Audrey Moyce

The title of Amanda Duarte's show at Joe's Pub, STAYING ALIVE, suggests that she is hanging by a thread. Perhaps the desperation implied in the title led me to think we'd see Duarte portraying a woman in the middle of a crisis. Instead, we were given a still-struggling-but-mostly-strutting-on-the-other-side-of-trauma kickass woman, captivating us with her presence, singing, playful dancing, and storytelling.

Murray Hill's debut solo show, ABOUT TO BREAK, officially opened Friday night (September 21), at Joe's Pub. Though he has been performing for over two decades, this solo show marked a first for him: a career show, as he put it. New York Voices, Joe's Pub at The Public's artist commissioning program, gave him unprecedented resources---his first time working with a director (Scott Wittman), space, budget, rehearsal, a full six-show run. All these things that, as he said, makes it possible to 'actually do creative development.'

If you've heard of Adrienne Truscott's work, the title of her current show, ADRIENNE TRUSCOTT'S A ONE TRICK PONY (OR ANDY KAUFMAN IS A FEMINIST PERFORMANCE ARTIST AND I'M A COMEDIAN), is self-explanatory: she last made waves with ADRIENNE TRUSCOTT'S ASKING FOR IT, a comedy special in which she stood on stage, naked from the waist down, and told rape jokes for an hour. So why is it, Truscott asks, that a woman who has just told a bunch of jokes is labeled a feminist performance artist, while Andy Kaufman, a man who never told a single joke, was labeled a comedian? Isn't it, Truscott asks, ironic?

Salty Brine has made what is becoming a familiar move: reckon with your beloved art works which time has "revealed" to be problematic (by which I mean, you have become aware enough to realize this; it was problematic from the beginning).

Byron Lane's meditation on the artifice and projection of fame and celebrity is brilliantly explored through the prism of Tom Lenk's exquisitely crafted performance in TILDA SWINTON ANSWERS AN AD ON CRAIGSLIST, which ran March 16-25 at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. CRAIGSLIST's Tilda is almost better than the real thing, because she is utterly raw in being herself, and Lenk was a treat to behold for all of the show's 80-odd minutes; his performance and Lane's writing were equally superb.

There is something about today's political climate that demands acknowledgment in almost every setting. Provided you can be certain that your opinion will be shared by most of the room, you will probably bring up something related to our president, his tweets, or your own concerns about one or both.

SADONNA: THE SAD SONGS OF MADONNA. Such a title for Miguel Gutierrez's first full evening at Joe's Pub begs the question: why sad songs, and why Madonna? Gutierrez admitted early on that he came up with the name before he came up with anything else, but also that hatching this plan for a show had given him the realization that Madonna had, in fact, been a part of his life for a long time.

Cristin Milioti's career has spanned film, television, theater, and music. Though I, personally, know her work solely from her season on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, I had heard of the roles she originated in both ONCE on Broadway, as well as David Bowie & Enda Walsh's LAZARUS at New York Theatre Workshop. So when I went to her concert at Joe's Pub on August 17, I had no doubt that I was in for a virtuosic performance of sorts.