All stories by Jan Simpson on BroadwayStars

Saturday, August 1, 2020

The Most Meaningful Shows of 2019 For Me by Jan Simpson

For those of us who write about culture, the holiday season includes making Top 10 lists. But this year, I've decided against trying to anoint the best shows I've seen or even tallying up my…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Happy New Year by Jan Simpson

Happy New Year!  Happy New Decade!!  Here's hoping that they're both filled with more happiness (including lots of good theater) than not.  Cheers!!!

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Why "Sing Street" is Slightly Off-Key For Me by Jan Simpson

Sing Street, the new musical that opened last week at New York Theatre Workshop and which is the final big show of the fall season to open, arrived with high expectations. But that can hurt …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

"Judgment Day": More Style Than Substance by Jan Simpson

Bigger isn't always better. The British director Richard Jones won deserved kudos in 2017 for staging The Hairy Ape in the vast drill hall at the Park Avenue Armory. That production li…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

An Invitation to Join Me (and Some Great Playwrights) at This Year's BroadwayCon by Jan Simpson

No review post this week (although if you have a chance you should try to catch Talene Monahon's How to Load a Musket, a really thought-provoking play about historical reenactors and the fra…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Some Must See Shows for the Spring Season by Jan Simpson

The best preview for the spring 2020 theater season I've seen was the one that my friend and fellow theater junkie Howard Sherman posted on his Facebook page a couple of weeks ago: I can…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

The Madness of a Post-Modern "Medea" by Jan Simpson

Just like Shakespeare, the great Greek playwrights staged their plays with all-male actors. But unlike the Bard, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides centered many of their plays around great …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Question: What Makes a Modern Musical? Replies From: "Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice," "Romeo & Bernadette" & &quo by Jan Simpson

Wither the musical? Not the jukebox musical or the ones that strap themselves to popular movies like a shipwreck victim clinging to a lifeboat or even those with rock scores whose songs self…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

"A Soldier's Story" Flies Its Flag at Half-Mast by Jan Simpson

One of my best friends worked for the Negro Ensemble Company back in its heyday and so I got to see the original productions of such shows as Zooman and the Sign, The River Niger and the NEC…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

The Clever Mysteries of "The Headlands" by Jan Simpson

Christopher Chen's intriguing memory play The Headlands works on so many levels that it's hard for me to keep track of all of them. It starts out as a crime procedural centered around an i…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Joyfully Celebrating 13 Years of B&Me by Jan Simpson

© maksum iliasin | Dreamstime.com Time flies. And this year it's whizzing by so quickly that I almost forgot to take some time out to celebrate the 13th anniversary of Broadway & Me…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

The Coronavirus Forces All of New York Theater to Turn on the Ghost Light by Jan Simpson

I had planned to post a review this week but it was a pan of a play that I really didn't like and that seems somehow wrong at this time when concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 virus h…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Dragging Out the Ghost Light by Jan Simpson

Spring doesn't officially arrive this year until week after next but the spring theater season is already here, with new shows opening almost every day. And I'm already running behind as I t…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Where There's A Will... by Jan Simpson

It's been a month since I last posted here. With theaters everywhere closed, there's been too little to say. But today is Shakespeare's birthday and I'm taking comfort from the fact that …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Theater Life in these Uncertain Times by Jan Simpson

We're all longing for moments of clarity, sanity and even a little levity during these days of social distancing and self-isolating.  But while there may be no live performances on Broadw…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Theater Books for Summer Reading 2020 by Jan Simpson

Happy Fourth of July! This is obviously a more unusual summer than most. COVID-19 continues its rampage across the country and most theaters remain closed. People are marching in the streets…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

Finally, Some Good Theater News, Compliments of the Outer Critics Circle by Jan Simpson

Good news, particularly good news about theater, has been hard to find over the last two months since concerns about the coronavirus locked most of us indoors and closed theaters around the …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]

A Hopefully Helpful List of Two-Handers by Jan Simpson

My pals at BroadwayRadio invited me to join them for this past Sunday's "This Week on Broadway" podcast. We talked about some of our all-time favorite plays (you can hear us by clicking h…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:12PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 14, 2020

Stagecraft: Katori Hall, Playwright of "The Hot Wing King" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Katori Hall, P…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 12:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 15, 2020

Stagecraft: Zora Howard, Playwright of "Stew" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Zora Howard, P…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 12:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, November 23, 2019

Stagecraft: Alexis Scheer, Playwright of "Our Dear Dead Drug Lord" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Alexis Scheer …

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 12:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, October 19, 2019

Stagecraft: Will Arbery, Playwright of "Heroes of the Fourth Turning" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Stagecraft: Wi…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 05:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 28, 2019

Stagecraft: Mfoniso Udofia, Playwright of "runboyrun" and "In Old Age" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Stagecraft: Mf…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 12:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 14, 2019

Stagecraft: Jessica Hagedorn, Playwright of "Felix Starro" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Stagecraft: Je…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 12:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, August 31, 2019

Stagecraft: Bess Wohl, Playwright of "Make Believe" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Stagecraft: Be…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 12:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 20, 2019

Stagecraft: Winter Miller, Playwright of "No One Is Forgotten" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Winter Miller,…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 06:01AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 31, 2019

Stagecraft: Jesse Eisenberg, Playwright of "Happy Talk" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Guest: Jesse Eisenber…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 06:00PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 24, 2019

Stagecraft: Adam Seidel, Playwright of "Original Sound" by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway.   Guest: Adam Seid…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 09:00PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 10, 2019

Stagecraft: Robert Horn, Author of Broadway's Tootsie by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway.   Guest: Robert Ho…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 08:01PM[SHARE]
Saturday, April 20, 2019

Stagecraft: Thaddeus Phillips, 17 Border Crossings @ New York Theatre Workshop by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway.   Guest: Thaddeus …

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 12:01AM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 2, 2019

Stagecraft: Madeleine George, Hurricane Diane @ New York Theatre Workshop by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway.   Guest: Madele…

SOURCE: BroadwayRadio at 12:01AM[SHARE]

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