Laura Collins-Hughes
@collinshughes.bsky.social
Reporter/critic writing about theater, mostly. • Posting about theater, culture, journalism, NYC. • The world of the play has its own rules. • Curiosity saved the cat. • Freelance. • [email protected]
Reading the news and wishing “Here There Are Blueberries” were playing somewhere 24 hours a day, live, so people could pop in the way you might pop into a church when things are just too dire. I would hop on the subway immediately.
December 6, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reading the news and wishing “Here There Are Blueberries” were playing somewhere 24 hours a day, live, so people could pop in the way you might pop into a church when things are just too dire. I would hop on the subway immediately.
It takes such meticulous care and thoughtfulness to stage a show well and welcomingly in the round. You have to really mean it.
December 5, 2025 at 2:21 AM
It takes such meticulous care and thoughtfulness to stage a show well and welcomingly in the round. You have to really mean it.
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began
I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began
The granting of patents and trademarks to foods and words from the global south is part of a long colonial grab. It’s time to realise we share what we cook, and what we call it
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:20 AM
I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
An eco obscenity: Norman Foster’s steroidal new skyscraper is an affront to the New York skyline
An eco obscenity: Norman Foster’s steroidal new skyscraper is an affront to the New York skyline
It contains enough steel to go round the world twice – and even has a fake breeze to flutter the star-and-stripes flag in its lobby. If this colossus is just the first of a new breed of bulky supertalls, is Britain next?
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:22 AM
An eco obscenity: Norman Foster’s steroidal new skyscraper is an affront to the New York skyline
(gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/t...
Holiday Theater: 15 Shows to Spice Up Your Festive Season
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:58 AM
(gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/t...
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
Nathan Lane in a long arduous marriage with Laurie Metcalf should really be its own separate play. I can imagine a totally different story for these 2.
Nathan Lane is not who would (at first blush) make me think, oh, cast him as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. I bet he'll use his Guys and Dolls nyc accent. Also, there was just an all Black, Death of a Salesmen on Broadway. How many times do we need to produce this play? Annually?
December 2, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Nathan Lane in a long arduous marriage with Laurie Metcalf should really be its own separate play. I can imagine a totally different story for these 2.
There’s a real art to writing a fundraising letter. My favorite from today’s e-blast deluge is by Lucas Hedges, who slips the pleasing phrase “I was a tomato in the garden of Baryshnikov“ into his pitch on behalf of Baryshnikov Arts.
December 2, 2025 at 5:11 PM
There’s a real art to writing a fundraising letter. My favorite from today’s e-blast deluge is by Lucas Hedges, who slips the pleasing phrase “I was a tomato in the garden of Baryshnikov“ into his pitch on behalf of Baryshnikov Arts.
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
December 1, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Plenty of notable non-holiday-related shows happening Off Broadway and beyond this month. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/t...
13 Plays (and 2 Festivals) to Invigorate Your December
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Plenty of notable non-holiday-related shows happening Off Broadway and beyond this month. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/t...
This essay is invaluable. www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
‘There was rage and pain and iron in him’: Patrick Marber on the great hits – and fond smokes – he had with Tom Stoppard
The director worked with theatre colossus Tom Stoppard on two smash hits. Here, he remembers their heated rehearsals, the night they stayed up watching Jaws – and the last four cigarettes they smoked ...
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:27 PM
This essay is invaluable. www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
I had to leave a beautiful thing that Tim Curry said about Stoppard on the cutting-room floor. To Curry, the payoff of properly honoring the brilliance of Stoppard’s language in performance is the joy of the audience: “You can almost see them reaching up their hands in the air to catch a sentence.”
Artists remember Tom Stoppard. By Jesse Green and Michael Paulson, with one contribution from me. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
Glenn Close, Ethan Hawke and Others Mourn Tom Stoppard
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I had to leave a beautiful thing that Tim Curry said about Stoppard on the cutting-room floor. To Curry, the payoff of properly honoring the brilliance of Stoppard’s language in performance is the joy of the audience: “You can almost see them reaching up their hands in the air to catch a sentence.”
