Sarah Vander Schaaff

Sarah Vander Schaaff

Sarah Maraniss Vander Schaaff is a freelance writer and playwright. As a journalist, her work appears in many national outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times, HuffPost, and others. With a background in theatre and journalism, she loves creative endeavors, artistic people, and Early Grey tea. She lives near Princeton, New Jersey with her husband and two children. Follow her at @writeonsarah and www.writeonsarah.com or email: sarahvander@icloud.com  or her new venture about her historic home in Maine: The Judges House. 






MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

BWW Interview: FULLY COMMITTED Starring Maulik Pancholy 
 is Perfection at George Street Playhouse
BWW Interview: FULLY COMMITTED Starring Maulik Pancholy is Perfection at George Street Playhouse
March 23, 2021

Grab take-out and stream this delightful comedy starring Maulik Pancholy, best known for playing Alec Baldwin's assistant in 30 Rock, his hit debut novel, and his advocacy with ActToChange, an anti-bullying organization including the AAIP community.

BWW Review: GOODNIGHT NOBODY at McCarter Theatre-A New Play Featuring Dana Delany
BWW Review: GOODNIGHT NOBODY at McCarter Theatre-A New Play Featuring Dana Delany
January 31, 2020

GOODNIGHT NOBODY, a new play by Rachel Bonds, now running at McCarter, is set in a farmhouse in upstate New York. The house belongs to Mara, played by Emmy-Award winner Dana Delany. Much of the plot revolves around her adult son and his friends, whose lives and yearnings are woven into her own; to one she is a mother, but to the others she is their lover, or potential mentor in art or parenting.

BWW Review: FRANKENSTEIN at McCarter is a Beautiful Creation
BWW Review: FRANKENSTEIN at McCarter is a Beautiful Creation
October 23, 2019

Forget green monsters and macabre plundering of graveyards, this production, whose script was adapted from the novel by director David Catlin, is as much about beauty and creation as it is about the abyss of death and loss.

BWW Review: GLORIA: A LIFE at McCarter with Mary McDonnell
BWW Review: GLORIA: A LIFE at McCarter with Mary McDonnell
September 23, 2019

Mary McDonnell, with celebrity star-power of her own, is a perfect Gloria Steinem, in 'GLORIA: A LIFE' at McCarter. McDonnell navigates the play's quick scenes and moments of vulnerability with dexterity and glides easily into the public persona of Gloria we are most familiar with - confident, clear, brave, and unifying in her inclusion of different experiences of inequity.

BWW Review: TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Princeton Summer Theater brings Pulitzer-prize winning drama to town!
BWW Review: TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Princeton Summer Theater brings Pulitzer-prize winning drama to town!
August 12, 2019

Actors Travis Raeburn and Nathaniel J. Ryan are fascinating to watch in the roles of Booth and Lincoln, brothers in TOPDOG/UNDERDOG, the Pulitzer-prize winning play by Suzan-Lori Parks now running at Princeton Summer Theater.

BWW Review: DEATHTRAP at Princeton Summer Theater Surprises
BWW Review: DEATHTRAP at Princeton Summer Theater Surprises
July 8, 2019

C. Luke Soucy steps into the role of 'washed-up thriller playwright' Sidney Bruhl confidently, exuding a deft connection with the wit, tempo, and maturity of the character. Abby Melick, as the eccentric and prophetic Helga Ten Dorp, is another PST regular, who once again shines with her comic timing and captivating connection to character.

BWW Review: THE NICETIES is a Lesson for Today
BWW Review: THE NICETIES is a Lesson for Today
January 23, 2019

The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess, having been performed at the Huntington Theatre Company and Manhattan Theatre Club, makes its way to McCarter Theatre Center's Berlind Theatre, a fitting arena for a play set during a history professor's office hours.

DETROIT '67 at McCarter - A Family's Pivotal Summer in the Motor City!
DETROIT '67 at McCarter - A Family's Pivotal Summer in the Motor City!
October 18, 2018

DETROIT '67 is part of Morisseau's 'The Detroit Project,' a 3-play cycle inspired by her connection to the city. This production's story, said director Jade King Caroll, is grounded in family. No matter what might be happening in the world outside, 'you always have your family,' she said.

