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Slanted Floors Review “Slanted Floors” is an exercise in ...

2026-11-06T05:21:35Z

Slanted Floors Review

“Slanted Floors” is an exercise in intimacy. That’s not a euphemism for sex. Adam Chanler-Berat and Kyle Beltran portray a gay couple during a typical day in their one-bedroom apartment, sometimes nearly knee-to-knee with the audience members sitting around the living room. The literal closeness is not just between the two men; it is with the theatergoers, and it’s not a stretch to see intimacy — physical and emotional closeness — as the theme of the piece.
So there is an unfortunate irony that “Slanted Floors” is confronted with a Catch-22,
Billy McEntee’s play was produced a year ago in his Greenpoint, Brooklyn apartment for six audience members at a time. New York Magazine declared it “one of the buzziest productions currently running in New York”; it was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. With such acclaim, it was probably inevitable that it would transfer, and expand. A show prized for its small size is now performed at a more sustainable size, 30 theatergoers a night. And this is probably why it didn’t completely work for me.
To be clear, “Slanted Floors” is a deeply impressive production in many ways. It is a treat to watch Kyle Beltran and Adam Chanler-Berat, who were already among my favorite actors in all New York, thanks to their exquisite performances in such plays as “A Case for The Existence of God” (Beltran), “Next to Normal” (Chanler-Berat) and “Fortress of Solitude” (both.) The “set,” while constructed for the show out of an empty office, is completely convincing as a one-bedroom apartment occupied a gay couple in their 30s who are both aspiring writers with day jobs. It is in an actual apartment building next door to Astor Place Theater in the East Village; its décor is elegant on a budget. There is meticulous attention to detail, right down to the copies of “Angels in America” and “Gay New York” that were on floor behind my chair.
Such site-specific experiments long have thrilled me, an argument for the continuing vitality of live theater, and under director Ryan Dobrin, the two actors make great use of the space during what one can label the three scenes of “Slanted Floors,” although only the middle one is anything close to conventional.
In the first third of the play, Kaplan (Chanler-Berat) is home by himself, Teddy (Beltran) having already left for his office job. He has a busy, if not hyperactive, day, which is represented not just by his scurrying back and forth but by projections on a flatscreen television, which is sometimes a TV broadcast he’s watching, sometimes a computer screen he’s looking at or a person he’s communicating with, sometimes apparently a projection of what he’s thinking. In person, he does a little yoga, prances about in a tutu, takes a midday nap, does a little virtual tutoring, prepares cookies,scrolls through Grindr, he fields a call from his aunt and from Terry. He works on a script, gets a hat delivered, has an online therapy session, He sits on the floor and rolls some marbles down it (hence the title.)
Then Teddy comes home and they catch up on their day, talk arrangements and gossip about the wedding they’ve been invited to attend, while Teddy sets out six serving places, bowls, spoons, napkins, and cooks some soup, serving it to the five or six audience members who are sitting around a coffee table – leaving the rest of us only with the tantalizing aroma.
After dinner, Teddy asks Kaplan whether he can tell him the story that he’s been thinking about, and so, for at least twenty minutes, he tells an elaborate story about how a loving couple decided to form a five-member commune, who reject tech-heavy contemporary living, except one day a year. During this day, the woman of the couple meets an old friend, who is a member of a different five-member commune, whom she knew long ago in her previous life, and she now thinks she might be in love with. The tensions within the commune, and the uncertainty of the commitments, seem to be all about the lures and complications of intimacy. Teddy tells this story, staring rather unnervingly at the audience members who have just shared a meal, as if he’s electing them to represent the characters he’s talking about.
And here is where the original production probably worked better; the entire (tiny) audience was made to feel a part of it, although (is this too pedestrian of me to notice) their presence is never really explained, or even acknowledged, other than implicitly as characters; are they Kaplan and Teddy’s dinner guests? These are probably not questions that the soup-eaters themselves would wonder about, but the expanded transfer has created a new class of conventional audience members, who are kept at a distance, and can view what’s going on more conventionally.
The playwright tips his hand to what’s going on, when Teddy finishes, and Kaplan wonders whether Teddy is going to turn this into a one-man show, or what. Teddy’s answer about what he’s just talked about seems to double as the playwright’s explanation for what the audience just heard. “It’s like this shared story, spoken aloud, for people to hear, live… maybe this exists as this, something that people experience in a simpler form, and let imagination fill in the rest, like I can’t remember when someone— I’m not gonna call this a form of folklore or like oral tradition but those things are basically dead, and phones give us everything, it kinda feels there’s less collective imagining, and maybe this is a way to bring that back”
Slanted Floors
Astor Place Theater through November 29
Created by Billy McEntee
Directed by Ryan Dobrin
Running time: 75 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $99-$139
Scenic and costume design by Clint Ramos, set decorator and props by Samantha Shoffner, lighting and co-sound designer Nick Auer, video and co sound designer Dan Kuan).
Cast: Adam Chanler-Berat as Kaplan, Kyle Beltran as Teddy

https://newyorktheater.me/2026/11/05/slanted-floors-review/

#slantedfloors #newyork #kylebeltran #yorkmagazine #gay #deskaward #dramadesk #adam #next

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Review: The Bridge, Bush Theatre Alaa Shehada in The Bridge, Bush ...

