Cathy Hammer

Mother Russia When I went to Russia as a child, my parents and I brought Skippy, Hanes, and Levis to a friend’s niece in Moscow.  All the best restaurants only took American dollars, which were unavailable to lo…

Will Mother Russia have you seeing Red? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2026/03/03/m... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Chinese Republicans In Chinese Republicans, four women of Chinese heritage and spanning three generations are gathered for an Affinity Luncheon near their New York City office.  As co-workers at a stressful inter…

Will Chinese Republicans get your vote? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2026/02/27/c... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Not Nobody Retired professor McAlester Daily does not want to be labeled.  Given the nature of a spectrum, he posits, aren’t we all on it?  True, he insists on clarity: of the questions being asked of him and…

Are you somebody who will enjoy Not Nobody? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2026/02/16/n... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

The First Line of Dante’s Inferno The presiding character in The First Line of Dante’s Inferno has no lines, but dominates and literally overhangs the dialogue.  It is the dark outlying woods represented by Lauren Helpern’s evocati…

How heavenly is The First Line of Dante's Inferno? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2026/02/09/t... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

The Opening The lead character of the new musical The Opening is Newton Anderson, a nerdy, sweet 17 year old. When he’s not compulsively playing chess, he’s daydreaming about his classmate Jenny or doing the h…

Will you want to participate in the launch of The Opening? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2026/01/20/t... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Juxtapose: A Theatrical Shadow Box At the intersection of visual art, movement, music, and the written word lives the collaborative company Happenstance Theater.  Under the Artistic Co-Direction of Mark Jaster and Sabrina Selma…

What will be revealed to you in Juxtapose? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2026/01/14/j... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Predictor Too few productions hit that magical sweet spot of addressing a pressing issue while remaining entertaining and even funny.  This is what makes Predictor such a refreshing addition to the wint…

Do I see tickets to Predictor in your future? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/12/15/p... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Lennox Mutual Post pandemic lockdown, I have taken an interest in theater that can be enjoyed from home.  There are many people with mobility, childcare, and transportation issues who deserve to be thorough…

Will you buy what Lennox Mutual is selling? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/12/04/l... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Archduke Of all the action leading up to World War I, the chapter most remembered by students of that era is the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the vast Austro-Hungary empi…

Is Archduke getting the attention it royally deserves? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/12/01/a... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Friends! The Unauthorized Musical Parody My friends will confirm:  I am not a Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte or Samantha.  I am a Monica.  If that doesn’t conjure up a distinct image, Friends! The Unauthorized Musical Parody is…

Will you take a break to see Friends! The Unauthorized Musical Parody? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/11/24/f... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Meet the Cartozians What establishes our identity?  Skin color?  Language?  Scientific evidence?  In a country comprised primarily of immigrants, how do we balance our cultural heritage with our re…

How will you greet Meet the Cartozians? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/11/19/m... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Robert Icke’s Oedipus Restrict your liquids and buckle up for the ride.  Robert Icke’s multiple Olivier Award Winning Oedipus has landed on Broadway.  The writer/director phenom transforms the 2500 year old Greek myth t…

Are you destined to see Oedipus on Broadway? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/11/14/r... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem In June of 1943, Malcolm Little and John Elroy Sanford crossed paths as dishwashers in the same Harlem fried chicken joint.  At ages 19 and 20 respectively, they were still finding their footing as…

How delicious is Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem? My review is live at theunforgettableline.com/2025/10/25/m...

Perfect Crime In a secluded stately home in the Connecticut woods, a married team of well-educated psychiatrists uses psychodrama to help their troubled patients work through trauma.  One night, their cook …

Is Perfect Crime legit? My review of this record breaker is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/10/20/p... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Triplicity Talking Band has been generating their unique brand of performance art for more than 50 years.  Last year, they received a Lifetime Achievement Obie Award for their whimsical thought provoking…

Does Triplicity provide a lived in experience? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/10/16/t... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

The Glitch In a world in which AI has seemingly infiltrated every aspect of life, it is not hard to imagine a lab like the one featured in Kipp Koenig’s The Glitch.  “Future Child” allows want-to-be parents t…

Will you find flaw with The Glitch? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/10/09/t...

