All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Monday, July 25, 2022

Broadway Push and Pull: Into The Woods, The Kite Runner. #Stageworthy news of the week by Jonathan Mandell

Like the magnets I collect from each show for my refrigerator, Broadway exerts a pull, but I also felt a push upon my return this past week to see  "Into The Woods" and "The Kite Runne…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:12PM[SHARE]
Sunday, July 24, 2022

The Kite Runner Broadway Review. Too Faithful. by Jonathan Mandell

There's an early sweet and funny scene in "The Kite Runner" that feels like a subconscious warning about how misbegotten this stage adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's 2003 best-selling novel…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:42AM[SHARE]
Friday, July 22, 2022

Into the Woods Broadway Review: 3 reasons to stay home, 18 to attend. by Jonathan Mandell

"Into The Woods," the musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine currently back on Broadway in a wonderfully cast concert staging directed by Lear deBessonet, has always reminded me of the…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:51PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Theater Blog Roundup: Theater as Risk, and as Gift. Helen Shaw on When NOT to Review by Jonathan Mandell

Theater has always involved risk, and pain, and they are often still viewed as necessary and good: "If you're just doing what you know works you can be great, but you won't get to the ineffa…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:23AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 19, 2022

3 Theater Implosions: Funny Girl, Victory Gardens, Garth Drabinsky. #Stageworthy News by Jonathan Mandell

Why has there been so much conflict and conversation over a cast change on Broadway, a personnel decision in a Chicago theater, and a producer's late payroll for a musical that's just closed…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:10PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 18, 2022

Broadway in Bryant Park Returns, with performances by the casts of A Strange Loop, Wicked, Stomp, a dozen more. by Jonathan Mandell

After skipping two summers because of the pandemics *, Broadway in Bryant Park, the free weekly lunchtime concerts by the casts from current Broadway shows, will return to Bryant Park with a…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:22AM[SHARE]
Sunday, July 17, 2022

F is for Fanny Brice. The original, in photos and videos. by Jonathan Mandell

Twenty-five women have portrayed Fanny Brice on Broadway* " a 26th, Lea Michele, takes over the role on September 6 " but, half a century before she became a character in the Jule Style musi…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:55PM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 16, 2022

T is for Tallulah Bankhead by Jonathan Mandell

Everybody seemed to have a colorful anecdote  about Tallulah Bankhead. She was said to have inspired the characters of Margo Channing in the film "All About Eve," Blanche DuBois in Ten…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:49PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 15, 2022

The Beatles on Broadway: From John Lennon at 28 to Paul McCartney at 80? by Jonathan Mandell

Paul McCartney's planned new musical wouldn't be the first time an actual Beatle created something original for Broadway. But it would be wonderful. Three years ago, McCartney announced he w…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:27PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 11, 2022

Lea Michele the new Funny Girl; Beanie Feldstein out early. New on Broadway: Aint No Mo, And Juliet, The Collaboration. Paradise Square closing. #Sta by Jonathan Mandell

Two new plays and a new musical announced for Broadway this past week, and a fourth firmed up dates and theater, bringing the number of confirmed shows in the Broadway 2022-2023 season to 17…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:08PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 8, 2022

Outdoor Theater in New York City, from Lincoln Center to Little Island, The Delacorte to Delancey St. by Jonathan Mandell

Theater as we know it began outdoors, in amphitheaters such as the 2,500-year-old theater at Epidaurus, Greece, which was designed by the architect Polykleitos the Younger, and is still bein…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:58PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 5, 2022

RIP Peter Brook, 97. Summer theater dilemma: To go or not to go? #Stageworthy News by Jonathan Mandell

As a new season begins, the big questions posed in the best theater co-exist with a more immediate question: Are theatergoers safe? Starting last Friday, Broadway attendance requires neither…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:58AM[SHARE]
Monday, July 4, 2022

Women's Declaration of Independence: 10 Songs for the 4th of July. by Jonathan Mandell

"You don't own me," Lesley Gore sings, in one of the videos below of anthems, pop ballads and raps sung by women that have taken on a new, urgent meaning this Fourth of July, a holiday that …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:28PM[SHARE]
Sunday, July 3, 2022

Theater Quiz for June 2022: Freedom from Health Edition by Jonathan Mandell

How well were you paying attention to the news and its impact on theater this past month? Answer these dozen questions on abortion and masks and the Tonys, plus a bonus question on hybrid th…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:39PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 1, 2022

July 2022 New York Theater Openings by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a selection of theater opening in New York in July, featuring two Broadway shows, a revival of Sondheim and Lapine's "Into the Woods" and a stage adaptation of "The Kite Runner,"…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:42PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 30, 2022

