My son was addicted to the show Double Dare on Nickelodeon. This popular kids show ran for 7 years from 1986 to 1993, then it was revived from 2018 – 2019 and again in 2000. Physical challenges, messy stunts, water, uncooked rice, green slime, whipped cream, and milk were all involve, with games like “Pies in the Pants,” “The One-Ton Human Hamster Wheel” and “Pick It” were extremely popular. Prizes included a trip to Space Camp. Now playing at New World Stages Double Dare, Unwrapped and the life of Marc Summers is on display. Summer’s was the host on several successful television shows as well as one of the first celebrity to be open about mental health issues. He publicly announced he had OCD on a prime time TV show and face the consequences as that was taboo.

The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, is more than a nostalgic look at his life. It is a powerful testimony to a man who had a life like the Book of Job and made lemonade. It is life affirming, with such a positive message. Since 2023 he has hosted the podcast Marc Summers Unwraps and is currently starring in this one-man show.

He tells his story as audience members relive their childhood and participation in Double Dare’s “physical challenges”. He entraps the audience so much that they cheer, applaud and scream out. My guest was so engrossed that at the end when he was going to be slimmed she yelled “No you don’t have to do this”, but more on that later…..

Summers starts with his birth to the present, where a car crash and bouts of cancer, have threatened to take him down. Ultimately it is his terrifying OCD, which he has had since childhood. I did not know until last night that this meant a fear of forgetting, losing, or misplacing something, aggressive thoughts toward others or oneself, unwanted, forbidden, or taboo thoughts involving harm to the point you think you have a stalker after you and you are the stalker.

Alex Brightman’s script (yep the guy in Beetlejuice) is sensitive and heart warming, but keeps the fun of Summer’s career in the forefront. Chad Rabinovitz’s direction makes this show seamless and not just for Gen Xers and their families. Both my guest and I throughly enjoyed this show.

A standout is Mike Nappi, whose plays all the other roles in this show and is funny, and so enjoyable.

It is wonderful to see a show that has you leaving the theatre glad you saw it, loving life, really admiring someone who has never let life get them down and is not afraid to tell their tale. This is the perfect show at this time. With so many people depressed with their journeys, The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers will show you how to bounce back.

The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers: New World Stages, 340 West 50th through June 2nd.

With a sharp and dramatic drop and reveal, Playwright Horizons‘ new musical, Teeth, dives into a sexually naked sermon about snakes and demons, delivered with a deliciously over-the-top unraveling by Steven Pasquale (CSC’s Assassins). Shaming those who listen underneath that glowing red cross, he oratories about the dangers of female sexual embracement, living and breathing inside this disturbing terrain. “Yes, pastor,” these young women respond as if the Kool-Aid they had drunk before this gathering was very strong with stupid devotion to the ridiculous. “Why would Amy do that?” they ask, feeding on their shame, guilt, and sexual awakening. The pastor’s response is that the unseen Amy gave up on her promise, and it is in that promise where Teeth bites down hard into the apple.

Based on Mitchell Lichtenstein’s 2007 cult film of the same title, this new musical, with a captivatingly clever book by music composer Anna K. Jacobs (POP!; Anytown) and lyricist Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), asks the question, somewhat, “are you a virgin? or a whore?” to the young Promise Keeper Girls, in their Pink Lady-esque denim jackets on their sacred knees. Pasquale, as the pastor, exudes the compelling but complicated balance of evangelical lust and passion, dripping in female adoration, covered up with internalized (and externalized) shame and the requirement of ultimate submission.

Teeth is hilariously well-tuned, graphically gory, and deliciously sly, until it turns, every so often, into an arena that is momentarily dark and uncomfortably violent. In a belt-cracking scene with the Pastor’s son, Brad, played intensely by Will Connolly (TNG’s Clueless), the tension is palpable. And the punishment; extreme after he discovers him jerking off – well, really just touching his body, as he tries to connect, via a virtual reality group, to his masculinity. It’s one moment that made me look away in discomfort and building anger, but for the most part, beyond that father/pastor/son/disciple dynamic, the effect of Teeth is compelling, sharp, and biting. Especially when the teeth of revenge are exposed with a sharp slice.

