Theater journalist and critic Jonathan Mandell
blogs at
https://newyorktheater.me A Look at Black Broadway, 1820 – 2026
For every well-known showcase of Black Broadway - "Porgy and Bess," 1935; "A Raisin in the Sun" 1959; last year's "Purpose," winner of both the Tony and Pulitzer -- there are little-remembered milestones ranging over the past two centuries. The gallery below,…
A Look at Black Broadway, 1820 – 2026
For every well-known showcase of Black Broadway - "Porgy and Bess," 1935; "A Raisin in the Sun" 1959; last year's "Purpose," winner of both the Tony and Pulitzer -- there are little-remembered milestones ranging over the past two centuries. The gallery below, in honor of Black History Month (which several federal agencies now have banned employees from celebrating), samples the history of theater by, for and with Black Americans, taken from collections at the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, and the Museum of the City of New York…
Hans Litten: The Jew Who Cross-Examined Hitler Review.
It took until the twenty-first century for the extraordinary story of Hans Litten to reach the public at large. In 1930, stormtroopers attacked the patrons of Eden Dance Palace in Berlin. The victims hired Litten to prosecute their case and…
Hans Litten: The Jew Who Cross-Examined Hitler Review.
It took until the twenty-first century for the extraordinary story of Hans Litten to reach the public at large. In 1930, stormtroopers attacked the patrons of Eden Dance Palace in Berlin. The victims hired Litten to prosecute their case and yes, he subpoenaed Adolf Hitler. Details vary depending on the account, but some say that the Nazis broke up a meeting of migrant workers, and killed several of them, then claimed self-defense, saying they were attacked first. Uniformed thugs attacking migrants and claiming self-defense? The connection to recent events is unavoidable and chilling.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical will end its Broadway run on Sunday, July 26, 2026, having played 2,265 regular performances, 24 previews.
My review when it opened in 2019, "a jukebox musical for the age of Spotify"
newyorktheater.me/2019/08/09/m...
Moulin Rouge Review: A jukebox musical for the age of Spotify
“Moulin Rouge” was thrilling from the moment I entered the theater… until about ten minutes after it began. That’s because the brightest star in this stage adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 movie m…
Fringe: And Her Children. Agitprop for Gun Control
Anna Fierling, the spokesperson for the National Rifle Association who tells her story in “And Her Children,” is a fictional character clearly inspired by former NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch, but merged with the main character (not coincidentally…
Fringe: And Her Children. Agitprop for Gun Control
Anna Fierling, the spokesperson for the National Rifle Association who tells her story in “And Her Children,” is a fictional character clearly inspired by former NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch, but merged with the main character (not coincidentally named Anna Fierling too) of Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children.” Those who know Brecht’s 1939 play understand it to be agitprop against the rise of Fascism in Germany, and an argument against complicity, since Anna is a war profiteer whose actions (and inactions) lead to tragedy. “And Her Children” is billed as a “reimagining” of “Mother Courage,” but what they have in common is mostly just a similar ending and a similar purpose.
Madeline Brewer from the handmaid‘s Tale will play the title role of Becky Shaw and Lauren Patton from jagged little pill will play the role of Susanna in Becky Shaw, which opens April 6 on Broadway
Madeline Brewer from the handmaid‘s Tale will play the title role of Becky Shaw and Lauren Patton from jagged little pill will play the role of Susanna in Becky Shaw, which opens April 6 on Broadway
Anthony Rapp to star in solo play "Touch" 3/14-29 East Village Basement as Syd Blatter, a middle-aged gay man, failed writer, & burned-out fifth-grade teacher whose unexpected encounter with a former student sends him spiraling into anxiety, regret, desire, and reckoning.
www.touchtheplaynyc.com
Off Broadway Week 2026: 2 for 1 Tickets
Tickets are now on sale for Off-Broadway Week, where you can buy two tickets for the price of one for 26 shows, for performances from February 16 through March 12. Sixteen of the shows are newly discounted. Two that I've seen I can recommend: Data and…
Off Broadway Week 2026: 2 for 1 Tickets
Tickets are now on sale for Off-Broadway Week, where you can buy two tickets for the price of one for 26 shows, for performances from February 16 through March 12. Sixteen of the shows are newly discounted. Two that I've seen I can recommend: Data and Mexodus (both titles are linked to my reviews.) Several shows haven’t opened yet and look promising. Chinese Republicans, Night Side Songs, The Monsters, and What We Did Before Our Moth Days (The titles are linked to their websites.) Complete alphabetical list of shows:.
