Nicholle Manners
Nicholle Manners
Recent Stories
“Brilliant Disguise: AN ANIMORPHS MUSICAL”
After four years at Yale, I’ve pretty much mastered the delicate art of argument via tangent. Yet I will forever marvel at the merging of culturally iconic science fiction, interpretive dance and Bruce Springsteen in one grand, theatrical tribute to pre-pubescent nostalgia.
What the ‘hell’ is going on?
Dante’s “Divine Comedy” is a staple of the so-called western canon. Aged and distinguished — though mostly just aged — like fine wine and pungent cheese, it’s the classic man’s classic.
Truth being dropped over beats
Contemporary hip-hop: ideal for working out, chilling out and rocking out. Yet, embedded in its entrancing hooks and steady beats are memoirs deemed unsuitable for publication. “Do you listen to the music, or do you listen to the fat beats?”
He said, She said, ‘Bone’ harmonizes
Who ever thought of Antarctica for a honeymoon? Or poetry that really comes alive? Or a love song that dares to tell the unfiltered truth? Apparently, experimental playwright André Gregory did.
Experience Salome’s sexecution
Only the Victorian Era could merge elements of the Bible, striptease, necrophilia and a temper tantrum.
Get nostalgic, get stoned with ‘John and Jen’
“Flower children of the ’60s” turned “fascist parents of the ’80s.”
Incestuous, bipolar, Best Western ‘Love’ story
In elementary school, we all learned the West was won, the West was done. But playwright Sam Shepard has a different idea. His “Fool for Love” resurrects the fabled Old West, adapting it from the screen to the stage, from the range … to a dingy motel room.
Disturbing, daring ‘Dancing in the Dark’
Largely-forgotten legend Bert Williams was a foundational figure in American theater, an inspiration to the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the first major African American performer on Broadway — and a “real coon.”
Cabaret not ‘Dancing’ around politics
“Dancing in the Dark,” an original musical that premieres Thursday, aims to celebrate the life and work of this seminal figure of American theater. The musical highlights different forms of theater from Williams’ era — the minstrel show and burlesque — woven into scenes from his life.
‘Usher’ fetishizes Poe’s classic
While perusing the sordid tales of Edgar Allen Poe in high school English, you probably thought they’d only come to life in your then-disturbed and reeling head. You were wrong.