David Lehrer, Producer of The Lieutenant of Inishmore more ›

Since we haven’t been following the New York theatre scene for years and years, we’d rather not pontificate about how 2005 was overall for the art. Thinking about it now, it seems like it was pretty great, but that might just be our affectionate, soft-focus hindsight, plus we’re just crazy about theatre in general. And even though we see way more of it than most people we know, nytheatre.com’s season archives quickly reminded us that we made it to a mere fraction of what was on offer, so there’s no pretending we saw “the” best performance. But of what we did go to, here’s what stands out as the year finishes (in no real order except for saving the best for last). more ›

A week or so ago, Gothamist saw this new play by Ronan Noone at the Irish Arts Centre, and we’ve been mulling it over since. Though Noone’s bio claims an influence of Sam Shepard, it’s impossible not to be reminded of Martin McDonagh (The Pillowman) and what he did with his Leenane trilogy, because The Blowin of Baile Gall is part of a Baile trilogy: the first entry, The Lepers of Baile Baiste, earned accolades a couple years ago in different venues around the country and then finally here last fall. Though we haven’t yet seen all of either playwright’s trilogies, they seem to share (in addition to a fondness for writing three-part examinations of the souls of Irish villages) a similar dark, brooding, thriller-thinker cross in their writing’s mood. For this production of Blowin, the actors are well up to the challenge of portraying their troubled, emotionally tangled characters, so that even if in the end the play itself seems slightly wanting, the experience of watching it is likely to stay with you and keep you thinking about it. more ›

With the massive arts listings in last Sunday’s Times, the new season officially got underway, although theatre fans have for some time been able to get at least some idea about the next year on stage, and not only the brand-name productions, via the estimable nytheatre.com. Still, poring over those inky pages and getting overwhelmed by the sheer bulk of what’s about to come our way has no real substitute, and we’re now particularly looking forward to October’s Massacre (Sing to Your Children), a dark psychodrama/mystery written by Jose Rivera and being produced by the LAByrinth Theatre Company at the Public; 4.48 Psychose, Sarah Kane’s very experimental final play which will be performed by Isabelle Huppert in French (also in October, it’s part of both the Act French festival and BAM’s Next Wave festival); the latest provocation from Les Freres Corbusier, Hell House, which from the Times’ description sounds like it will be a close reproduction of fundamentalist Christians’ method of scaring people into faith, though you probably won’t have to look too hard for the satiric element; and Douglas Carter Beane’s The Little Dog Laughed, a send-up of the pervasive celebrity gossip culture playing in December at Second Stage. We were also tickled to see that Martin McDonagh (writer of The Pillowman) and John Patrick Shanley (Doubt) will again go head-to-head with new plays next spring – Shanley’s Defiance at Manhattan Theatre Club and McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Atlantic. As the Times asks, why mess with success? The Pillowman’s imminent closing notwithstanding, both have been hits despite being singularly unsettling theatrical experiences, so maybe they offer each other mutual support, and maybe the new plays will find the same rapport. In any case, we’re excited. more ›

The Reverend Al Sharpton is not much of a speller. He joined the cast of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee during the Tony Awards telecast yesterday and participated in the bee. He was given the word "dengue," which pretty much means diarrhea to the hundredth degree, though the CDC doesn't really expound that part at length. Now, we're not sure if Sharpton was playing a poor speller or just badly spelling, but he spelled "D-E-N-K-E" or something very far off. (Gothamist guessed "D-E-N-G-H-E".) more ›

It’s hardly suited for popular tastes aside from that celebrity presence, at least as far as subject matter goes, but the strength of the production otherwise largely makes up for that. more ›

So maybe the Oscars aren’t actually watched by a “billion” people each year. The audience is still ginormous compared to the Tonys. Even so, the Tonys are as big as it gets for American theater, and this morning the mostly predictable nominations were handed out at the Times Square Marriott Marquis. For play, you’ve got Democracy, Doubt, The Pillowman, and Gem of the Ocean. Musical: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Light in the Piazza, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Spamalot, in the first of its 14 nods. The same musicals are all nominated for best book and best music; best play revival and best musical revival have no surprises either, though Gothamist’s eyebrows were raised a bit at the inclusion of Sweet Charity, which barely opened May 4, which was the cutoff date for Tony nominations. Considering how touchy theater publicists are about having their shows watched and reviewed before official openings (though it did play in, um, Minneapolis before), this honor seems a little hasty, but maybe the Tony organizers just want to make sure Christina Applegate attends and brings some friends who might get a bigger TV audience. more ›