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ISLA, at New York City's WP Theater, by the acclaimed HIT THE LIGHTS! THEATER COMPANY
Off Broadway
Edward A Kliszus

ISLA: Conjures Cuba at the WP Theater

ISLA is a bilingual miracle of shadow puppetry, live guitar, and three-part harmony — the true story of three sisters who fled Cuba on the 1969 Freedom Flights, told through their own recorded voices by Hit the Lights! at WP Theater. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and healing, it transforms one family’s escape into every family’s inheritance. Bring your mother, your children, and your memories. Go home and record your own family’s stories. Tickets are vanishing — go.

Once In a Lifetime, Again: at the AMT Theater
Musical Theater
Edward A Kliszus

Once In a Lifetime, Again at the AMT Theater

Once In a Lifetime, Again” is that rare festival discovery worth crossing town for: a tender, funny, rock-and-roll-hearted musical about grief, therapy, and the terrifying comedy of dating again after sixty-five. Cooper Grodin sings with aching honesty, Jenny Lee Stern is a comic chameleon, and Thursday Farrar grounds it all with reserved grace. It is the kind of festival discovery one hopes will have a life beyond its five-performance BBTF run.

 

Liz Coin stars as Lizzy Sunshine in You Look Awesome Tonight! at the Soho Playhouse in Manhattan's West Village. Courtesy Skollar PR at lizskollarccom
Off Broadway
Edward A Kliszus

Lizzy Sunshine: The Off-Broadway Tonic For Your Tired Heart

For one luminous hour at SoHo Playhouse, Liz Coin builds a one-woman cathedral of positivity that admits everyone in the room. Lizzy Sunshine is part stand-up, part clown-show, part secular hymn for anyone who has ever loved someone struggling with addiction. Wear the rose-colored glasses. Sing along to “Tomorrow.” Get FaceTimed by Dad. Allow yourself to be undone by a comedian who refuses to look away from the heart. Then tell three friends — and a fourth, for luck.

Michael Quinn in Feltman: The World's First Hot Dog Cover Art by John Cooper
Off Broadway
Edward A Kliszus

Feltman: World’s First Hot Dog at the Chain Theatre

Feltman: World’s First Hot Dog is that rarest of theatrical experiences: a solo show that feels as expansive as a Broadway epic and as intimate as a conversation with your favorite uncle over a summer meal. Michael Quinn’s performance is magnificent—funny, fierce, and achingly human. In case you are a history lover, a foodie, or someone who believes that one person’s dream can illuminate an entire nation’s story, this production at The Chain Theatre is unmissable. Get your tickets. Grab a hot dog afterward. And remember the name: Feltman.

Three Women. At the Theater For The New City
Musical Theater
Edward A Kliszus

THREE WOMEN: A Country Western Meditation

Three Women is a haunting, intimate musical that values suggestion over certainty. With strong performances and an evocative score, it explores love, memory, and distance through a minimalist lens. Zurkowski’s work lingers not for what it declares, but for what it dares to leave unresolved.

Love Story World Premiere Produced by The Tank and Voyage Theater Company at The Tank NYC
Off Broadway
Edward A Kliszus

Love Story at The Tank: Love, Memory, and Theater of the Soul

Love Story is not merely a play—it is an encounter with the fragile architecture of memory and love. It reminds us that those we lose never truly leave; they evolve within us, shaping our thoughts, dreams, and our very sense of self. To witness this production is to feel deeply, remember fiercely, and leave the theater carrying something luminous and indelible.

Midnight Radio Show presents Dreamcats! at the Gene Frankel Theatre in NYC. Courtesy midnightradioshow.org
Off Broadway
Edward A Kliszus

Dreamcats! A Shadow Puppet Fairy Tale Opens a Galaxy of Wonder

In sixty minutes of hand-cut silhouettes, genre-roaming music, and quietly radical tenderness, Dreamcats! accomplishes what family theater rarely dares: it makes grown-ups weep, and children lean forward in the same breath. Charlotte Lily Gaspard and Midnight Radio Show have crafted a world premiere of uncommon imaginative wattage. Catch it before May 3 at the Gene Frankel Theatre; then watch this company’s galactic future — the next enchantment is already shimmering behind the screen.

The Approach at the Irish Rep. Photo by Carol Rosegg
Off Broadway
Tulis McCall

The Approach at the Irish Rep

Where I got lost was where the story ended up.  My theatre guest and I disagreed on the facts of the conclusion (always a good sign) while we agreed on the general final situation.  I cannot say more here because that would defeat the purpose of the tale – and this trio is definitely worth a look-see.

Samantha Inside Out. Courtesy NJ Repertory Company
Off Broadway
Victoria L. Dammer

Samantha Inside Out: A Searing World Premiere About Identity, Rage, and Reinvention

There are moments in theater when a single performer holds an entire audience in the palm of her hand — and Samantha Inside Out is that kind of show. Elizabeth Heflin delivers a tour de force in playwright Marisa Smith’s fiercely intelligent world premiere, now playing at the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch. Samantha is every woman who has ever swallowed her fury, smoothed her dress, and smiled through the indignity of a life that no longer fits. In one electrifying evening, she unravels, reimagines, and reclaims herself — with rapier wit, raw honesty, and a daughter’s wardrobe as her armor. Smith’s writing is both comic and devastating, and Heflin’s performance is nothing short of revelatory. If you have ever asked “Why don’t women leave?” — or if you have been the woman asking it — this is the play you need to see.

MIA M.I.A. at La Mama in New York NY. Courtesy lamama.org
Off Broadway
Edward A Kliszus

Where Shadows Breathe and Grief Takes Flight: Mia M.I.A. at La MaMa

Mia M.I.A. is a breathtaking fusion of shadow puppetry, live hip-hop, and afro-futurist storytelling that transforms grief into transcendence. Charlotte Lily Gaspard and the Midnight Radio Show collective have crafted an intimate, genre-defying masterwork at La MaMa that every lover of daring, heartfelt theater should seek out—and follow into whatever enchanted dimension they conjure next.

ISLA: Conjures Cuba at the WP Theater

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