'all, "I'm a wet man" is now canon in a Broadway musical). And while the music is enjoyable and the supporting cast talented, I have to admit I didn't feel the show truly come alive until the second act, when Erika Henningsen appeared onstage in a creamy pink dress, cool as an ice cream cone, to play Sandra Dee. Her vocals are wonderful, as is her chemistry with Groff, and all their scenes felt more visceral and engaging than most of what had come before.

I'm not trying to fully dismiss the show. It's all very charming. Everyone's having a great time. But it feels all very surface until Henningsen shows up and brings everyone down to earth. Oh wait! I do want to praise director Alex Timbers, whose staging handles the challenging Circle in the Square configuration (my favorite Broadway house!) with an ease and confidence that makes you wonder why it's such a challenge to other directors.

Gracie Lawrence and Jonathan Groff as Connie Francis and 
Bobby Darin. Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

5/30/25: Dead Outlaw

a repeat visit

Streaming Theater

Courtesy of PBS's Great Performance series, both 

• Next to Normal
• Yellow Face

Weekly Margin 2025, W19: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Those Who Remained, The Archduke

5/08/25: Stranger Things: The First Shadow

What: The Broadway transfer of the West End hit, a prequel to the Netflix series where we see the full origin story of Henry Creel/Vecna.

And? Let's get through the bad stuff first so we can end on a positive note. To begin, I don't know why they keep trusting Jack Thorne with these (he's also responsible for Cursed Child and that mediocre Christmas Carol). His scripts are full of holes, character assassinations, and full disregard for canon. In this play, Henry Creel is the same generation as the adults of the TV show (Joyce, Hopper, Bob, etc.). Not only does this not align with his age on the TV show in relation to Brenner and Eleven, it also raises some pretty big questions. Questions like "How come when Will disappears in Season One, Joyce and Hopper act like this is the first supernatural occurrence? Do they not remember that time in high school that a bunch of pets were murdered gruesomely during electrical surges?" Or "How come no one talks about Bob's sister almost being murdered by that weird kid that we never saw again?" Does everyone in Hawkins have Sunnydale Syndrome? The story itself isn't necessarily terrible, but trying to nest it in existing canon and timeline without actually respecting that canon or timeline is just plain stupid. 

And it didn't need to be this way. They could have gone the Cloverfield route. They could have gone to the Hellmouth in Cleveland. They could still have used Dr. Brenner as a young man if they want to keep their shadowy government villain the same, but the rest of this just doesn't play out. 

Oh! And. They make a point of being lightly racist against one of the characters (she's adopted, parentage unknown, so they call her Mystery Meat), but meanwhile the casting of the show is largely colorblind. It's just odd to have them be racist against a light-skinned mixed race character but be totally chill with a dark-skinned Black girl (who is also class president) standing right next to her. In 1959 in Indiana. You can be true to the history of racism in America, or you can say fuck it and go colorblind casting. I'm fine with either approach. But you can't do both at the same time.

My other complaint is just a weird disconnect between me and a lot of the audience: there were some spectacular special effects (more on that later), but often attached to devastating, horrible things. So while I was sitting there feeling the horror of the moment, the audience around me burst into rapturous screaming applause at the amazing spectacle of it. So it comes off a bit like they're applauding the full manifestation of Vecna, or a teenage girl being murdered.

Let's do the positives now! Holy shit, you guys, the design of this show is incredible. Under the direction of Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, the collaboration of scenic designer Miriam Buether, lighting designer Jon Clark, and illusions & visual effects designers Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher (and video & visual effects of 59), it's uncanny what they're able to portray on the stage. I don't really want to say too much and spoil things, but if you were transported by the magic effects in Cursed Child, it's the same team and they've only gotten better (though: warning for the squeamish, this is gory). Even more uncanny though is the performance of lead actor Louis McCartney as Henry Creel. Small and withdrawn at the beginning, he's able to turn menacing almost imperceptibly. And then his physical control as he battles with the darker shadows within him is astounding. I don't know how he does everything he does, managing his physical contortions with such present emotional honesty throughout, but in my opinion he should be the front-runner for the Tony (I have no idea what the actual buzz is, prediction-wise).

