"Winter Wonderettes' at Norristown

Was Santa Claus Jewish?

The 11th Hour Theatre Company's holiday-season show got me thinking: How come virtually all secular Christmas songs have been written by Jews?

Steve Cohen

Dec 30, 2012 · Articles · 1 minute read

"Jekyll and Hyde' at the Forrest

Why Dr. Jekyll cracked

Robert Louis Stevenson's original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde introduced the concept of schizophrenia without providing much plot or motivation. That deficiency has been remedied by an inventive musical that offers a soaring, hummable score, to boot.

Steve Cohen

Dec 29, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

"Glengarry Glen Ross' in NY revival

The rat race, from Miller to Mamet

The current superb revival of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross raises a curious question: Has nothing changed in American business ethics since Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman?

Carol Rocamora

Dec 25, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

"Freud's Last Session' at the Arden (2nd review)

From World War II to Newtown

The last thing you might expect from an encounter between the founder of psychoanalysis and a great Christian apologist is a snore. Freud's Last Session. By Mark St. Germain; Ian Merrill Peakes directed. Through December 23, 2012 at the Arden Theater's Arcadia Stage, 40 N. Second St. (215) 922-1122 or www.ardentheatre.org.

Marshall A. Ledger

Dec 18, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Wilson's "Piano Lesson' in New York

The black man's secret (that Willy Loman lacked)

Here is the essential recurring conflict in August Wilson's 20th Century cycle: the struggle of African-Americans to define themselves while at the same time bringing the past forward with dignity. Music, it turns out, plays a pivotal role.

Carol Rocamora

Dec 18, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Stoppard's "Real Inspector Hound,' at Curio

A critic's lot is not a happy one

Unlike Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound is pure farce. This time it's theater critics who get caught in his existential web.

Jake Blumgart

Dec 18, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Teachout's "Satchmo at the Waldorf'

Happy on the outside, but….

The Louis Armstrong I met in 1953 was healthy, energetic and genial; the dying Satchmo we meet in Terry Teachout's one-man play is exhausted and bitter. The contrast is instructive.

Steve Cohen

Dec 09, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Mamet's "The Anarchist' and its audience

Bring out the vegetables

David Mamet's turgid The Anarchist opened to deservedly negative reviews and will close soon. But why are Broadway audiences so meek about expressing their reactions when they're served a turkey?

David Woods

Dec 08, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Van Hove shakes up Shakespeare

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your iPhones

If you want to explore new frontiers in the theater world just follow the Dutch director Ivo van Hove wherever he goes. In his hands, all of our cherished theatrical conventions are suddenly rendered anachronistic.

Carol Rocamora

Dec 04, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

"Mies Julie' in Brooklyn

Move Strindberg to South Africa, and what do you get?

Yael Farber's inspired but shattering metaphor for the struggles of modern South Africa is the most violent, sexually explicit and contextually insightful play I've seen in a long time.

Carol Rocamora

Dec 01, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read