Theamatically tied to—and indeed, inspired by—November 17-20’s New York Comic Con (NYCC), the new show from singer, adult content creator, perpetually perceptive writer, continuously compelling live presence, and RuPaul’s Drag Race legend Honey Davenport has its world premiere performance at 9:30pm, Saturday, November 19, at West 42nd Street’s legend-in-its-own-right Laurie Beechman Theatre. Billed as “a […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Laurels from countless luminaries began pouring in this summer, after word came down that Laurie Beechman Theatre (407 W. 42nd St.) would close for good come the end of August. Thankfully, the legendary downstairs performance space got a reprieve through October, as has the ground-level West Bank Cafe that sits above […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Actress, singer, writer, and educator Bianca Leigh, a transgender woman, is currently collecting oodles of accolades for educating Broadway audiences—not about pronouns, mind you. The thing that has capacity crowds swooning is the way Bianca—as Louise, first lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s personal assistant and steadfast supporter—navigates the Lyceum Theatre stage with […]
BY TRAV S.D. | Any time I read raves about a show, or hear buzz that it is sensational, or that you can’t get a ticket for love or money, my natural inclination is to be skeptical to the point of intransigence. If everybody loves it, I feel almost duty-bound to hate it. And everybody […]
NOTE: Originally scheduled to shutter in Auguat, The Laurie Beechman Theatre will remain open through September. For the Beechman’s public performance calendar, clIck here. When word got out a few weeks ago that West Bank Cafe (opened on West 42nd Street in 1978) would be closing its doors this month, that meant the same fate would await […]
NOTE: Rain plans are up to each organization. Check the hosting organization’s website in the event of cancellation or a location change for outdoor programs. BY SCOTT STIFFLER | What do you do for Year #2, when your demand during your debut handily exceeded expectations? If you’re the West Side Fest, the first thing you […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Take the studied mimicry of a musical tribute act, add the dead-on burns of a Friar’s Club Roast, and top it off with the showy vocal flourishes of a Kennedy Center Honors cover, performed as the iconic originator looks on from their box seat. Whisk together and bring to a near-boil—and […]
BY MICHAEL MUSTO | No, the Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen isn’t about gay guys who live in affordable walkups and go to Empanada Mama. With songs by 16-Grammy-winner Alicia Keys, it loosely draws on the long-running music star’s experiences, using Keys’ own hits (and three new songs she wrote) to illustrate a 17-year-old girl’s relationships […]
BY MICHAEL MUSTO | If you think the idea of suffragists bursting into song is absurd, you’re forgetting Mary Poppins. (“We’re clearly soldiers in petticoats/And dauntless crusaders for women’s votes.”) Well, now, they’re crusading for Tony award votes with the ambitious musical Suffs, based on the American women’s suffrage movement, with a book and score […]
BY MICHAEL MUSTO | The Broadway transfer of the award-winning Off-Broadway play Prayer for the French Republic could not be more timely. As written by Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Significant Other), it concerns various clashes within a Jewish family in France in 2016-17 as nerves fray due to the latest rise of antisemitism. Arriving at […]