Poll: Which 2026 Best Picture Oscar Nominee Would Work the Best and Worst on Broadway?
In a year when one of the ten Oscar nominees for best picture ends with scenes from one of the greatest plays ever written, another is about a theater actress and her film director father, and a third has a…
Poll: Which 2026 Best Picture Oscar Nominee Would Work the Best and Worst on Broadway?
In a year when one of the ten Oscar nominees for best picture ends with scenes from one of the greatest plays ever written, another is about a theater actress and her film director father, and a third has a subject (and a title) that's been on Broadway, while of the other nominated films feature car cashes or gun fights, it seems natural to wonder: Which of the ten movies would make the best stage play? The worst play? The best musical? Offer your opinion the poll below.
Theater celebrates (Obies, Grammys) and protests!
#Stageworthy News of the Week
"Buena Vista Social Club" won the Grammy for best musical theater album, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande won for Best Pop Duo/Group Performances. Nazareth Hassan's "Bowl EP," Carmelita Tropicana and Whitney White were…
Theater celebrates (Obies, Grammys) and protests! #Stageworthy News of the Week
"Buena Vista Social Club" won the Grammy for best musical theater album, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande won for Best Pop Duo/Group Performances. Nazareth Hassan's "Bowl EP," Carmelita Tropicana and Whitney White were among the Obie winners. Three annual theater awards, including the Tonys, announced their timelines for the year. There is much to celebrate in theater, including a whole new month of exciting shows opening on New York stages: February 2026 New York Theater Openings But the new month also begins in protest. See the video below of the entire eight hours of "The People's Filibuster," a starry procession on the steps of the Public Theater ,"in solidarity with our neighbors in Minnesota and across the country who are angry and grieving…" …
Buena Vista Social Club Wins Best Musical Theater Album Grammy 2026
Buena Vista Social Club has won the 2026 best musical theater album at the 68th annual Grammy Awards, beating out five other nominees, all current or recent Broadway shows (the fourth consecutive year that only Broadway cast…
Buena Vista Social Club Wins Best Musical Theater Album Grammy 2026
Buena Vista Social Club has won the 2026 best musical theater album at the 68th annual Grammy Awards, beating out five other nominees, all current or recent Broadway shows (the fourth consecutive year that only Broadway cast recordings have been nominated in the category.) In another theater-related win, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to “Defying Gravity,” Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Below is info on all five musial theater album nominees (with the title linked to find out more or purchase), my reviews of the musicals,
February 2026 New York Theater Openings
Below is a calendar of selected theater opening* this month in New York. None are on Broadway, but there is enough happening Off and Off-Off Broadway to see a new show nearly every night in February. Many feature familiar faces: See February 4 Feb 6 Feb 7…
February 2026 New York Theater Openings
Below is a calendar of selected theater opening* this month in New York. None are on Broadway, but there is enough happening Off and Off-Off Broadway to see a new show nearly every night in February. Many feature familiar faces: See February 4 Feb 6 Feb 7 Feb 8 Feb 11 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 12 Feb 14 Feb 16 Feb 16 Feb 16 Feb 18 Feb 22 Feb 23 Feb 24 Some are dark -- a new play about genocide, two about encounters with Nazis. One of these is co-written and starring Ethan Slater, showing an unknown side of mime Marcel Marceau.
Obie Awards 2026
The 69th annual Obie Awards, honoring achievement Off and Off Off Broadway, were announced tonight. Below is the complete list, which includes lifetime achievement awards to Carmelita Tropicana Performance artist, playwright, lecturer and Latina comedian and Kate Valk Founding…
Obie Awards 2026
The 69th annual Obie Awards, honoring achievement Off and Off Off Broadway, were announced tonight. Below is the complete list, which includes lifetime achievement awards to Carmelita Tropicana Performance artist, playwright, lecturer and Latina comedian and Kate Valk Founding Member and Director of The Wooster Group.
