THE JOHN DREW THEATER IN THE DINA MERRILL PAVILION AT GUILD HALL

by Bruce Apar - September 22, 2024

One play asks the very timely question, 'Do your elected representatives really live the values they trumpet on the campaign trail??...

by Bruce Apar - September 17, 2024

The Elmwood cast, directed with the requisite command of comic timing and savvy stagecraft by Director and Choreographer Jason Sommers, is comprised of an impressive array of skilled performers who seem to be enjoying their over-the-top antics as much as the audience does. ...

by Bruce Apar - September 15, 2024

At the center of the orbit of mashed-up relationships is the consummate performance of Sam Guncler. He prowls the stage as a feral Leo with gritty gravitas. He is the “steel man” not just because he lives in Pittsburgh, but also because he has defied death several times, including twice surviving fi...

by Pia Haas - September 13, 2024

What did our critic think of A MASTERFUL MASTER HAROLD AND THE BOYS at The Schoolhouse Theater?...

by Bruce Apar - September 12, 2024

The great playwrights find imaginative and diverting ways to prick our conscience and provoke our curiosity about the mysteries of life. They force us to think about the human condition, in all its felicities and foibles, through the metaphorical use of familiar objects and experiences. Kites and ba...

by Bruce Apar - September 10, 2024

It is on the wings of wit and pleasantly wacky characterizations that the operative message of tolerance is delivered, in one case with the revival meeting fervor of “Love Thy Neighbor,” led by the fun and funny antics of Michael Valinoti as genially goofy Trent Oliver. ...

by Bruce Apar - August 04, 2024

With 'Dear Jack, Dear Louise,' Mr. Ludwig willingly dates himself, to give us a poignant glimpse into what it was like, 80-plus years ago, to woo someone without benefit of physical connection and with a world war raging....

by Bruce Apar - July 02, 2024

Mike Labbadia creates a larger-than-life Vincent whose slow burns, emotional outbursts, and comically hapless attempts at romance reminded me of Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden in seminal sitcom The Honeymooners. I mentioned the Gleason comparison to Mr. Labbadia after his performance. What I didn’t...

by Bruce Apar - June 12, 2024

One of the several surprises I encountered as Desperate Measures got underway with a bang at North Castle Library’s Whippoorwill Theater in Armonk, N.Y. is that the dialogue is all rhyming couplets. If that brings to mind the prolific punslinger Wild Will Shakespeare, it should, because the premise ...

by Bruce Apar - June 07, 2024

Tony winner Karen Ziemba (for 'Contact') leads a stellar cast directed cannily, as usual, by iconic theater maven Austin Pendleton...