All stories by Gordon Cox on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

New Play by Neil LaBute Will Debut at Off Broadway's Second Stage Theater by Gordon Cox

As Off Broadway’s 2014-15 season continues to shape up, Second Stage Theater adds to the mix with two productions including a world premiere by Neil LaBute, “The Way We Get By.&#…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:39PM[SHARE]

Premieres by Doug Wright, Rajiv Joseph to Bow at Off Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company by Gordon Cox

New plays by Pulitzer and Tony winner Doug Wright (“I Am My Own Wife,” “Grey Gardens”) and Broadway alum Rajiv Joseph (“Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo”) …

SOURCE: Variety at 03:30PM[SHARE]

Rufus Wainwright, 'Angels in America' and John Tiffany On Tap for BAM's Next Wave by Gordon Cox

A Shakespeare-inspired show by Rufus Wainwright and Robert Wilson, a Dutch production of “Angels in America”  and a new music-theater work from “Glass Menagerie”…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:15PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Broadway Box Office: 'The Lion King,' 'Wicked' Lead a Record $1.27 Billion Season by Gordon Cox

Broadway musicals “The Lion King” and “Wicked” came within spitting distance of earning $100 million each during the 2013-14 season, which, with the final numbers …

SOURCE: Variety at 05:28PM[SHARE]

Road to the Tonys: 'Aladdin' Brings Howard Ashman's Legacy Full Circle by Gordon Cox

Howard Ashman may have died in 1991, but he left a musical theater legacy that endures across film and theater — stretching all the way into this year's Tony's race. With composer Alan…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:00PM[SHARE]

Bryan Cranston: All the World's His Stage by Gordon Cox

Spend enough time with Bryan Cranston and he'll show you the imaginary dial he uses to visualize how someone — anyone, including you — lives life. "I came up with this gauge 15, …

SOURCE: Variety at 02:41PM[SHARE]

How Broadway's Digital Marketers Aim for Buzz Outside the Box by Gordon Cox

Sometimes a new Broadway musical makes a social media push with Twitter and Facebook and Instagram — and sometimes it does it with a real-world, hand-delivered bottle of poison. Well, …

SOURCE: Variety at 04:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 22, 2014

Off Broadway Review: 'American Hero' Starring Ari Graynor, Jerry O'Connell by Gordon Cox

For a play that needs to go through at least one more draft, “American Hero” is more provocative and entertaining than you’d expect. Set in a generic sandwich shop in an an…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]

Cameron Mackintosh Acquires Two More West End Theaters, Will Name One the Sondheim by Gordon Cox

Cameron Mackintosh, the U.K. stage producer behind global megahits including "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Miserables," has pacted to purchase the West End's Victoria Palace and the Am…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:00PM[SHARE]

West End Review: 'Miss Saigon' by Gordon Cox

What do want from a musical… the music? If so, Cameron Mackintosh's hotly anticipated revival of "Miss Saigon" is home free. In the title role, Eva Noblezada makes an astonishing stage…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:23PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Annette Bening to Join John Lithgow in Shakespeare in the Park's 'King Lear' by Gordon Cox

Annette Bening has booked a role opposite John Lithgow in the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of “King Lear,” starting performances in July. Bening w…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:51PM[SHARE]

Rhythm Is Gonna Get Broadway as Estefan Musical Targets a Fall 2015 Opening by Gordon Cox

“On Your Feet!,” the brewing musical about the lives and careers of Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan, has mapped out a conga-line to Broadway, with producers of the tuner pla…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:46PM[SHARE]

New Times Square Studio Caters to Theater Industry's Digital Content Needs by Gordon Cox

Producing and general management firm Martian Entertainment and production company All the Way Around have launched Stage + Screen Digital Studio, a new post-production and editing …

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 19, 2014

Obie Awards: Off Broadway Musical 'Fun Home' Adds to its Trophy Haul by Gordon Cox

Is “Fun Home” the first Tony contender of the 2014-15 Broadway season? The Lisa Kron-Jeanine Tesori musical has notched a slew of prominent legit kudos in advance of its planned…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:00PM[SHARE]

London Theater Review: 'Donkey Heart' by Gordon Cox

Take three generations of a cheerfully squabbling family, put them into a spy drama, fill with lust, love and lies, whip everything along as a comedy and what have you got? "Donkey Heart." P…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:15PM[SHARE]

Broadway Box Office: 'The Bridges of Madison County' Goes Out with a Bang by Gordon Cox

Broadway musical “The Bridges of Madison County,” currently nominated for four Tony Awards, posted its highest B.O. numbers ever last week in the final stretch before the show…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:41PM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 18, 2014

