Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test

The Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test is our personal and highly opinionated Commuter's Guide to New York theater and cultural events, with an emphasis on Broadway and Off-Broadway theatrical productions. The test is simple: is an event worth the always expensive, time consuming, and too often horrendous struggle to commute to New York City from New Jersey, Long Island, Upstate New York or Connecticut? Only truly great or near-great performances and productions may meet this stiff challenge!

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Location: Princeton, New Jersey, United States

James Camner is an antiquarian dealer of autographs, manuscripts and printed music and books of Opera, Classical Music, Theater, Dance, and Film, as well as a published author of more than 10 books on the performing arts including "How to Enjoy Opera" (Simon and Schuster), "The Great Opera Stars in Historic Photographs" (Dover), "Stars of American Musical Theater in Historic Photographs" (Dover - with Stanley Appelbaum); was for over 20 years a reviewer for Fanfare Magazine and has written feature articles and reviews for Opera News.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Reasons to Be Pretty, a play by Neil LaBute at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Starring Alison Pill, Piper Perabo, Pablo Schreiber and Thomas Sadoski, directed by Terry Kinney. The third play in a trilogy that began with "The Shape of Things" and "Fat Pig," "Reasons to Be Pretty" is a superb meditation on what it means to be beautiful, to be faithful, to love, and above all, to grow and mature. Crackling with vintage LaBute dialog and pacing, "Reasons to Be Pretty" is tremendous entertainment, and is brilliantly played by a quartet led by the versatile young dynamo Pablo Schreiber (whose range is once again demonstrated); the fearless Alison Pill whose coiled fury unwinds with moving tenderness and warmth in perhaps her most complete performance; beautiful Piper Perabo in a spectacular stage debut; and Thomas Sadoski as the moving protagonist who painfully grows up at last. This is one of the finest works of perhaps the most facile scribe in the business. Despite the miserable weather outside, and a grueling and never ending commute, we were thrilled by "Reasons to be Pretty." A

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