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      In ‘Music City’ and ‘Babe,’ Existential Battles of the Heart and Soul

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      Bedlam’s country music show is a rollicking good time. But the New Group’s production of “Babe,” starring Marisa Tomei, is a frustrating one-act lacking cohesion.If country music has a superpower, it’s the ability to spin conventions and catchphrases into affecting narratives. The book for “Music City,” a terrific new jukebox show mining the JT Harding catalog, essentially does the same thing on a larger scale.While Harding’s name might not resonate, his songs have scored sizable plays on streaming services: He is a co-writer of Uncle Kracker’s “Smile,” Blake Shelton’s “Sangria” and Keith Urban’s “Somewhere in My Car.” All of those songs turn up in “Music City,” a rollicking good time that understands contemporary country music — the style and the lifestyle — in a way we don’t often see on New York theater stages.For this Bedlam production, the director Eric Tucker and the scenic designer Clifton Chadick have turned the West End Theater into the Wicked Tickle, a homey Nashville joint specializing in open mics (and evoking that city’s real-life Bluebird Cafe). One such session is underway as audience members file in and take their seats — ticket holders can sign up for a slot in that preshow section and basically warm up the room for the characters.The focus of our attention are the imaginatively named TJ (Stephen Michael Spencer), an outgoing singer-songwriter with a knack for upbeat tunes, and 23 (Casey Shuler), a soulful newcomer with a crack in her voice and a tear in her beer — largely because of the strain of dealing with her addict mother (Leenya Rideout). The two young strivers decide to try writing songs together, and Peter Zinn’s book goes exactly where you think it’s going to go, with antagonists (both played by Andrew Rothenberg) setting up some speed bumps along the way: Bakerman, a drug dealer TJ is indebted to, and Stucky Stiles, a behatted, creatively adrift country star reminiscent of Strings McCrane in “Hold On to Me Darling.”“Music City” is not lacking for earworms (which also include two numbers written for the show and four that had not been previously recorded), but it also understands that almost as important as the songs is how they came to be. TJ and 23 express themselves through music — it is who they are — so when Stucky comes fishing for new material, they must choose who will get to deliver these little pieces of their heart.The only caveat in this very effectively staged production is the superfluous, distracting choreography by John Heginbotham (Daniel Fish’s “Oklahoma!”), but it is kept to a minimum. “Music City” is a good example of a jukebox done well, highlighting an industry that values songwriting craftsmanship as well as its commercial value and even revisiting some of the questions that were raised in David Adjmi’s “Stereophonic”: What does music mean to the people who are passionate about it? How do you measure success?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Francesca D’Uva Works It All Out Onstage

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      With a solo show about grief and life, the comedian and composer brings her experimental musical comedy to an Off Broadway audience.Francesca D’Uva moved across the rehearsal room, singing and dancing, making the space her playground.Her voice jumped from a guttural, emo-metal drone to a high-pitched, almost operatic belt to a soft serenade. She played a surreal cast of characters: a sexy nurse from a Wii game she used to play; British children looking for the nanny of their dreams; Shakira.The show was an emotional pinball machine, seeming to invite laughter and tears. In one scene, she conjured the memory of her kindergarten Nativity play in which she was cast as a cow.“Everybody’s laughing at me, everybody’s mooing at me,” she sang.A familiar face in New York’s alternative comedy scene, Ms. D’Uva, 30, performs regularly at venues around the city and has appeared on television in “Three Busy Debras” and “Fantasmas.” Vulture named her a “Comedian You Should and Will Know” in 2024.Ms. D’Uva’s dramatic instincts find an outlet during the show in a range of characters, including at least one Colombian pop star.Jeenah Moon for The New York TimesWith the Off Broadway premiere this week of “This Is My Favorite Song,” her solo show at Playwrights Horizons in Midtown Manhattan, she takes her genre-defying act to a new arena.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Broadway Tickets: Where to Get Affordable and Last-Minute Tickets

