All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Eisenhower Review. John Rubinstein as Affable Ike by Jonathan Mandell

John Rubinstein, a Tony-winning theater veteran who made his Broadway debut 51 years ago originating the role of Pippin, a cheerful curly-haired young prince looking forward to a life of adv…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:57PM[SHARE]

Mike Daisey on how theater fails America still. New Season Announcements. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Fifteen years after Mike Daisey created a show called "How Theater Failed America" he provides a blunt update in the essay below: Nothing has changed and, after COVID, former theatergoers "h…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:28AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 19, 2023

Watch Juneteenth on Broadway: Celebration and Contemplation by Jonathan Mandell

"Raisin in the Sun" was the first play that Kenny Leon directed on Broadway and it offered plenty of parallels with his own childhood in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he was met with hostil…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:15PM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 18, 2023

Fathers on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

There have been no shortage of fathers on Broadway.  "Life with Father," Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse's adaptation of the stories by Clarence Day Jr., which ran from 1939 to 194…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:51AM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 17, 2023

The Doctor Review: Antisemitism, Abortion, but mostly Identity Politics by Jonathan Mandell

The dramatic incident that propels "The Doctor" is clear: A Jewish physician refuses to allow a Catholic priest to administer last rites to a 14-year-old girl who is dying from sepsis after …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:31PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 16, 2023

Watch The World Celebrate Bloomsday 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

Watch the short video below of the world celebrating Bloomsday once again today, June 16th " the (very long) day in 1904 that James Joyce's novel Ulysses chronicles in the life of the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:59PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 15, 2023

Days of Wine and Roses Review. Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James as alcoholics by Jonathan Mandell

The breathtaking performances by Brian d'Arcy James and Kelli O'Hara in "The Days of Wine and Roses" are enough justification for this stage adaptation of the sad, dark story about a couple …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:37AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 14, 2023

World Trade Center's PAC NYC Announces Inaugural Season by Jonathan Mandell

More than two decades in the making, PAC NYC, the performing arts center at the World Trade Center site, which will have an official ribbon-cutting September 13, today announced its inaugura…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:59PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 13, 2023

The 11 Tony winners of 2023 you can still see " 4 of them, be quick! by Jonathan Mandell

You saw the musical numbers on the Tonys Sunday and thought: That looks great, maybe I should get a ticket. But what of the straight plays that (as usual) didn't get showcased? That's why I …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:23PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 12, 2023

The Tonys and Trauma. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

The 76th annual Tony Awards, which crowned Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt as best play and Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori as best musical (complete list of winner…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:02PM[SHARE]

Watch the Tony Award 2023 musical numbers by Jonathan Mandell

Below are videos of the thirteen musical numbers presented at the 76th annual Tony Awards Opening number Best musical: Kimberly Akimbo Best musical revival Parade Best musical nominees &…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:17AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 11, 2023

2023 Tony Award winners by Jonathan Mandell

The 76th annual Tony Award winners (with a check mark ✔️): (Here's a guide to the full 2022-2023 Broadway season, including those not nominated)(Here is the list of the nominees I…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:39PM[SHARE]

Tony Night Cheat Sheet: How to Watch the 2023 Tony Awards, and Why by Jonathan Mandell

How to watchThe 76th annual Tony Awards will be presented tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, live in person at the United Palace in Washington Heights, and simultaneously broadcast and/or…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:30PM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 10, 2023

Watch Jodie Comer, Jessica Chastain and the Mandy Patinkin Show at the 2023 Drama Desk Awards by Jonathan Mandell

"You're all very in touch with your emotions here," the very British Jonathan Sayer said wryly after listening to some of the acceptance speeches at the 67th annual Drama Desk Awards at Sard…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:37AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 9, 2023

2023 Tony Awards: Who SHOULD Win, and Why by Jonathan Mandell

Below are my preferences " not predictions " for the 2023 Tony Awards, in keeping with a tradition I've been maintaining for more than a decade. I am a critic, not a seer or a bookie. We'll …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:15AM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 8, 2023

Brian Stokes Mitchell to Theatre World Award: Make them hear you! by Jonathan Mandell

