2025 was another dramatic year on the stages of downtown New York.
In total, three critics for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard reviewed 34 performances in downtown New York, from stages as large as the Landmark Theater or Syracuse Stage to more intimate community performances at the CNY Playhouse.
We asked our critics to reflect on the most memorable moments on the CNY stage this year, as well as what they’d like to see and look forward to in 2026.
Here’s what they had to say:
If you had to pick a show from 2025 to watch again, which would it be and why?
Source of Linen: I really hesitate to name one show that I would revisit. There are moments in several of the productions I’ve reviewed that I’d like to revisit. In fact, almost everyone had at least one piece that stuck with me. But here are some sweet bits I’d like to play.
CNY Playhouse’s “She Loves Me” was a lovingly crafted romp that I really enjoyed. The one-two punch of “Ice Cream” sung by Amanda Dunlap and Nic MacLane’s exuberant rendition of the title song still makes me smile.
CNYP’s rendition of “Sunday In the Park With George” exemplified community theater beyond its apparent grasp and succeeded on every level. The finale of Act I, when Georges Seurat’s pointillist masterpiece is revealed, was masterfully executed on a stage that seemed to scream that what we were seeing was impossible.
Linda Lowen: Every time I write these year-end reviews, there are shows I barely remember…and shows so vivid that I can still see the moments on stage in my mind. Two of them are “The Hello Girls” at Syracuse Stage and “Fun Home” at the Redhouse.
As I wrote in my review, “The Hello Girls” — which centered on “five American women…hired by the military to serve overseas as telephone operators” — was “an energetic, stunning show” that seemed so familiar that “it feels like a musical that’s always been part of the theater landscape.” I was not alone in this opinion. On my social networks, other theatergoers repeated the same sentence: “This is the best Stage show in years.”
You know how they say “A book is better”? In the case of “Fun Home,” based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel of the title, the musical gave us three versions of the cartoonist—child, college student, adult—as she reflects on her past while creating a comic book memoir about growing up. I can do no better than what I originally wrote: “‘Fun Home’ stares at a terrifying truth: every family has its secrets, and the people we love the most may be the ones we know the least.” The show is “an excruciating 100 minutes of musical theater that traverses all four points of the narrative compass, from thoughtful and funny to gut-wrenching and heartbreaking.”
Tony Curulla: If I could watch “King James,” the two-character play that Syracuse Stage put on in March, a second time, I would definitely put aside preconceived notions of basketball and LeBron James. Its title, though the titular attention-grabber, proved to be just that.
A virtual tribute to friendship, agreement and disagreement, this piece became a wonderful exploration of human differences explored in any context and a timely reminder of the beauty of friendship and acceptance.
What is your most memorable stage moment of the year?
Linda Lowen: There’s nothing wrong with seasoned professionals, but when you see young actors come into their own, there’s a joy in their performances that you can’t find anywhere else.
That’s what happened in “The Rocky Horror Show,” Cortland’s representative collaboration with SUNY Cortland Performing Arts. “Strongly sung and acted across the spectrum,” it earned a year-end mention because “this show is often played by older actors, so it was especially fun to see the young actors dressed as 1990s gothic extras from Edward Scissorhands.”
Tony Curulla: A favorite “moment” of the production came in “A Christmas Story,” presented at Syracuse Stage in December. The move away from using adult spoken word to narrate the past events and impressions of young people, as was the method used in the film version of Jean Shepherd’s iconic story, worked extremely well, adding depth and a more intimate version of the main character’s thoughts and feelings. Jason O’Connell as the grown-up Ralphie looked perfectly cast in look, movement and demeanor as he roamed the stage while the other characters were fixed in the 1930s and 1940s setting.
Source of Linen: One more performance? I was captivated by Rogelio Martinez’s complex, imperfect and fascinating “National Pastime” at Syracuse Stage. The play was elevated by the stellar work of Cherry J. Davis as US cultural liaison Val stationed in Cuba during the Havana Syndrome mystery. Jorge Sánchez Díaz is an exciting force as Yuri, a Cuban defector baseball player caught up in a cheating scandal with the Houston Astros.
