REVIEWS
Time has sharpened ‘Ain’t No Mo’ ’s points and edges
My dearest Black sisters, brothers and ”those that don’t give a damn,” I regret to inform you that we have lost our right to complain. “Brother ‘Righttocomplain,’” that is. He rests eternally in a...
In Broadway’s ‘A Beautiful Noise’ the music is more interesting than the man
By now, fans of Neil Diamond know that the man is from New York. He references the city in a string of time-held hits like “New York Boy,” “Brooklyn Roads” and “I Am…I Said.”...
Broadway’s underdeveloped ‘KPOP’ is saved by the music
The musical style K-pop is enjoying incomparable success on the global stage, but “KPOP” on Broadway is just getting started. The original musical from creator Jason Kim and the troupe Woodshed Collective is the...
Broadway’s solo ‘Christmas Carol’ is all dressed up with nowhere to go
English scribe Charles Dickens wrote more than 40 characters for his famed novella “A Christmas Carol.” In the latest theatrical adaptation playing Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre, American actor Jefferson Mays tries his hand at all...
‘& Juliet’ is a pop musical that remixes the Bard with Backstreet Boys
Allow Juliet to reintroduce herself. Or rather, let Anne Hathaway do it for her. No, not the Oscar-winning actress known for “The Devil Wears Prada.” The Anne Hathaway I’m referring to is William Shakespeare’s...
In ‘The Old Man & the Pool,’ Mike Birbiglia uses backstrokes as a method...
A wise man once said, “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” The identity of this savant has been debated, but the quote is most often attributed to the legendary,...
‘Kimberly Akimbo’ is the only reason to go back to high school
Kimberly may be a teenager with an incredibly rare genetic disorder, but it’s everyone in her midst that has an affliction. Her pregnant mother is hypochondrial. Her father teeters between alcohol overconsumption and outright...
‘Almost Famous’ may be a new rock musical, but it strikes tired notes
Musical genres do not have perfect opposites, but if heavy syncopation and electric guitar are foundational to rock, the breezy melodies and steel pan of soca music — what populates my playlists — are...
Review: In ‘Walking with Ghosts,’ there is little spirit to be found
One-person shows actually have two jobs. The first is to tell a captivating story. The second is to make a case for why only one person is needed to tell that story. In “Walking...
Review: In ‘Topdog/Underdog,’ nothing is holier than the hustle
“Topdog/Underdog” tells on itself before the curtain rises in the first scene. House lights fade to the song “Grinding All My Life” by Nipsey Hussle. In 2019, Hussle — a Crenshaw-born, community-oriented rapper and...
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