Calvin Klein’s much publicized but short-lived romance with an adult film star less than half his age has become ripped-from-the-tabloids fodder for a new play by Joshua Harmon. Skintight, a witty but muddled satire of cultural fixation on youth and…
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Love Between Black Men Faces Impossible Odds in ‘Sugar in Our Wounds’ and ‘Pass Over’: REVIEW
Two playwrights addressing the subjugation of Black bodies in America show how little has changed in more than a century, with bracing and powerful new plays that opened off-Broadway this week. The system of oppression that enslaves Black characters…
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The Grit and Heart of the 2018 Tony Award Winners Show Theatre Is More Relevant Than Ever: RECAP
Grit and heart were the big winners at last night’s Tony Awards — no more evident than when drama students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High wowed Radio City with a heart-wrenching performance of “Seasons of Love” from Rent. FULL WINNERS LIST: ‘Ange…
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Starry Broadway Revival of ‘The Boys in the Band’ Lends Gay History a High Sheen: REVIEW
The glass house on stage at the Booth Theatre seems to suggest the most shattering wounds are often self-inflicted, its plush red interior an assurance blood will be spilled. Director Joe Mantello’s slick 50th-anniversary revival of groundbreaking ga…
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Tennessee Williams and William Inge Spark an Affair in ‘The Gentleman Caller’: REVIEW
The most thrilling moment in The Gentleman Caller, which opened at the Cherry Lane Theatre last night, finds Tennessee Williams half dressed, nimbly undoing the belt of William Inge, snaking it out of his trousers, and tossing it behind the couch — u…
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How a Masked Man Ignited the Revolution for Gay Rights in ‘217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous’: REVIEW
How do you start a civil rights movement when the rest of society thinks you’re mentally ill? It was a question facing queer people before we were even considered a community, much less one that could agitate for equal treatment. The man responsible…
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The Most Wig-Snatching Snubs and Surprises of the 2018 Tony Nominations
Splashy pop musicals SpongeBob Squarepants and Mean Girls led the 2018 Tony Award nominations with 12 nods each, but not every big brand name came out on top. Disney’s Frozen eked out a Best Musical nod in a race with sparse competition, but was larg…
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In ‘Transfers,’ a Shot at Privilege Means Reckoning with Stacked Odds: REVIEW
What do you call a second chance when you never had a first? For two young men at the heart of Transfers, Lucy Thurber’s resonant and thought-provoking new play that opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre last night, a special scholarship…
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Time’s Up? Not So Fast: ‘Carousel’ Is Back on Broadway: REVIEW
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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