BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Founded in 2010 and operating from the fourth floor of 312 West 36th Street since 2018, Chain Theatre’s restless quest to contemplate “the cyclical nature of history and complexity of the human spirit” has expressed itself through muscular revivals of proven stage works (The Pillowman), film and play festivals, and NYC […]
Rally to Save the Penn Station Neighborhood | It’s always darkest before. . . something dramatic. With the clock ticking on the dog and pony show that is the public vetting process, chances grow each day that we’ll end up with some kind of largely loyalist plan for the area around Penn Station favored by […]
BY MICHAEL MUSTO | “Everything used to be better” is the rallying cry of the old-fogeys. But this hag is here to tell you that’s as big a lie as saying that Gone With The Wind is an accurate portrayal of the Civil War. I should know. I’ve been around so long that my social […]
BY CHARLES BATTERSBY | There is not a trace of irony in the premise of the show Seven Sins, the current offering from Company XIV, the innovative troupe whose exhilarating productions fuse circus, opera, and burlesque. Or rather, the irony is so deep that the audience is utterly immersed to the point that the irony cannot […]
FILM REVIEW | Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel BY PUMA PERL | Having made its debut at last month’s Tribeca Film Festival, Dreaming Walls is currently screening at the IFC Center in Manhattan and is available on a variety of streaming services. It was directed by Amélie Van Elmbt and Maya Duverdier, two young Belgian filmmakers […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | It seems like forever since TV icon and leggy Broadway leading lady Linda Lavin released her debut solo album, appropriately titled Possibilities, with liner notes by Hal Prince. (“Wonderfully unique singing voice, acting chops and — what else can you call it? — star quality,” he gushed, of directing her in […]
TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL SELECTION REVIEW BY TRAV S.D. | Something less than two years after our look at ghostly guests of the Chelsea Hotel for this website, we are delighted to have the opportunity to spend a little time inside the old building by way of a new documentary—and it proves to be spookier than […]
BY MICHAEL MUSTO | Two whole days after the Tonys came the 66th Annual Drama Desk Awards, which go one step further by honoring not just Broadway, but Off-Broadway too. On Tuesday, I got to meet some of the (previously announced) winners at Sardi’s second floor, where they sauntered in with their honors and got […]
BY WINNIE McCROY | The Tribeca Film Festival (June 8-19) opened last week with a slate of short films, including a collection of seven LGBTQIA+ Shorts called See Me, Feel Me. The shorts deal with issues of gay intimacy, relationships, S/M, racism, cross-dressing, coming out, self-harm, and intersectional queerness. Although they are all quite different […]
BY BONNIE ROSENSTOCK | Anahid Sofian opened her Oriental dance studio on West 15th Street in 1972, and is celebrating that auspicious occasion on Sat., June 18, with a night of dance, music, and libation. Billed as an Atelier Orientale, it will feature performers who were her students or teachers at her studio at one […]