All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Friday, April 15, 2022

Broadway Cheap Seats: How to Get Discount Tickets to Spring 2022 Theater by Jonathan Mandell

Below are the various discounts offered by the shows that have opened or are about to open (or reopen) on Broadway in Spring 2022, listed alphabetically. These are the official ways to get t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:43AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 14, 2022

American Buffalo Review by Jonathan Mandell

In this third Broadway revival of David Mamet's "American Buffalo," which feels like at least one revival too many, Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell, and Darren Criss portray three low-life …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:03PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Harmony Review. Barry Manilow's Musical in NYC At Last by Jonathan Mandell

The Comedian Harmonists, the singing group whose story is told in "Harmony," Barry Manilow's long-gestating musical, were as popular as the Beatles in their time and place. But their time an…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:35PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 12, 2022

To My Girls Review by Jonathan Mandell

What's most cringeworthy about "To My Girls" is not that, in an era of "they/them," the group of gay men in their late 30s who meet for a weekend in Palm Springs are all "She needs a cocktai…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:16PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 11, 2022

The Little Prince Broadway Review by Jonathan Mandell

"What is essential is invisible to the eye," a fox tells the little prince. "It's only visible to the heart." The line is from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's beloved 1943 novella, "The Little Pr…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:41PM[SHARE]

COVID-19 Tests Broadway at its busiest. Birthday Candles, Take Me Out Reviews. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Positive COVID-19 tests caused the cancellation last week of four Broadway shows, two of them still in previews, presenting a test of the enthusiasm for the April line-up (celebrated by the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:36AM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 10, 2022

Birthday Candles Review. Debra Messing ages from 17 to 107 by Jonathan Mandell

 In "Birthday Candles," opening on Broadway tonight,  Debra Messing portrays Ernestine, a woman who we see celebrating her birthdays from age 17 to age 107 by baking a cake.  …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:38PM[SHARE]
Saturday, April 9, 2022

New York Theater Awards 2022: Guide and Calendar by Jonathan Mandell

Below is an explanation of the major annual New York theater awards, plus a 2022 calendar of nomination announcements and award ceremonies " which (like most everything in the last two years…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:10AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 8, 2022

Theater Blog Roundup. In praise of what the critics dismissed: M.J., Music Man, Plaza Suite. The Broadway 2022-23 season so far. by Jonathan Mandell

Theater critics and theatergoers don't like the same shows, Jan Simpson says in a post in "Broadway & Me," as explained (and linked) below. What about theater bloggers? Yes, there are so…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:55AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 7, 2022

Lucille Lortel Award Nominations 2022. Off Broadway's Best by Jonathan Mandell

Below are the nominations for the 37th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. "Kimberly Akimbo" and "Oratorio for Living Things" have the most nom…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:25PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Book Review: Fearlessly Different, An Autistic Actor's Journey…. by Jonathan Mandell

People thought Mickey Rowe was a weird kid. By the time that weirdness was officially deemed a disability and given a diagnosis, he was a senior in college and had already begun working as a…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:44PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 4, 2022

Take Me Out Review. A gay love letter to baseball by Jonathan Mandell

In this first Broadway revival of Richard Greenberg's 2003 Tony-winning comedy, which is a gay man's love letter to baseball, Jesse Williams portrays Darren Lemming, a star player who is so …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:23PM[SHARE]

Grammys Salute Sondheim, and Validate the Broadway TikTok Musical. Paradise Square, Plaza Suite, Oratorio Reviews. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Step aside, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Burt Bacharach, Stephen Schwartz, Bob Dylan, Claude-Michel Schönberg. Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, aged 23 and 20 respectively, won the Grammy for B…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:39AM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 3, 2022

Paradise Square Review: Black and Irish New Yorkers In Love and Dance and Death by Jonathan Mandell

There are pleasures in "Paradise Square."  The terrific dancing tells its own story, a quintessential American (and Broadway) one: How African-American and Irish immigrant dancers lear…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:15PM[SHARE]

Best Musical Theater Album Grammy 2022: The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical by Jonathan Mandell

The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical has won the 2022 Grammy for the best musical theater album " which is unusual, since it has never been performed on a stage. The six nominees in the categor…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:03PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 1, 2022

April 2022 New York Theater Openings by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a day-by-day calendar of the FIFTEEN Broadway shows opening (and three reopening) in April, including fan anticipated favorites "Funny Girl" and "A Strange Loop," plus a selection o…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:26AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 31, 2022

