Bowling For Columbine, Michael Moore's documentary about U.S. gun violence by Jonathan Mandell

This Oscar-winning 2002 documentary about America’s romance with gun violence is centered on the mass shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. The film is funny, sad, insig…

Broadway Community Tribute to Sandy Hook Elementary School by Jonathan Mandell

The video was created by Raymond J. Lee. The song “Always” is by Scott Alan. The song is performed by Eden Espinosa, Jane Monheit, and Christiane Noll Participating in the vidoe:…

Top 10 New York Theater of 2012 THAT YOU CAN STILL SEE by Jonathan Mandell

 After I compiled the top ten lists of top ten theater of 2012, a reader asked me to point out which of these shows you can still see. It occurred to me that the answer was — almost…

Les Miserables Movie Review " Ready For Its Close Ups by Jonathan Mandell

Near the end of "Les Miserables,"  Eddie Redmayne, his face filling up the screen, sheds a tear as he sings: Oh my friends, my friends, don’t ask me What your sacrifice was for Empt…

Shia LaBeouf Debuts on Broadway, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Moose Murders and Pump Boys Return, Evita Ends. Phantom, Les Miserables Offer Contests by Jonathan Mandell

One day remains to enter my contest for free tickets and merchandise to Les Miserables, the movie opening on December 25. A week left to shop for holiday gifts for theater lovers I've got tw…

Gun Violence Is The Slavery Of Our Era. Gun Control is Our Abolition by Jonathan Mandell

26 Names by Jason Robert Brown   When I first heard of the shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, I was reading the chapters on the debate over slavery in…

Golden Boy Review: Clifford Odets' Broadway Boxing Drama Dated, Wonderful by Jonathan Mandell

There are several great pleasures in "Golden Boy," the play by Clifford Odets about gifted Italian-American violinist Joe Bonaparte who gives up his art for the life and quick fortune of a b…

Working Review: Broadway Musical Updated by Jonathan Mandell

When did it become unfashionable for Americans to call ourselves "workers"? Certainly, it goes back way before 1978. That was when "Working" opened on Broadway, a musical co-conceived by the…

Baby, It's Cold Outside CREEPY?? by Jonathan Mandell

Right up there with being told there is no Santa Claus is the news, suddenly prevalent, that “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is not just a sweet duet for the holidays. First some…

Les Miserables Contest: Win Free Admission, T-Shirt, Soundtrack, Etc. by Jonathan Mandell

GIVEAWAY TO Les Miserables Enter to win the following: $25 Fandango Gift Card to see Les Miserables in any U.S. movie theater available for ticketing on Fandango.com or your mobile device…

Mamet Mishaps, Golden Glut, Broadway Boos and Moos by Jonathan Mandell

The last of the 19 shows that made up Broadway Fall 2012  opened this past week,  and the assessments of the season have begun. So far: meh. Critical consensus: We are not living in Br…

Golden Age Review: Opera, The Muse, but No Moos For McNally by Jonathan Mandell

I once asked Luciano Pavarotti what opera meant; the great tenor gave me a baffled look, but he answered that opera was not difficult to comprehend. Farmers played opera in barns to increase…

Glengarry Glen Ross Review: Mamet's Pulitzer Winner Offers Al Pacino, Bobby Cannavale …And Disappointment by Jonathan Mandell

It is easy to see 45th Street this week as the Tale of Two Mamets. David Mamet's new play, "The Anarchist" is a verified flop, set to close two weeks after it opened. Meanwhile, "Glengarry G…

Top Ten Lists of Top Ten Theater in 2012 by Jonathan Mandell

Here are the ten best plays or musicals that opened (mostly in New York) in 2012, according to 10 critics, including me. That is what this post will wind up being, anyway. I don't have 10 ye…

Golden Boy Reviews: Clifford Odets Boxing Drama Back on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Clifford Odets' Golden Boy, first presented on Broadway at the Belasco Theater 75 years ago, is back at the Belasco, for the second-ever Broadway revival about a man who defies his family an…

