The National Theatre production of AMADEUS is a dramatic marvel - physically grand, intellectually bold, and emotionally probing. Director Michael Longhurst imaginatively uses the vast Olivier stage, and populates Peter Shaffer’s brilliant play, originally produced on the same stage in 1979, with an orchestra of nearly two dozen members of Southbank Sinfonia, whom he integrates seamlessly with almost two dozen players, expanded from the original cast. Mozart’s music – from Th

If you liked NOISES OFF, you’ll love Mischief Theatre’s production THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, about an amateur (hapless, really) community theatre production of some kind of Agatha Christie murder whodunit. Not only does it out-farce NOISES OFF, it brings physical comedy to a level I’ve never seen before, such that shortly into Act 2, I was fearing for the safety of the actors. By the end, I was wondering how any of the cast of eight hadn’t been injured. The slapstick accident

The new, London production of DREAMGIRLS is dazzling, and new it is. My 35-year memory of Michael Bennett's original was defined by having witnessed Jennifer Holiday’s drop-dead “And I Am Telling You…” aria, the replaying of the original cast album (vinyl, yes), tape (remember?), then CD and now on demand anywhere I am, and the movie version. Tom Eyen’s original book and Henry Kreiger’s music has been expanded, it seems, in ways that add more dimension to the relationships of

When it comes to openings, January is one of the slower months. Still, there’s a lot to catch up on or sample anew. Here’s what I’ve seen lately, some of which have closed. In a word, authentic describes Druid’s impeccable revival of Martin McDonagh’s brilliant THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE at BAM. Authenticity, too, applies to the thick Irish accents, which are foreign to this American ear, but, as with Shakespeare, the rhythms of language prevail. There’s nothing incomprehens