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Well, I’m 0-2 with these horror shows that have popped up in New York the past few weeks, having lost all the goodwill Broadway’s Paranormal Activity amassed throughout its first act after it dropped the spooky hijinks and decided to take itself seriously as a play. (About trauma, no less). The latest, A Ghost in Your Ear, seemed higher-concept but more direct in execution: the audience puts on headphones and straps in for auditory frights. Having loved Viola’s Room, last year’s sensory immersive, audio-forward experience at the Shed — and as a general fan of the genre — this promised to get me back on track. (All three of these, plus the upcoming 2:22 A Ghost Story, are UK imports, for those keeping score.)
Alas, alas…
Were this not a pre-existing transfer, I’d say A Ghost in Your Ear was a nifty scam by Audible, who runs the Minetta Lane and records each of their productions for later release: record a podcast and charge suckers to watch. But their noble project to preserve the theatrical word remains unvarnished.
The piece, written and directed by Jamie Armitage, is set at an audiobook taping overseen by sound technician Sid (Owen Campbell). The project’s voice-for-hire, Lucas (Lucas Iverson), is a few minutes late, but no worries; there’s plenty of time to record this slow-building tale about a man traveling to empty out his estranged father’s home following his death.
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It’s not so much that the story-within-the-play is a tired collection of haunted house tropes, but that the production as a whole betrays its premise in two major ways. The metatheatrical device of the recording studio, with the men’s light banter and “all in a day’s work” rapport, creates an expectation that their outside world will take some sort of precedence over the recording. It mostly does not, meaning we are simply listening to Lucas narrate the mediocre story. When it does, there is no reason to care about either of them as characters.
So the audio is the thing, then, right? Also no. Iverson has a great speaking voice, and his character has some fun with the ASMR-ness of the recording studio, which is rigged all over with microphones. But the spark wears off alarmingly fast — the concept of recorded sound not being exactly novel — and sound designers Ben and Max Ringham don’t accomplish, or really try, anything novel or exciting with the sensory medium. Even in-world, Lucas stops positioning himself in relation to the main mic, so his audio becomes tediously monophonic, and the sound effects which Sid adds are irrationally sparse.
All of the scares — and I could count them on exactly one hand — are visual. That figure is not arrived by me pretending to be above frights, but rather because they are deployed so anemically, each about 20 minutes apart in the 90-minute production, that you begin to monetize each one. That’s a losing battle: Anisha Fields’s recording studio set is lit in ghastly blue by Ben Jacobs, but the thrills are of the “lights go off, come back on and, wouldn’t you know it, something scary briefly flashes” variety. If that’s the name of the game, fine, but at least shake the coins out of our pockets with consistent, creative scares.
A Ghost in Your Ear is scheduled through December 12, 2026 at Minetta Lane Theatre on Minetta Lane in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.
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Six on Broadway has had quite a journey over the last few years, and defied the odds to become a major bona fide Broadway hit. As the show approaches closing on January 3, 2027, I checked in on Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’ Tony-winning musical before it departs the Lena Horne early next year.
The musical originally opened October 3, 2021, following the shutdown, and at the time of closing will have played 2,178 performances. Now in its sixth year, it has become the 40th longest running show in Broadway history—not bad for this small but mighty show from the UK.
Back in August, the musical celebrated its 2,000th performance on Broadway with a performance fit for royalty. The current company includes Khaila Wilcoxon as Catherine of Aragon, Chloe Tucker Caine as Anne Boleyn, Natalie Paris as Jane Seymour, Olivia Donalson as Anna of Cleves, Aimie Atkinson as Katherine Howard, and Stephanie Jae Park as Catherine Parr. The cast also features Lauryn Adams, Aryn Bohannon, Maggie Likcani, and Aiyana Smash as Alternates. Following the performance, the company traveled a block up to party in style at Sir Henry’s in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen.
