Theatre Beyond Broadway is dedicated to amplifying the voice of the Independent Theatre Artist.
This includes reviewing shows and projects.
Check out our published reviews below!
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the reviews
Leni’s Last Lament
Leni Riefenstahl is holding a mirror up to us so we can see how easy it is to appear comfortable with the world in its current form? How will we be judged by the generations that follow? Will we be remembered for the art or for the artist? And which is more important? Leni's Last Lament leaves us with those questions to find answers to.
Variations On (the) Water
As Variations opens, I felt as though I was being pulled into a Norman Rockwell painting. The music then carries Lake Simons away, and we begin floating with her out in the world. Check out Nicole Jesson’s review!
BLOOD, SWEAT, AND QUEERS
The past may be a distant country, but here it speaks directly to the fractured, ongoing present. As Blood, Sweat, and Queers unfolds, the life of Zdeněk Koubek resists the neat labels history—and theater—so often crave. Check out Tony Marinelli’s review!
Rhynoceron
Nowhere does this rhinoceros live in art more vibrantly than in KT Shivak's Rhynoceron. The production is beautiful, moving, and positively electric. Read our review here!
The Harlem Doll Palace
Alva Rogers and her ensemble offer us a platform — not just for entertainment, but for legacy. The Harlem Doll Palace is a theatrical gift: deeply personal, highly imaginative, and historically rooted. Read our review by Malini Singh McDonald.
CRACKED OPEN
A lifetime ago, it was not uncommon for families to send away a child who was neurodivergent or had a mental illness - not for recovery, but forever. Cracked Open is a great look at how far we’ve come, but how far we still have to go. Read our review by Nicole Jesson.
She Takes Flight
Adina Taubman’s monologue on her mother with Alzheimer’s gives the play its name, She Takes Flight. It highlights how well this play has been structured from five separate stories and layers them together, playing at The Chain Theatre.
Those Who Remained
Sophia Guthinov has “it”. She truly has that star quality that makes you want to watch her. She is a dynamic, confident performer. Her opening night of Those Who Remained at The Club at La MaMa played to a full house rapt with attention.
axes, herbs & satchels: open the archives
The mission of the Anthropologists is to create “investigative theater that inspires action”, and with this interactive production, Axes, Herbs, & Satchels: Open the Archives, they do just that. Here’s our review by Alexandra de Suze.
The Popess
Writer/ Performer Elena Mazzon finds a great range of emotions in The Popess, drawing upon Renaissance artistry and commedia dell'arte clown work. Read our review by Marcina Zaccaria.
Cheers, Mom! Eulogy For A Living Parent
Candance Fox isn’t afraid of facing sorrow while looking for joy. Her work, Cheers, Mom! Eulogy for a Living Parent, is brave and therapeutic, witty and wicked, and strikingly honest. And a perfect way to spend Mother’s Day. Read our review by Nicole Jesson.
We Do the Same Thing Every Week
Robert Leverett brings us We Do The Same Thing Every Week, this brilliant romp through our youthful joys as if reimagined by David Lynch. It's smart, funny, shocking, dark and brought to you by Coca-Cola.
Fat Cat Killers
The creative team of Fat Cat Killers has created a 90-minute piece that flies by in an instant. Here’s our review!
The Phantom of the Opera’s Friend
As part of the 2025 NYC Fringe Festival, The Phantom of the Opera’s Friend is a one-man show directed by Catalina Beltrán, in which Michel captivates the audience for a full 60 minutes without a single pause. Check out our review, written by Bianca Lopez.
three by tennessee
Returning to The Player's Theatre to see Three by Tennessee by Tennessee Williams, produced by White Horse Theatre Company, was both a trip down memory lane and a theatrical treat. Read our review written by Malini Singh McDonald.
Love’s Concordia Bar
A bunch of former and present NYU Drama / TISCH students have banded together to create Love’s Concordia Bar. The plot revolves around a group of diverse characters who, over the course of one night in a small, dimly lit bar, explore themes of love, loss, and the complexity of human relationships. Read our review written by Nicole Jesson.
