theater reviews

The Sexual Problems that Confront the Catholic Church

by Bruce Chadwick

How one playwright has tried to illuminate an issue that's bedeviled the church.

Dead Shot Mary: A Woman Cop in the Great Depression

by Bruce Chadwick

"Dead Shot Mary" is an informative and highly educational work about the NYPD in the 1930s, when New York was overrun with pickpockets and Mafioso.

Genius: Composer Leonard Bernstein’s Complex Story

by Bruce Chadwick

"Maestro" is an impressive new biographical one-man show about Leonard Bernstein.

The First Black Othello and Nineteenth Century Racism

by Bruce Chadwick

A play that tells the story of the first black man cast as Othello.  It was in 1833.  And it made white people upset.

Suffragettes, Shakespeare and Summertime

by Bruce Chadwick

Outdoor park theaters, movies and concerts are one of the joys of American life in the summertime.

The 1930s and Cirque du Soleil Meet Hollywood and Vine

by Bruce Chadwick

Cirque du Soleil has somersaulted its way onto the Broadway stage with "Paramour," a musical about 1930s Hollywood.

Dick Gregory Comes Out Blasting Once More

by Bruce Chadwick

The powerful story of Dick Gregory is told in a dazzling new play, "Turn Me Loose: A Play about the Comic Genius Dick Gregory."

Sad Songs about Gay Life in Great Britain in the 1960s

by Bruce Chadwick

As this play shows, gay life in Great Britain was excruciatingly repressive until the passage of the 1967 bill that made homosexuality legal.

Blood, Gore and Murder Some More

by Bruce Chadwick

There is nothing as American as mom, apple pie and mass murder.

Eugene O’Neill’s Classic Play "Long Day’s Journey into Night" Seems More Relevant than Ever

by Bruce Chadwick

The latest New York production is one of its greatest.

The Jewish Artist: Post World War II Brooklyn

by Bruce Chadwick

The play, "My Name is Asher Lev," is the story of a young Hasidic Jewish artist from Brooklyn who is determined to become a potent force in a field of work in which Jews have rarely succeeded.

The Tragic, Compromised Women of the Liberian Civil War

by Bruce Chadwick

"Eclipsed" is a different play and a play that takes a while to get going, but when it does it becomes a searing saga not just about African history, but women’s history, too.

Early 1800s Mississippi Hoedown Hits and Misses

by Bruce Chadwick

The play "The Robber Bridegroom" is electric. For the most part, it is a fun show, but there is very little history in the historical show and it cries out for it.

Christie’s 1950s Mousetrap Still Slams Down Hard and with Gusto

by Bruce Chadwick

See The Mousetrap and catch a bit of history.

A 1960s Quandary: When Is a Boy a Girl Who Is a Boy?

by Bruce Chadwick

Anna Ziegler’s fine play shows everybody that our sexual world may be changing on the surface, but that it has always been changing – below the surface. "Boy" is a winner.

Story of Boxing Great Jack Johnson Scores TKO

by Bruce Chadwick

The play "The Royale" is an absorbing story, a mixture of history and sports and a scary look at a highly racist America in the middle of the Jim Crow era. It is full of hysteria and history and a study of a titanic black fighter in a world of sports dominated by white men.

Theater: White Cop Threw Black Teen Out of Window, or Did He?

by Bruce Chadwick

"Dead Dog Park," a scalding new play by Barry Malawar, highlights the seemingly never ending clashes between city police and the African American community in real life.

Why Ordinary Americans Can Torture Innocent People

by Bruce Chadwick

One of the most disturbing psychological experiments in American history was carried out by Yale psychology professor Stanley Milgram between 1961 and 1963. The true story of the Milgram experiments has been turned into a play, "Please Continue," and it is an absorbing and engaging play.

"A Bronx Tale: The Musical": The Movie About the Mob Is Now a Play

by Bruce Chadwick

Do we really need another mob story, though? Oh, yes. In America, we always need mob stories.

Nice Study of Russian Dance Superstar Rudi Nureyev

by Bruce Chadwick

"Nureyev’s Eyes" is a loving portrait of a great star and a riveting story. You learn much about dance and about Russian history.