The Pushover Play

Characters tolerate far more than they should in ‘Embraceable Me’

ROOTING FOR A couple to overcome their neuroses to be together is almost impossible when one half of them is as downright grating as Allison is in Embraceable Me. Her friend and occasional boyfriend Edward isn’t exactly a prize himself, but he certainly deserves better than the manipulative user Allison reveals herself to be over the course of Victor L. Cahn’s annoying two-hander. Read more Read it in print

Cumming In Your Ear

Alan Cumming exhibits his musical sensibility with release of his new CD

Alan Cumming won a Tony Award for his iconic performance as the MC in Cabaret. He’s earned a place in the hearts of cult movie lovers for his turn as the geek-turned-billionaire in Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, before casting everyone’s favorite indie actors in The Anniversary Party, the film he wrote and directed with Jennifer Jason Leigh. He’s even written a book, Tommy’s Tale. So it should come as no surprise that he’s completing his pop culture to-do list by releasing solo CD, I Bought a Blue Car Today. Read more

Back to Black

‘Memphis’ reminds us of how blindingly white most Broadway musicals typically are

Who could have known that the season's most unsettling Broadway experience would be amiable musical Memphis? Never mind the shrill Oleanna or the strained A Steady Rainfor sheer seat fidgeting, try the musical about integration set in the Civil Rights-era South. Read more

The West End on the East Side

British writers and performers are washing up on the shores of Manhattan over the next two months, and it has nothing to do with splashy Broadway imports that shamelessly show up the weaker American offerings. Instead of the Great White Way, they’ll be taking over the theater complex at 59E59 Theaters for the sixth annual Brits Off Broadway festival, the yearly reminder of just how shockingly talented British theater artists really are. Read more

Theater of Celebrity

Two new shows explore the lives of the rich and famous

THANK YOU, Judith Ivey, for reminding me why I fell in love with the theater. After a brief break, the theater and I are firmly back together, and all because of the unlikeliest of offerings: a one-woman show about advice columnist Ann Landers. Read more Read it in print

I Know What I Like

‘(Untitled)’ skewers the art world even as it skews in its favor

There’s something unsettling about a comedy set in the Downtown art world that makes you side with the defender of insane art. But whether by design or casting, that’s exactly what happens in the hilarious (Untitled) when Marley Shelton’s gallery owner starts explaining the genius behind an artist’s show consisting of thumbtacks and Post-It notes. Read more

The Roundabout Hates You

With two new productions, the Roundabout Theatre Company proves it no longer cares about quality

Sienna Miller, despite some truly sublime film performances, is still primarily known for her outré fashion sense. Following her line of thinking in accepting a role in Patrick Marber’s adaptation of Miss Julie isn’t hard: a one-act set in 1945, in which her upper-class character dallies with a servant and runs the gamut from flirty to deranged? Perfect for showcasing her skills! Read more

Light Those Torches

‘The Diary of Anne Frankenstein’ plumbs the depths of mediocrity

CHALK IT UP to another instance of a fabulous title coming before the idea for a show, because the funniest thing about The Diary of Anne Frankenstein is its name. Another in a long line of attempts at reviving the anarchic spirit of Charles Ludlam and other celebrated Downtown theater artists, Anne Frankenstein only succeeds in killing and hour and a half in the most excruciating way imaginable. Read more Read it in print

Doug Hughes Just Keeps Working

Broadway’s favorite director contributes to two ill-advised revivals this month

What a dreary lot the Cavendish family turns out to be in the dull revival of 1927’s The Royal Family. Director Doug Hughes and his design team have polished George S. Kauffman and Edna Ferber’s satire of the Barrymore acting clan to a high sheen, but all the Pledge in the world can’t disguise the fact that the play is imitation junk. Read more

Pull Over

'Trucker' is as original as nudie mudflaps

With an appealingly unappealing lead performance from Michelle Monaghan at its center, you want to like Trucker. You really do. But writer-director James Mottern makes it awfully hard with his washed-out, predictable aesthetic. Read more