The company of Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Photo by Matthew
Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

5/09/25: Those Who Remained

What: La MaMa presents Sophia Gutchinov's solo piece about how to be a living monument to the history of her ancestors and a staunch advocate for her existence here today.

And? full review here.

Sophia Gutchinov. Photo by Rani O'Brien.

Streaming

• Wilma Theater's The Archduke.

Weekly Margin 2025, W17: Dead Outlaw, 七月半遗愿清单 Of Ashes and Souls, Miscast 2025

 4/22/25: Dead Outlaw

What: The Broadway transfer of the Off-Broadway hit by Itamar Moses, David Yazbek, and Erik Della Penna, inspired by the true story of Elmer McCurdy, an inept criminal whose preserved corpse endured a legacy longer and stranger than his thirty-one years of life.

And? This Broadway season's musicals is a continuing chain of "what an odd idea for a musical!" Some of them are successes, like the gem of Maybe Happy Ending or the delightfully silly Operation Mincemeat. Some disappeared quickly, like Swept Away. Some are still stubbornly kicking around, like Redwood. This one had a much-celebrated Off-Broadway run at the Minetta, which I missed, so I am grateful it got a transfer so I could see it. It's strange. It's good, I think, but yes another unusual show to land on Broadway this season. And not just because of the unusual subject matter (Andrew Durand spends half the show in perfect stillness, propped up in his display coffin), but also because of the way the story is told: a band jamming onstage in a little hut (lovely lighting by Heather Gilbert) with the lead singer telling us the story, periodically reminding us this is all true, and stepping into the story as bandit Jarrett, who lures Elmer into his gang to be the safecracker. The scenes happen in the spaces around the rotating hut, but the music remains the centerpiece of the action. The production is also a lovely showcase for a number of talented performers often relegated to thankless supporting roles: particularly Thom Sesma, but also Eddie Cooper and Dashiell Eaves.

Andrew Durand, Julia Knitel, and the band of Dead Outlaw.
Photo by Matthew Murphy.

4/25/25: 七月半遗愿清单 Of Ashes and Souls

What: Zihe Tian & Shall See Theater present the world premiere of Zijun (Neil) Wang and Zihe Tian's comedic horror story about a group of influences in a haunted house during the Hungry Ghost Festival, attempting to discover what caused the fire that killed eight people twenty-five years earlier.

And? full review here.

Streaming Theater Related Content I Watched

• MCC's Miscast 2025 concert.

Weekly Margin 2025, W13: Maybe Happy Ending, Love Life, Nye, The Half-God of Rainfall

3/25/25: Maybe Happy Ending

a repeat visit

3/27/25: Love Life

What: City Center Encores! presents the 1948 Kurt Weill/Alan Jay Lerner musical about an unhappy couple whose children cause them to look back on their relationship to see where it went wrong--with each time we visit them being a different point in America's history, even though the four family members do not age, spanning from 1791 to 1948, when the show itself premiered. Does that sound weird? It kind of is, but it's easy enough to follow in the moment.

And?  This is a classic example of how valuable the Encores! series is: a show that is not often revived (in this case, there isn't even a surviving cast album), presented with full orchestra and high-caliber talent, to give new voice to the score. And often with this sort of thing, we can see why that show isn't often revived. Though this production ran for a year, it's rather unfocused in its concept (though perhaps with a stronger director than we have here, that focus would be more precise: there's a clear framing lens of vaudeville acts around this archetypal nuclear family, though I missed the consistent flavor that would have made that clear enough that the Pippin-esque finale didn't feel so far out of left field.