2026-11-05T19:25:37Z

Review: The Bridge, Bush Theatre

Alaa Shehada in The Bridge, Bush Theatre. Photo Craig Fuller
As the crow flies, it’s a short journey, crossing the bridge from Palestine to Jordan, but the reality is far different.
Alaa is tasked with making the annual border crossing to carry freshly pressed olive oil from his grandfather’s olive grove to his aunt who lives in Jordan.
Embarking on what is inevitably an arduous and patience-testing journey, he’s regarded as a hero by his mother, who can’t stop giving him things to take in addition to the oil.
The trip involves buses and queueing – sometimes queuing while sitting on the bus and sometimes standing in line. It involves chaos and order, body scans and passport checks, and a view into two different worlds.
One is hot and has flies, the other has air conditioning and guns.
A gaggle of colourful characters appears along the way, from the loud, slightly crazy bus driver to the gently domineering old lady, a cigarette smuggler and the girl with the perfect eye make-up.
And then there is Alaa, polite (mostly), helpful, cheeky and quietly rebellious.
All the characters are brought vividly to life in a solo performance by the indefatigable Alaa Shehada, who is a skilled storyteller, switching accents and voices and adding physical comedy.
It is a funny play, witty and at times laced with irony. Alaa Shehada breaks the fourth wall, bringing the audience into the security halls and making meta references.
The staging is simple, just a bench and a large yellow plastic canister for the olive oil.
Images appear as if being rapidly drawn on the back wall. Historical quotes from the 1917-1919 period also appear to be written on the brickwork.
These highlight the injustice of occupation, a theme which is subtly underlined throughout the process of crossing the border and then in a final heartbreaking punch at the end.
With a play about a long journey that involves lots of waiting, the challenge is to keep up the pace and richness of the narrative or risk unfavourable parallels.
And The Bridge mostly does. There is a dip in the energy about three-quarters of the way through the play and occasionally the humorous characterisations become a little laboured.
Final thoughts
Alaa Shehada and Sam Beale have made crossing a bridge into a play which, for the most part, is entertaining, funny, sometimes tense and leaves a powerful message. I’m giving it 4 stars
The Bridge, Bush Theatre
Written by Alaa Shehada and Sam Beale
Directed by Sam Beale
Performed by Alaa Shehada
Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Booking until 11 November, 2026. See the Bush Theatre website for more details and to buy tickets.
You might also like:
The Lives of Others, Adelphi Theatre, booking until 9 January, 2027
Review: Memoriam, Southwark Playhouse, booking until 21 November
Review: Ilford Boy, Donmar Warehouse, booking until 29 November
Off West End: Theatre on a budget without compromising the view
Review: Some Woman, National Theatre, booking until 21 November
Rev. Stan’s theatre likes and dislikes

https://revstanstheatreblog.co.uk/2026/11/03/review-the-bridge-bush-theatre/

#bushtheatre #alaashehada #bridge #review #sambeale #novemberreview #craigfuller #adelphitheatre #jordan #theatrewritten

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Review: Good Sex, Battersea Arts Centre Good Sex, Battersea Arts ...

