The key to enjoying a carnival is knowing when to call it quits. For Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved tale about a ne’er-do-well carney who hits his wife out of love (!), that day may have finally come. Rather than reckon with why even a canonical f…
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In ‘This Flat Earth,’ Growing Up in the Shadow of a School Shooting
“If this has happened before, why would everybody be acting so shocked?” “I cried more when my dog died. Does that make me a bad person?” Julie and Zander, two 13-year-olds whose school just lost nine students to a mass shooter, have some simple ques…
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Get in, Losers: The ‘Mean Girls’ Musical Is Fun as Hell: REVIEW
The kids at North Shore High have a cautionary tale, about that one time Regina George got hit by a bus. You may remember it from the 2004 touchstone of teen cinema; you may even insist you still fit into sizes 1, 3, or 5. At the August Wilson Theatr…
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In ‘Three Tall Women’ and ‘Yerma,’ Stunning Portraits of Women on the Verge: REVIEW
Two of the best productions in New York right now are knocking the wind out of audiences with vivid and bracing insights into the female psyche. Edward Albee’s 1994 Pulitzer winner Three Tall Women, which opened last night in its Broadway premiere, r…
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Chris Evans and Michael Cera Are Men in Uniform in Kenneth Lonergan’s Superb ‘Lobby Hero’: REVIEW
The ‘oohs’ and ‘awws’ coming from the Helen Hayes Theatre aren’t just for Chris Evans’ thick porn ‘stache or Michael Cera’s eternal baby face. Second Stage Theatre’s high-voltage revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero, which opened in the company…
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Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane Star in Electrifying ‘Angels in America’: REVIEW
The great whoosh echoing off the pavement of 52nd Street signals a second coming. Though it’s been 25 years since Angels in America first premiered on Broadway, winning the 1993 Drama Pulitzer and Best Play Tony Award, the primal urgency of Tony Kush…
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A Slushy ‘Frozen’ Opens on Broadway: REVIEW
If Disney’s great strength is conjuring magical worlds — on screen, in its theme parks, and on Broadway stages — Frozen well suits the current state of ours (and not just because winter won’t… let go). A story about true love between sisters rather t…
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Jimmy Buffett Serves up ‘Margaritaville’ on Broadway, Tequila Goggles Sold Separately: REVIEW
Rachel, an ambitious career scientist, is ordering a drink at 10 a.m. She’s just spent a few rum-soaked nights in the sinewy arms of Tully, a Zenned-out singer-songwriter who’s never out of flip-flops. It happens to lady tourists every week down at t…
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Liberal Guilt Gets an All-White Canvas in Joshua Harmon’s ‘Admissions’: REVIEW
You might expect an all-white cast in a play about affirmative action to face an upward battle for audience sympathy. While the ensemble of Admissions, led by Jessica Hecht, may find open ears at Lincoln Center, where it premiered off-Broadway last n…
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In Stunning New Play ‘queens,‘ Coming to America and Learning to Let Go: REVIEW
What’s in a room? For the immigrant women in Martyna Majok’s gripping and extraordinary new play queens, which opened off-Broadway at Lincoln Center’s Claire Tow Theatre last night, a shadowy basement in New York’s largest borough holds a promise. Bu…
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