Love Lessons From The Stage by Jonathan Mandell

Can theater teach us anything about love? Three very different shows I reviewed this week all believe so " the Flux Theatre Ensemble’s production of "Hearts Like Fist,” "The Drun…

The Anarchist Review: Real-Life Riveting Story Turned Into Mamet Mush by Jonathan Mandell

When I first heard about "The Anarchist," David Mamet's play pitting Patti LuPone as an incarcerated violent radical against Debra Winger as her jailer, I immediately pictured the townhouse …

Chaplin Silenced, Anarchist Scolded, Dead Accounts Dead on Arrival by Jonathan Mandell

T'was not a great week to be jolly for many in New York theater, with stars leaving shows, closing announcements, and Broadway openings marred by pans. On the other hand, there was some good…

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean sings "Who Am I" in Les Miserables Movie by Jonathan Mandell

David Mamet Will Not Be Quoting The Anarchist Reviews In Ads by Jonathan Mandell

just a wearying lecture~Hollywood Reporter strangely gassy~New York Magazine heavily embroidered slip of a play….where ideas on eschatology, etymology, phenomenology and, yes, criminology …

Stage Acting Tips by Jonathan Mandell

James Cagney’s tip for actors: ”Never relax, and mean what you say.” Sir Ralph Richardson: Before you leave the dressing room, look in the mirror and ask yourself: ̶…

The Worst Broadway Show of 2012? by Jonathan Mandell

Broadway 2012 was not the worst year ever, but there were so many shows that flopped, critically and/or commercially, that the competition for worst of the year is fierce! You decide: Take t…

New York Theater November 2012 Quiz by Jonathan Mandell

How well were you paying attention to New York theater news this month? The answers to the 10 questions below were in my New York Theater blog or in my Twitter feed,@NewYorkTheater  

Dead Accounts Review: Slight, Odd Hate Letter to New York by Jonathan Mandell

After departing "Smash," the television series she created that looks with fluttering heart at the making of a Broadway musical, Theresa Rebeck apparently has changed her mind about New York…

My Name Is Asher Lev: What does it take to be an artist? What is the artist's responsbility? by Jonathan Mandell

"As working, and sometimes non-working, actors, we’re focused on paying the bills. It’s only in the rehearsal room and on the stage that we can remember why we do all this. Becau…

Hardworking Holiday Week in The Theater by Jonathan Mandell

Of the ThaBroadway shows still to open this season, four will do so by the end of next week: Dead Accounts, this Thursday, November 29 The Anarchist, December 2 Golden Boy, December 6 Glenga…

Sorry Review: Election Day With The Apple Family, And Why Theater Should Be More Like Television by Jonathan Mandell

The worst, and most common, insult a critic typically levels at a play is that it resembles a TV series. But at its best, television gives us the time to understand a character more deeply t…

Should Ill Theatergoers Stay Home? What About The Disabled? by Jonathan Mandell

About half an hour into the play "Sorry" at the Public Theater yesterday afternoon, the actor Jay O. Sanders suddenly announced: "Somebody is ill. Is there a doctor in the house?" A woman in…

Holiday Gifts For Theater Lovers by Jonathan Mandell

Call them theater lovers or theatre lovers or drama queens or Broadway Babies: If you have somebody in your life who goes to shows, you can choose among many gifts to make them happy " from …

Broadway Openings 2012-2013: When and Where by Jonathan Mandell

Nov 29, 2012: Dead Accounts - MUSIC BOX THEATRE Dec 02: The Anarchist - JOHN GOLDEN THEATRE Dec 06: Golden Boy - BELASCO THEATRE Dec 08: Glengarry Glen Ross …

Thanksgiving Day Means Turkey Lurkey Time by Jonathan Mandell

Turkey Lurkey Time comes closest to the official Broadway anthem for Thanksgiving. It is a song with music by Burt Bacharach and lyrics by Hal David from Act 1 of Promises, Promises, that is…