2026-11-05T17:48:05Z

Review: Good Sex, Battersea Arts Centre

Good Sex, Battersea Arts Centre. Photo by Ste Murray
Actors who have not rehearsed or seen the script and are being fed lines through an earpiece isn’t something new to stage performance, but in the context of Good Sex at the Battersea Arts Centre it feels fresh and different.
An intimacy co-ordinator played by Liv O’Donoghue guides two actors through a story that involves ex-lovers drawn together after several years and reminiscing about their relationship.
The actors were Jack Gleeson and Phia Saban the night I saw it.
Stage managers, played by Maeve O’Mahony and Barry McKiernan, sit in a glass box feeding the lines.
The stage starts off bare, and while the actors build the story, a stage crew build the apartment around them.
Credit to the stage crew, Ciarán Murphy and Eugenia Genunchi, because they play more of a role than stage construction and handing the actors props.
And so do the stage managers who don’t simply feed lines or stay tucked away in the box.
And that’s part of what makes Good Sex unique. It’s cleverly playful, mixing reality and theatre performance. It’s layered, part instructional, part story and part experiment.
It’s subtly ironic, meta and breaks the fourth wall.
Good sex is a reference to both the intimate scenes directed by Liv O’Donoghue and the couple’s relationship as they see it. It’s a statement and a question.
What feels closest to the truth is the unrehearsed actors. The breakdown of intimate scenes is fascinating, as is watching the actors go through the process.
Tentative, slightly awkward and nervous at first, then becoming more relaxed and natural as they run through what they need to do.
And that is the point: how do you create ‘good sex’ that isn’t embarrassing and is believable? What makes intimacy good in a relationship?
Final thoughts
Fresh, imaginative, witty and clever, Good Sex had me grinning throughout. I’m giving it five stars
Good Sex, Battersea Arts Centre
Text by Dead Centre with Emilie Pine
Directed by Ben Kidd
Rotating cast: 4 Nov – Jack Gleeson and Phia Saban; 5 Nov – Anoushka Lucas and Lucy McCormick; 6 Nov – Khalid Abdalla and Mei Mac
Running time: 80 minutes
Booking until 6 Nov
You might also like:
Review: The Bridge, Bush Theatre, booking until 11 November
Review: The Lives of Others, Adelphi Theatre, booking until 9 January, 2027
Review: Memoriam, Southwark Playhouse, booking until 21 November
Review: Ilford Boy, Donmar Warehouse, booking until 29 November
Off West End: Theatre on a budget without compromising the view
Review: Some Woman, National Theatre, booking until 21 November
Rev. Stan’s theatre likes and dislikes

https://revstanstheatreblog.co.uk/2026/11/05/review-good-sex-battersea-arts-centre/

#artscentre #batterseaarts #goodsex #review #novemberreview #actors #stage #nov #jackgleeson #phiasaban

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Patrick Stewart, Broadway Star. In The Heights and Rent Return! ...

2026-11-02T19:19:19Z

Patrick Stewart, Broadway Star. In The Heights and Rent Return! Stageworthy News of the Week

This past week was a look back in celebration of Broadway — intentionally with the concerts of “Rent” and “In The Heights” (see video highlights of both below) and unavoidably with the news of the death of Sir Patrick Stewart at 86. (Below a photo gallery of his Broadway career.)
Theater Quiz for October 2026
November 2026 New York Theater Openings
The Week in New York Theater Reviews
In The Heights at New York City Center
This “In The Heights” moves. The new Usnavi, Matte Martinez, grew up in his mother’s dance studio, has been dancing professionally from the age of ten, and just finished a stint as Michael Jackson in the Broadway musical “MJ.” His exuberant physicality reflects the heightened attention to the choreography, energetically performed by a talented young cast, in the New York City Center “gala” production of “In The Heights,” running through November 15.
