All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Monday, January 10, 2022

Theater Triumphs on Screen. Amid In-Person Cancellations, Digital Theater Makes A Comeback. #Stageworthy Week by Jonathan Mandell

Given all the cancellations and delays caused by the Omicron variant surge (see news below),  digital theater is suddenly looking good again (see reviews below.) If the theater news th…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:12PM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 9, 2022

Sidney Poitier: The Measure of A Man by Jonathan Mandell

Sidney Poitier wasn't expected to live long; he was born prematurely in Miami, where his parents, who were tomato farmers from the Bahamas, happened to be visiting in order to sell their pro…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:18PM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 8, 2022

1st Irish Festival Review: Duck Duck Goose. A play about a rape accusation by Jonathan Mandell

"I haven't done anything wrong," Chris Quinn says again and again in Caitriona Daly's play, which focuses on an accusation of rape. Chris is not the one accused. His friend Davey is, but Chr…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:02AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 6, 2022

Running for My Life. A play about the January 6 riot on its anniversary by Jonathan Mandell

"Sweetheart, I'm fine, and I'm running for my life, I cannot talk to you right now," Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif) recalls telling her son, when he telephoned her while she was scrambling down…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:02AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Clyde's Simulcast. Broadway Goes Digital! by Jonathan Mandell

Immediately after I watched the first-ever "simulcast" of a Broadway play   " the exact same live performance of Lynn Nottage's "Clyde's" on my computer screen that the audience was…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:14PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Theater Blog Roundup: Reviewing 2021 in a mix of emotions by Jonathan Mandell

Was 2021 a cause for celebration or for sorrow? Was it a time for gratitude, grief or gall? Yes, say the theater bloggers in the roundup below. The strange mix of emotions might be summed…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:42PM[SHARE]
Monday, January 3, 2022

Broadway on Edge in 2022. 2021 in Review.  #Stageworthy Week. by Jonathan Mandell

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on Broadway, with "Ain't Too Proud" becoming the fourth Broadway show in little more than a week to announce it was shutting down ear…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:37AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 2, 2022

New York Theater Openings Scheduled for January 2022 by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a day-by-day selection of theater openings scheduled for January organized by opening date*, featuring a Broadway play, "Skeleton Crew," and several intriguing shows Off and Off-Off…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:20PM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 1, 2022

Reynaldo Piniella: Thoughts of a Sudden Broadway Actor on a Year of Triumph and Trauma by Jonathan Mandell

Reynaldo Piniella made an abrupt Broadway debut portraying a go-getting actor in 2021 under strange and trying circumstances; "It's been such a crazy time," he says. "Within like a 24 hour p…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:13PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 31, 2021

Ring IN The Old in 2022: Broadway Veterans 90- 104 by Jonathan Mandell

Let us celebrate surviving to a new and surely better year, by honoring these dozen Broadway veterans aged 90 to 104. Click on any photograph to see it enlarged and read the caption.

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:09PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 30, 2021

Year End Theater Quiz: A Look Back at 2021 by Jonathan Mandell

How much do you remember of this unusual year in theater?  Answer these 20 questions to find out. Loading…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:17PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Theater Books of 2021 to Read in 2022 by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a list of theater books to read in 2022, most of which were published in 2021.‡ Click on the titles to find more information and to purchase these books, grouped under four…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:01PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Top Posts and Best Reads of 2021: Broadway Reopening, Musicals on Screen by Jonathan Mandell

Below are some of the year's best reads and the most popular posts of 2021, which, not surprisingly, were largely about the reopening of Broadway, although the number 1 post was about the mo…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:53PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 27, 2021

The Good Theater News of 2021. #Stageworthy Week. by Jonathan Mandell

There were good things that happened in 2021 " in general (vaccines became widely available, Britney was freed, the coup failed, Derek Chauvin was convicted, Juneteenth was made …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:28PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 26, 2021

Reopening Night. The Making of "Merry Wives"  by Jonathan Mandell

A positive test in the company canceled what was supposed to be opening night. A torrential thunderstorm had canceled the first preview.  "It's been harrowing, harrowing, harrowing, the w…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:53PM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 25, 2021

In Memoriam: Theater Community Members Who Died in 2021 by Jonathan Mandell

Below are some of the people from the theater community who died in 2021, listed alphabetically. Click on any photograph to read the caption, most of which link to an obituary.