This is Government There is a mighty fine line between “timely” and “too close to home.”  No one at 59E59 could have predicted that Trump ally and conservative activist Charlie Kirk would be shot and killed a few day…

Does This is Government get my vote? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/09/17/t... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

The Lights Are Bright Off Broadway The New York theater scene is most often associated with Broadway, but there is a diverse audience that actually prefers to head Off-Broadway.  (I count myself among them.)  The descripto…

The Lights Are Bright *OFF* Broadway: theunforgettableline.com/2025/09/03/t... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Sulfur Bottom Recently I took a tour of the history of New York City’s electrical system.  Most of the infrastructure had been placed in marginalized neighborhoods.  That this is not new news made it n…

Is the cast and crew of Sulfur Bottom at the top of their game? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/08/31/s... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Road Kills In art as in life, there is captivating drama to be mined when mismatched strangers are thrown together by circumstance.  So it is in Sophie McIntosh’s Road Kills currently in an Off-Off-Broadway r…

Will Road Kills leave you flattened? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/08/19/r... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

5th Annual Little Shakespeare Festival Looking for an escape from the heat? the smoke? the world?  I can recommend a bite-sized treat: the 5th Annual Little Shakespeare Festival.  Each year playwrights take stories and themes …

How big are the ideas presented in the 2025 Little Shakespeare Festival? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/08/05/5... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Polishing Shakespeare When you hear the premise of Polishing Shakespeare — Dot-com billionaire, Grant, is bestowing generous grants to a team of eager writers prepared to translate the entire works of The Bard into *Eng…

Is Polishing Shakespeare destined to be a classic? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/07/30/p... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Joy: A new True Musical Tired of not being able to answer the simple query, “how are you?” without sighing? Ken Davenport and AnnMarie Milazzo may have an answer.  Their creation Joy: A New True Musical is a type of …

Is it blissful to watch Joy: The New True Musical? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/07/20/j... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

OPEN After a lengthy pause, Crystal Skillman’s award-winning play, OPEN, has been given a three-week Off-Broadway run at WP Theater.   Celebrating its 47th Season, WP Theater is the oldest and largest t…

Should you make yourself available for OPEN? My review is live at theunforgettableline.com/2025/07/13/o...

Trophy Boys It all comes down to gray areas according to Jared, the second debater on the undefeated team at the center of Emmanuelle Mattana’s Trophy Boys.  The same could be said of the entire play, now…

Is Trophy Boys a winner? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/06/25/t... @theatrecritics.bsky.social @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Lunar Eclipse When the earth, moon, and sun are in alignment, the moon moves into earth’s shadow blocking light from reaching the moon’s surface.  This lunar eclipse is the featured event of Donald Margulie…

How dark does Lunar Eclipse get? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/06/04/l... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

The United States vs Ulysses In 1933, the landmark trial of “United States v. One Book Called Ulysses” cleared the way for the publication of many significant works of literature that include sexual content and adult language.…

Will you say "YES" to The United States vs Ulysses? My review is live on The Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/05/28/t... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Bowl EP I am not young, black, gay, or well acquainted with club drugs. What I am is a fierce advocate for theater as an art and communication form. Being in a performance space filled with 20-somethings w…

Will you skate through EP Bowl? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/05/26/b... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole In November of 1956, singer/pianist Nat “King” Cole became the first Black man to host a variety show on network television.  Though he eventually had multiple Billboard hits including Mona Lisa, L…

Does Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole shine? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/05/20/l... @theatrecritics.bsky.social

EPIC’s Seussical the Musical Seussical the Musical was not exactly a hit with the critics when it ran on Broadway about 25 years ago.  Nonetheless, the familiarity of the characters and its themes, including the consequen…

Will you tip your (striped) hat to EPIC's Seussical the Musical? My review is live on the Unforgettable Line: theunforgettableline.com/2025/05/11/e... @theatrecritics.bsky.social