Focusing the musical gaze on the step-daughter of the pastor, Dawn, played to the parody-max by Alyse Alan Louis (Public’s Soft Power), Teeth finds its glorious bloody bite in the macabre and its sharp satire. She’s the head cheerleader of the Promise Keeper Girl pack, who lives and breathes in the idea fostered onto her, mainly because of the Pastor’s fear and ‘sinful’ desires that require female sexuality to be harnessed and locked down inside. But unbeknownst to even her, Dawn has internally started a revolution, developing a set of incisors and molars in her vagina. She’s the mythological embodiment of Vagina Dentata, set forth into the world to exact revenge on those who try to control, manipulate, and abuse young women.

It’s a murderous rageful rampage in the making, that starts out, dynamically, with a love scene gone terribly wrong when her boyfriend, Tobey, expertly played by Jason Gotay (NYCC’s Call Me Madam), steps across the line when filled with non-consent-driven desire for Dawn. And with a snap, the scene leaves him castrated and floating in the lake, magnificently rendered thanks to the fine feisty work done by set designer Adam Rigg (Broadway/LCT’s The Skin of Our Teeth), lighting designers Jane Cox (2ST’s Appropriate) and Stacey Derosier (RTC’s The Refuge Plays), and sound designer Palmer Hefferan (Broadway’s Just For Us). But his death ignites the lightning rod that the Pastor has been eagerly waiting for, quickly becoming that torch-carrying religious fanatic, screaming and ranting about the devil, when he himself is the source of all that pent-up fear and furious fervor.

The truth, we are told, “is between her thighs,” yet inside Jacobs and Jackson’s bipolar book that bites and snaps back and forth from deliciously wicked comedy, ultra-religious insightful skewering, and camp horror deliciousness to disturbing tracks of predatory sexual grooming and date rape, the overall effect is as complicated as it is bloody good fun and piercingly sharp entertainment. Pasquale’s Paster father becomes an even more complicated creation once we start to experience the uncoverings of his anger and passion, resorting to a violence that makes us step back from the satirical edge. It doesn’t navigate that divide well, leaving us a bit emotionally boomeranged and removed. But as the doomed gynecologist who Dawn finally goes to see about this crazy idea that she might have Teeth inside her vagina chomping at the (literal) bits to rein havoc on the oppressors, he regains the same sense of satirical humor that is the best part of this clever, but conflicted musical.

Directed with a slanted entertaining eye by Sarah Benson (TFANA/Soho Rep’s Fairview), the fun lives in the tragic quest for acceptance for our own sexual enlightenment in a world filled with other darker ideas about women, power, and control. The musical, finding its footing in the solid music and lyrics delivered strongly by music director Patrick Sulken (Broadway’s Pretty Woman), orchestrations by Kris Kukal (Broadway’s Beetlejuice), and music supervisor Julie McBride (PH’s Unknown Soldier), also attempts to unpack homophobic conflicts that sneak inside, internalized within Dawn’s gay best friend, Ryan, played hilariously well by Jaren Loftin (Vineyard’s Gigantic). He simultaneously embraces the athletic build of Dawn’s fleeing boyfriend with wonder and excitement, while also desperately seeking to find acceptance and assistance to change his ways through Dawn and the other Promise Keeper Girls (Courtney Bassett, Jenna Rose Hisli, Lexi Phoades, Wren Rivera, and Helen J. Shen). Those gals, wonderfully unique and precisely delivered, particularly the emotively wonderful Rivera (Broadway’s Jagged Little Pill), initially shame him, that is until the light is turned around and shone back into their holier-than-thou faces.

Naturally, some of the funniest lines are delivered by the conflicted Ryan, until he exposes his internalized homophobic self to be as equally misogynistic, sharply overstepping the consent boundaries with shocking ease. Using Dawn, without really considering the consequences and meaning of his action beyond himself. And when that bloodied amputated appendage is held high like a symbolic battle cry to the gods and those waiting Promise Keeper gals, the inferno war has begun, dressed to perfection by costume designer Enver Chakartash (PH’s Stereophonic).