It is otherwise a familiar take on Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes’ inventive, affectionate, episodic and schematic musical about the Northern Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, told through seven interlocking stories that unfold over three days in July.
A Few Good Men
When “A Few Good Men” debuted on Broadway in 1989, this courtroom drama about the defense of two Marines charged with murdering a fellow soldier, was viewed as the latest in a long line of similarly conventional genre plays and movies; one critic labeled it a “yuppie version of ‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.’” But this was the breakthrough show for its author, Aaron Sorkin, who has become a one-man brand. So now it’s seen as the very first in a long line of Aaron Sorkin Productions, which include “The West Wing” on TV, “The Social Network” on film, and his adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” on stage.
Sorkin’s brand prominence is surely the truest explanation for why this play, although often portentous and glib, and long overshadowed by the later blockbuster movie version, is getting a monumentally staged, occasionally riveting, but ultimately unmemorable Broadway revival.
Rent 30th anniversary concert
Rachel Zegler was the only one of the 67 members of the cast who had not performed in “Rent” somewhere, sometime at least once…Twelve of the fifteen original Broadway cast members did perform at the concert. It happened to be Anthony Rapp’s 55th birthday…which seems fitting. The entire event felt like a birthday party, a chance to celebrate (and raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS), rather than a revival that could allow for any kind of critical reassessment.
The Week in New York Theater News
The Rent 30th anniversary concernt raised $4,571,464 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS, to assist “people facing HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C”
“Inter Alia” full cast: Rosamund Pike, Jamie Glover, Cormac McAlinden, ensemble members Reece Boyle, Charlemagne Fadner, Olive Ross-Kline, Ever Brave Savage,’ Greta Schafer, and Corinne Sweeney. Standbys Suzy Jane Hunt, Christian Conn, and Alex Serino.
Barbara Barrie, 95, Oscar and Tony nominee, and 11-time Broadway veteran. Below my video interview during her final Broadway performance.
Sir Patrick Stewart (Jul 13, 1940 – October 28, 2026), best-known for his screen as Captain Jean-Luc Picard across numerous Star Trek films and series and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise. appeared on Broadway in a dozen productions, starting as Tom Snout in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 1971 and ending in 2013 in repertory with his good friend Ian McKellen in Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and Pinter’s “No Man’s Land.”
Below, his Broadway career in pictures (more or less), going chronologically.
=
Stewart as Oberon in a different production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” He portrayed Tom Snout in Shakespeares’s play in his Broadway debut in 1971. : Starting in 1991, he appeared four times on Broadway in “A Christmas Carol,” which he adapted, directed, and starred in, playing more than 30 characters himself .
Prospero in “The Tempest” with Carrie Preston, in 1995. in Arthur Miller’s “The Ride Down Mt. Morgan,” in a wig and flanked by Katy Silverston and Frances Conroy.
Harold Pinter’s “The Caretaker” with with Aidan Gillen in 2003. “Macbeth” in 2008 with Kate Fleetwood
David Mamet’s “A Life in the Theater’ 2010
Stewart with his good friend Ian Mckellen in repertory with Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and Pinter’s “No Man’s Land,” and the two of them with Elmo in Times Square, one of the many promotional photos for the show in iconic New York, including in front of big black curbside garbage bags.
The Week’s Theater Video

