All stories by Gordon Cox on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Kennedy Center to Produce New Ahrens/Flaherty Musical by Gordon Cox

WASHINGTON " The Kennedy Center will produce the world premiere of new tuner "Little Dancer," with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and score by Stephen Flaherty. Susan Stroman ("The Sco…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Legit Review: 'The Big Knife' by Gordon Cox

In 1949, when “The Big Knife” was first done on Broadway, Clifford Odets’ disenchanted Hollywood matinee idol Charlie Castle must have seemed like a tragic hero, a gi…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]

Tribeca Festival to Launch Prize Named for Nora Ephron by Gordon Cox

The Tribeca Film Festival will launch an annual award, named for the late writer-director Nora Ephron, to be given to a female writer or director. The Nora Ephron Prize, which comes with a $…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:00PM[SHARE]

O'Neill Conference to Develop New Plays by Auburn, Hunter (EXCLUSIVE) by Gordon Cox

A new play a Pulitzer winner and another by a fast-rising up-and-comer are among the brewing legit works tapped for development as part of the 2013 National Playwrights Conference at the Eug…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 15, 2013

Legit Review: 'The Nance' by Gordon Cox

Lincoln Center Theater’s stunning production of Douglas Carter Beane’s “The Nance” is a textbook example of how to put on a classy show. It helps to have a bona fide …

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]

'Kinky Boots' Tops $1 Million, But 'Breakfast' Goes Cold by Gordon Cox

It was a good news-bad news week on Broadway last week, with the upbeat headline centered on "Kinky Boots," which for the first time joined fellow spring openers "Lucky Guy" and "Cinderella"…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:35PM[SHARE]

Pulitzer Graces 'Disgraced' With Behind-the-Scenes Boons by Gordon Cox

Ayad Akhtar’s play “Disgraced,” which preemed at Chicago’s American Theater Company prior to an Off Broadway run at Lincoln Center Theater, has snagged the 2013 Pulit…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:34PM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 14, 2013

Legit Review: 'Motown' by Gordon Cox

The Broadway faithful (at least, the part that covers the Baby Boomer demographic ranging from “mature” to “doddering”) will have its mantra ready when cooler heads p…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 12, 2013

Counterprogramming Lures Summer Sales Off Broadway by Gordon Cox

With tourists pouring into Gotham, summer can be a great time to be on Broadway. Off Broadway? The jury's still out. It's the big, splashy musicals that pull in the majority of warm-weather …

SOURCE: Variety at 04:43PM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 11, 2013

Legit Review: 'Matilda' by Gordon Cox

The New York transfer of U.K. musical “Matilda” opened April 11 at Broadway’s Shubert Theater. The following is David Benedict’s review (Daily Variety, Dec. 13, 2010)…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Jeff Buckley Musical Tunes Up at San Diego's Old Globe by Gordon Cox

“The Last Goodbye,” the tuner mash-up of “Romeo and Juliet” and the songs of Jeff Buckley, will open the 2013-14 season at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater. Produc…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:26PM[SHARE]

Mary-Louise Parker Heads Back to Broadway by Gordon Cox

Mary-Louise Parker circles back to Broadway this fall, returning to Manhattan Theater Club for the Gotham nonprofit’s co-production of Sharr White’s “The Snow Geese.”…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:00PM[SHARE]

Playwright Kimber Lee Scores Lark Fellowship by Gordon Cox

The Lark Play Development Center has awarded the 2013-14 Playwrights of New York fellowship to Kimber Lee, who nabs one of the heftiest legit development awards out there, including a year o…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:00PM[SHARE]

Legal Settlement Frees Up 'Spider-Man' to Spread Web by Gordon Cox

"Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" " coming soon to an arena near you? The legal settlement reached April 10 between Julie Taymor and producers of Broadway tuner "Spider-Man" not only brings…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:27PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 9, 2013

New Group Ticket Sales Shingle Hits Broadway by Gordon Cox

Veteran Broadway group ticket seller Scott Mallalieu has opened the doors at his new group sales firm, GreatWhiteWay.com. Mallalieu was the prexy of Group Sales Box Office, the StreetR…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:00PM[SHARE]