Like a volcano erupting spreading red hot lava on all those who ventured too close, Dawn, in full warrior mode flies forward in all her furious fury. Bloodied and on fire, courtesy of special effects designer Jeremy Chernick ((Broadway’s Hadestown), Teethbites deep and delicious. It’s gory good fun, especially when its wicked fangs find the funny bone deep in the flesh of its male oppressors. Connolly’s Brad and his Truthseeker avengers fail to ultimately register as the show flames and falls forward, like the show, losing its way, when it forgets about its solid satirical bite and latches on to some other big solid real-world issues than its main thrust. Not a terrible way to get lost, but it does somewhat dull the overall sharpness of its own Teeth.

Playwrights Horizons‘ Teeth is now playing on their Mainstage, extended until April 28th, 2024. For more information and tickets click here.

Director Jamie Lloyd’s new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard starring two-time Olivier Award^® and Grammy^® Award nominee Nicole Scherzinger will play Broadway’s St. James Theatre (246 West 44^th Street) with preview performances beginning Saturday, September 28 ahead of a Sunday, October 20 opening night. The production, which features book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, based on the Paramount Pictures film directed by Billy Wilder, recently received 11 Olivier Award nominations including Best Musical Revival, has won Evening Standard Awards for Lloyd and Scherzinger as well as seven WhatsOnStage Awards.

To get additional news about Sunset Boulevard, please visit www.sunsetboulevardbroadway.com. Tickets will then go on sale to the general public starting Friday, April 10 at 10 AM ET.

To coincide with the show’s Broadway opening, SSunset Blvd: The Album recorded live at the Savoy Theatre in London’s West End, is set for global release in October via The Other Songs.

Starting Tuesday, April 2, anyone who orders tickets as part of the Broadway presale will have the option of pre-ordering the album on vinyl and CD. Additionally, audience members who purchased tickets for the London run of Sunset Boulevard or signed up on the show’s website will be able to pre-order the album at the same time. Starting Friday, April 10, the album will be available for pre-order globally. Sign up to hear about additional details at www.sunsetboulevardbroadway.com

Joining Scherzinger on Broadway will be her acclaimed London co-stars, all of whom received Olivier Award nominations for their performances, Tom Francis as ‘Joe Gillis,’ Grace Hodgett-Young as ‘Betty Schaefer,’ and Olivier Award winner David Thaxton as ‘Max Von Mayerling.’

Director Jamie Lloyd said, “I was extremely humbled by the amazing enthusiasm of our West End audiences and am thrilled we get to bring this production to Broadway. When we recorded the album live on the stage of the Savoy in London, I was once again overwhelmed by the depth and power of Nicole Scherzinger’s performance — these iconic songs have never been sung like this before. Having the exceptional Tom Francis, Grace Hodgett-Young, and David Thaxton join Nicole at the St. James Theatre will be an unforgettable experience.”

Andrew Lloyd Webber said, “I am very excited that Jamie Lloyd’s wonderful production of Sunset Boulevard is coming to New York with the incomparable Nicole Scherzinger.”

Nicole Scherzinger said, “It has truly been a lifelong dream of mine to perform on Broadway. So, to be bringing this iconic production to NYC with my London co-stars and our cutting-edge director Jamie Lloyd is a pinnacle moment for me in my career.”

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Executive Director), recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, is proud to announce its 2024–2025 season, including a world premiere, the first New Jersey production of a Tony Award winner, family favorites, and a new musical based on a classic romantic comedy.

Paper Mill Playhouse’s 2024–2025 lineup of five musicals features Jersey Boys, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Mystic Pizza, Take the Lead, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

Christine Toy Johnson

The Al Hirschfeld Foundation presents its latest online exhibition, “Men About Town: Al Hirschfeld Draws Noël Coward,” now live at AlHirschfeldFoundation.org/exhibitionsthrough June 1.

Nearly 40 of Al Hirschfeld’s drawings focus on Noël Coward’s life and work. In conjunction with “Coward 125,” an observance of Coward’s 125th birthday, the Al Hirschfeld Foundation presents this exhibition of 25 selections of Hirschfeld’s extensive artwork focusing on Noël Coward and his plays, ranging from Private Lives (1931) through Waiting in the Wings (1999). The exhibition is curated by Alan Pally, who served for many years as a Trustee of the Noël Coward Foundation and is currently a member of the Foundation’s Grants Committee. Selections in the exhibition include Coward, himself, as well as the many actors who appeared in his work, including Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, Joan Collins, The Lunts, Frank Langella, Elaine Stritch, Lauren Bacall and more.

