Laura Collins-Hughes
@collinshughes.bsky.social
Reporter/critic writing about theater, mostly. • Posting about theater, culture, journalism, NYC. • The world of the play has its own rules. • Curiosity saved the cat. • Freelance. • [email protected]
Plenty of notable non-holiday-related shows happening Off Broadway and beyond this month. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/t...
13 Plays (and 2 Festivals) to Invigorate Your December
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Plenty of notable non-holiday-related shows happening Off Broadway and beyond this month. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/t...
This essay is invaluable. www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
‘There was rage and pain and iron in him’: Patrick Marber on the great hits – and fond smokes – he had with Tom Stoppard
The director worked with theatre colossus Tom Stoppard on two smash hits. Here, he remembers their heated rehearsals, the night they stayed up watching Jaws – and the last four cigarettes they smoked ...
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:27 PM
This essay is invaluable. www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
I had to leave a beautiful thing that Tim Curry said about Stoppard on the cutting-room floor. To Curry, the payoff of properly honoring the brilliance of Stoppard’s language in performance is the joy of the audience: “You can almost see them reaching up their hands in the air to catch a sentence.”
Artists remember Tom Stoppard. By Jesse Green and Michael Paulson, with one contribution from me. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
Glenn Close, Ethan Hawke and Others Mourn Tom Stoppard
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I had to leave a beautiful thing that Tim Curry said about Stoppard on the cutting-room floor. To Curry, the payoff of properly honoring the brilliance of Stoppard’s language in performance is the joy of the audience: “You can almost see them reaching up their hands in the air to catch a sentence.”
Artists remember Tom Stoppard. By Jesse Green and Michael Paulson, with one contribution from me. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
Glenn Close, Ethan Hawke and Others Mourn Tom Stoppard
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Artists remember Tom Stoppard. By Jesse Green and Michael Paulson, with one contribution from me. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
“Pay attention to the patterns of power grabs, infighting, the disintegration of the rule of law. See Macbeth. And I, Claudius. And the wealth and power imbalances just before the French Revolution. And yes, read Nineteen Eighty-Four. Again.”
‘If I was American, I’d be worried about my country’: Margaret Atwood answers questions from Ai Weiwei, Rebecca Solnit and more
‘If I was American, I’d be worried about my country’: Margaret Atwood answers questions from Ai Weiwei, Rebecca Solnit and more
Democracy, birds and hangover cures – famous fans put their questions to the visionary author
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:36 PM
“Pay attention to the patterns of power grabs, infighting, the disintegration of the rule of law. See Macbeth. And I, Claudius. And the wealth and power imbalances just before the French Revolution. And yes, read Nineteen Eighty-Four. Again.”
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
“Last Candle” is a Jill Sobule original she wrote among songs for the stageplay “Yentl.” She taught us this music when Isle of Klezbos performed for the project a decade ago. We share this tribute from 6/24/2025 at Joe’s Pub, dedicated as a memorial to Jill (with her own intro)
youtu.be/SImrCOCtODg
youtu.be/SImrCOCtODg
Isle of Klezbos plays Jill Sobule’s “Last Candle”: Music from Yentl tribute at Joe’s Pub
YouTube video by Eve Sicular
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
“Last Candle” is a Jill Sobule original she wrote among songs for the stageplay “Yentl.” She taught us this music when Isle of Klezbos performed for the project a decade ago. We share this tribute from 6/24/2025 at Joe’s Pub, dedicated as a memorial to Jill (with her own intro)
youtu.be/SImrCOCtODg
youtu.be/SImrCOCtODg
It’s hard to set audience expectations for a biographical show when it’s non-hagiographic in the extreme but the subjects are involved in its making.
November 25, 2025 at 12:25 AM
It’s hard to set audience expectations for a biographical show when it’s non-hagiographic in the extreme but the subjects are involved in its making.
(gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/t...
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Musicals
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:21 PM
(gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/t...
On “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” starring Kara Young and Nicholas Braun at the Lortel. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ Review: Does It Hurt?
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM
On “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” starring Kara Young and Nicholas Braun at the Lortel. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
On "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)," on Broadway. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/t...
‘Two Strangers’ Review: Meeting Cute, Toting Baggage
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:12 AM
On "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)," on Broadway. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/t...
On Tom Hanks in “This World of Tomorrow,” the time-travel romance play based on his short stories, also starring Kelli O’Hara, at the Shed. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/t...
