Photo from the show Pink border doodle

Stage Version of Series Maybe Not Strange Enough

A review of Stranger Things: The First Shadow by David Finkle | April 23, 2025

Oh, yes, special effects are a huge explanation for the Stranger Things series raison d’etre, and now the production’s Great White Way patrons have renowned stage craftspersons at their disposal. Credits go to lighting designer Jon Clark, sound designer Paul Arditti, illusions and visual effects designers Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher, and video and visual effects designers 59. Again and sorry to say, these are abundant but not as overwhelming as expected.

Keep Reading

Pope/Bettany Elevate ‘The Collaboration’ Into Art Worth Contemplating

Ran Xia | December 20, 2022

One of them paved a path of his own ascending to artistic godhood by glorifying the mundane; the other painted SAMO (meaning the Same Old Sh*t) criticizing the very idea of repetition. One of them broke down the wall between art and business; for the other, walls didn’t mean a thing. One saw beauty, immortality, […]

Read More

Complex Men and Caricatures of Women Are Caught ‘Between Riverside and Crazy’

Bedatri D.Choudhury | December 19, 2022

Walter “Pops” Washington, as he self-describes in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Pulitzer-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy, is “a flesh and blood, pee standing up, registered Republican.” He is also a litigious former cop caught within the crossroads of bureaucracy, racism, life as a widower, and a fast-gentrifying Riverside Drive. He also happens to be Black. […]

Read More