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      Box-office sales, discount booths, same-day rush: Here’s everything you need to know about nabbing seats to plays and musicals in Manhattan.People always want to know the secret to buying Broadway tickets — whether there’s some better way than the box office, or a magic trick for snagging seats to an ultrahot show (preferably, without having to pay full price).If you’re looking for a deal on a huge hit, you will search in vain. But lots of other shows offer discounts. Some may be in previews (which means critics haven’t yet weighed in) or, having been around a while, are running low on fuel. Excellent productions might be in the mix.As long as you’re willing to be flexible, and put in a little work, it’s easy enough to assemble the kind of theatergoing experience you’ll enjoy. Here’s how to navigate it all.Where do I begin?Your safest bet to guard against the heartbreak of counterfeit tickets is to buy them through the show’s website, which usually redirects you to sites like Telecharge or Ticketmaster to complete the purchase. As you scope out a show online, that should be your starting place.Is it worth going to the theater’s box office?Yes, if you have the time. Not only can you ask the ticket seller’s advice on the best seats for your price point, you can also avoid the hefty online service fees. If you have a discount code, like the ones sometimes offered on theatermania.com or broadwaybox.com, it should work in person, too. But do check on the box office hours before heading out.Is there an app I can use?The TodayTix app is a trustworthy source for often-discounted Broadway tickets, which users buy online. For some shows, you can choose your exact seats; for others, you pick the general section where you want to sit, and TodayTix assigns your seats. Whether you get bar-coded electronic tickets delivered to your device or physical tickets that you pick up at the theater box office depends on the show.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      TKTS to Open Booth in Philadelphia, Hoping to Boost Local Theaters

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      The first domestic TKTS outpost outside New York comes at a time of rising concern about ticket prices and theater economics.TKTS, the landmark theater discounter that has been a Times Square mainstay for 51 years, is expanding to Philadelphia at a time when regional theaters are struggling and ticket costs are a persistent cause of consumer concern.The new booth, located inside Independence Visitor Center in the city’s historic district, will be the first in an American city other than New York. London and Tokyo also have TKTS booths, and New York has a second booth at Lincoln Center.The Philadelphia booth will sell tickets to local theater, dance and music productions, as well as for some touring Broadway shows; the tickets will be discounted by 30 percent to 50 percent and can be purchased up to 72 hours before curtain (in New York, the purchase window is shorter). The visitor center, which is near major tourist attractions including the Liberty Bell, drew 1.3 million people last year and already sells tickets to other attractions.The TKTS kiosk will begin selling tickets on Thursday and will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.Angela Val, the president and chief executive of Visit Philadelphia, a tourism marketing agency, said her organization had contacted TDF, the nonprofit that runs the TKTS booths, to propose the expansion. The agency was motivated by a concern that ticket prices were limiting audiences for local arts and culture events. “We wanted to make sure all people had access to theater,” Val said. “Everyone, no matter how much money you have, should have access to arts and culture.”More than 20 presenting organizations will offer tickets through the program, including Ensemble Arts Philly, which has three venues that host music, dance, comedy and theater performances, as well as touring Broadway shows. Also participating are the three top-tier regional theaters in the city — Arden Theater Company, Philadelphia Theater Company and Wilma Theater (the recipient of this year’s Regional Theater Tony Award) — as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia Ballet and BalletX.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Shit. Meet. Fan.’ Review: Packed with Stars and Vulgarity