I have been extremely fortunate to catch the show multiple times over the past few years, and I am delighted to report that this company is perhaps one of my favorites I have ever seen. Wilcoxon as Aragon is as spunky and fierce as ever, Donalson is pure fun as Cleves, and Jae Park is a beautiful Parr who helps round up the show.
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True fans will be thrilled to see OG Queens Paris as Seymour and Atkinson as Howard. As the inventors of these roles, what a treat for us to see them shine, just as they did back in 2018 in the UK. If you’ve devoured the original album like I have since 2019, to hear these voices live on stage is just a pleasure.
Like many of us, I first encountered Chloe Tucker Caine on season one of Netflix’s Owning Manhattan and fell in love. It was season two where we got to see her love of Broadway play out — I caught up with Tucker Caine last year where we spoke about her dreams of making it to Broadway. Just eight months later, here she is, in peak form, slaying as Anne Boleyn eight times a week.
If you can’t make it to New York, SIX The Musical Live! was recently released in US and Canadian movie theaters, so keep an eye on local listings for when it may be back.
Six will continue its national tour in Baltimore on October 25, as well as in London’s West End, and across the UK and Australia. A new Spanish-language production just opened in Madrid and recently the first Korean-language studio album was released and is now streaming ahead of the show’s return to Seoul this December. Future productions in China and Luxembourg have also been announced.
While Six may be leaving us here in New York, you still have a few more months to head to the Queendom and check out this fierce cast. Long live the wives of Henry VIII!
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Six on Broadway has had quite a journey over the last few years, and defied the odds to become a major bona fide Broadway hit. As the show approaches closing on January 3, 2027, I checked in on Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’ Tony-winning musical before it departs the Lena Horne early next year.
The musical originally opened October 3, 2021, following the shutdown, and at the time of closing will have played 2,178 performances. Now in its sixth year, it has become the 40th longest running show in Broadway history—not bad for this small but mighty show from the UK.
Back in August, the musical celebrated its 2,000th performance on Broadway with a performance fit for royalty. The current company includes Khaila Wilcoxon as Catherine of Aragon, Chloe Tucker Caine as Anne Boleyn, Natalie Paris as Jane Seymour, Olivia Donalson as Anna of Cleves, Aimie Atkinson as Katherine Howard, and Stephanie Jae Park as Catherine Parr. The cast also features Lauryn Adams, Aryn Bohannon, Maggie Likcani, and Aiyana Smash as Alternates. Following the performance, the company traveled a block up to party in style at Sir Henry’s in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen.
I have been extremely fortunate to catch the show multiple times over the past few years, and I am delighted to report that this company is perhaps one of my favorites I have ever seen. Wilcoxon as Aragon is as spunky and fierce as ever, Donalson is pure fun as Cleves, and Jae Park is a beautiful Parr who helps round up the show.
True fans will be thrilled to see OG Queens Paris as Seymour and Atkinson as Howard. As the inventors of these roles, what a treat for us to see them shine, just as they did back in 2018 in the UK. If you’ve devoured the original album like I have since 2019, to hear these voices live on stage is just a pleasure.
Like many of us, I first encountered Chloe Tucker Caine on season one of Netflix’s Owning Manhattan and fell in love. It was season two where we got to see her love of Broadway play out — I caught up with Tucker Caine last year where we spoke about her dreams of making it to Broadway. Just eight months later, here she is, in peak form, slaying as Anne Boleyn eight times a week.
If you can’t make it to New York, SIX The Musical Live! was recently released in US and Canadian movie theaters, so keep an eye on local listings for when it may be back.
Six will continue its national tour in Baltimore on October 25, as well as in London’s West End, and across the UK and Australia. A new Spanish-language production just opened in Madrid and recently the first Korean-language studio album was released and is now streaming ahead of the show’s return to Seoul this December. Future productions in China and Luxembourg have also been announced.
While Six may be leaving us here in New York, you still have a few more months to head to the Queendom and check out this fierce cast. Long live the wives of Henry VIII!
