Entries from October 2008 ↓

?Frost/Nixon? was supposed to be Peter Morgan?s escape from movies. Then came the film directors.

Either Mike Daisey has impeccable timing ? make that positively uncanny timing ? or the gods of theater view this writer and performer with unusual benevolence.

Using puppets, moodily masked human counterparts and eloquent mime, ?Hunchback,? at the New Victory Theater, is a captivating retelling of the ?The Hunchback of Notre Dame.?

Selective listings from theater critics of The New York Times.

?Play On!,? the 31st edition of the Big Apple Circus, performed under its little big top in Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center, shining a spotlight on the music essential to the spectacle.

Originally on Broadway in 1963 (and starring Vivian Leigh), Tovarich is a musical adaptation of the 1930s play by Robert Sherwood and Jacques Deval. In this charming evening Musicals Tonight! presents a lively and enjoyable concert staging with some lovely full production performances.

Philosophically, one can ruminate for some time about the effects of globalization and commercialization in the Korean breakdance-ical import playing at 37 Arts. How much do we want to investigate the reinterpretation and reappropriation of a dance form born in the streets of New York City by inner city youths that has evolved today into a global phenomenon that expands the artistic and creative expression of the genre, but also moves away from its roots and tries to fit into a mainstream model and seek mainstream acceptance? It is much more enjoyable, though, to give up on the heavy thinking and simply take pleasure in the tricks, power moves, and super-acrobatic/super-athletic breakdancing by the international champs Extreme Crew in this 90-minute showcase.

In ?Love Child,? a delicious $15-a-ticket romp at the 59E59 Theaters, the actors Daniel Jenkins and Robert Stanton have created an outlandish backstage story full of eccentric characters.

Adult actors playing children onstage is usually about as appealing as adults acting like children offstage. But Gio Perez handles this delicate task with an aplomb.

?Beachwood Drive,? set in Los Angeles, reflects the ethnic hodgepodge of modern American cities.