Off Broadway Review: 'Too Much Sun' Starring Linda Lavin by Gordon Cox

In Nicky Silver’s previous play, “The Lyons,” which originated at the Vineyard under the direction of Mark Brokaw, Linda Lavin played a mother who ruins her children’…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 16, 2014

Drama League Awards Add Momentum to 'Gentleman's Guide,' 'All the Way,' 'Hedwig' by Gordon Cox

With the theater awards race heating up on the way to Tony Awards, the annual round of New York legit awards has begun to highlights favorites — including musical "A Gentleman's …

SOURCE: Variety at 02:55PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 15, 2014

Broadway's Latest Starry Revival: 'A Delicate Balance' with Glenn Close, John Lithgow by Gordon Cox

The 2014-15 season on Broadway is shaping up to be just as starry as the current one, with Glenn Close now confirmed for a fall opening in a Rialto revival of “A Delicate Balance”…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:45PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Kristin Chenoweth Rides Back to Broadway 'On the Twentieth Century' by Gordon Cox

Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher are set to make their Broadway returns in “On the Twentieth Century,” the 1978 musical that New York’s Roundabout Theater Company will…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:00PM[SHARE]

Mark Ruffalo, Jim Parsons Praise Larry Kramer at HBO's 'The Normal Heart' Premiere by Gordon Cox

It's no secret Ryan Murphy assembled a wide pool of recognizable names for HBO's movie adaptation of "The Normal Heart." Possibly the most surprising among those names? Jason Blum, the produ…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:30AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 12, 2014

Broadway Box Office: The Street Sticks to Its Guns Against TV Upfronts and 'Godzilla' by Gordon Cox

Univision, ESPN, "Godzilla": All of the above tried to take a bite out of Broadway last week, but Main Stem box office fought them off. Upfronts, the TV industry's annual sales pitch to adve…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:38PM[SHARE]

Outer Critics Circle Applauds Broadway's "Gentleman's Guide," Bryan Cranston by Gordon Cox

The Outer Critics Circle gave a thumbs-up to Tony nomination packleader "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder," handing the musical four kudos including top tuner in the race for the or…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:01AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 9, 2014

L.A. Theater Review: 'Unorganized Crime' Starring Chazz Palminteri by Gordon Cox

Stars are called stars because they shine brighter than anyone else. Every time Chazz Palminteri sashays into "Unorganized Crime" as Gotham mob scion Sal Sicuso, cool and sardonic, seething …

SOURCE: Variety at 04:30PM[SHARE]

Off Broadway Review: Samuel D. Hunter's 'The Few' by Gordon Cox

Samuel D. Hunter is one playwright who legitimately deserves to be called eccentric. In “The Whale,” which picked up some prestigious awards last season, the central character is…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:32PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 8, 2014

Hugh Jackman's Next Hot Ticket Gets Even Hotter in One of Broadway's Smallest Theaters by Gordon Cox

Big demand, small theater: Hugh Jackman’s next Broadway gig, “The River,” has lined up its venue and dates, setting a November opening at the 776-seat Circle in the Squa…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:52PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 7, 2014

For Tony Nominees, It's Too Many Frontrunners or Not Enough by Gordon Cox

It's a case of too many favorites " or not enough. Even now that the 2013-14 Tony nominations are set, the race for Broadway's biggest awards remains wide open. Voters find themselves facing…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:00PM[SHARE]

Stage Director Jack O'Brien is the Latest Broadway Name to Sign With CAA by Gordon Cox

CAA has signed Broadway director Jack O’Brien, the prolific helmer whose Tony-winning Main Stem work ranges from razzledazzle tuner “Hairspray” to Shakespeare’s ̶…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:15PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Neil Patrick Harris, Rob Marshall Among the Nominees for Broadway's Astaire Awards by Gordon Cox

“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” topliner Neil Patrick Harris, “Cabaret” choreographer and co-director Rob Marshall,  “Aladdin” genie James Monroe Igleha…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:38PM[SHARE]

Bryan Cranston, Chris O'Dowd Win Theater World Awards for Broadway Debuts (COMPLETE LIST) by Gordon Cox

Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Zachary Levi and Sophie Okonedo are among the dozen performers to score this year’s Theater World Awards, the annual kudo that honors thesps making …

SOURCE: Variety at 12:03PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 5, 2014

Off Broadway Review: 'The City of Conversation' by Gordon Cox

Two gripping political dramas in the same season? How positively civilized. Bryan Cranston’s rip-roaring portrayal of LBJ in “All the Way” epitomizes Washington power polit…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]

All that Chat