Reanimating ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ for the Stage, and Keeping It Dark
The songwriters of the Disney film join playwright Peter Parnell to reenvision the story as a tale of lust and deformity.
Category Archives: Previews
Love, Sex, Death and Classical Music Overlap in ‘Fugue’
Tommy Smith’s new play at the Echo Theater Company moves along 3 tracks as it follows 3 great classical musicians and their chaotic love lives.
Heavy-Hitting ‘Hammer Trilogy’ Envisioned as an American King Arthur Myth
Fantasy and mythology cross-breed with early American history in Nathan Allen’s ambitious three-play series, now at last running in repertory.
Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry Reflect on the Legacy of ‘Parade’
As their 1998 musical about a lynching in the South readies for a Lincoln Center concert, the composer/lyricist and playwright recall its origins and its import.
‘An American in Paris,’ Back From an Out-of-Town Tryout in—Where Else?—Paris
How a Gershwin classic went from the concert hall to the cinema, and from Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet to Broadway.
The Civilians Uncover the Craft and Humanity of Porn in ‘Pretty Filthy’
Director Steve Cosson explains how his troupe’s new show fits into a tradition of backstage musicals—and not just because of the crescendos and climaxes.
‘The Woodsman’ Gives the Tin Man a Backstory (and a Heart)
James Ortiz’s young company uses a mix of puppetry and human actors to create a wordless ‘Wizard of Oz’ prequel.
A Wooster Group Sing-Along With ‘Early Shaker Spirituals’
The reeling ecstasy of the troupe’s new “record album interpretation” comes via the most straightforward means imaginable.
The Cruel Humanity and Danger of ‘Social Security’
Christina Masciotti’s uneasily naturalistic play depicts a factory worker fallen on hard times and caught between two contrasting neighbors.
The Bourgie Pecking Order Breaks Down in ‘Barbecue Apocalypse’
Matt Lyle’s wild comedy, inspired by a mild real-life social humiliation, throws self-judgment and invidious class comparison on the grill next to the road kill.