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE Enchants at McCarter!
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE Enchants at McCarter!
September 20, 2018

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE at McCarter Theatre feels like a respite from a shameless world. Dripping with elegance and elevated decorum of New York society circa 1870, the play, however, is anything but remote. It seems to speak to the quieter reality most of us still remember-the one waiting for permission to matter once again. Not one of elite social circles, but of contemplation and self-knowledge, even when they hurt.

THE BALTIMORE WALTZ at PST Moves!
THE BALTIMORE WALTZ at PST Moves!
August 13, 2018

Princeton Summer Theater wraps up the summer season with Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz, a moving production featuring three strong actors. Director Nico Krell hits the right notes. Sean Peter Drohan is endearing and honest. Evan Gedrich is versatile and dexterous. Abby Melick does a masterful job, as usual, filling the character Anna with enough heart and purpose to carry a complicated role through to the final dance. Through August 19th.

TICK,TICK...BOOM! Finds Harmony at Princeton Summer Theater!
TICK,TICK...BOOM! Finds Harmony at Princeton Summer Theater!
June 28, 2018

TICK, TICK…BOOM! an autobiographical pop musical based on the life of composer Jonathan Larson (RENT), kicks off the Princeton Summer Theater season with an intimate portrayal of a young artist's countdown to success or failure.

BWW Review: TURNING OFF THE MORNING NEWS at McCarter Theatre Center is On
BWW Review: TURNING OFF THE MORNING NEWS at McCarter Theatre Center is On
May 15, 2018

Christopher Durang's world premiere of TURNING OFF THE MORNING NEWS at McCarter Theatre Center is a bold dark comedy for today's anxieties. A stellar cast and memorable characters offer a trip into the absurd reality of life.

BWW Review: STONES IN HIS POCKETS Delights at McCarter Theatre
BWW Review: STONES IN HIS POCKETS Delights at McCarter Theatre
February 1, 2018

STONES IN HIS POCKETS, running at McCarter Theatre Center through February 11, has a cast of two. But Irish actors Garret Lombard and Aaron Monaghan portray dozens of characters in Marie Jones' hit play about villagers in County Kerry thrust into excitement and heartache when a Hollywood movie comes to town to film.

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at McCarter Brings Joy
BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at McCarter Brings Joy
December 18, 2017

Greg Wood as Scrooge delights in McCarter Theatre Center's production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. If there was every a time for the redemptive promise of Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL, this is it.

BWW Review: SIMPATICO at McCarter Rocks
BWW Review: SIMPATICO at McCarter Rocks
September 22, 2017

SIMPATICO, A Red Orchid Theatre production, now on stage at McCarter Theatre Center, comes to Princeton just three months after its playwright, Sam Shepard died. But from the start, even in the dark and before the electric Michael Shannon speaks his first lines, the air is charged with the spirit of the prolific playwright. Something unexpected is going to happen.

BWW Review: APPROPRIATE at Princeton Summer Theater Stirs Family Feud
BWW Review: APPROPRIATE at Princeton Summer Theater Stirs Family Feud
August 13, 2017

APPROPRIATE by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an intriguing, intimate family drama that asks the right questions. Princeton Summer Theater's ensemble delivers.

SPIDERS WEB at Princeton Summer Theater Spins Christie Mystery with Style
SPIDERS WEB at Princeton Summer Theater Spins Christie Mystery with Style
July 13, 2017

SPIDER'S WEB at Princeton Summer Theater Spins Christie Mystery with Style. PST production is a delightful, intimate piece, with the ebullient charm of an entertaining and mysterious dinner guest from the past.

BWW Feature: PIPPIN Plays at Princeton Summer Theater!
BWW Feature: PIPPIN Plays at Princeton Summer Theater!
June 27, 2017

PIPPIN plays at Princeton Summer Theater, bringing the music of Stephen Schwartz.

BWW Review: INTIMATE APPAREL at McCarter Theatre Embraces
BWW Review: INTIMATE APPAREL at McCarter Theatre Embraces
May 18, 2017

Forgotten lives of history take center stage in Lynn Nottage's INTIMATE APPAREL at McCarter Theatre.

BWW Review: It's BEDLAM at McCarter with SAINT JOAN and HAMLET
BWW Review: It's BEDLAM at McCarter with SAINT JOAN and HAMLET
January 26, 2017

SAINT JOAN at McCarter is as timely as ever.



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