The family themselves don't really become people I invest in, but I think this show must have hit very very differently in 1948. My dad writes about the mythologizing of America in musicals like Oklahoma!, The Music Man, and Guys and Dolls. He also writes about the marriage trope, wherein the central couple's union represents the cohesion of community as a whole. This musical is a prime candidate for both those lenses--a look back at America's history through the frame of this family, but even more so, the nation's precarious state of maintaining unity in the wake of the Second World War, which had ended only three years previously (I wonder now why there wasn't a chapter in the show that took place during the Civil War, but then we probably know the answer to that one). America was very divided over this war--whether to enter the fray or not (not even touching on how many supported Hitler's campaign), and then the devastating outcome of our use of nuclear force. Is this the sort of thing a nation can survive and still feel united? Though the musical itself doesn't address any wars (the closest it gets to commentary of any sort are Susan's campaign for the right to vote, and a scene set during the Prohibition Era), it is meant to present the couple with the same degree of uncertainty. Indeed, their final moment is the two of them carefully reaching across a tightrope to each other, trying to hold their balance and hopefully hold each other as well. It's not just the future of their family--it's the future of our nation's soul.

So I can see what's interesting about this show, conceptually (and it must have been something with its original Michael Kidd choreo!) without having particularly gotten a lot emotionally out of the Encores! staging. That being said, the music is lush (even if Alan Jay Lerner is outed here as recycling a lyric and song concept from this show later for Gigi), and my god, the voices. Brian Stokes Mitchell, always a powerful voice, infuses everything he does with such warmth and joy (even back in 2020 when he stood at his open window every night to sing "The Impossible Dream" to anyone walking by) that you can't help but love him. Kate Baldwin matches him for warmth and powerful vocals. And then the ensemble! Stunning voices and harmonies throughout, in a score that really does make a point to feature many of its players. John Edwards, as both the Hobo and the M.C., has an extraordinary baritone and it's a treat to hear him sing.

Kate Baldwin and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Susan Cooper and Sam Cooper,
with the ensemble. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Streaming Theater-Related Content I Watched

• National Theatre at Home's Nye.
• Wilma Theater's The Half-God of Rainfall.

Best Theater of 2024: Here We Are Again

 Last year I didn't write a lot because I was too heartbroken. This year I won't write a lot because I spent seven of the past twelve months trying to sort out my antidepressant cocktail and I feel like the summer months didn't actually happen. I'm honestly having a hard time in general remembering this past year.

Luckily (I guess?) I keep a running list of what I see, including marking those that stand out to me at the time. This year I saw 101 pieces of theater, with only three of them being repeats within the year, so 99 unique pieces of theater. Of those 99, 46 were plays, 45 were musicals, and 7 were streaming. 

Here are the ones that stuck to my ribs, in chronological order of when I saw them.

Weekly Margin 2024, W48: The Hills of California, Gypsy, King Lear, A Christmas Carol, Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway: New York State of Mind, Sunset Blvd., Maybe Happy Ending, Cult of Love, The Corn is Green

11/25/24: The Hills of California

What: The Broadway transfer of Jez Butterworth's new play about four sisters and their strong-willed single mother. In the 1950s, we see her training the four of them to be a harmonic singing group a la The Andrews Sisters; in the 1970s, we see them as adults with disappointed dreams gathering to sit vigil as she lies dying upstairs.

And? A Jez Butterworth play is always worth my time. While this didn't steal my breath the way The Ferryman did, it still boasts a wealth of top-notch performances, including from the star of both, Laura Donnelly, who doubles here as matriarch Veronica and the grown version of her eldest, Joan. Many of the story beats are ultimately familiar for narratives like this: disappointed dreams, bitter resentments, betrayals revealed, and estrangements confronted. But it's all still very well executed by director, designers, and cast.

Nancy Allsop, Nicola Turner, Laura Donnelly, Lara McDonnell, and
Sophia Ally as Young Gloria, Young Jill, Veronica, Young Joan, and
Young Ruby. Photo by Joan Marcus.

