Claude AI distorted my review of “McNeal,” of playwright using AI

Claude AI distorted my review of “McNeal,” of playwright using AI

“To Claude AI: Please write this theater review in the style of critic Lucy Komisar.”

Lucy Komisar’s Theatre Review: “The Plagiarist’s Dilemma.” [My comments in italics.]

Jacob McNeal’s latest play, starring Robert Downey, attempts to grapple with the thorny issues of AI, plagiarism, and literary integrity, but ultimately falls flat in its execution. [Well, not totally flat.] The production, which feels more like a disjointed television serial than a cohesive theatrical experience, meanders through a series of scenes that fail to captivate or provoke. [Not true by the end.]

In “Yellow Face” a twist about anti-Asian racism turns a fiction into reality

In “Yellow Face” a twist about anti-Asian racism turns a fiction into reality

The under-story of David Henry Hwang’s play is more important than the obvious story line.

In this compelling autobiographical work, DHH (a strong Daniel Dae Kim, playing Hwang), tells how he challenged a decision to cast white British actor Jonathan Pryce as the Eurasian pimp in “Miss Saigon.” Pryce is shown with taped Asian-style slanted eyes. In the play, a Vietnamese woman, 17, who turned to prostitution to survive, kills herself so the child she had with a soldier can go to America. How racist is that! Send the kid to the wonderful country that destroyed yours!

Even fine Farrow & LuPone can’t make “The Roommate” characters credible

Even fine Farrow & LuPone can’t make “The Roommate” characters credible

In “The Roommate,” by playwright Jen Silverman, we are thrust into a mismatched living arrangement that teeters on the precipice of absurdity, leaving audiences questioning the credibility of its characters and narrative. Directed by Jack O’Brien, this production features the formidable talents of Patti LuPone as Robyn and Mia Farrow, splendid as Sharon, yet even their seasoned performances struggle against a script and mood that often feel more suited for a sitcom than a stage play.

“Once Upon a Mattress” puts Sutton Foster in pantheon of great American musical theater performers

“Once Upon a Mattress” puts Sutton Foster in pantheon of great American musical theater performers

In the latest Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress,” Sutton Foster reigns supreme, solidifying her place in the pantheon of American musical theater greats. This whimsical take on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea,” with book by Dean Fuller, Jay Thompson, and Marshall Barer, adapted by Amy Sherman-Palladino, lyrics by Barer, music by Mary Rodgers, proves the perfect showcase for Foster’s incomparable talents.

“Hell’s Kitchen” a fake biopic. Terrific dancing, but skip the story.

“Hell’s Kitchen” a fake biopic. Terrific dancing, but skip the story.

With a book by Kristoffer Dias and music and lyrics by singer Alicia Keys, this is presented as Keys’ own story. At least that her “songs and experiences growing up in NY inspire a story made for Broadway.” It turns out “inspire” can be interpreted many ways.

Ali (Maleah Joi Moon) plays Alicia Keys. She is black. Moon’s voice is strong and rich in the show’s jazz, soul and rock. Her mother, Jersey (a fine Shoshana Bean), is white. Davis, her father (a realistic Brandon Victor Dixon), is black. Ali and Jersey live in the huge artists’ cooperative on West 42nd Street near the Hudson River in the neighborhood called Hell’s Kitchen. Davis has nothing to do with the family.

“The Outsiders” a hokey teen musical of class and angst in 1960s Oklahoma

“The Outsiders” a hokey teen musical of class and angst in 1960s Oklahoma

“The Outsiders” by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine is based on a novel written for teenagers by a teenager (she was 16) and tells of kids full of angst. The youths are poor, some suffering from addiction, and they resent kids of their age with money. Some still have dreams of getting out to a better life. So this is about class. And turns out the rich kids don’t feel all that better off.

“Stereophonic”: A Raw Look at the Dark Side of 1970s Rock Music

“Stereophonic”: A Raw Look at the Dark Side of 1970s Rock Music

David Adjmi’s new play “Stereophonic” strips away the glitter and glamour of 1970s rock to reveal a gritty, often unsettling portrait of creativity, ambition, and toxic relationships. Set in a California recording studio, this engrossing and entertaining behind-the-scenes drama exposes the misogyny and exploitation lurking beneath the counterculture’s rebellious facade.