https://newyorktheater.me/2026/11/02/patrick-stewart-broadway-star-in-the-heights-and-rent-return-stageworthy-news-of-the-week/

#newyork #broadway #patrickstewart #yorktheater #rent #yorkcity #citycenter #fightaids #fewgood #washingtonheights

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November 2026 New York Theater Openings Below is a calendar of ...

2026-11-02T01:54:02Z

November 2026 New York Theater Openings

Below is a calendar of theater opening* in November, including eight on Broadway: three of them plays (about the Holocaust, child molesters, Shakespearean lovers), three musicals (one about sister outlaws of the Wild West, another the longest-running in American history, making its Broadway debut, with a spin; the third derived from the most beloved holiday movie, turned into a “radio play”) and two “special events” (one of which has no official opening night; it just starts*)
Solea Pfeiffer and Liisi LaFontaine, Wanted (See Nov 8)
Brandon Flynn, Here There Are Blueberries (Nov 9)
Illustionists (Nov 11)
Francis Guinan and K. Todd Freeman in Downstate (Nov 15)
Maxim Chlumecky and David Levy inThe Fantasticks (Nov 16)
Blue Man (Nov 17)
It’s a Wonderful Life (Nov 18)
Tom Hiddleston, Much Ado (Nov 19)
Roslyn Ruff, Seven Guitars (Nov 23)
Even more is happening beyond Broadway this month. Some of it is classic – an August Wilson revival, an update on a medieval tale of adultery, an Ancient Greek tragedy translated by the new Nobel Laureate in Literature. Much of it political (not surprising, given the season): Clifford Odets’ galvanizing pro-labor play of the 1930s is getting revived, and Richard Nelson’s latest in-real-time play is opening – and set – on Election Night. Then there is the true story of the drag queen who ran for president.
The calendar is organized chronologically by opening date*, or (if no official opening) first performance, but we must consider the dates subject to change, because of the various pathogens going around that are, like theater itself, unpredictable.
Each title below is linked to a relevant website.
Color key: Broadway: Red . Off Broadway: Blue . Off Off Broadway: Green .
Digital or Hybrid Theater: Yellow Theater festival: Orange . Immersive/site-specific: Silver .
Puppetry: Brown Opera: Purple Concert Staged reading and/or one-night-only event Out of Town Free or pay what you can
November 2
Waiting for Lefty (CSC)
Clifford Odets’ 1935 play about a union meeting of taxi drivers in Depression-era New York City galvanized the labor movement in productions throughout the country. Steven Pasquale directs this revival, with music by Yeller Tooth.
October 15 – November 29
The Morbs (ART/NY)
When their sorority reunion is interrupted by an outbreak of a terrifying illness known as “The Morbs,” three former best friends take shelter in a cabin deep in the snowy woods of New Hampshire, rekindling old connections and conflicts.
October 26 – November 21
The Long Christmas Dinner (Public Theater)
A one-night-only staged reading of Thornton Wilder’s one-act play compresses 90 years of a family’s history into the span of a single holiday meal. After the reading, the participants will remain on stage for a conversation about it. Featuring Ethan Hawke, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Jose Llana, Tappan Wilder
The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway (Todd Haimes Theater)
A half dozen writers, a half dozen directors and almost two dozen performers put together a one-night only anthology of plays in 24 hours.
Mark Twain Tonight! by Hal Holbrook (Town Hall)
Richard Thomas solo show as Samuel Clemons in a benefit for the Entertainment Community Fund
November 3
Screenshot
We’ll See (Public Theater)
Richard Nelson’s latest in-real-time play about the Apple Family opens, and takes place, on Election Day, with the family preparing a meal and, eventually, talking in some way (perhaps obliquely) about the midterm elections. This is part of the The Rhinebeck Panorama, Nelson’s (so-far) 12-play series about three families in Rhinebeck, New York,
October 25 – November 29
Rope (The New Group at Theater at St. Clements)
Two Princeton grad students, a fresh corpse, a dinner party: Gordon Greenberg adapts Patrick Hamilton’s play (the source for Hitchcock’s movie of the same name). Scott Elliott directs
October 13 – December 6
November 5
The Verge (Fiasco at Public Theater)
Miriam Silverman stars in Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell’s 1921 farce as an ambitious botanist whose husband, lover and soulmate all seek refuge in her greenhouse during a blizzard.
October 27 – November 22
The Unbelievers (MTC at NY City Center)
Lauren Ambrose leads the cast as the mother of a missing son in this play by Nick Payne (Constellations) directed by Knud Adams (English, Primary Trust) that jumps back and forth across a seven-year period.
2:22 – A Ghost Story (Lucille Lortel)
Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. She and their friends Lauren and Ben decide to wait up, until 2:22, to see. Written by Danny Robins and starring Anna Camp (True Blood), Jasmine Cephas Jones, Finn Jones and Martin Marquez
October 20 – January 17
November 6
Tristan & Yseult (St Ann’s Warehouse)
Emma Rice’s irreverent, theatrically bold dramatization of the 12th century story of the adulterous, star-crossed love affairbetween the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Yseult.
November 1 – 22
November 8
Wanted (James Earl Jones Theater)
A new musical by Ross Baum and Angelica Chéri (originally entitled “Gun & Powder”) inspired by the true story of Mary and Martha Clarke, African-American twin sisters who became notorious bank robbers in 1893 Texas to save their mother from her devastating debt as a sharecropper. Starring: Solea Pfeiffer, Liisi LaFontaine and Ledisi
Ms. Blakk for President (Vineyard Theater)
Ato Blankson-Wood stars as Terence Smith, who ran for president in 1992 under the nom de drag queen of Joan Jett Blakk in this play with music written by Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight, Choir Boy) and Tina Landau (Floyd Collins, The SpongeBob SquarePants Musical).
October 22 – November 29
November 9
Here There Are Blueberries (Barrymore Theater)
Pulitzer Prize finalist play by Tectonic Theater Project’s Moises Kaufman, about the real-life discovery of a book of Nazi photographs, My review when it was Off-Broadway (photo above)