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      Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Krakowski, Debra Messing and Constance Wu star in the vulgar and entertaining new work from Robert O’Hara.The script to Robert O’Hara’s new play is prefaced with a trigger warning: “This play is a blistering vulgar satire on Male Toxicity and White Privilege.”Blistering? Yeah. Vulgar? Certainly. And viciously entertaining. But when it comes to the show’s loftier ambitions — the “satire” part of “blistering vulgar satire” — its execution is edgy but not necessarily sharp.“Shit. Meet. Fan.,” which opened Monday at MCC Theater and is based on the 2016 Italian film “Perfect Strangers,” opens in a chic Dumbo condo where Rodger (Neil Patrick Harris) and Eve (Jane Krakowski) live with their teenage daughter, Sam (Genevieve Hannelius). But for all the apartment’s swanky accouterments (including a home bar and spacious terrace, all courtesy of Clint Ramos’s Zillow-perfect set design), there’s no domestic bliss here, especially not between the married couple.But for tonight Rodger and Eve are the hosts of a gladiatorial fight night disguised as a party of friends who’ve come to watch an eclipse. This coterie includes Claire (Debra Messing), a heavy drinker with some mother-in-law issues, and Brett (Garret Dillahunt), her tone-deaf lawyer husband; Frank (Michael Oberholtzer), the bro-iest of the bros, and his new wife, Hannah (Constance Wu, again playing the precious outsider); and Logan (a sharp Tramell Tillman), who shows up sans his new girlfriend. The men are brothers from frat days past, which means alcohol, cocaine, bawdy tales and shared secrets, often dividing the party among gender lines.But the real trouble of the night begins when Eve suggests a game: for an hour everyone must share the texts, emails and calls they get on their phones. The reveals revolve around exes, affairs, hidden sexual preferences, plastic surgery appointments, timeshares in the Swiss Alps, even crimes. It soon becomes clear that, unsurprisingly, these friends are awful in a Whitman’s sampler assortment of ways. O’Hara, who wrote and directed the show, gleefully pokes at these characters’ insecurities, hypocrisies and resentments as a stream of Bravo TV-sized revelations steadily raises the stakes. The direction is brilliantly cued and paced, so the party’s movement (both the movement of the characters in relation to one another in the two-story space, and the flow of the dialogue in each scene) keeps the play going at a taut and lively momentum.And it helps that this is no cast of slouches. The comedic chemistry of the group is palpable, and each actor brings their own delicious affect to their role. Harris shows off his impeccable comic timing with Rodger’s sardonic quips and Krakowski fully inhabits the snide mean girl. A hilariously clowny Messing goes full “Will & Grace” with Claire’s hyperbolic drunken reactions, and Dillahunt takes hearty bites of his character’s casual bigotry.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Morgan Jenness, Whose Artistic Vision Influenced American Theater, Dies at 72

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      A beloved figure in the theatrical community, she redefined the role of dramaturg, influencing playwrights like David Adjmi and David Henry Hwang.Morgan Jenness, a dramaturg, teacher and theatrical agent who nurtured the work of countless playwrights — including Taylor Mac, David Adjmi, David Henry Hwang, Larry Kramer and Maria Irene Fornés — died on Nov. 12. Ms. Jenness, who in recent years began using the pronouns they/them and she interchangeably, was 72.Mx. Mac confirmed the death. “In Act 3 of her life, she was exploring her gender identity,” said Mx. Mac, who went to Ms. Jenness’s apartment in the East Village of Manhattan with two friends after she failed to show up for a class she taught at Columbia University and discovered her body. The cause of death had not yet been determined.Ms. Jenness was a revered and beloved figure in the theater community — particularly the downtown theater community. (In many ways, she was its embodiment.) She had a deep moral seriousness, colleagues said, as well as a fierce artistic integrity and a passion for subversive work that had depth charges in all the right places. She also had “a complete indifference to material success,” said Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater, where Ms. Jenness began her career. “She was frankly repelled by it.”The play was the thing.“She would ask writers, ‘What do you want to inject into the bloodstream of the American theater?’” recalled Beth Blickers, a theatrical agent.“If you said, ‘I just want to tell good stories,’ she would turn to me and say, ‘That was a terrible answer,’” Ms. Blickers continued. “She wanted someone to say, ‘I have a passion for this community or this idea.’ To tell good stories wasn’t enough.”A dramaturg has been defined as a sort of literary and theatrical adviser who helps the actors and director understand the play they’re presenting. “But that was the European model, focused primarily on the classics,” Mr. Eustis said. “Morgan was one of the first generation of people who were defining what a new play dramaturg was: the midwife and support system of a playwright.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Murder as Family Tradition in ‘Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists’