“Hirschfeld and Coward were contemporaries who admired one another’s work,” says Alan Pally, curator of the new online exhibition. “In Al Hirschfeld’s house on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a photograph of Noël Coward was prominently displayed in the living room. In the Noël Coward Room in Red Lion Square in London, a drawing of Noël Coward by Al Hirschfeld is prominently displayed as part of the rich repository of materials available for study. In celebrating Coward’s 125th birthday, I can’t think of a more fitting tribute than this look at Coward and his career through pen strokes of the great Al Hirschfeld. With this exhibition, we honor the work of an American artist who was an icon of New York theater and a British artist who loved New York and whose work in the fields of theater, music, film, and literature earned him the title of ‘The Master.’”

“Al Hirschfeld and Noel Coward entertained audiences in somewhat the same way,” says David Leopold, Creative Director of The Al Hirschfeld Foundation. “Their work was both witty and elegant as well as timeless. These Men About Town bought audiences a lot of joy.”

Go behind the lines of Hirschfeld’s art with “The Hirschfeld Century Podcast.” A special episode focusing “Men About Town: Al Hirschfeld Draws Noël Coward” will be released April 9 from  from AlHirschfeldFoundation.org/podcasts, iTunes and other popular podcast sites.New Dramatists, Tony® Honor recipient and the nation’s premier playwright development laboratory, will host its Annual Spring Luncheon Tribute on Tuesday, May 14 at the New York Marriott Marquis (1535 Broadway, between 45th and 46th Streets). The May 14 luncheon will begin with a champagne reception at 11:15AM and end promptly at 2:30PM. Tickets are $450, or $4000 for a table of 10 seats (a portion of which is tax-deductible). Premium sponsorships are also available. For tickets and information, visit NewDramatists.org/luncheon or contact Sofie Wasserman-Smith at (646) 381-4694, sofiewasserman-smith@newdramatists.org.

A beloved theater community tradition, this year’s luncheon honors Michael Greif, the acclaimed director of this season’s Days of Wine and Roses, The Notebook and Hell’s Kitchen. Tony Award-winning producers Kevin McCollum and Stacey Mindich serve as honorary co-chairs for this year’s luncheon.

“From Downtown to Broadway, and in theatres across the country, Michael Greif has built his outstanding career championing and directing new plays and musicals by legendary writers, including New Dramatists’ alumni Doug Wright, John Guare, Suzan-Lori Parks, Diana Son, Nilo Cruz, Jeffrey Hatcher, Jeffrey M. Jones, Kate Moira Ryan, and Kristoffer Diaz, this season on Hell’s Kitchen,” says Emily Morse, Artistic Director of New Dramatists. “With his remarkable resume, and three shows opening on Broadway, this feels like the perfect year for New Dramatists to honor Michael and his distinguished career, at our Annual Spring Luncheon.”

New Dramatists has also announced the presentation of a new award at this year’s luncheon. The Konecky Award, named for New Dramatists’ beloved Board President Isobel Konecky and her husband, renowned entertainment attorney Ron Konecky, recognizes those in the theatre and entertainment industry, who serve the field with passion, dedication, excellence, and leadership. The inaugural Konecky Award will be presented to Concord Theatricals.

“As the parent company of Samuel French – a founding name in theatrical publishing and licensing – and the steward of catalogs from R&H Theatricals, Tams-Witmark, and the Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, Concord Theatricals is a strong, committed advocate of creative artists,” says Christie Brown, Executive Director of New Dramatists. “We are delighted to recognize their service to the field.”

“Concord Theatricals is deeply honored to be the recipient of the inaugural Konecky Award,” said Sean Patrick Flahaven, Chief Theatricals Executive of Concord. “Supporting playwrights and their work is our core mission at Concord and has been the cornerstone of my own career. In this 75th anniversary year of New Dramatists, we celebrate the many writers we share, from its founders, to contemporary icons, to the newest voices that need to be heard.”

Producer Jeff Berger announced today that Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music In Concert, featuring brand new orchestrations by legendary orchestrator and lifelong Sondheim collaborator Jonathan Tunick, will play David Geffen Hall at New York City’s Lincoln Center (10 Lincoln Center Plaza).

