Author Archives: Kim Wilson

Susan DeLallo and Stephen Weiner’s new musical breaks no ground and strains credulity, but director Marc Robin’s cast spins the Italian stereotypes in amusing ways. Set in 1956 New Jersey, shy Vinnie secretly loves Angie, but she’s hot for womanizing Rocco, who’s chasing after buxom, neglected Celeste. When Celeste’s mobster husband puts a hit on […]

In Shakespeare’s comedy, deposed duke/magician Prospero conjures up a storm to bring his betrayers to the deserted island where he’s living with his daughter and a troll-like servant. The real squall, however, is brewing within Prospero himself as he aims to settle the score. But in this First Folio Shakespeare Festival outdoor staging, we rarely […]

A 12 Steps Program performs Jason Williams’s play, ostensibly an episode of canceled sitcom Arrested Development. Here the Bluth family’s booze-soaked matriarch, Lucille, changes places with a cheery suburbanite. Some of the character likenesses are striking, such as Anne Harvey as Lindsay and Adi E. Paliti as her maybe gay husband, Tobias. With others, however–like […]

Tim Clue and Spike Manton’s bittersweet comedy follows a man traveling country highways looking for a meaningful place to scatter his father’s ashes. Naturally the road is littered with mea culpas and memories: agonizing family trips to places of dubious historical import provide fuel for the extended, well-worn road-trip jokes (“Don’t make me pull over!”). […]

Reminiscent of Oklahoma!, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 follow-up celebrates love between man and wife, boy and girl, farmer and pig. Written for film, then remade for stage and screen over the next 50 years, it picked up an assortment of “trunk songs”–material from other shows–along the way. These jell to produce a tuneful, memorable score–as […]

In Agatha Christie’s adaptation of her novel, ten strangers converge on a secluded island retreat at the invitation of the owner, whom no one has met in person. As they begin to die off–in a fashion consistent with the “Ten Little Indians” nursery rhyme–and seeing no one else on the island, they start to suspect […]

Three pals vie for the “best potato” prize at a county fair, only to be stalked by a sadistic chef seeking a base for chowder. James E. Grote’s adaptation of Toby Speed’s kids’ book offers lessons in teamwork and underdog achievement, and George Howe’s music and lyrics–ranging from disco to a Les Miz-style freedom anthem–give […]

The highlight in this Mamet festival evening of one-acts is Jolly, in which a woman and her brother and husband rehash years of parental mindfucking. The taut ensemble draws hilarity from raw pain, and Todd Lahrman gets extra credit for conveying so much love and humor even though he rarely speaks more than three consecutive […]

Noble Fool Theatricals director Nick Sandys takes an Alice in Wonderland approach to Shakespeare’s play, adding a Mad Hatter and hookahs–which works well visually. Shipwrecked Viola disguises herself as eunuch to Duke Orsino, whom she hopes to marry, but he’s in love with Olivia. When Viola (in male garb) delivers the Duke’s sentiments to Olivia, […]

However sparkling a performer, Noah Rawitz hasn’t developed the comic subtlety or dialect skills to play Neil Simon’s pubescent alter ego in the first installment of his autobiographical trilogy. But because all Rawitz’s scenery chewing stifles the comedy, the family’s struggle to hold together during the Great Depression and the dawn of World War II […]

As in Wilford Leach’s acclaimed 1981 production, later a film, director William Osetek soft-pedals Gilbert and Sullivan’s operatic score. But if you neutralize the music, you must dial up the comedy–and Osetek’s uninspired staging offers merely a bland story about silly, inept pirates sniffing around maidens in Victorian England. Die-hard G & S fans will […]

Ex-spouses Elyot and Amanda rediscover their passion–for good or ill–and tweak the nose of social convention while honeymooning with new loves in Noel Coward’s wicked comedy. Joseph Wycoff masters Coward’s wit, gliding through Elyot’s sneers, barbs, rages, and sulks with the lusty grace and precision of a tango master. Melanie Keller’s Amanda holds her own, […]

There’s nothing like a white slavery scandal to intensify what could have been just another musical about a farm girl in Manhattan. This adaptation of Richard Morris’s 1967 screenplay travels easily to the intimate Marriott stage in a production led with lanky charm by Tari Kelly as Millie, supported by an attractive, nimble-footed ensemble. At […]

A show described as “Sex and the City meets Jerry Springer” set in a Las Vegas hotel suite after a bachelor party suggests lap dances, noogies, and lots of “fuckin’ A.” They’re here but serve mainly as a protective shell for the soft, expanding underbellies of a rich assortment of longtime male pals. Scott Woldman’s […]