Artists remember Tom Stoppard. By Jesse Green and Michael Paulson, with one contribution from me. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
Glenn Close, Ethan Hawke and Others Mourn Tom Stoppard
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Artists remember Tom Stoppard. By Jesse Green and Michael Paulson, with one contribution from me. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
“Pay attention to the patterns of power grabs, infighting, the disintegration of the rule of law. See Macbeth. And I, Claudius. And the wealth and power imbalances just before the French Revolution. And yes, read Nineteen Eighty-Four. Again.”
‘If I was American, I’d be worried about my country’: Margaret Atwood answers questions from Ai Weiwei, Rebecca Solnit and more
‘If I was American, I’d be worried about my country’: Margaret Atwood answers questions from Ai Weiwei, Rebecca Solnit and more
Democracy, birds and hangover cures – famous fans put their questions to the visionary author
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:36 PM
“Pay attention to the patterns of power grabs, infighting, the disintegration of the rule of law. See Macbeth. And I, Claudius. And the wealth and power imbalances just before the French Revolution. And yes, read Nineteen Eighty-Four. Again.”
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
“Last Candle” is a Jill Sobule original she wrote among songs for the stageplay “Yentl.” She taught us this music when Isle of Klezbos performed for the project a decade ago. We share this tribute from 6/24/2025 at Joe’s Pub, dedicated as a memorial to Jill (with her own intro)
youtu.be/SImrCOCtODg
youtu.be/SImrCOCtODg
Isle of Klezbos plays Jill Sobule’s “Last Candle”: Music from Yentl tribute at Joe’s Pub
YouTube video by Eve Sicular
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
“Last Candle” is a Jill Sobule original she wrote among songs for the stageplay “Yentl.” She taught us this music when Isle of Klezbos performed for the project a decade ago. We share this tribute from 6/24/2025 at Joe’s Pub, dedicated as a memorial to Jill (with her own intro)
youtu.be/SImrCOCtODg
youtu.be/SImrCOCtODg
It’s hard to set audience expectations for a biographical show when it’s non-hagiographic in the extreme but the subjects are involved in its making.
November 25, 2025 at 12:25 AM
It’s hard to set audience expectations for a biographical show when it’s non-hagiographic in the extreme but the subjects are involved in its making.
(gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/t...
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Musicals
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:21 PM
(gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/t...
On “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” starring Kara Young and Nicholas Braun at the Lortel. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ Review: Does It Hurt?
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM
On “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” starring Kara Young and Nicholas Braun at the Lortel. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
On "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)," on Broadway. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/t...
‘Two Strangers’ Review: Meeting Cute, Toting Baggage
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:12 AM
On "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)," on Broadway. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/t...
On Tom Hanks in “This World of Tomorrow,” the time-travel romance play based on his short stories, also starring Kelli O’Hara, at the Shed. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/t...
‘This World of Tomorrow’ Review: Tom Hanks Is Back in Town
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:39 AM
On Tom Hanks in “This World of Tomorrow,” the time-travel romance play based on his short stories, also starring Kelli O’Hara, at the Shed. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/t...
Side effect of seeing "The Seat of Our Pants": catching yourself going around cheerfully humming "The World Is Ending."
November 15, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Side effect of seeing "The Seat of Our Pants": catching yourself going around cheerfully humming "The World Is Ending."
"Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet" is only at City Center through Sunday, but if you love that album, GO. It is so beautifully done — music, dance, design. And then there is Pete, walking on with a guitar, sitting down stage right and playing "I'm One." Exquisite.
November 15, 2025 at 3:11 AM
"Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet" is only at City Center through Sunday, but if you love that album, GO. It is so beautifully done — music, dance, design. And then there is Pete, walking on with a guitar, sitting down stage right and playing "I'm One." Exquisite.
Guy walking down the aisle pre-ballet to guy walking up the aisle: "You look so dapper, man." Then, lowering his voice, to the woman he was with: "I gotta get a stylist for the Dance Hall of Fame."
November 15, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Guy walking down the aisle pre-ballet to guy walking up the aisle: "You look so dapper, man." Then, lowering his voice, to the woman he was with: "I gotta get a stylist for the Dance Hall of Fame."
Reposted by Laura Collins-Hughes
Shocked to hear of the death of Rachel Cooke at 56 — I didn’t even know she was ill. I always enjoyed reading her reviews and features: she brightened any page of the paper.
Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Shocked to hear of the death of Rachel Cooke at 56 — I didn’t even know she was ill. I always enjoyed reading her reviews and features: she brightened any page of the paper.