Performances are Thursday, June 27 and Friday June 28 at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 29 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Mr. Tunick himself will conduct the 53-piece Orchestra of St. Lukes, playing for an all-star cast that includes Susan Graham, Cynthia Erivo, Ron Raines, Kerstin Anderson, Jonathan Christopher, Jason Gotay, Ellie Fishman, Jin Ha, Addie Harrington, Shuler Hensley, Samantha Hill, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Ross Lekites, Marsha Mason and Ruthie Ann Miles. This 53-piece version nearly doubles the size of the original, which was orchestrated for a 27-piece orchestra.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, A Little Night Music In Concert is directed and adapted by John Doyle.

“A life in the theater comes with few reliable constants,” commented Mr. Tunick, “but the ever-decreasing size of theater orchestras has been a discouraging trend across my five decades on Broadway. Whenever I’m asked to re-orchestrate one of my shows, the purpose is to make the orchestra smaller as well as hidden from the audience.  How refreshing to have this rare opportunity to present Sondheim’s score in its full symphonic glory! The orchestra has so much to contribute to the theater if only given the chance.”

A Little Night Music was originally produced and directed on Broadway in 1973 by Harold Prince, garnering 12 Tony Award^®nominations and winning six Tony Awards including Best Musical. A Little Night Music is Sondheim’s eighth musical, featuring his widely beloved ballad “Send in the Clowns,” and is a musical adaptation of the 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night.

Tickets for A Litte Night Music In Concert go on-sale on Tuesday, March 26 at 10 a.m. ET. For tickets, visit the David Geffen Hall box office, open Monday- Saturday 10am – 6pm, and Sunday 12pm- -6pm. Or call Center Charge 212-721-6500 Monday – Saturday 10am –  8pm and Sunday 12-6pm.

For more information, visit alittlenightmusicconcert.com.

Ghostlight Records has announced that The Gardens of Anuncia (Original Cast Recording) –based on the recent Lincoln Center Theater production – is available in streaming and digital formats, starting today, Friday, March 22. The Gardens of Anuncia features book, music, and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa, and was directed and co-choreographed by Graciela Daniele. Michael Starobin provides orchestrations, with Deborah Abramson serving as music director. The cast album is produced by Lawrence Manchester and Michael John LaChiusa, with Kurt Deutsch serving as executive producer. Stream or download the album at ghostlight.lnk.to/TheGardensOfAnuncia

The musical stars Enrique Acevedo, Andréa Burns, Eden Espinosa, Priscilla Lopez, Tally Sessions, Mary Testa, and Kalyn West.

The Gardens of Anuncia marks the fourth collaboration between Michael John LaChiusa and Graciela Daniele at Lincoln Center Theater to receive an original cast recording following Hello Again (1994), Marie Christine (1999), and Bernarda Alba (2006).  The New York Times called the show, “A sweet reverie of a musical,” while the Wall Street Journal said, “Mr. LaChiusa’s score, its subtle harmonies and often clever lyrics, is one of his finest” and TheaterMania declared, “It’s awfully refreshing to hear smart, simple music like this. Michael John LaChiusa’s melodies in this heartwarming musical are so infectious that they make you want to get up and dance!” 

The Gardens of Anuncia was presented at Lincoln Center Theater’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater from October 19 to December 31, 2023.

Emmy Award winner Lea DeLaria comes to 54 Below this Mother’s Day. Lea has put together a fun-filled show to celebrate Mom. She, along with special guest Tony Award® winner Gabriel Ebert (Matilda the Musical, Pass Over, The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical), will perform duets of original tunes and songs from her repertoire, including Bowie, Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, and LaChiusa, as well as classic jazz standards. Come on, it’s Mother’s Day so take your mom to see the
biggest mother of them all.

The second iteration of this show celebrates Pride Month! Lea DeLaria, along with special guest Alexis Michelle (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), brings you a fat, fast, and funny Sunday filled with her trademark comedy and musical chops in Brunch Is Gay. Let’s face it, brunch is a gay high holiday, so come and spend it with the highest,
gayest human on the planet.

Lea DeLaria was the first openly gay comic on television in America and is an accomplished jazz performer who has performed in concert venues all over the world. She is best known as ‘Big Boo’ from “Orange is the New Black” (3 SAG Awards). Lea can currently be seen in the indie feature film Potato Dreams of America, and in the Indigo Girls jukebox feature film, Glitter & Doom, but we all know her from Orange is the New Black.