Theater Quiz for January 2026
How well were you paying attention to the New York theater news, views and reviews in the month of January. Take this ten-question quiz and find out.
Theater Quiz for January 2026
How well were you paying attention to the New York theater news, views and reviews in the month of January. Take this ten-question quiz and find out.
Oh our Minneapolis,I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
& the stranger in our midst
Here in our home they killed & roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
brucespringsteen.net/news/2026/st...
Streets of Minneapolis (Lyric Video) | Bruce Springsteen
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voiceSinging through the bloody mistWe’ll take our stand for this landAnd the stranger in our midstHere in our home they killed and roamedIn the winter of ’26We’ll reme...
The People's Filibuster, live and live-streamed, free, 11 am to 7 pm outside Public Theater, "in solidarity with our neighbors in Minnesota and across the country who are angry and grieving..."
publictheater.org/productions/..."Border Czar" Tom Homan is asked "how many ICE and CBP agents are currently operating in the state?"
Homan: "3,000. There's been some rotations. They've been in theater a long time...."
"In theater"?!!
Theater Blog Roundup links to posts by
broadwayandme.bsky.social,
@halvorsen.bsky.social ,
@hesherman.bsky.social ,
@aszymkowicz.bsky.social, + people not on Blue Sky
Ken Davenport, Don Shewey, Brian Eugenio Herrera, Chris Peterson, Philip Boroff more
newyorktheater.me/2026/01/29/t...https://newyorktheater.me/2026/01/29/theater-blog-roundup-looking-back-in-anger/
Theater Blog Roundup: Looking Back in Anger
The war on culture has played out in many ways over the past year, as chronicled by the bloggers/substackers,podcasters to whom I link below. There’s famously the mess at the Kennedy Center, but also a theater company “blacklisted”/defunded by a state…
Theater Blog Roundup: Looking Back in Anger
The war on culture has played out in many ways over the past year, as chronicled by the bloggers/substackers,podcasters to whom I link below. There’s famously the mess at the Kennedy Center, but also a theater company “blacklisted”/defunded by a state arts council; a student production canceled because of a new state anti-DEI law; a “visa freeze” that’s wreaking havoc on international cultural exchange. Commenters look too at the way that theater has been responding. The theater blogosphere’s look back at 2025 is not all about outrage. There are Top 10 and Year in Review posts by
(How did I miss this)
Five Fronts in Trump's Culture War:
1. The Smithsonian Institution
2. Federal Architecture
3. The Federal Communications Commission
4. The National Endowment for the Arts/National Endowment for the Humanities
and of course 5. The Kennedy Center
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/a...
Five Fronts in Trump’s Culture War
Lovely view of Mount Snowimanjaro
Masquerade Mania
“Masquerade” has just been extended through July 5 – proof, if you needed it, that the immersive version of “The Phantom of the Opera” has caught on.This wasn’t a given when it took over a six-story building on West 57th Street some six months ago. “It was very hard to make and…
Masquerade Mania
“Masquerade” has just been extended through July 5 – proof, if you needed it, that the immersive version of “The Phantom of the Opera” has caught on.This wasn’t a given when it took over a six-story building on West 57th Street some six months ago. “It was very hard to make and very hard to figure out,” says Telly Leung, one of the six performers who portray the Phantom every night. “Never has an immersive show been this musical, and never has a musical been this immersive.” .I love the production…
Published today: Marc Shaiman's “ Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner”
My review:
newyorktheater.me/2026/01/08/n...