"We are not professional liars; we are professional pretenders," Brian Stokes Mitchell  began what was supposed to be  an acceptance speech for his John Willis Award for Lifetime…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:26PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 7, 2023

The Shylock and the Shakespeareans Review by Jonathan Mandell

Is "The Merchant of Venice" antisemitic? Was Shakespeare?  "The Shylock and the Shakespeareans," playwright and director Edward Einhorn's retelling of the Bard's long-controversial pla…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:34PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Wet Brain Review. A family dysfunctional, and also extraterrestrial? by Jonathan Mandell

Joe's three messed-up adult children long have known Joe to be an alcoholic, an addict and a horrid father. But they didn't realize he was an alien from Outer Space. They learn this " and so…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:52PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 5, 2023

The Comeuppance Review: Death at a high school reunion by Jonathan Mandell

"The Comeuppance" both begins and ends with Death.  Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' dark, smart play features Death as a character, hanging out with five former classmates during the night of …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:55PM[SHARE]

Countdown to the Tony Awards! #Stageworthy News of the Week. by Jonathan Mandell

The new Broadway season has already begun with the opening of "Grey House," a new month of theater openings is already underway, but for one more week, attention will be on last season " tha…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:20AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 4, 2023

Grey House Review. Can Horror work on stage? by Jonathan Mandell

The set-up is straight out of a standard-issue  horror movie:  A couple who've been in a car crash on an isolated mountain top during a blizzard seek shelter, and help, in a crea…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:26PM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 3, 2023

2023 Tony Award Winners " YOUR Pick? by Jonathan Mandell

Make your pick in the survey below for 12 of the 26 categories in the 76th annual Tony Awards, honoring Broadway's best. The awards ceremony will take place on June 11th at United Palace in …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:10AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 2, 2023

Under the Radar Festival: In Memoriam by Jonathan Mandell

Under the Radar, the oldest theater festival in New York City, is no more. Over its eighteen years, the festival, run by the Public Theater, presented cutting-edge theater by more than 200 c…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:59PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 1, 2023

June 2023 New York Theater Openings by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a selection of New York theater opening* in June, presented in a day-by-day calendar and featuring two Broadway shows (one a comic solo play about antisemitism, the other a Br…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:28PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Off Broadway Alliance Award Winners: Fat Ham, Titanique by Jonathan Mandell

Fat Ham won best new play and Titanique best new musical at the 12th annual Off Broadway Alliance Awards. Winners will be feted June 20th, at Sardi's. (List of this years Off Broadway Allian…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:39PM[SHARE]

2023 Drama Desk Award Winners: Some Like It Hot, Leopoldstadt, Life of Pi by Jonathan Mandell

Some Like It Hot won Outstanding Musical and seven other awards, Leopoldstadt won Outstanding Play at  67th Annual Drama Desk Awards, announced this morning. The Piano Lesson and Parade w…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:31AM[SHARE]

The Tony Awards Quiz of 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

Answer these ten questions, plus a bonus question, about the nominations for the 2023 Tony Awards. Tough times call for a tough quiz. Loading…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:46AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Diva Divulgence. What Broadway Could Be. More Ham4Ham. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

"Let's celebrate I'm here. Let's celebrate I'm anywhere these days," the 95-year-old cabaret singer Marilyn Maye said over the weekend while singing Broadway standards at 54 Below " jazz-inf…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:03AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 29, 2023

Why Memorial Day by Jonathan Mandell

"Dark and sad will be the hour to this nation when it forgets to pay grateful homage to its greatest benefactors," Frederick Douglass said at the monument to the unknown dead of the Civil Wa…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:14PM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 28, 2023

Musical Theatre for Dummies by Jonathan Mandell

The "For Dummies" book series began thirty years ago by offering step-by-step practical and unintimidating guides to computer programming geared to intimidated novices. The first title, in 1…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:03PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 26, 2023

Watch Sean Hayes, Jodie Comer, Lindsay Mendez et al accept their OCC awards by Jonathan Mandell

Below are some of the speeches from the winners of the 72nd Outer Critics Circle Awards. held Thursday afternoon at the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. (Don't kno…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:44PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off