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:26PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 24, 2021

15 Memorable Moments on Stage in 2021 by Jonathan Mandell

Three of the most memorable moments on a New York stage in 2021 were of characters getting high; can you blame them, given the year we've had? Among the moments represented in the photo gall…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:19PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 23, 2021

Book Review: Theater of Lockdown by Jonathan Mandell

In "Theater of Lockdown: Digital and Distanced Performance in a Time of Pandemic"  (Methuen Drama, 247 pages), Barbara Fuchs attempts to chronicle what she calls "the fundamental transfor…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:27PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Top 10 Lists of Top 10 Theater in 2021. Best NYC stage plays and musicals by Jonathan Mandell

The Broadway debut of "Trouble in Mind" some three decades after playwright Alice Childress' death is the most popular choice among critics whose lists of top 10 New York theater for 2021…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:34AM[SHARE]
Monday, December 20, 2021

Broadway and Omicron: Cancellations "Out of An Abundance of Caution." #Stageworthy News by Jonathan Mandell

A third of all Broadway shows were canceled on Sunday because members of the company or crew tested positive for Covid, the latest in "a raft of cancellations unlike any in history," evidenc…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:21AM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 19, 2021

7 Theater Trends Revisited, Again by Jonathan Mandell

While others were busy assessing the trends in New York theater of the decade that had just ended, on January 1, 2020, I asked: What will be the trends of the future? I had a list of seven q…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:01PM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 18, 2021

Healthy at Last. What NYC Mayor Eric Adams' vegan book may say about his tenure by Jonathan Mandell

It shouldn't surprise anybody who followed the race for New York City mayor that Eric Adams, who won and will take office on January 1, 2022, has a book out called Healthy at Last: A Plant-B…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:45PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 17, 2021

Holiday Shows 2021: Nutcrackers, Christmas Carols etc in person, online by Jonathan Mandell

This year's holiday season in New York is meant as a return to the annual tradition of live in-person Christmas Carols and Nutcracker Suites, as well as the usual mix of family fare, offb…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:40PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 16, 2021

Becoming Dr. Ruth Review: Tovah Feldshuh as celebrity sex therapist, sniper, survivor by Jonathan Mandell

It's been 40 years since sex therapist Ruth Westheimer became a celebrity. The 4'7" "Grandma Freud," aka Dr. Ruth, who gave advice on her radio and TV shows in a sing-song European accent ab…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:44PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 15, 2021

10 Favorite New York Stage Performances in 2021, and 10 Top Ensembles by Jonathan Mandell

Deirdre O'Connell gave one of my favorite performances on a New York stage in 2016, and she returns in this latest of my annual lists of favorite theatrical performances  (not all o…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:56AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 14, 2021

And Just Like That, Broadway Ends 2021 on a High Note. #StageworthyNews by Jonathan Mandell

This past week, the last Broadway shows of 2021 opened (Flying Over Sunset) and reopened (Dear Evan Hansen, the last of the reopening shows that were shut down by the pandemic.) For all the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:01PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 13, 2021

Flying Over Sunset Review: Cary Grant, Clare Boothe Luce and Aldous Huxley take LSD, not a hippie in sight. by Jonathan Mandell

When he takes LSD, the movie star Cary Grant turns into a spectacular tap-dancer, in a duet with a boy in a dress " who turns out to be his younger self, Archie Leach. The novelist and futur…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:01PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 12, 2021

Kimberly Akimbo musical review. She is 16 going on 70. by Jonathan Mandell

Kimberly Levaco is a 16-year-old girl with a rare, terminal disease that accelerates the aging process, and makes her look as if she's in her 70s. Seth Weetis is her nerdy, smiling classmate…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:28AM[SHARE]
Friday, December 10, 2021

West Side Story: 7 changes in 2021 Steven Spielberg/Tony Kushner movie musical from beloved 1961 version by Jonathan Mandell

The remake of "West Side Story," the tragic story of lovers from rival New York street gangs, which opens in movie theaters today, is director Steven Spielberg's first movie musical. Spielbe…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:38PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 9, 2021

Company on Broadway Review. Sondheim's musical, and live tribute. by Jonathan Mandell

 "Company" is perfectly timed, sadly. Opening less than two weeks after the death of Stephen Sondheim at the age of 91, in a season delayed by more than a year and a half by the worldwide…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:03PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Just For Us Review: Alex Edelman, a Jewish comic who tries to charm some antisemites by Jonathan Mandell

Alex Edelman read a Tweet from somebody he knew to be antisemitic " the man had previously attacked him online for being Jewish "  inviting people to go to an address in Astoria, Queen…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:41PM[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