‘This World of Tomorrow’ Review: Tom Hanks Is Back in Town
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:39 AM
On Tom Hanks in “This World of Tomorrow,” the time-travel romance play based on his short stories, also starring Kelli O’Hara, at the Shed. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/t...
Side effect of seeing "The Seat of Our Pants": catching yourself going around cheerfully humming "The World Is Ending."
November 15, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Side effect of seeing "The Seat of Our Pants": catching yourself going around cheerfully humming "The World Is Ending."
"Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet" is only at City Center through Sunday, but if you love that album, GO. It is so beautifully done — music, dance, design. And then there is Pete, walking on with a guitar, sitting down stage right and playing "I'm One." Exquisite.
November 15, 2025 at 3:11 AM
"Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet" is only at City Center through Sunday, but if you love that album, GO. It is so beautifully done — music, dance, design. And then there is Pete, walking on with a guitar, sitting down stage right and playing "I'm One." Exquisite.
Guy walking down the aisle pre-ballet to guy walking up the aisle: "You look so dapper, man." Then, lowering his voice, to the woman he was with: "I gotta get a stylist for the Dance Hall of Fame."
November 15, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Guy walking down the aisle pre-ballet to guy walking up the aisle: "You look so dapper, man." Then, lowering his voice, to the woman he was with: "I gotta get a stylist for the Dance Hall of Fame."
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
Shocked to hear of the death of Rachel Cooke at 56 — I didn’t even know she was ill. I always enjoyed reading her reviews and features: she brightened any page of the paper.
Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Shocked to hear of the death of Rachel Cooke at 56 — I didn’t even know she was ill. I always enjoyed reading her reviews and features: she brightened any page of the paper.
On Ethan Lipton’s new musical “The Seat of Our Pants” at the Public, starring an indelible Ruthie Ann Miles in a dream-team cast. That first act? *Stunning*. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/t...
‘The Seat of Our Pants’ Review: Songs for the World’s End
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:26 PM
On Ethan Lipton’s new musical “The Seat of Our Pants” at the Public, starring an indelible Ruthie Ann Miles in a dream-team cast. That first act? *Stunning*. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/t...
There are times when I’m really glad I can read a story in Nexis rather than add my click to the pile.
November 14, 2025 at 7:11 PM
There are times when I’m really glad I can read a story in Nexis rather than add my click to the pile.
(I didn’t really buy this “Oedipus.”)
November 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
(I didn’t really buy this “Oedipus.”)
“The Baker’s Wife” at Classic Stage Company is so “Only Murders in the Building”-coded. First, there’s Scott Bakula’s really lovely and moving performance as Aimable, the baker. Then right around the corner is a Schmackary’s.
November 14, 2025 at 5:55 AM
“The Baker’s Wife” at Classic Stage Company is so “Only Murders in the Building”-coded. First, there’s Scott Bakula’s really lovely and moving performance as Aimable, the baker. Then right around the corner is a Schmackary’s.
Hell of a news cycle to be playing Jocasta in Robert Icke's spin on "Oedipus."
November 13, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Hell of a news cycle to be playing Jocasta in Robert Icke's spin on "Oedipus."
The Public has added “Seagull: True Story” to its season, running March 22-April 26. Really good news.
I know: You don’t need to see another riff on Chekhov’s “Seagull.” Except you do! Alexander Molochnikov and Eli Rarey’s “Seagull: True Story” is bold, intelligent, funny, chilling, freewheeling, sly. An unsettlingly timely tale of artistry and tyranny, at La MaMa through June 1.
📷 Frederick Charles
📷 Frederick Charles
November 12, 2025 at 7:14 PM
The Public has added “Seagull: True Story” to its season, running March 22-April 26. Really good news.
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
I got this useful bon mot from a middle school teacher recently.
In response to, “I DONT UNDERSTAND,” he calmly said, “okay what steps have you taken to understand?”
And that’s when I realized that a lot of folks have no steps.
In response to, “I DONT UNDERSTAND,” he calmly said, “okay what steps have you taken to understand?”
And that’s when I realized that a lot of folks have no steps.
November 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I got this useful bon mot from a middle school teacher recently.
In response to, “I DONT UNDERSTAND,” he calmly said, “okay what steps have you taken to understand?”
And that’s when I realized that a lot of folks have no steps.
In response to, “I DONT UNDERSTAND,” he calmly said, “okay what steps have you taken to understand?”
And that’s when I realized that a lot of folks have no steps.
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
Let Men Read Books
November 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Let Men Read Books