November 2 – January 10
The Visitors (Second Stage at Signature)
In this play by Byrna Turner, Celia Keenan-Bolger portrays a woman who, wanting to get pregnant, invites her three siblings over to ask them for a “shocking favor.
October 21 – December 6
The Exhibitionist (Soho Playhouse)
Jeff Hiller stars as a museum intern guiding patrons thorugh a newly rediscovered van Gogh while freaking out about is the big competition on the floor below that is scrutinizing his own artwork
November 9 – 21
November 10
the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Playwrights Horizons)
In Christina Anderson’s play it’s1960s Kansas, and Janice’s parents are fighting for the integration of public swimming pools — a fierce civil rights struggle that overshadows her childhood and drives a wedge between Janice and her family. It’s also thirty years later, when Janice is asked to speak at a ceremony honoring her father, forced to reckon with the scars of a past she has tried to forget
October 21-November 29
November 11
Now You See Me Live (Al Hirschfeld Theater)
Stage illusions inspired by the “Now You See Me” film franchise, which follows the heists of the “Four Horsemen,” a team of illusionists. This show is not inviting most critics.
November 11 – January 3, 2027
La MaMa Puppet Festival 2026 (La MaMa ETC)
A dozen puppet shows, most under an hour long, including the annual Jump Start works in progress
November 11 – December 6
November 12
The King’s Critique (Signature)
In this new musical, King Benjamin (Justin Collette) decrees that women are strictly forbidden from performing onstage. Josephine (Taylor Iman Jones) is determined to change that, and she hatches an elaborate plan with f*ckboy tenor Sebastian (Sky Lakota-Lynch.) The result is chaos.
November 3 – December 20
Deaf Republic (Skirball Center)
A soldier shoots a deaf boy in a public square. The next day, the whole town wakes up deaf, refusing to hear the soldiers, teaching one another a sign language of resistance in this work from Dublin company Dead Centre, which combines sign language, puppetry, live cinema, and music.
Nov 12 – 15
November 15
Francis Guinan and K. Todd Freeman in Downstate
Downstate (Booth Theater)
Bruce Norris’ play, directed by Joe Mantello, is a sympathetic look at convicted sex offenders living together in a halfway house. The play, which was previously produced in Chicago, London, and Off-Broadway, provoked public attacks for “normalizing pedophilia”; the loudest assailant was U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who even attacked a drama critic who had praised it;. My Off-Broadway review
November 15 – January 10, 2027
November 16
The Fantasticks (Second Theater’s Hayes Theatre)
This chamber musical by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt is finally making its Broadway debut, sixty-six years after commencing one of the longest runs in theater history. With such evergreen songs as “Try to Remember” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain,” it tells the story of two neighboring fathers who fake a feud and build a wall between their yards to trick their children into falling in love. For its Broadway premiere, it has been reimagined as a contemporary gay love story.
October 22 – February 7
November 17
Blue Man Group A New Holiday Surprise (Lunt-Fontanne)
A holiday tour of the Blue Man Group, the non-verbal, blue-tinted troupe that ran Off-Broadway for more than three decades, until 2025, which is now making its Broadway debut.
November 2 – January 3, 2027
November 18
It’s a Wonderful Life
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Broadhurst)
The play transports audiences to a 1940s radio studio, where a company of celebrated actors gathers to perform Frank Capra’s classic, live on-the-air, complete with a foley artist and holiday carols. Directed by Jerry Zaks, it features Andrew Rannells, Megan Hilty, Tituss Burgess, Harry Hamlin, Lisa Rinn
November 4 – January 3, 2027
November 19
Much Ado About Nothing (Winter Garden Theater)
Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell star in this sixteenth Broadway production of Shakespeare’s comedy about the battle of the sexes (the first in 40 years), which is given a Jamie Lloyd makeover into a high-energy party.
October 31 – January 10, 2027
November 20
Elektra (TFANA)
Tina Benko stars in Daniel Fish’s staging of new Nobel Laureate Anne Carson’s translation of Sophocles’ Elektra with music by Ted Hearne.Years of lamenting her father’s murder at her mother’s hands have hardened Elektra into a vessel of incandescent rage. But when her brother Orestes returns home to consummate their revenge, the two discover the terrible costs of getting one’s savage way.
Nov10 – Dec 6)
November 23
Seven Guitars (Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater)
An Off-Broadway revival of August Wilson’s play set in 1940s Pittsburgh, which begins when friends gather just after his funeral to reminisce about blues musician Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton (Russell Hornsby), who was murdered. Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who won a Tony for his role in the original 1996 Broadway production, then directed it Off-Broadway in 2006, is at the helm again, with a cast that includes Roslyn Ruff, John Douglas Thompson and Michael Potts,
November 5 – January 10
*Opening Night
This selection of new theater in November is organized chronologically by opening night, but includes the dates when a show’s run starts and ends (when available.)
Opening night is usually not the same as the first performance on Broadway and Off-Broadway — although it is the same for shows in festivals and most Off-Off Broadway shows.
For Broadway and Off-Broadway, there is usually a “preview period” that can last days or weeks, sometimes months. But professional reviews are forbidden from being published until opening night, which is why I organize this calendar by opening night (when it exists and when I can find it) rather than first performance, as a way to support the continuing relevance of theater reviewing. (Shows that begin in November but don’t officially open until December will be listed in next month’s calendar.)
Check out my article: What is Broadway Opening Night? How it’s changed, why it matters.

