ATW NewsClips - National Print Pubs

Associated Press

Second Stage set to acquire a Broadway home
Second Stage Theatre, a major showcase for contemporary American playwrights, is expanding to Broadway.

Variety

Review: Expatriate
Things change in "Expatriate," but they don't resolve. That's true of the plot in this two-person play with music, about the rise and fall of an American singing duo in France, and it's true of the songs, whose infectious jazz-pop hooks rarely reach tidy conclusions. By refusing to land somewhere safe, the show makes fresh statements on common themes like celebrity, excess and art.

Review: Scramble!
...Previously presented as "Hatchetman" at Florida Stage, play gets another go-round at the Westport Country Playhouse where house scribe Wiltse preemed his deft "A Marriage Minuet" two years ago. But in trying his hand at this in extremis comedy, Wiltse's craft fails him, and the production brings more cringes than chuckles.

Review: Parade
...the L.A. professional premiere from the South Bay's Neighborhood Playhouse demonstrates the material's suitability for a chamber ensemble approach, bringing out two potent narratives about prejudice: that between the community and the outsider, and that between spouses.

Review: The Strangerer
...Chicago's director-free Theater Oobleck warps Bush's malapropisms and mispronunciations into an absurdist, frequently hilarious tone poem, aided by a sleepy John Kerry and a troubled Jim Lehrer. Neither simple mockery nor earnest existentialism, the oddball play is a uniquely weird and enthralling cross-pollination of the two.

D.C. tryout for 'West Side'
Revival set for Broadway in February

Second Stage to buy Helen Hayes
Nonprofit theater aims to raise $35 million

NAMT taps musicals for fall festival
Shows include 'First Musical,' 'Beatsville'

Tech tune up for 'Phantom'
Musical closes for sound system update

Bloomberg.com

Shakespeare Alfresco Triumphs in Wisconsin Hills Where Dairy Cows Graze
You know you've had an enchanting outdoor Shakespeare experience when, after the final blackout, everyone looks up at the stars and collectively sighs.

Back Stage

Expatriate reviewed by Gwen Orel
Lenelle Moïse's music, created by a JamMan loop machine and a powerful voice singing evocative lyrics, has a beat that gets under your skin, fascinating rhythm, and real theatrical power. It's new.

'9 to 5' to Open on Broadway in 2009
A musical based on 1980 film "Nine to Five" will open on Broadway in 2009 with music and lyrics by country star Dolly Parton.

Back Stage - MITF Reviews

Cherry Hill
Cherry Hill by Matt Okin is full of the wisdom and humor you might find in a particularly scuzzy bar, but outside that context, it doesn't seem so profound.

Daguerreotypes
At almost two hours, Daguerreotypes is a punishingly long time to sit in the Where Eagles Dare Theatre's wicker seats and unfortunately not quite worth the red lines your skin will accrue.

Eighty-1
Six strong singers and some worthy songs by Clive Chang are the plus factors in this world premiere of an 81-minute musical (no coincidence, that).

Flies in the Snuffbox
Three outstanding performances — one in each of the three one-act Chekhov plays that make up this bill — almost but not quite redeem the enterprise.