Nevin Steinberg Archives - TheaterScene.net

Nevin Steinberg

We Are Your Robots

November 25, 2024

While the musicians are exemplary, it is Lipton who does the heavy lifting in the show. With what amounts to a very witty hosting duty, his singing voice is one that is rich and quite comfortable in various genres. Director Leigh Silverman keeps him moving and talking at all times, always engaging the audience even when he is being upstaged by his “Grandpa Morrie,” a Roomba that speaks (and sings) in Roomba-ese. Morrie has the audience wrapped around his finger, rather circuitry, when Lipton asks him to wait backstage and Morrie can’t make it back up the ramp without help. Morrie later duets with Lipton and at one moment stops cold. Lipton’s attempts at restarting Morrie fail (is this what Roomba death looks like?) until bass player Riggs offers a battery from his own mouth to recharge Morrie. The whole audience goes “Awww” and applauds. [more]

Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune

June 15, 2019

Given references to "Prizzi’s Honor," "Looking for Mr. Goodbar, " Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond, and VCRs, the otherwise effective revival of "Frankie and Johnny"--now on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre--can feel rather dated. The play debuted, after all, in 1987, and McNally’s ambition for realism makes such references natural, if not exactly necessary. But it’s still a substantial look at a one-night stand between Frankie, a waitress, and Johnny, a short-order cook at the same off-stage restaurant. [more]

Smart People

February 24, 2016

The satire begins early: it turns out that although the department likes having Brian doing his research proving that whites are genetically racist, they are not happy with his conclusions. Although Jackson may be the smartest doctor in the room, he has trouble working with others and bending to authority on the job. Although Valerie has a Harvard degree, she cleans houses to pay her rent which ticks off her upper middle-class mother. However, she is not pleased when she attends an audition for “Mary, the social worker” and is asked instead to read for the part of “Shlonda” from the ‘hood. Ginny finds that her therapy clients perceive her as white, but she knows that in the talk of race in America, she is invisible as race is defined as between blacks and whites in modern discourse. [more]