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Ana Gasteyer

Once Upon a Mattress

August 17, 2024

Foster is a joy as the princess from the swamps who can swim, lift weights, dance all night, commit multiple contortions as she tries to get a good night sleep, and field any disaster that comes her way including the queen’s disdain. She is quick on her feet and in her tongue. She also stops the show with her rendition of the score’s most famous song “Shy” (used as the title to Mary Rodgers’ memoir published in 2022) but she is also memorable singing “The Swamps of Home” and “Happily Ever After,” with their witty lyrics by Barer, who often collaborated with Mary Rodgers. Is there anything she can’t do and anything she can’t make funny? [more]

A New Brain

June 30, 2015

The very talented and youthful Jonathan Groff is excellent as Gordon. His charming presence known from his work on stage (Spring Awakening, Hair) and on television (Glee, Looking) adds considerably in filling out the role of Gordon. He also has the advantage of having the most developed and sympathetic part. [more]

The Threepenny Opera

March 5, 2006

The best way to imagine what has happened to the beggars, the bourgeoisie, the pimps and whores, and the sordid denizens of the underworld in this operatic rant on the evils of capitalism is to think of a Cirque du Soleil troupe on Valium and under neon (what was lighting designer Jason Lyons thinking?). Worst of all, it is plodding and dull and an eyesore thanks to Isaac Mizrahi's Halloween-on-Fire-Island costuming. [more]