Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, December 2006 On the way over the mountains to Troy my eleven-year-old nephew regaled me with tales of why his life was terrible. He had a good litany going and to listen to him his life was indeed nigh on to unbearable. It was amazing…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, October 2006 If you love theatre, you MUST go and see Better Don’t Talk, and you better had hurry because it is only playing through October 29 at NYSTI! I make this bold statement not only because Naava Piatka gives a tour de force performance in this one-woman…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2006 It is a sad comment on how we prioritize our arts dollars that I am used to seeing even the very best children’s theatre presented with fairly low-budget production values. So NYSTI’s top-flight production of The Cat, the Sun, and the Mirror, a new…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, May 2006 Joan of Arc (1412-1431) made her first appearance as a character in a play within five years of her victory at Orléans in a pageant of thanksgiving staged by that city. Even then, with the Inquisition that put Joan to death still very…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, March 2006 During World War II the Danish Resistance managed to smuggle about 7,000 of the 8,000 Danish Jews over the sea to safety in Sweden, which remainded free of Nazi domination. Lois Lowry’s Newberyy award-winning young adult novel, Number the Stars tells the fictional story of…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, January 2006 For all her faults, our nation is an amazing place, and the story of her founding is a gripping one. 1776 the Tony award-winning 1969 musical by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone does as good a job as is possible in telescoping the events in…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, December 2005 I am very leery of “holiday” shows. In fact I just plain refuse to attend productions of A Christmas Carol because I am liable to leap on the stage and strangle Tiny Tim the minute he hobbles on to the stage. The sight of a…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, October 2005 I spent a great deal of time the past week grumbling about murder mystery plays. I am not much of a mystery fan, and I will never understand the American value system that categorizes murder as “wholesome entertainment”, but I find mysteries in…