11/26/24: Gypsy

What: The much-anticipated revival of the Sondheim/Styne/Laurents classic about the rise of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, and her rocky relationship with her mother, Madame Rose; this time with living legend Audra McDonald in the lead and acclaimed director George C. Wolfe at the helm (and possibly the first major production that doesn't include the recreation of any Jerome Robbins choreography?).

And? I don't think I need to tell anyone who reads this blog that Audra always lives up to the hype, but I'm saying it anyway. I think there will probably be some that point out she's not the usual voice type for the role: not brassy or belty enough. I can't say that I or anyone else around me minded, not with that powerhouse onstage. The thing is, we all know Audra McDonald's voice is extraordinary; I think what sometimes gets forgotten is that her acting is just as extraordinary. Let us not forget that three of her record six Tony wins were for performances in plays. I've seen her do Shakespeare and Hansberry, McNally and Adrienne Kennedy. The woman's got the range. And her Rose is different than others I've seen--more tunnel-vision drive than brassiness, and a dedication to making her children stars (whether they want it or not) that has no depth too low to stoop, no height too high to scale. Her performance of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" is a terrifying scream of denial and delusion to which Herbie and Louise can only stand silent witness. But she can turn on a dime to a sweet romantic crooning whenever she sings to Herbie. And of course the aria: "Rose's Turn." No shade to Bette, Bernadette, Patti, or Imelda (or the Roses I haven't seen), but this is the first "Rose's Turn" to make me cry. The collapse is so complete: all her delusions melt away to force her to confront that her secret dream of her own stardom was never achievable. Even as we the audience see that Audra's is a talent unmatched, we have also the double-vision that Rose's dreams are for a world that doesn't exist anymore and her refusal to see that truth makes her pathetic. It's awful. It's euphoric. It's tragic. It's everything Sondheim wanted the song to be. As the audience applause fades, Rose continues to bow to a crowd only she can hear, tears streaming down her face.

I doubt I'll be the only one reviewing this production to focus most of the energy on Audra, but it's rather hard not to. I will also say that so much of the arc of Act Two depends on the strength of the actor playing Louise and her ability to track her arc of growing strength and pride. Joy Woods is wonderful in the role: terrified wide eyes desperate for her mother to see her and love her, but also the gradual growing confidence of a woman who knows her own mind. Hearing her duet with Jordan Tyson (both fresh from starring in The Notebook) is thrilling. George C. Wolfe's production isn't necessarily reinventing the wheel but it reflects his intelligence as a director, as well as his gift at nuance: he's able to layer on commentary on colorism to this production without hanging a lantern on every moment (June is noticeably lighter-skinned than Louise; and the young Black Newsboys are swapped out for strapping white Farmboys). It's also important to note that some past directors have tried so hard to reinvent the wheel with Gypsy that they put too much stuff onto it--hats on hats. Wolfe trusts the strong writing of Laurents, Sondheim, and Styne, and his performers, to speak for themselves.

Audra McDonald and Joy Woods as Rose and Louise. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

Weekly Margin 2024, W28: Hilma

Streaming Theater Related Content I Watched

• Wilma Theater's Hilma.

Weekly Margin 2024, W20: Three Houses, The Good Person of Setzuan

5/14/24: Three Houses

What: Signature presents Dave Malloy's new musical, a loose adaptation of The Three Little Pigs, that sees three disparate individuals at a mysterious open mic night, sharing the stories of how they "went crazy" while isolated during lockdown in 2020/2021.

And? "My heart broke, and then the world broke, and then my brain broke too." Dave Malloy truly is a special voice in the theater, and I'm always grateful to see a new work of his. He's so adept at coming at ideas from weird angles, offering new lenses on things that are simultaneously relatable and entirely unfamiliar. His agility at dilating the experience of obsession and addiction, as demonstrated here and in Octet and Preludes, shows a person who knows of what he speaks. While this probably won't surpass Great Comet or Octet for me among Malloy's canon, I still loved it and am glad I saw it.

Mia Pak and Margo Siebert. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.

Streaming

• Wilma Theater's The Good Person of Setzuan.