Playing Host to Celebs and Newcomers Alike
Tucked away on West 72nd Street between Broadway and Columbus Avenue is the 130-seat Triad Theater. Inside, actors make their Off-Broadway debuts, celebrities take the stage with friends and audiences are always entertained by an eclectic variety of shows, from Erotic Broadway to the smash hit Celebrity Autobiography. We spoke to owner Peter Martin about what to expect there. Read more
Singing about Love in an Alley
A revisal of ‘Porgy and Bess’ leaves the songs intact but distracts from the story
By Mark Peikert
Porgy and Bess has been something like this season’s highbrow Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Both shows came to Broadway trailing a wake of scandal and op-eds—except Porgy and Bess had Stephen Sondheim and the New York Times weighing in, while Spider-Man had the Post. And in both cases, what finally showed up on stage was…underwhelming. Read more
They Want to Break Free
‘Dedalus Lounge’ draws big talent to the intimate Interart Theater
Certain universal questions arise in every generation: What is the meaning of life? What lies in the Great Beyond? And perhaps most important of all: Are you gonna take me home tonight? Read more
Challenging Audiences for 10 Years
A Q&A with Ildiko Nemeth, founder of New Stage Theatre Company
Hypnotik: The Seer Will Doctor You Now is a play loosely inspired by the Viennese mentalist Eric Jan Hanussen, an occultist in Weimar Republic Germany. West Sider Ildiko Nemeth, founder and artistic director of The New Stage Theatre Company, now celebrating its 10th anniversary season, conceived and directed the show, in which an enigmatic hypnotist beckons subjects onto a stage for group catharsis, a form of therapy that slips into frightening territory. West Side Spirit spoke with Nemeth about what makes Hypnotik an unforgettable affair.
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Bittersweet Symphony
A popular Jacques Brel revue gets an encore
Jacques Brel is no longer alive or in Paris, but that hasn’t stopped him from making a comeback. Again.
In the last decade, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, a remounting of the storied 1960s production celebrating the renowned chanteur, enjoyed quite a bit of success in an Off-Broadway run at the Zipper Theater. The man and his music have returned in Jacques Brel Returns: The Music of Brel, Blau, Shuman and Jouannest, a more intimate version of Alive and Well currently celebrating a one-year run at the Upper West Side’s The Triad, at 158 W. 72nd St.
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Seasonal Offerings
From steampunk Scrooge to a Christmas-themed Exorcist spoof
By Mark Peikert
Even with the addition of 3-D technology, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular can only hold your attention for so many holiday seasons. Likewise The Nutcracker and its derivations. This year, break out of your Christmas routine with one of these shows, ranging from new takes on A Christmas Carol to revivals of holiday-themed plays. Read more
Tea and Sympathy—With an Edge
By Mark Peikert
Site-specific theater, the latest innovation in freeing audiences from the shackles of the proscenium, went from being an oddball concept to full-fledged event this past spring with the premiere of Sleep No More. A radical, immersive retelling of Macbeth, the Meatpacking District warehouse-turned-creepily louche hotel had everyone raving about becoming part of the performance—and producers eagerly booking more intuitive locations for shows.
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Berenstain Bears Live! Makes a New Den
Hit children’s musical extends into 2012
At a time when best-selling children’s books are as dark as Twilight and The Hunger Games, both of which burned up the bestseller lists and landed high-profile movie deals, a beloved childhood favorite has managed to carve a place for itself in the busy New York theater scene with a family-friendly show that offers pure fun—and a few lessons.
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Frog and Peach Presents Bold Take on the Bard
The play’s the thing, or so claims the old adage from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. And yet, after centuries, there are still many who feel trepidation at the thought of experiencing one of the esteemed playwright’s many canonical works. In the mid-1990s, one group of actors decided to perform Shakespeare’s works in a way that both involved their audiences and still made the work accessible.
The Truth About Sybil
Park Ave. multiple personality saga unfurls on page
By Mark Peikert
The case of Sybil, the pseudonym for a young woman suffering from 17 multiple personalities as the result of some Gothic child abuse at the hands of her monstrous mother, became a cultural touchstone almost immediately upon the 1973 publication of Flora Rheta Schreiber’s nonfiction account of her treatment.
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