I was also very impressed by the three actors from Redhouse’s production of Annie Baker’s ‘The Flick’. Collin Purcell, Tavien Goodson and Corinne Ferrer had the difficult task of simply living life on stage and kept me engaged every moment.
What show did you not see this year but wish you had based on what you read or heard from others?
Tony Curulla: The 2025 production that I unfortunately did not see last October was the thrilling “Rocky Horror Show” presented by the Cortland Repertory Theatre/SUNY Cortland Theater Department co-op. I can’t resist seeing it whenever it comes on, as it’s one of my all-time favorites, and this one seemed particularly effective, fueled by Linda Lowen’s positive impressions.
Source of Linen: Okay, here’s a confession. Whenever I read a review from Linda or Tony, I get jealous. I want to see everything. I missed the “Fun Home” at Redhouse. and you still get a kick out of it. I was never interested in the musical Titanic. But Linda’s review of the CNY Playhouse really made me reconsider. But I missed it again. The same thing happened with Rajiv Joseph’s “King James” at Syracuse Stage.
Linda Lowen: Maybe I’m putting words in guys’ mouths—that’s my nickname for my fellow reviewers Tony Curulla and Len Fonte—but I believe we all have a healthy appreciation for Sondheim, as do many reviewers. I wanted to see “Sunday in the Park with George” after reading Len’s review; wrote, “The plucky company at the CNY Playhouse… mounted Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s difficult musical with all the care a small-budget community theater can muster,” and pointed to a moment or two that “gave me chills.”
Is there an actor whose portrayal of the character particularly moved you?
Linda Lowen: Syracuse Stage’s “Primary Trust” was a quietly gut-wrenching show thanks to a Pulitzer Prize-winning script and a poignant, vulnerable performance from Garrett Turner, an actor I wanted to hug throughout the 90-minute production — and I said so in my review.
He played Kenneth, a bookseller in the same store for 20 years, who is forced to find a new job when he learns that the store will soon close. I wrote that Turner’s Kenneth is “an attractive, optimistic character whose smile is nevertheless an umbrella to ward off the hazy melancholy he keeps at bay with a two-for-one happy hour, never tais” with his best friend Bert, whose role in Kenneth’s life hides an unforeseen twist in this heart-wrenching drama. ‘Primary Trust’ is about relationships, loneliness and friendship. Rich in dialogue, simple in language…rather than a feel-good game, it’s a game that feels right, understanding the fragility of trust, love and contentment…in a real, imperfect, often unkind world.”
CNY Playhouse’s “Titanic: The Musical” featured Sam Herbert, who performed one of the “where have you been hiding all these years” performances; if you haven’t caught him as the steamship designer Thomas Andrews, then often he appears as himself keyboard playing and local singing.
What shows are you most looking forward to in 2026 and why?
Linda Lowen: June’s Redhouse production of “Jagged Little Pill: The Musical” caught my eye for several reasons. First of all, I like heavy shows and according to the Hollywood Reporter“The musical tackles a whole curriculum of hot-button topics—climate change, opioid addiction, gender and racial identity, white privilege, rape culture, social media shaming, and repressed sexual trauma, for starters. (I know, I’m weird, but doesn’t that whet your appetite?) Second, this highlights the work of two women whose glory days may be decades behind them, but they’re still screenwriter Diablo Cody, who made her mark with her 2007 film “Juno,” wrote a book about the music of Alanis Morissette, whose album of the same name came out in 1995. Both the subject matter and my longtime admiration for the creators suggest that “Jagged Little Pill” might be my cup of tea: angsty, powerful.
Source of Linen: There are many great titles scheduled for 2026 in local theaters. I don’t think I’m looking forward to any particular production. I want to be surprised by theater that makes me think and feel. A few laughs would be great too!
Tony Curulla: There are a number of exciting theater offerings planned for 2026, including professional theater in the winter/spring seasons between Syracuse Stage, Redhouse and Broadway in Syracuse programs, along with some very exciting offerings from community theater groups. And let’s not forget the plethora of quality always available in the summer season, such as Cortland Repertory, Hangar Theater in Ithaca, and The REV in Auburn. There’s just too much to look forward to, and it’s not even the New Year yet!
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