By Charlotte Lytton 11/14/12 4:07pm

DANCING QUEENS

new-york-at-christmas

The Rockettes: Kids Captivated, Adults Skeptical

It would appear that there is an unwritten rule in show business which states that anything related to the festive season must be as suffocatingly cheesy as possible, and The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City certainly delivers. In a show consisting of live camels onstage, 3-D interludes and costumes that made Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat look like a potato sack, the all singing, all dancing troupe undeniably put on a show. But that show felt a bit like being on an acid trip in Lapland. Read More

By Rex Reed 10/05/11 10:25am

cabaret

Akers.

Send in the Karens!

Learning to sing the complicated songs of Stephen Sondheim fluently, remain rue to your own style, and examine fresh interpretations at the same time is a challenge few singers have managed to master. Karen Akers is the rare exception. In her ravishing new show at the Algonquin’s fabled Oak Room (through Oct. 29) she looks at the brilliant composer’s erratic tempos and captivating lyrics through a magnifying glass, finding new meanings under, behind and on the edges of lyrics less courageous performers inevitably pass over. The result is adventurous and thrilling. Read More

By Una LaMarche 1/25/11 10:09pm

TV

MTV's Skins: The Kids Aren't All Right

I hate to break it to you like this, but teenagers sometimes have sex. And do drugs. And behave like hedonistic, narcissist jerks. OMFG, right? In a world in which reality TV stars defecate on camera and sex tapes are traded for stardom, horny high-schoolers shouldn’t be headline news. But Skins, MTV’s hyper-hyped, oversexed remake Read More

By Molly Fischer 8/19/10 8:29pm

NYTBR's Verdict on Freedom

New York Times Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus has rendered judgment on Freedom. He seems to like it!

Jonathan Franzen’s new novel, “Freedom,” like his previous one, “The Corrections,” is a masterpiece of American fiction. The two books have much in common. Once again Franzen has fashioned a capacious but intricately ordered Read More

By Zeke Turner 5/26/10 5:06pm

Number Two: Sex in The City 2 Reviews

“The only thing memorable about Sex and the City 2 is the number two part, which describes it totally, if you get my drift,” wrote The Observer‘s Rex Reed in his review of the film for this week’s issue.

“Sarah Jessica Parker looks better after her face mole was surgically removed,” Mr. Reed added. Read More