Sometimes, we all need a little escapism, but Lord Nil takes that a bit literally. The acclaimed international escape artist will perform a world-premier limited engagement of Lord Nil: 7 Deadly Sins at Stage 42. Performances begin on July 21, with opening night on July 27, and conclude on Aug. 31. 

The show will feature a cast of 10 men and women, performing a theatrical escape experience rooted in ancient symbolism, raw physical danger, and psychological suspense. The show runs 70 minutes — and you’ll be on the edge of your seat for every one. Everything audiences will see on stage is real, according to producer Rainer Hackl. There aren’t safety measures or hidden tricks. 

Lord Nil — a writer, illusionist, and escape artist born in Italy — has traveled through Europe, Australia, and Asia studying language and culture. He made his American TV debut on America’s Got Talent in 2018. At each performance, he’ll be taunted by a razor sharp ace, whirring circular saws, hot grease, and chained water tanks. What scares him, though? Failure. 

“Escape is not guaranteed. If I fail to make an escape… the consequences are unimaginable,” Lord Nil said in a statement. 

Lord Nil: 7 Deadly Sins runs at Stage 42 at 422 W 42nd St. in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here. 

Abby Rosebrock’s Lowcountry, directed by Jo Bonney for its premiere at the Atlantic Theater, operates at an end-of-times fever pitch. Where it ends is both inevitable and yet, so alarming, that a few people at the performance I attended let out knee-jerk guffaws upon its final gesture. Whether those reactions were uncomfortable or merely unimpressed is anyone’s guess, but the play, while a bit undisciplined, has true firecracker wit.

Its first scene is a fascinating exercise in counteracting emotional information: David (Babak Tafti) comically scrambles around his shoddy studio apartment in South Carolina, trying to make it look nice for his first date while juggling a phone call of seemingly some importance. Who among us! But on the other line is Paul (Keith Kupferer), his sponsor of sorts. Oh, David mentions not being able to live near a school. And what’s this bracelet he says he’s thankful to have gotten off?

The exact details of his situation are gradually unveiled, though their broad strokes are fairly easy to grasp, but suffice it to say he’s right to be apprehensive about prospective Tinder dates looking up his name. Enter Tally (Jodi Balfour), a would-be actress briefly back home from Los Angeles to help her father move. She’s quick to glibly rail against Raytheon with headline dilettantism and has “enough self-awareness to know, at my core I’m a dithering, spiritually weak, fragile... craven-ass white woman.”

As the date progresses and Tally knowingly waves off David’s blazing red flags and clear discomfort with her sexual insistence, the playwright’s thematic intentions are revealed. This is a world of ICE raids (David, who the script mandates to be “brown” [Rosebrock’s quotations], and was adopted from another country at an early age, is keenly aware of this) and deep mistrust in government (both the hyper-woke Tally and Paul get in digs against Bill Clinton). Fueled by true crime, self-help podcasts and the free-associative livewire disenchantment of a despairing liberal brushing up against the edges of both her guilt and empathy, Tally figures… why not this guy?

‍“We’re all things we don’t wanna be,” she rationalizes, her nebulous experiences flopping in Hollywood hovering over her every deflated move. Lowcountry is after the curdling of liberalism and conservatism into libertarian apathy. Like that real-world process, its unspooling is often sloppy, sometimes silly and always, unfortunately, dead serious.

Would these two lost souls ever really stick around each other in this way, throughout the course of one night? It’d be facile to dismiss this question, which only grows in bewilderment throughout the play’s 100 minutes, as an intended mirror of society. In terms of genre, it’s somewhere between a light thriller and a fractured comedy of manners. It’s a messy play of messy ideas, delivered bluntly, via a straightforward vehicle. It’s also, I learn from the script, the third in a trilogy which also includes the plays Wilma and The Voice of the Devil. Despite a certain lack of finesse, I’m eager to see those other two.

‍Lowcountry is in performance through July 13, 2025 at the Atlantic Theatre on West 20th Street in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.

We could go see Boop for a few more weeks! Boop! The Musical will play its final performance on Sunday, July 13, 2025 at the Broadhurst Theatre. The musical, at time of closing, will have played 25 previews and 112 regular performances.

The principal cast of Boop! The Musical is headed by Jasmine Amy Rogers as Betty Boop and Tony Award®-winner Faith Prince as Valentina, Ainsley Melham as Dwayne, Erich Bergen as Raymond Demarest, Stephen DeRosa as Grampy, Anastacia McCleskey as Carol Evans, Angelica Hale as Trisha, Phillip Huber as Pudgy the Dog, Aubie Merrylees as Oscar Delacorte, and Ricky Schroeder as Clarence.

The cast also includes Lawrence Alexander, Courtney Arango, Colin Bradbury, Tristen Buettel, Joshua Michael Burrage, Victoria Byrd, Dan Castiglione, Rebecca Corrigan, Ian Gallagher Fitzgerald, RJ Higton, Nina Lafarga, Morgan McGhee, Ryah Nixon, Christian Probst, Gabriella Sorrentino, Derek Jordan Taylor, Lizzy Tucker, Amy Van Norstrand, Damani Van Rensalier, and David Wright Jr.

Tony Award^®-winning director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell brings the Queen of the Screen to the theater in BOOP! The Musical, with celebrated multiple Grammy^® Award-winning composer David Foster, Tony Award^®-nominated lyricist Susan Birkenhead and Tony Award^®-winning book writer Bob Martin. 

For almost a century, Betty Boop, created by animation pioneer Max Fleischer, has won hearts and inspired fans around the world with her trademark looks, voice, and style. Now, in BOOP! The Musical, Betty's dream of an ordinary day off from the super-celebrity in her black-and-white world leads to an extraordinary adventure of color, music, and finding love in New York City — one that reminds her and the world, “You are capable of amazing things.” 

The design and creative team for Boop! The Musical includes David Rockwell, scenic design; Gregg Barnes, costume design; Philip S. Rosenberg, lighting design; Gareth Owen, sound design; Finn Ross, projection design; Sabana Majeed, hair and wig design; Michael Clifton, makeup design; Skylar Fox, illusions design; The Huber Marionettes, marionette design; Daryl Waters, music supervision and arrangements; Doug Besterman, Orchestrations; Rick Fox, music director; and Zane Mark, dance music arrangements. Casting is by The TRC Company, Kevin Metzger-Timson, CSA and Tara Rubin, CSA. DB Bonds is Associate Director, Rachelle Rak and Jon Rua are Associate Choreographers, and General Management is by Foresight Theatrical.