'Dreamgirls,' 'Shrew' Draw Honors at D.C. Hayes Awards by Gordon Cox

WASHINGTON " Signature Theater's sassy revival of "Dreamgirls" and Folger Theater's wild western take on "The Taming of the Shrew" drew top laurels April 8 at the Helen Hayes Awards, D.C.…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:51AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 8, 2013

Broadway's 'Hands on a Hardbody' to Shutter by Gordon Cox

"Hands on a Hardbody" is taking its hands off the vehicle and withdrawing from the competition, with the Broadway musical posting a closing notice for the end of the week. Most legiters had …

SOURCE: Variety at 07:00PM[SHARE]

Broadway Box Office Cashes In On Good Bette by Gordon Cox

As Tom Hanks topliner "Lucky Guy" continued to rake it in at the Broadway box office last week, star-driven plays led by Better Midler and Alec Baldwin joined the fray and Midler outing "I'l…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:43PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 5, 2013

Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz to Star in Broadway 'Betrayal' by Gordon Cox

Producer Scott Rudin has lined up his latest star-heavy Broadway revival, tapping Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz to appear in a fall production of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal”…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:24PM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 4, 2013

Legit Review: 'Kinky Boots' by Gordon Cox

Never underestimate the power of a good-bad musical, which can make consenting adults yearn to be dancing queens and adolescent witches and, in the case of "Kinky Boots," drag queens in stil…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]

William Friedkin Set for Stage Directing Gig in L.A. by Gordon Cox

Theater stints for William Friedkin, William Petersen and Amy Brenneman are on tap for the 2013-14 season at the Geffen Playhouse. Friedkin will direct the L.A. nonprofit's revival of Harold…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:37PM[SHARE]

Broadway Has High Hopes for 'Tonight Show' Handoff by Gordon Cox

When NBC confirmed the news "The Tonight Show" changeover in 2014, Broadway ears perked up. For legit publicists, the cross-country move could be a boon: The opportunity to promote Main Stem…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:54PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Starry Nominees Named for Off Broadway's Lortel Awards by Gordon Cox

It's an Off Broadway awards show, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of stars lined up for it: The roster of actors to score nominations for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards includes Ja…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:40PM[SHARE]

O'Neill Musical Conference Taps Three for Development by Gordon Cox

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Music Theater Conference has lined up a trio of new tuner projects for development during the conference's 2013 summer session, corralling a line…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 1, 2013

Legit Review: 'Lucky Guy' by Gordon Cox

Tom Hanks is a natural. Although he hasn’t trod the boards in years, the affable movie star takes to the stage like a fish to water in “Lucky Guy,” Nora Ephron’s affe…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM[SHARE]

Booming Box Office in Broadway's Easter Basket by Gordon Cox

The Easter holiday is all about resurrection, and Broadway box office rose to the occasion. Sales spiked last week during the Easter-Passover frame, driving a full 13 productions above the $…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:43PM[SHARE]

Two Romeos Woo Two Juliets on New York Stages This Fall by Gordon Cox

The "Romeo and Juliet" that arrives on Broadway next season starring Orlando Bloom may be the first Main Stem staging of the Shakespeare play since 1986 " but it's not the first productio…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:19PM[SHARE]

Tonys Tap Two to Announce 2013 Nominations by Gordon Cox

The Tony Awards have tapped two legiters with TV profiles, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sutton Foster, to announced the 2013 Tony nominations later this month. Ferguson, who had logged several s…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:10PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 28, 2013

New Producers Crowd Broadway Boards by Gordon Cox

Jenna Segal, a former production development exec at MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1, is pulling together her first Broadway project as a lead producer, tapping a team of creatives for a revival of…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:21PM[SHARE]

Legit Review: 'The Low Road' by Gordon Cox

With twenty actors racing between fifty roles across a time-traveling plot, Bruce Norris's "The Low Road" is a cross between a pageant and a parable. Dominic Cooke's supremely witty, fleet-f…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:26PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Patsy Cline Musical Hits Broadway With Bowersox by Gordon Cox

Add Patsy Cline to the list of music acts making their way to Broadway, with tuner "Always… Patsy Cline" aiming for a Rialto run this summer in a production that stars "American Idol" alum…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:21PM[SHARE]

All that Chat