20 New Theater Books for Summer Reading 2022 by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a list of theater books " recently published, soon-to-be published, or newly relevant " in four categories: Scripts and Play AnthologiesBiographies and MemoirsTheater History, Criti…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:29AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Broadway 2022-2023 Season Preview Guide by Jonathan Mandell

Below is my annual preview guide of Broadway openings in the 2022-2023 season, which features starry revivals of some of America's most acclaimed plays and musicals, new adaptations of belov…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:52AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 27, 2022

Broadway Unmasked. Theater vs. Abortion Ruling. #Stageworthy News by Jonathan Mandell

The Broadway League will no longer require Broadway theatergoers to wear masks starting this Friday " not the most shocking decision announced last week, but like the Supreme Court rul…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:02PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Corsicana Review: Heroes of the Weird by Jonathan Mandell

Lot bristles at the label "special needs."  He is a recluse and a self-trained artist who composed a song called "Weird" and collects trash to turn into sculpture. Yes, he says, he is …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:27PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Broadway Black's Antonyo Award Nominations by Jonathan Mandell

The theater award season continues with nominations announced today by Broadway Black for its second Antonyo Awards, intended to honor extraordinary achievements in the Black theater communi…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:59PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 20, 2022

2022 Chita Rivera Award Winners: Myles Frost AND Jared Grimes, Paradise Square, for colored girls by Jonathan Mandell

Myles Frost of "MJ The Musical" AND Jared Grimes of "Funny Girl" both won the Chita Rivera Awards for outstanding male dancer in a Broadway show, one of two ties in the annual award given to…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:05PM[SHARE]

A Week of The Weird Art. Broadway Celebrates Juneteenth. #Stageworthy News by Jonathan Mandell

The words "weird" or "weirdo" appear some two dozen times in "Corsicana," a play by Will Arbery which opens on Wednesday, and which co-stars Dierdre O'Connell, who last week (coincidentally …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:08PM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 19, 2022

God's Fool Review. Francis of Assisi in a Martha Clarke dance by Jonathan Mandell

"God's Fool," the 70-minute theater piece about St. Francis of Assisi conceived and directed by Martha Clarke that's at LaMaMa through July 2, would probably be best appreciated by those who…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:47PM[SHARE]

Lessons in Survival 1971. James Baldwin Talks Race and Writing With Nikki Giovanni by Jonathan Mandell

"Lessons in Survival 1971," running at the Vineyard Theater through June 30, is based on then-28-year-old poet Nikki Giovanni's interview-turned-conversation with the famous writer James …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:40PM[SHARE]

Celebrating #Bloomsday with Ulysses by Elevator Repair Service at Symphony Space by Jonathan Mandell

On the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce's monumental modernist novel "Ulysses," Symphony Space gave over its annual Bloomsday celebration to a new theater piece, also call…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:59PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 16, 2022

The Orchard Review. Chekhov on stage and online featuring Baryshnikov, the Ukraine war, ASL and a pet robot. by Jonathan Mandell

The moments in "The Orchard" that suggest the current Russian invasion of Ukraine would surely get the most attention in a more conventionally focused adaptation of "The Cherry Orchard": …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:20PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Circle Jerk Review: Gay Digital Spoof Now On Stage by Jonathan Mandell

In the prologue of "Circle Jerk" " a funny, campy, discombobulating hybrid theater piece that's a spoof of both gay and digital culture (and also an example of each) " the Troll, in a bri…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:23PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 13, 2022

Tony Awards 2022: Memorable Moments. #Stageworthy News this week by Jonathan Mandell

There were delightful surprises and predictable disappointments during the 75th Tony Awards, honoring the first full season since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters in March 2020…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:18AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 12, 2022

2022 Tony Award Winners by Jonathan Mandell

Below the winners of the 75th annual Tony Awards (Here's a guide to the full 2021-2022 Broadway season, including those not nominated, and those that reopened.)(Here is the list of the nomin…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:09PM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 11, 2022

Broadway Theater To Be Named After Lena Horne. Here's why. by Jonathan Mandell

Years before the end of her long illustrious life, Lena Horne, singer, actor, dancer,  elegant beauty, fierce civil rights activist, pioneering movie star " the first Black performer t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:58PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 9, 2022

2022 Tony Awards: Who SHOULD Win, and Why by Jonathan Mandell

In this most trying of seasons, the theater community has been attempting to redefine what Broadway means, and that includes producing work that surely would not have made it to Broadway bef…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:13PM[SHARE]

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