Barry Singer (on The ARTS and Otherwise)

MASTERVOICES: "Sins and Grace"

I had a small epiphany at Alice Tully Hall recently but it passed.

Apr 8 • Barry Singer

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February 2026

"HIGH SPIRITS:" 'Encores!' Revives Itself

Encores! pulled off not one but four revivals this month with its singular production of a little-known yet eminently worthy 1964 musical called High…

Feb 23 • Barry Singer

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January 2026

"TWO STRANGERS (CARRY A CAKE ACROSS NEW YORK" & "MAYBE HAPPY ENDING:" Two-By-Two

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) feels like a wave of the future.

Jan 29 • Barry Singer

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December 2025

"OEDIPUS:" The Candidate Self-Smeared

Oedipus is a tough one.

Dec 30, 2025 • Barry Singer

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"SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS:" Match me, Sidney

I walked into MasterVoices’ recent concert revival of the musical Sweet Smell of Success at Jazz @ L.C.’s Rose Theater carrying a lot of baggage; or…

Dec 13, 2025 • Barry Singer

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"QUEEN OF VERSAILLES:" The Country Takes A Bow

I called Stephen Schwartz to talk about Queen of Versailles after I saw it.

Dec 6, 2025 • Barry Singer

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November 2025

"LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD:" Grasping For Life Behind A Screen

Sometimes you turn up the TV to hear better; other times, to hear better, you just turn it off.

Nov 28, 2025 • Barry Singer

"BAT BOY:" A Bloody Fountain of Youth

I am not really the audience for Bat Boy: The Musical, so I’m writing about its recent high-octane revival at Encores! as an outsider looking in — kinda…

Nov 17, 2025 • Barry Singer

"ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS:" Sing Out Loramentum

Oratorio for Living Things, by the recently-MacArthur-awarded composer Heather Christian, has its own antecedents but is still unlike almost anything…

Nov 13, 2025 • Barry Singer

"RAGTIME:" NOW!

The devastating new production of Ragtime that just opened at Lincoln Center Theater has hurled me back in time to the original Ragtime, which I first…

Nov 3, 2025 • Barry Singer

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October 2025

TROUBLE? Right Here in River City?

We are back.

Oct 13, 2025 • Barry Singer

August 2025

Two Good Books: "SEEING THROUGH" & "THEATER KID"

This is not a book review.

Aug 27, 2025 • Barry Singer

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