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director, Marie Grace LaFerrara, Executive Director) “Where Musicals Come to Life,” will present a developmental reading of Merman (inspired by the book “Merman” by Brian Kellow) with book by Richard Sabellico, music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, De Sylva & Whiting, Elliot & Spina, George & Ira Gershwin, Henderson & Brown, Cole Porter, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, music direction by Jon Delfin and directed by Richard Sabellico. The presentation – by invitation only – will take place on Monday, April 1. These presentations are part of The York Theatre Company’s Developmental Reading Series. This reading was made possible by a generous gift from The Tanner Foundation.

Ethel Merman was the most important musical theatre star who ever took to the stage. A powerful woman in an era when women were not supposed to be powerful, her strength informed her work and her art. She redefined the musical theater and her influence is felt to this day. Ethel Merman was the star of her own story; she is the star of ours.

Cast: Megan Sikora as Ethel Merman, with Jeremy Benton, Michael Berresse, Adam Heller, Manu Narayan, Patricia Richardson, Diane Findlay, and Robert Sella. Stage Directions by Hans Friedrichs. The stage manager is Meg Meschino.

Ghostlight Records has announced plans for an original cast recording of the new Broadway musical Water for Elephants. The upcoming album will preserve the show’s soaring score by the acclaimed PigPen Theatre Co. (The Tale of Despereaux). Produced by Peter Schneider, Jennifer Costello, Grove Entertainment, Frank Marshall, Isaac Robert Hurwitz, and Seth A. Goldstein, Water for Elephants is currently in previews at the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street), with an opening scheduled for Thursday, March 21. Water for Elephants is based on the critically acclaimed and New York Times-bestselling novel by Sara Gruen. The new musical has a book by three-time Tony Award nominee Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, Peter and the Starcatcher) and is directed by Tony Award nominee Jessica Stone(Kimberly Akimbo). The album will be produced by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Ian Kagey, and recorded on Monday, March 25, to be released later this season. Pre-save the album at ghostlightrecords.lnk.to/WaterForElephants

The cast stars Grant Gustin (“The Flash,” “Glee”) in his Broadway debut, Isabelle McCalla (The Prom, Shucked), four-time Tony Award nominee Gregg Edelman (City of Angels), Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Award nominee Paul Alexander Nolan (Slave Play), Stan Brown (“Homicide: Life in the Streets”), Joe De Paul (Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion), Sara Gettelfinger (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), and Wade McCollum (Wicked), and features Brandon Block, Antoine Boissereau, Rachael Boyd, Paul Castree, Ken Wulf Clark, Taylor Colleton, Gabriel Olivera de Paula Costa, Isabella Luisa Diaz, Samantha Gershman, Keaton Hentoff-Killian, Nicolas Jelmoni, Caroline Kane, Harley McLeish, Michael Mendez, Samuel Renaud, Marissa Rosen, Alexandra Gaelle Royer, Asa Somers, Charles South, Sean Stack, Matthew Varvar, and Michelle West.

When pulling off the impossible on stage, it helps to be in a theatre filled to the rafters with cheering New Yorkers.

Photo by Carol Rosegg

The British comic icon, Eddie Izzard, is currently at the Orpheum Theatre at 126 2nd Avenue performing Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as Hamlet, as well as the play’s entire list of famous and infamous characters.

For two and half hours, she twirls, she sashays, parrys and thrusts, taking on noblemen, ghosts, queens, soldiers, courtiers, lovers and fools. Her hands become Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, like Topo Gigio from the Ed Sullivan Show.

It’s a tour-de force.

It’s a coup d’etat.

It’s a word-of-mouth phenomenon.

It’s a marathon of theatrical derring-do!

As we are all aware of the play’s layered narrative, let’s move on to Eddie Izzard’s almost incompressible ability to enrich the myriad of those layers and deliver a breath taking storyline that encourages repeat attendance.

Originally Izzard performed the bard’s masterpiece at the Greenwich House Theater back in January. 

Izzard is using a text adapted by her brother, Mark Izzard, which has been directed by Selena Cadell

It takes physical stamina and artistic courage to achieve such milestones as this project has done.

Bravo, Eddie Izzard!

Hamlet: Orpheum Theatre, 126 2nd Ave