Never Mind The Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner
Marc Shaiman, one-half the songwriting team behind the Broadway musicals “Hairspray,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “Some Like It Hot,” and “Smash,” doesn’t even start to tell us about any of his musicals…
Under the Radar: Watch Me Walk
Anne Gridley’s favorite neurologist has told her that people can only concentrate on walking for about eight seconds; human beings are designed to walk without thinking about it. But her play asks the audience to spend nearly two hours thinking about her walking.…
Under the Radar: Watch Me Walk
Anne Gridley’s favorite neurologist has told her that people can only concentrate on walking for about eight seconds; human beings are designed to walk without thinking about it. But her play asks the audience to spend nearly two hours thinking about her walking. Gridley hobbles, accompanied by one of twenty walking sticks (“I’m the Imelda Marcos of mobility aids.”) She has a disease called Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, or HSP, the same one her mother and grandmother had; it didn't affect her until she was in her thirties. Gridley is one of the founding members of Nature Theater of Oklahoma, a 20-year-old performance art group based in New York whose inventive antics (in such works as
2026 Tony Awards timeline
April 26: Cut-off Opening Night date for eligibility
May 5: Nominations announced
June 7: The 79th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall and CBS
Broadway at the Oscars, in the Snow, at BroadwayCon. Sir Ian on the Edge.
#Stageworthy News
A record-breaking 11.4 inches of snow reportedly fell on Central Park on Sunday, and the shows went on -- mostly: Ten of the 31 shows currently running on Broadway did cancel. A storm warning remains in…
Broadway at the Oscars, in the Snow, at BroadwayCon. Sir Ian on the Edge. #Stageworthy News
A record-breaking 11.4 inches of snow reportedly fell on Central Park on Sunday, and the shows went on -- mostly: Ten of the 31 shows currently running on Broadway did cancel. A storm warning remains in effect Monday morning, nly four Broadway shows are scheduled for Monday performances (the others are normally dark on Mondays), and none have yet canceled their performances, but check their websites: Chicago, The Great Gatsby, Maybe Happy Ending, Six, They may not just be open for business but offer a #SnowDayDiscount. Check out my…
Watch Telly Leung, Ali Ewoldt, Shoba Nayaran et al perform at “This is What It Sounds Like: An AANHPI Concert of Joy”
"I don't want to be an ambassador for Asians, but that's part of the job when you're in a country, and you work in an industry, that continues to see us as perpetual foreigners,…
Watch Telly Leung, Ali Ewoldt, Shoba Nayaran et al perform at “This is What It Sounds Like: An AANHPI Concert of Joy”
"I don't want to be an ambassador for Asians, but that's part of the job when you're in a country, and you work in an industry, that continues to see us as perpetual foreigners, incapable of telling our own universal human stories." So said Tony winning actor Francis Jue at BroadwayCon's "This is What It Sounds Like: An AANHPI Concert of Joy" -- which stands for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander. Below, watch excerpts of his speech and of musical numbers by a handful of the dozens of Broadway veterans who performed at the concert, held at the Palladium Times Square on Friday.
Data Review
“Data” speaks to the precise moment in which we are living to an astonishing degree, and not just because of our concerns about AI. It begins and ends with characters playing ping pong! It features immigrants at the mercy of the Department of Homeland Security! The amorality on display…
Data Review
“Data” speaks to the precise moment in which we are living to an astonishing degree, and not just because of our concerns about AI. It begins and ends with characters playing ping pong! It features immigrants at the mercy of the Department of Homeland Security! The amorality on display mirrors arguments that Trump is using to take over Greenland. Some of this was deliberate: Playwright Matthew Libby has set his story in “the mid-2020s” adding that “it might already have happened” – a possibility that helps make “Data” both riveting and dispiriting
Three Broadway shows did cancel performances today -- Aladdin, The Lion King, and Ragtime -- and several Off-Broadway
Details:
newyorktheater.me/2026/01/24/b...
Times Square 2 p.m.:
Updates
From meteorologists: It's not officially a blizzard in NYC because winds are under 35 mph. It's a "Major Storm"
From Broadway League: "most" Broadway shows will go on.
Details:
newyorktheater.me/2026/01/24/b...
TKTS booth at noon:
Update: Times Square at 10 am: Snow this morning will become a mix of wintry precipitation (sleet) for the afternoon.
Temperature: 14, feels like minus 1.
Broadway shows still going ahead as scheduled, says Broadway League.
newyorktheater.me/2026/01/24/b...My first update: Snow has arrived, it's 12 degrees in Times Square.
"Most Broadway shows in New York City are currently scheduled to perform," Broadway League announces in its latest update.
