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New York Times
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Explore the Met Museum With Gavin Creel and More Theater to Stream Now
'Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice' When Gavin Creel died of a rare form of cancer last fall, at the age of 48, he left behind an artistic and emotional hole — he was a beloved presence onstage, especially in musical theater, with an easy wit, a sure flair for physical comedy and an old-fashioned elegance. One of his last large-scale endeavors was the musical 'Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice,' for which he wrote the book and score, and which he performed in a run at MCC Theater in 2023. The show, which The New York Times's Michael Paulson described as 'a passion project' in his obituary for Creel, allowed the actor to venture into soul-searching as he explored his (very new) relationship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Fortunately, that institution, which had commissioned the project, keeps a capture of an October 2021 performance on YouTube. '[Untitled Miniature]' As a theater maker, Joshua William Gelb fully came into his own with his Theater in Quarantine productions, which he performed and streamed live from a closet in his home, often displaying uncommon technical mastery. From Tuesday through March 25, he continues to explore the live-digital hybrid with a new project that sounds closer to the experiments of such artists as Marina Abramovic than to traditional theater, and in which he will push the boundaries of his own endurance. In '[Untitled Miniature],' Gelb will spend 24 nonconsecutive hours (in 45-minute segments spread over eight days) naked inside a box that's about 3 feet wide by less than 2 feet tall. Despite (or perhaps because of) the limited space, his movement will be choreographed. Audience members can buy tickets for either the physical performances, to be held at HERE, or for a live feed. 'Beckett Briefs' Irish Repertory Theater has been among the most proactive New York companies when it comes to making its productions available online. Right after its omnibus 'Beckett Briefs' closes its live run, it will be available on demand for an extra couple of weeks, from Sunday through March 30; the cost is $39 (Irish Rep members get 20 percent off). Directed by Ciaran O'Reilly, the 75-minute show is made up of three relatively short pieces — 'Not I,' 'Play' and 'Krapp's Last Tape' — which are 'about mortality and memory,' as Laura Collins-Hughes wrote in The New York Times. The last, in particular, stars 'an understatedly masterful F. Murray Abraham.' We can only wish more companies would follow Irish Rep's example in making parts of a run available online. 'Who Am I This Time?' As 'A Streetcar Named Desire' pays one of its regular visits to the New York stages (this time starring Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music), now is a good time to check out this film that the director Jonathan Demme made for public television's American Playhouse in 1982. Christopher Walken plays Harry, a hardware store clerk so shy that he's barely verbal. Put him onstage, though, and he comes to charismatic life — he needs to play a role to fully express himself. When new-to-town Helene (Susan Sarandon) is cast as Stella opposite Harry's Stanley in an amateur company's production of 'Streetcar,' sparks fly. But what happens when they need to interact outside, or when they play other roles? Based on a story by Kurt Vonnegut, 'Who Am I This Time?' is a lovely miniature that is very perceptive about the transformative power of acting. Walken and Sarandon are surprisingly simpatico as two loners who blossom onstage, and as a bonus the Velvet Underground's John Cale wrote the original score. 'Grounded' On March 21 at 9 p.m., the long-running PBS series Great Performances premieres the Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori ('Fun Home,' 'Kimberly Akimbo') and the librettist George Brant's 'Grounded,' which was captured at the Metropolitan Opera. Based on Brant's own play of the same name, the opera follows the emotional and psychological travails of Jess, a former fighter-jet pilot who now wages war at a distance by operating a drone. Although the one-woman original (an Off Broadway production in 2015 starred Anne Hathaway) has been beefed up to feature more characters, Jess remains its center and the weight of the show falls on Emily D'Angelo's shoulders — happily, she is up to the task. In his review for The New York Times, Zachary Woolfe praised her as 'the best thing about 'Grounded,'' and also noted the 'melted-gold tenor and easygoing charm' of Ben Bliss as Jess's husband. Another Broadway regular, Michael Mayer (most recently behind 'Swept Away'), handles the staging, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
New York Times
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
5 Years After Covid Closed the Theaters, Audiences Are Returning
It was five years ago today — March 12, 2020 — that the widening coronavirus pandemic forced Broadway to go dark, museums to shut their doors, concert halls and opera houses to go silent and stadiums and arenas to remain empty. At the time, they hoped to reopen in a month. It took many a year and a half. Since live performances resumed, the recovery has been uneven, but there are signs that audiences are finally coming back. Here's a snapshot of where things stand: Broadway is 95 percent back. It's been a slow road back for Broadway, but the industry is finally nearing its prepandemic levels. Attendance so far this season is at about 95 percent of what it was at the same point in the 2018-2019 season, its last full season before the pandemic, when it was setting records. 'Oh, Mary!' has been a surprise hit this season, reminding the industry that shows can work without known I.P. or famous stars. 'Wicked' is defying gravity thanks to the renewed interest brought by the film adaptation. For the first time since 2018, all 41 Broadway theaters have had shows in them this season. And there are more shows than usual regularly grossing more than $1 million a week. But — and this is a big but — profitability is down. That's because the costs of producing on Broadway keep rising, so even reasonably strong ticket sales are not enough. Beyond Times Square, the picture is decidedly mixed. Touring Broadway shows have been selling quite strongly. But nonprofit theaters, both Off Broadway and in cities across the country, are struggling. Having burned through the government assistance that came at the height of the pandemic, many regional theaters are now reporting budget deficits and are programming fewer shows and attracting smaller audiences than they did previously. — Michael Paulson Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Off Broadway, Labor Tension Heats Up
For more than a month, striking stage crews have idled the nonprofit Atlantic Theater Company, where the musicals 'Spring Awakening' and 'Kimberly Akimbo' ran before they moved to Broadway and won Tony Awards. The strike is part of a unionization push that could change the economics of Off Broadway, which was hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic and has yet to recover. I asked Michael Paulson, The New York Times's theater reporter, to explain where things stand. You write that unionization will change the economics of theaters in New York. Will unionization drive nonprofit theater companies out of business? Can nonprofit theater companies afford to pay what unions demand?