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      Tiago Rodrigues’s play is intentionally a work of provocation, but it is also stylized to create a helpful distance from events and ideas.When the booing started, and the yelling, and then the exodus of audience members, the fascist had been orating for quite a while, spewing hatred of the usual groups: women, migrants, vaguely defined minorities. The picture of presentability in his suit and tie, he sneered at constitutional restraints.“Those who voted for us have a dream for this country,” he said. “That Constitution isn’t going to be the thing to stop us realizing that dream.”It’s not a sentiment likely to win approbation from any audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in a deep blue corner of this deep blue city. But it may have been even more nettling on Wednesday night, when the headlines were filled with President-elect Donald J. Trump’s appointments to his incoming administration. In any case, it was around that line that the jeering from the crowd began.Which meant either that Tiago Rodrigues’s play “Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists” was working as the provocation it’s designed to be, or that after more than two hours without an intermission, people were unwilling to endure a poisonous monologue by a despicable character that went on and on. And on.“Wrap it up!” someone shouted, which was not exactly ideologically pointed. Others hurled obscenities, seemingly venting anger about real-world politics. The disturbance never approached gale force, however; an opera audience, more acquainted with expressing outrage, might have summoned greater energy.What superb timing, though, for this strange, contemplative, enticingly titled play to arrive in New York, as part of BAM’s Next Wave festival, in association with L’Alliance New York’s Crossing the Line Festival. For many of us, theater is secular church. Performed in Portuguese with English supertitles at the Harvey Theater, this is a service well worth attending.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘King Lear’ Review: Kenneth Branagh’s Latest Finds the Wrong Tone

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      Kenneth Branagh’s production of the Shakespeare classic speeds through the material and can’t quite figure out its tone.Kenneth Branagh’s “King Lear,” which opened Thursday night at the Shed, is a tragedy that doesn’t seem to know why it’s so tragic. The production’s fleet and feathery interpretation of how one man’s decline rains down misfortune on everyone around him undercuts the gravity of the classic, demoting it into a mere trifle.The play, as many may recall from high school English classes, opens with Lear (Branagh) offering to split his kingdom among his three daughters according to who will flatter him the most. While his two older daughters, Goneril (Deborah Alli) and Regan (Saffron Coomber), comply, his favorite, Cordelia (Jessica Revell), refuses. Lear casts her off with nothing to her name. But the king, accompanied by his jester (also Revell) and a loyal disciple in disguise (Eleanor de Rohan), is eventually driven to madness as he receives what he sees as disloyal treatment at the hands of his sycophantic daughters. Meanwhile, Goneril and Regan scheme against each other for power and for the hand of Edmund (Dylan Corbett-Bader), a wily creep willing to betray his own family for his advancement. Perhaps needless to say, most of these characters are dead by the final scene.Each new production of “Lear” offers its own take on whether the play’s tragedy branches from the titular royal’s psychosis, dementia or a broken ego. In Branagh’s production — he is a co-director with Rob Ashford and Lucy Skillbeck — the king doesn’t come across as feeble in any way. In fact, he’s fit as a fiddle. This Lear hops, crawls and gambols across the stage, even running off into the audience stands at the Griffin theater, meant to stand in for England in the New Stone Age. And despite Branagh’s cartoonish wails and babbles, this production never seems to believe Lear is ever truly ensnared by madness; there’s still a mild sense of cogency to Branagh’s performance throughout that colors him more as a wacky dad with hurt feelings than as a weakened ruler.The show’s breakneck pacing, too, makes it sometimes read more like a light comedy. All considerable five acts are indelicately stuffed into a speedy two hours, without intermission. Though I don’t begrudge a shorter “Lear” — the lengthy play does often meander its way to its protagonist’s demise — this production bolts mercilessly through the dialogue with a cadence that doesn’t allow much space for nuanced emoting, silences or scene transitions to let the story’s depths sink in.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More