https://newyorktheater.me/2026/11/01/november-2026-new-york-theater-openings/

#newyork #nov #seenov #broadway #november #brandonflynn #roslynruff #sevenguitars #tomhiddleston #francisguinan

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In The Heights at New York City Center This “In The Heights” ...

2026-10-30T20:52:30Z

In The Heights at New York City Center

This “In The Heights” moves. The new Usnavi, Matte Martinez, grew up in his mother’s dance studio, has been dancing professionally from the age of ten, and just finished a stint as Michael Jackson in the Broadway musical “MJ.” His exuberant physicality reflects the heightened attention to the choreography, energetically performed by a talented young cast, in the New York City Center “gala” production of “In The Heights,” running through November 15.
It is otherwise a familiar take on Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes’ inventive, affectionate, episodic and schematic musical about the Northern Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, told through seven interlocking stories that unfold over three days in July.
Above: Cristian “Chino” Rodriguez as Graffiti Pete and astonishing dancer. Top: Matte Martinez, flanked by Aaron James McKenzie as Benny, and Ishmael Gonzalez as Sonny,
Jaci Calderon as Nina, Matte Martinez as Usnavi
It’s been 27 years since Lin-Manuel Miranda started writing a musical about his old neighborhood as a college sophomore; 15 years since the Tony winner finished its three-year run on Broadway; and five years since it was turned into a Hollywood movie. When in the opening number, Martinez raps —
I am Usnavi and you prob’ly never heard my name
Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated
Exacerbated by the fact
That my syntax
Is highly complicated
’Cuz I immigrated
From the single greatest little place in the Caribbean:
Dominican Republic!
I love it! –-
the first line is no longer true. We have heard of his name, which, famously, he was given because his family when entering New York harbor saw a ship bearing the words “U.S. NAVY.”
If much has changed in Washington Heights, and the world, the production adheres to the published script, making it a period piece. Indeed, it reverses the changes made for the film. The songs have been restored to their order on Broadway. Kevin Rosario (Ivan Hernandez) is no longer a widower; his wife Camila (Veronica Vazquez-Jackson) has come back to life, along with their bickering.
Sonny (Ishmael Gonzalez), Usnavi’s cousin and his assistant in his bodega, is no longer explicitly undocumented, nor is he as outspoken politically specifically about immigrants’ rights; he remains a source of comedy, and, as with most of the rest of the cast, gets down with the rhythm. (Kudos to choreographer Mayte Natalio.)
If there is a change in Abuela Claudia, the unofficial grandmother of the neighborhood, it’s strictly through the dynamic performance of Natalie Venetia Belcon, who may be the New York actress most in-demand at the moment; the 2025 Tony Award winner for her role as Omara in Buena Vista Social Club, has taken a short leave from her show, first to perform in the Rent 30th anniversary concert (she is an alumna of the Broadway production) and now for this musical.
“In The Heights” was a pioneering work, and remains a popular one. Is it a musical for the ages – the way, say, “Hamilton” will be? Even its librettist, Quiara Alegría Hudes said recently “I love it, but it’s that youthful inspiration piece born before you have the tools.” The audience becomes engaged in the difficulties that Nina (Jaci Calderon) has with her father, for her having dropped out of Stanford and for her romantic relationship with Benny (Aaron James McKenzie); Usnavi’s ambivalence about staying in the neighborhood, and his awkward romantic aspirations for Vanessa (Ashley De La Rosa); Vanessa’s frustrating search for a downtown apartment in order to escape for the neighborhood; the closing of the beauty salon owned by Daniela (a riotous Linedy Genao.) But the jump from one to the next is a little dizzying, more illustrative than deeply developed, and each a bit too quickly and conveniently resolved. Still, much of the score is tuneful, and if it feels more sentimental and optimistic than the reality has ever dictated, that optimism, in the face of the current circumstances in the country, feels like an act of defiance.
In The Heights
New York City Center through November 15
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including an intermission
Tickets:$45 – $360
Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Choreographer Mayte Natalio
Music Director Alejandro Senior
Directed by David Mendizábal
Cast: Natalie Venetia Belcon as Abuela Claudia, Jaci Calderon as Nina, Ashley De La Rosa as Vanessa, Linedy Genao as Daniela, Ishmael Gonzalez as Sonny, Ivan Hernandez as Kevin Rosario, Cedric Leiba Jr as Piraguero, Matte Martinez as Usnavi, Aaron James McKenzie as Benny, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Carla, Veronica Vazquez-Jackson as Camila
Ixchel Cuellar, Adriel Flete, Amanda K. Lopez, Kate Louissaint, Ángel Lozada, Yani Marin, Alora Tonielle Martinez, Bianca Leticia Medina, Sael Antonio Nuñez, Cristian “Chino” Rodriguez as Graffiti Pete, Kiki Rodriguez, SeQuoiia, Michael Anthony Sylvester, Ricardo A. Zayas
Martinez in previous role, as Michael Jackson in MJ, here performing at Broadway in Bryant Park.

https://newyorktheater.me/2026/10/30/in-the-heights-at-new-york-city-center/

#citycenter #newyork #mattemartinez #washingtonheights #ishmaelgonzalez #michaeljackson #northernmanhattan #quiaraalegria #graffitipete

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Theater Blog Roundup: Theater artists fighting for Democracy The ...

