Review

SLEEPING WITH THE AMBASSADOR

At the grand entrance to the Ambassador Hotel, under the now-sagging Cocoanut Grove awning, a driver inspects his decrepit limo. Slamming the hood, he cues a lively cha-cha as a starlet and her three escorts swiftly emerge from the limo to romp in, around, and over it, car parts soon ...

FALLING TOGETHER, COMING APART

Though this production company calls itself "The Theatre for a Difference," there's very little different about the pleasant but unexceptional one-act plays that make up this bill. The caliber of the acting is high, but the vignettes are, for the most part, sadly inconsequential; even the most comparatively strong ...

STAGE DIRECTIONS

L. Trey Wilson's new play provides an incisive glimpse at conflicts that arise when sensitive artists collaborate on a project—the old bugaboo of creative differences. Yet that's merely the tip of the iceberg. Wilson's multilayered story explores many facets of prejudice and insecurity, as well as ...

Henry IV

Presented by Lincoln Center Theater, casting by Daniel Swee, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 W. 65 St., NYC, Nov. 20-Jan. 18.

TRÈS GRIMM!

Producer/writer George Larkin's evening of adaptations of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales suffers from a confusion of styles, talents, and tone. The straightforward presentational format of the evening—along with often slipshod writing, acting, and directing—makes for an overlong mishmash.

Let's Put On a Show

Presented by the Irish Repertory Theatre and Densmore Productions at the Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 W. 22 St., NYC, Aug. 10-Sept. 12.

THE FOOD CHAIN

Nicky Silver's 1995 Off-Broadway farce is at the same time tightly constructed and discursively verbose; outrageously bawdy yet only mildly satirical; and full of many witty zingers targeting self-image, body weight, pretentious artists, and human vanity and egotism in general. Its calculated excesses suggest more thematic significance than ever ...

THE TIN PAN ALLEY RAG

It's unusual to come across a musical that maintains a warm feeling of intimacy despite the inclusion of a few big production numbers. Revolving around a fictional 1915 meeting between two iconic American songwriters—Irving Berlin and Scott Joplin—Mark Saltzman's valentine to the ragtime era premiered in ...

DON'T HUG ME: A MINNESOTA LOVE STORY WITH SINGIN' AND STUFF

With great fondness, we recall plays from recent years that presented indelible portraits of quirky characters in Midwestern America, particularly the memorable works of Ed Simpson (Elephant Sighs, Additional Particulars) and Joe Keyes (Bob's Holiday Office Party, Pete's Garage). Phil Olson's new quasi-musical aims for similar sensibilities.

DINAH WAS

The singer Dinah Washington, known as "Queen of the Blues," reputedly once emptied a Los Angeles nightclub after firing a gun at one of the chorus line dancers whom she suspected of having an affair with her man. Whether it is so or not, it is certainly believable, and this ...