Here is what Times Square looks like 6 a.m. Sunday:
Broadway and the Blizzard 2026: Questions and Answers
A massive snow storm is expected to reach New York City Sunday morning, January 25, 2026 leading New Yorkers to ask one question — how bad will it get? — and New York theatergoers to ask three more: Will the shows be canceled? What if I can’t…
Broadway and the Blizzard 2026: Questions and Answers
A massive snow storm is expected to reach New York City Sunday morning, January 25, 2026 leading New Yorkers to ask one question — how bad will it get? — and New York theatergoers to ask three more: Will the shows be canceled? What if I can’t make it to a show that hasn’t been canceled? Will shows offer a snow day discount? Here are some answers as of early Saturday afternoon. This post will be periodically updated. The photographs above are of Times Square during the record-setting blizzard exactly a decade ago, on January 22-24, 2016, known officially as Winter Storm Jonas, which eventually dumped 27.5 inches of snow in Central Park.
The Lost Boys Broadway musical: First Look
Below are two videos of LJ Benet, who will be making his Broadway debut as Michael Emerson in the forthcoming musical "The Lost Boys," explaining the show, and singing one of the numbers from it, "Belong to Someone," as part of the BroadwayCon 2026 First…
The Lost Boys Broadway musical: First Look
Below are two videos of LJ Benet, who will be making his Broadway debut as Michael Emerson in the forthcoming musical "The Lost Boys," explaining the show, and singing one of the numbers from it, "Belong to Someone," as part of the BroadwayCon 2026 First Look and Showcase. "The Lost Boys," which is scheduled to open at the end of the Broadway 2025-2026 season at the Palace Theater, is a musical based on the 1987 film of the same name, a supernatural horror-comedy that was directed by Joel Schumacher, which follows two teenage brothers who move with their divorced mother to the fictional town of Santa Carla, California, only to discover that the town is a haven for vampires.
Guess where I am
Edward Review. 27 Objects That Tell A Life
Ed Schmidt, a playwright and performer who should be better known, stood behind a table with twenty-seven objects on it, which he said were found in a box belonging to a man named Edward O’Connell. One by one he picked up each object -- a Bible, a group…
Edward Review. 27 Objects That Tell A Life
Ed Schmidt, a playwright and performer who should be better known, stood behind a table with twenty-seven objects on it, which he said were found in a box belonging to a man named Edward O’Connell. One by one he picked up each object -- a Bible, a group of four gaudy neckties, a pair of eyeglasses, a pocketknife, a Nader for President button – and told a story connected to it. “Edward” evokes Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” with Schmidt as the character of the Stage Manager, but rather than the ordinary lives of an entire town, the play pieces together the life of one ordinary man.
Jonathan Groff is so great in "Just in Time" (
newyorktheater.me/2025/04/26/j...) one had to wonder, after they announced he would depart the show on March 29: Will the show go on?
Yes.
Jeremy Jordan will succeed in the role as Bobby Darin beginning April 21.
Theater-related films Oscar nods this morning:
Best Picture + 8 for “Sentimental Value,”
Best Picture _ 7 for "Hamnet"
Best Actor for Ethan Hawke as lyricist Lorenz Hart in “Blue Moon”
newyorktheater.me/2026/01/22/o...
Oscar Nominations 2026
“Sinners” received a record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations, followed by “One Battle After Another” with 13. Several theater-related films received nods, including nine (inclu…
Oscar Nominations 2026
The complete list of nominations for the 98th annual Academy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026 at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and televised live on ABC starting at 7 p.m. ET
Oscar Nominations 2026
The complete list of nominations for the 98th annual Academy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026 at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and televised live on ABC starting at 7 p.m. ET
An Ark Review
When this is over…things will have changed forever,” Ian McKellen told me near the start of “An Ark,” staring directly at me. I didn’t roll my eyes. At first that was only because my eyes were locked into special glasses that enabled me to view a three-dimensional projection of Sir…
An Ark Review
When this is over…things will have changed forever,” Ian McKellen told me near the start of “An Ark,” staring directly at me. I didn’t roll my eyes. At first that was only because my eyes were locked into special glasses that enabled me to view a three-dimensional projection of Sir Ian, sitting next to three other cast members, none of whom were actually, physically at The Shed for what’s being billed as “the first play created for mixed reality.” I avidly attend experiments in storytelling, whatever they’re called (immersive, interactive, digital, VR, AR, MR, “
Joining Rose Byrne & Kelli O'Hara in the cast of the Bway revival of Noel Coward's 1928 play "Fallen Angels," opening April 19: Christopher Fitzgerald, Aasif Mandvi, Tracee Chimo,Mark Consuelos
Trump Exhaustion Syndrome
By Ashley Parker
Among the greatest tricks Donald Trump ever pulled is convincing significant portions of the population that the slow erosion of their rights is not, actually, that big of a deal....
