Jacob Subotnick

The Battles of Richmond Hill

May 3, 2019

It is a well crafted story of a feisty seventy-something Sheila O’Connor (Nora Chester who does feisty beautifully) whose grandson, physician Brian O’Connor (an earnest Jordan Ahnquist), who worries about her believes she would be better off in a retirement community in New Jersey. Brian tries to force the issue by telling Sheila that he has packed her a suitcase and is parked down the block waiting for her to accompany him to New Jersey. [more]

Up the Rabbit Hole

September 27, 2017

Besides harboring a dwindling dream to become a dancer, thanks to a leg injury, Halliday’s dramatic stand-in, Jack (Tyler Jones), an adoptee, also has to contend with the overwhelming repercussions of having tracked down his biological family, which includes an adult half-brother (Andrew Glaszek) with his own substance-abuse demons. That’s a lot for 90 minutes, and Halliday, despite a valiant effort, can’t keep his play from sinking under the weight of it all. [more]

Hedy! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr

June 28, 2017

The show also explores Lamarr’s improbable career as an inventor. She and composer George Antheil held a patent for a miniaturized player-piano mechanism that was synchronized with radio signals. They donated it to the U.S. Navy who neglected it. This technology was instrumental to the U.S. Defense Department in dealing with The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Their invention is used today in cell phones, WiFi, CDMA, GPS, Bluetooth and military satellites. [more]

Leah, the Forsaken

February 26, 2017

Nevertheless, while the play is startlingly not politically correct, the acting is of a high caliber. In the title role, Regina Gibson (who appeared last season in the rediscovered operetta "The Golden Bride" by the National Yiddish Opera Folksbiene) gives an impassioned, persuasive performance. In the ingénue roles, Jon Berry (Rudolf) and Noelia Antweiler (Madalena) are charming. Jeffrey Grover captures all of the self-righteousness of the bigoted schoolmaster Berthold. Joe Candelora as the Magistrate Lorenz and Ron Nummi as the Doctor and Barber (which he never stops telling us) give hearty, comic portrayals. The rest of the large cast of 15 also throw themselves into their respective roles. [more]

Safe

September 21, 2016

"Safe" is crammed with so much dysfunction and adolescent angst that if its adult language were excised it would make a perfect "ABC Afterschool Special," if those were still being produced. Instead, it’s an earnest but flat social drama. [more]

The Goodbye Room

March 14, 2016

Eric Gilde’s new drama, "The Goodbye Room," realistically and powerfully captures a family’s journey after losing a loved one. The worst of times always seems to bring the deepest of emotions to the surface as we prepare to say good-bye to someone close to us, while also dealing with the family and friends that surround us in our time of need. It is not only difficult for a family as a unit, but it individually takes a toll, as each member deals with grief in a different way. The result is a storyline that is eye opening, stirring and poignant. [more]