March 2022 Theater Quiz: The Slap, Broadway Style by Jonathan Mandell

Broadway at the Oscars! A March of Black Women! Neil Simon's comeback? This has been a month full of theater news " at least enough to fill a quiz, like the one below. Find out your Theater …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:31PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Oratorio for Living Things Review: Heather Christian's Hip Religious Experience by Jonathan Mandell

"Oratorio for Living Things" is such a gorgeous, awe-inspiring concert of original music by Heather Christian that it feels like a religious experience.  Indeed, the music " inflected …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:45PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 28, 2022

Plaza Suite Review: Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker united on stage in Neil Simon's laugh fest by Jonathan Mandell

Why would long-married celebrity couple Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker choose "Plaza Suite" as the play to reunite them on stage for the first time since 1996?  Neil Simon's 1…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:00PM[SHARE]

Ariana DeBose: There is indeed a place for us. Broadway Barrage Begins! #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

This is a week for Black women " Ariana DeBose's Oscar win, and the opening of two plays Off-Broadway: "Confederates" by Dominique Morisseau and "Help" by Claudia Rankine, my review of a new…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:14AM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 27, 2022

Confederates Review: Two Black Women 160 Years Apart Fight For 'Freedom' by Jonathan Mandell

In "Confederates," playwright Dominique Morisseau presents in alternating scenes the stories of two Black women in eras 160 years apart "  a 19th century slave who becomes a s…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:45PM[SHARE]

Celebrate #WorldTheaterDay 2022. Ukraine and their arts in our hearts. by Jonathan Mandell

Today is World Theatre Day, created in 1961 as an annual celebration on March 27. This year I dedicate it to the theaters, performers, and theater lovers of Ukraine. To the more than 400 leg…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:10PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 26, 2022

Watch Stars in the House for Ukraine by Jonathan Mandell

Watch below as more than 60 performers are appearing in an 11-hour telethon (from noon to 10 p.m. today) to raise money and awareness for those affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Don…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:07PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 24, 2022

Help Review. A Black Woman on What White People Are Thinking by Jonathan Mandell

"Help," performed at The Shed by April Mathis and 11 white actors in business suits, is in effect an adaptation by the poet, playwright and Yale professor Claudia Rankine, a Black woman, …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:43PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Lorraine Hansberry: The Life Behind A Raisin in the Sun by Jonathan Mandell

Near the end of Charles J. Shields' biography of Lorraine Hansberry, the third such book I've read in as many years, the author mentions the five-story townhouse near Washington Square Park …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:48PM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 20, 2022

MicroTeatro 2022 at The Clemente: Cesar Chavez. The Dolly Parton of Bushwick. Grand Guignol Theater NOT for Children. by Jonathan Mandell

Cesar Chavez was a giant in the American labor and civil rights movements, but right now he's eight inches tall. "I have to do something for mi gente," the little cardboard Cesar says …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:11PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 18, 2022

A Century Of Women Playwrights Who Won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jonathan Mandell

Eighteen women have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, from "Miss Lulu Bett," which Zona Gale adapted from her own novel in 1921, to "The Hot Wing King" by Katori Hall in 2021 "a century of w…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:02PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Ukrainian Playwrights Step Up, and the Theater World Attends. Q&A with Drama League's Gabriel Stelian-Shanks  by Jonathan Mandell

"Sometimes, Sasha, war is necessary, it's unavoidable," the Russian soldier Victor is saying to the Ukrainian woman who has tied him up and is pointing a gun at him. "You can't bake a …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:52PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Broadway Poll: Spring 2022 Shows You Most and Least Want to See by Jonathan Mandell

Choose the show that you are most looking forward to, and the one you are least likely to attend. The list below is for shows that have opening dates on Broadway in March and (mostly) April …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:28AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 14, 2022

Spring 2022 Broadway Preview Guide: At Last by Jonathan Mandell

Below are a list with links to the 16 shows opening on Broadway in March and April " starry casts, iconic musicals, theater classics and adventurous new works… the closest to a normal Spri…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:57PM[SHARE]

Broadway Springs Forward (Two Years Later) #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

The Tony Awards' new dates! Daniel Radcliffe in a Stephen Sondheim musical! Will Swenson in a new Neil Diamond musical! Pamela Anderson in her Broadway debut! The many exciting Broadway anno…

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

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