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Trump Exhaustion Syndrome
Americans can’t seem to keep up.
"Fascist" probably turns people off. ("Oh God, a lecture. Just tell me about theater coming up")
ok, let's see. Two making their Broadway debuts
1. Adrien Brody, whose 2 Oscars were for playing characters who survived fascism.
2. Dylan Mulvaney, who was attacked for being trans...
Broadway Week. Fascist Year.
#Stageworthy News
Last week was full of theater news, and politics. Hell's Kitchen is closing; Darren Criss is leaving; Adrien Brody is making his Broadway debut. Dylvan Mulvaney is joining the cast of "Six."; Broadway Week begins today. Today also marks the…
Broadway Week. Fascist Year. #Stageworthy News
Last week was full of theater news, and politics. Hell's Kitchen is closing; Darren Criss is leaving; Adrien Brody is making his Broadway debut. Dylvan Mulvaney is joining the cast of "Six."; Broadway Week begins today. Today also marks the anniversary of the presidential inauguration ("One Year of Trump. The Time to Act Is Now While We Still Can.") Theater can't always escape politics -- see below for the story about a canceled show in the Under the Radar festival. Given what's happening in America, should theatergoers even try to?
"Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace," Trump to Norway's president, about why he has designs on Greenland.
I feel trapped in a satiric movie by Michael Moore.
“We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity” – Martin Luther King Jr, August 11, 1956.
Seventy years later, do we have them?
“I’m so happy I didn’t sneeze” — Martin Luther King Jr’s Final Speech
The day before he was assassinated, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr delivered what is usually called the “I've Been To The Mountaintop” speech because of its stirring final moments. But in it he also offered a humorous riff…
“I’m so happy I didn’t sneeze” — Martin Luther King Jr’s Final Speech
The day before he was assassinated, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr delivered what is usually called the “I've Been To The Mountaintop” speech because of its stirring final moments. But in it he also offered a humorous riff on his having been stabbed in Harlem in 1958, as a way to look back at his life and the history of the Civil Rights Movement. In celebration today of Martin Luther King Jr Day, which has been an official federal holiday to honor the civil rights leader since 1986, it is worth reading the transcript below of his entire speech from April 3, 1968.
Audition: Three Insights about Theater in Katie Kitamura’s novel
The unnamed central character in Katie Kitamura’s acclaimed novel "Audition" (Riverhead Books, 197 pages) is a middle-aged actress of some repute and of great perception, who offers some rich insights about actors and audiences,…
Audition: Three Insights about Theater in Katie Kitamura’s novel
The unnamed central character in Katie Kitamura’s acclaimed novel "Audition" (Riverhead Books, 197 pages) is a middle-aged actress of some repute and of great perception, who offers some rich insights about actors and audiences, including in the three passages that I excerpt below.
Prototype Festival: What To Wear. Richard Foreman’s opera on beauty and ducks.
Why do the four opera singers repeat “This is Mad’line X” forty-one times? What's with the big ducks and why are they playing golf? Is the ensemble a group of courtiers or a deck of cards? Why are these bedazzling and…
Prototype Festival: What To Wear. Richard Foreman’s opera on beauty and ducks.
Why do the four opera singers repeat “This is Mad’line X” forty-one times? What's with the big ducks and why are they playing golf? Is the ensemble a group of courtiers or a deck of cards? Why are these bedazzling and bewildering sixty minutes entitled “What To Wear”? For answers, I turned to Richard Foreman, the revered and bonkers theater artist who wrote the libretto for this 20-year-old work being billed as a comedic post-rock opera, running at the Brooklyn Academy of Music only until tomorrow, as part of the Prototype Festival.