2026-10-28T15:09:06Z

Theater Blog Roundup: Theater artists fighting for Democracy

The Midterm Elections are upon us, and theater artists are urging us to vote (see Hamilton remix in video below.) But they have been fighting for democracy in many ways, not least on stage. Paula Cizmar writes about Women+ On the Edge of Democracy, 36 short plays being performed in theaters throughout the nation that together form a “collective portrait of a nation in doubt and transformation.” In “While Powerful Institutions Play It Safe, Off-Broadway Gets Political,” published in The Hat, Tim Teeman provides an awe-inspiring list of such shows, and talks to Lynn Nottage, Heidi Schreck, Oskar Eustis and others about “democracy, authoritarianism, resistance—and what a play can actually accomplish.” Offstage, the National Queer Theater updates its lawsuit against the Trump administration, while others talk about their public protests or urge readers to think about the performing arts in a different way.
Also below are links to some of the stalwart theater bloggers
The Vote dance above at Grand Central Terminal is by Pilobolus
Don Shewey writes about his week in resistance: “The most satisfying way to manage living with the daily outrages perpetrated by a government run by corrupt, incompetent fascists is collective action. Rise and Resist conducts both ad hoc political demonstrations and regular weekly protests that have become part of my ongoing spiritual practice.”
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In Inside Higher Ed, Charlotte M. Canning and Michael Sy Uy write that The Performing Arts Are the New Civics: The performing arts can complement civics education by cultivating the practices of participatory deliberation, empathy and public engagement.
In OnStage Blog, Chris Peterson writes about how “Trump’s New College Loan Rule Puts Theatre Degrees at Risk
Every Labor Day, Jan Simpson’in her Broadway & Me blog, has celebrated the labor of a different category of theater worker. These have included ushers, union leaders, stage managers, set designers, producers, drama teachers, composers, casting directors, actors and back office workers from the folks who clean the theaters and order the supplies to the ones who work in the box office or manage the marketing campaigns. This year, she saluted (and listed) a half dozen theater podcasters. In another post, she offers A Sampling of My Fall Preview Wish List (eight shows in all)
In Broadway Journal, Philip Boroff details “Hell’s Kitchen’s Broadway Buyout,” n unusual deal, in which “an intellectual-property investment company has acquired the rights to revenue from the Broadway production of the Alicia Keys musical Hell’s Kitchen, which closed in February at a loss.”
Call Me Adam interviews Nick Blaemire, a songwriter and actor who is currently in the cast of “A Few Good Men” on Broadway., though Adam focuses on the revival of Nick’s musical “Soon.” What is the hardest thing you’ve had to do in your career or life thus far? Wait. I am not a patient person, and I’ve had years without work. But every time I’ve thought about quitting or doing something else an amazing opportunity has arisen to pull me back in…
To celebrate his 19 years of writing what he calls his newsletter, producer Ken Davenport lists and links to his 19 most-popular posts (out of the more than 6,000 he’s put together)
#1: 100 QUOTES EVERY THEATER PRODUCER, PLAYWRIGHT, DIRECTOR, ACTOR, ETC. MUST READ. #4: TOP 100 THEATER BOOKS EVERY THEATERMAKER SHOULD READ; #14: 10 QUESTIONS FOR A BROADWAY PRO: A FEW NOTES FROM LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA (This was 2011. Before Hamilton. I knew he was something special.)

https://newyorktheater.me/2026/10/28/theater-blog-roundup-theater-artists-fighting-for-democracy/

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Review: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Soho Place Gillian ...

2026-10-15T18:31:37Z

Review: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Soho Place

Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup are a terrifying and terrific pairing in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Soho Place.
The play is set at an after-party early in the morning at Martha (Anderson) and university professor George’s (Crudup) house, with a young married couple, Nick (Josh Dillon) and Honey (Phoebe Horn).
But for Martha and George, conversation is a duel. Their words become weapons delivered as probes, pushes and outright attacks.
There is intimacy in the fighting. They know each other so well they know just how far to go, the lines to reach and sometimes cross.
They live within a fantasy, a series of games or illusions of their own invention that are about survival just as much as cruelty.
At the start of the play, their interactions hint at flirtation, suggesting it’s necessary to their love. It’s what keeps them going.
Gillian Anderson is feisty but contained compared to what is to come.
With more drink and a change of outfit, the gloves come off. Her physical performance gets bigger; it becomes sinewy and angular as she is more immersed in her and George’s games. It’s more prickly.
A 1960’s set and circular stage for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Soho Place
Billy Crudup’s George maintains a worn-down surface of calm for longer, but you can feel the bruises, the hurt and the anger broiling beneath it, which occasionally erupts.
The play’s 1960s setting is preserved in the furniture and props. Soho Place’s round stage gives the feeling of an ancient sporting arena, a space where people come to watch blood-drawing fights.
It is encircled by bookcases and a large ring on which the title of each act is illuminated. The ring rises high above the stage as the performance begins, and once here it looks more like a wedding band.
A fight to the ’til death do us part.
The stage revolves, but it is so slow I didn’t notice it until it was pointed out at the interval. It’s symbolic of how the characters are viewed, and perceptions of them change through the play.
When Martha and George’s games end, and the biggest illusion they’ve built together is destroyed, George and Martha finally sit still together. There is a closeness and a distance that is revealing.
Final thoughts
Imelda Staunton set the bar high when she played Martha in 2017, but while the script is the same, this feels like a different play: sexier, messier and somehow more tragic.
I’m giving it five stars .
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Soho Place
Written by Edward Albee
Directed by Marianne Elliott
Cast: Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Josh Dillon and Phoebe Horn
Running time: 3 hours and 25 minutes with an interval and a 5-minute pause
Booking until 30 November, see the Soho Place website for details.
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Video review: Man to Man, Royal Court Theatre, booking until 24 October
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Review: The Story, National Theatre, booking until 24 October
Rev. Stan’s theatre likes and dislikes

https://revstanstheatreblog.co.uk/2026/09/26/review-whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf-soho-place/