Quacks and Whacks
Turning your suffering into art may not be new, but it is the rare soul who turns it into comedy, with puppets. As part of the NYC Fringe Festival, Quacks and Whacks by Amanda and Terry Miller does not disappoint. Read our review by Nicole Jesson.
Bad Muslim
The comparison to Hasan Minhaj and Mike Birbiglia? Not just valid — earned. Azhar Bande-Ali knows how to thread painful truths with laugh-out-loud humor, and he does it with a quiet confidence that demands your attention. He’s not flashy — he’s intentional. You lean in, and he hits you with something honest, hilarious, and wholly human. Catch Bad Muslim as part of the 2025 NYC Fringe Festival.
Meet the Review Team
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FOUNDER
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A proud SAG-AFTRA & AEA member, Nicole has worked for The Huntington Theatre, Delvena Theatre, Gloucester Stage Company and Wellesley Summer Theatre as well as producing and directing with Catbox Cabaret and le black Kat theatre. A graduate of the Actor Studio Drama School and Emerson College, she is the author of the children's book Iggy the Snake. Her new short play The Other Woman debuts in Boston Autumn 2025.
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Tony Marinelli is an actor, playwright, director, arts administrator, and now critic. He received his B.A. and almost finished an MFA from Brooklyn College in the golden era when Benito Ortolani, Howard Becknell, Rebecca Cunningham, Gordon Rogoff, Marge Linney, Bill Prosser, Sam Leiter, Elinor Renfield, and Glenn Loney numbered amongst his esteemed professors. His plays I find myself here, Be That Guy (A Cat and Two Men), and …and then I meowed have been produced by Ryan Repertory Company, one of Brooklyn’s few resident theatre companies.
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Amanda Montoni is a professional hat-wearer. One of those hats is, yes, you guessed it, Writer. She has had her short stories, poetry, and children's books published by multiple companies. Her plays have premiered both on stage and in podcast form. Her poetry collection, Thoughts While Singing, was the creative spark for her podcast, The Sweet Madness Podcast, where she interviews fellow theater lovers, poets, and writers as well as any other guests that bring sweetness to the world. Theatre has always been her lifeline, so when she jumped from Actor/Choreogrpaher/Director to Reviewer, she could not have been more thrilled to see her worlds come together.
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Niranjani Reddi (she/they) is a playwright, actor, and producer based in NYC . Previous credits include: Shiv's Project (Priyanka), Seeking Fair and Lovely : Rishtas and Rasas at The Tank (Playwright and Producer), Alley Between the Houses (Zera), While We Wait (Grace), Whippoorwill Calls (Director). She’s extremely passionate about all things related to Indian and Indian-American representation within the Western performing arts space. She works to center these stories in her own work, whether it’s in plays she’s written, or projects she’s acted in. She’s incredibly excited to continue building a community of artists based in and around NYC, who are interested in engaging with the same kind of work she is.
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Marcina Zaccaria has written and edited profiles for Howl Round, based at Emerson College, and has held temporary positions at Conde Nast and Rodale Publishing. Marcina is the Theatre and Opera Editor at The Theatre Times, and her clips can be found online. She has covered theatrical productions for The Brooklyn Rail and TheaterPizzazz.com. She currently enjoys handling editing and layout for Bio Books for professionals at a NY based non-profit organization, and previously worked at EdLab at Columbia University, editing articles for Teachers College Record and the New Learning Times.
As a Dramatist, Marcina Zaccaria has written Village, My Home, performed at the Dream Up Festival at Theater for the New City. Marcina's One Act play, All About Image, was performed at the Broadway Bound Festival on Theatre Row. She has read applications and coordinated rehearsal space for the LIT Space Grant Residency Program and participated at the Catwalk Artist Residency where she wrote The Incalculable Present. A member of the League Of Professional Theatre Women, she was the Co-Chair of Julia's Reading Room where she enjoyed a virtual reading of her play, Love, the TV, and Me.
Marcina Zaccaria received her undergraduate degree from Tisch School of the Arts, and holds an MFA from Columbia University.
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Award-winning multidisciplinary theatre professional with a distinguished reputation for crafting groundbreaking performances. Renowned for her work on stage, innovative movement direction, and international experience, she is dedicated to creating transformative art that captivates audiences and fosters cultural enrichment.