“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” a provocative descent into decadence

“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” a provocative descent into decadence

Rebecca Frecknall’s production of “Cabaret” is a raw dive into the seedy underbelly of 1930s Berlin. From the moment you enter the theater, transformed into the infamous Kit Kat Club with its murky red walls and intimate table seatings, you’re transported to a world on the brink of catastrophe.

“The Great Gatsby”: dazzling spectacle skewers decadent American Dream

“The Great Gatsby”: dazzling spectacle skewers decadent American Dream

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel is lavishly presented in a musical that captures the glitz and darkness of the Roaring Twenties. The audience enters a world of excess, where everything sparkles – including costumes that shimmer with gold and glitter. The play was pulled out of the book smartly by script writer Kait Herrigan, with music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Nathan Tysen. The director who moves the plot almost cinematically is Marc Bruni.

“The Wiz” makes Oz better with jazz!

“The Wiz” makes Oz better with jazz!

William F. Brown’s rewrite of the classic “Wizard of Oz” screens the story through the lens of black culture. The best thing about that is the music is jazz, with a bit of R&B.  (Music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls.) The old story is for kids. This one is for jazz lovers! “The Wiz” was first staged in 1975, and both Brown and Smalls have since died. But Schele Williams here makes his Broadway debut as a director, assuring long life for the old classic!

“Suffs” is a revolutionary story of women’s suffrage that echoes “Les Miz” as a struggle against oppression

“Suffs” is a revolutionary story of women’s suffrage that echoes “Les Miz” as a struggle against oppression

“Suffs” is in the category of the iconic “Les Miz.” A revolutionary story put to music to allow the writer to slip in truths about the forces that oppress a country’s heroes, who are, in this case, heroines. In a country that hasn’t been told the truth. Acclaim to Shaina Taub, who created the book, music and lyrics. It’s now a major part of American musical history.

Led by Valerie Ortiz, elegant flamenco meets modern dance in “Momentos”

Led by Valerie Ortiz, elegant flamenco meets modern dance in “Momentos”

Avignon – When I first visited Spain decades ago, I loved flamenco, which had derived from folk dances of the gypsy culture of Andalusia. They were dances ordinary folks, peasants could do. For centuries, the elites, who despised gypsies, looked down on flamenco as vulgar and performed in seedy places. There’s a curious similarity to what Argentine elites thought of tango.

“Los Guardiola” is not your grandmother’s tango.

“Los Guardiola” is not your grandmother’s tango.

Avignon – Tango is so iconic that sometimes productions say they are doing tango when it appears not quite so. At least what those of us not aware of changes in the dance believe. “Los Guardiola” is a case. This is today’s tango. Because tango has gone beyond the classic steps to infuse modern dance. And drama. And I liked it!

Madame Jazz(e) pays homage to the great jazz divas and shows why she belongs in their ranks

Madame Jazz(e) pays homage to the great jazz divas and shows why she belongs in their ranks

Avignon – The place for jazz cabaret at the Avignon OFF is chez Madame Jazz(e), the French-Gabonese chanteuse Abyale Nan Nguema known as Abyale (say A B Al), whose honeyed voice is seductive as she sings the songs made famous by the jazz divas, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Josephine Baker and others. She doesn’t imitate them, she pays homage to them.

“Lights on Chaplin” brilliant re-creation inspired by his 1931 film “City Lights”

“Lights on Chaplin” brilliant re-creation inspired by his 1931 film “City Lights”

Avignon – Taking off from Charlie Chaplin’s 1931 “City Lights,” this brilliantly scripted and performed mime play takes iconic moments from the film and adds scenes Chaplin would have approved. Directed smartly by Alwina Najem-Meyer, the actors are all excellent, especially Chaplin’s tramp, superbly created by Russian performer Dmitiri Rekatchevski, who was trained by the master, Marcel Marceau, in Paris.

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