All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Friday, May 21, 2021

Little Island Park opens….with two outdoor theaters by Jonathan Mandell

For months I had watched the construction of this strange 2.4 acre public park placed atop new concrete piles like so many oversized golf pegs where the old rotting wood Pier 54 had been " w…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:05AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 20, 2021

Shoot Me When and The Father: Dementia as Romantic Comedy and Trickster Tragedy by Jonathan Mandell

Five years ago, when Florian Zeller's "The Father" debuted on Broadway, Frank Langella portrayed the fifth character I'd seen that year on a New York stage who was struggling with dementia.…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:37PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 19, 2021

The Drama Book Shop to reopen June 10, 2021, now a Hamilton alumni enterprise by Jonathan Mandell

 The Drama Book Shop will reopen to the public on June 10, 2021 in its new location, under the proprietorship of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and director Thomas Kail. The centu…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:44AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Watch Dear Evan Hansen movie trailer. Also: Broadway cast, Jordan Fisher, Noel Galvin by Jonathan Mandell

Ben Platt reprises his Tony-winning role as an anxious, isolated high school student in the film of the 2017 Tony winning best Broadway musical "Dear Evan Hansen," scheduled for release on S…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:04PM[SHARE]

The Sprezzaturameron Review: #MeToo Apologies, Reframed by Jonathan Mandell

This half-hour piece, billed as "a video docudrama," manages to work in several of the infamous apologies from the #MeToo era. "The Sprezzaturameron," available for free on the Baryshnikov A…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:05PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 17, 2021

Broadway Mayoral Faves. "Lackawanna Blues" the 24th Broadway Opening Announced! Meanwhile: What about nonprofit and digital theater? #Stageworthy by Jonathan Mandell

In a series of video interviews with the leading candidates for mayor of New York City, the New York Times asked each for their favorite Broadway show. (Shaun Donovan said that his high scho…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:10AM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 16, 2021

#Miscast21: Creel and Tveit reunite. LaChanze as Aaron Burr. Star Wars' Kelly Lee Tran as both Book of Mormon Missionaries. by Jonathan Mandell

Watch the video of Miscast below, available through May 20th. For the 21st year in a row (and the second year on YouTube), MCC Theater's fundraiser showcased Broadway stars performing songs …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:13PM[SHARE]

Bad Jews Review. The Unmarvelous Mr. Maisel? by Jonathan Mandell

Play-PerView has done a mitzvah for those of us who missed this savage comedy about bickering college-age cousins when it was first produced Off-Broadway; "Bad Jews" was the first New York p…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:34AM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 15, 2021

May 2021 Theater Openings, Week 3: Art in Odd Places, In-person AND Online. by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a day-by-day selection of theater* that is opening between May 15 and May 21, 2021, including three free (mostly outdoor) theater festivals, Miscast21, two virtual tours of Broad…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:28PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 14, 2021

Tiny Beautiful Things Review: Still-consoling Advice on Love and Grief and Life. by Jonathan Mandell

This is the third time I've seen Nia Vardalos' moving, funny stage adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's best-selling collection of "Dear Sugar" advice columns. If I can't embrace all the choices t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:21PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 13, 2021

A Dozen Dreams. A dozen women playwrights' pandemic reveries, nightmares, fears and hopes turned into an art installation. by Jonathan Mandell

Below are photographs from the exhibition "A Dozen Dreams,", at Brookfield Place's Winter Garden through May 30. "I used to have vivid dreams," the playwright Rehana Lew Mirza says into my h…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:59PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 12, 2021

"We must speak the truth: Our election was not stolen…" " Liz Cheney, before the Republicans ousted her for telling the truth. by Jonathan Mandell

The Republicans in the House of Representatives by voice vote ousted Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership position today because she insists on telling the truth about Donald Trump. "Today, w…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:35AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Broadway 2021-2022 Season Preview Guide by Jonathan Mandell

Below is my annual preview guide of Broadway openings chronological by opening date " a list with a twist this year: It's also Broadway reopenings…of shows that have been on the Great Brig…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:42PM[SHARE]

More Broadway Reopenings: Hamilton, The Lion King, Wicked, Aladdin, Tina, plus: MJ the musical by Jonathan Mandell

Hamilton, The Lion King and Wicked have announced reopening dates of September 14, the earliest possible date, with Aladdin on September 28 and Tina the Musical on October 8. Tickets are ava…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 10, 2021

Broadway Reopening: 1. Specific Dates for Six, Phantom, etc. 2. New shows announced! 3. Reopening Disconnect, Ambivalence and Fears…. #Stageworthy by Jonathan Mandell

Broadway musicals are making the reopening feel real, with tickets back on sale and specific opening dates announced: Chicago, Sept 14. Six, Sept 17. Come From Away, Sept 21. Aint Too …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:52AM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 9, 2021

I Gotta Home: The 1940 Black family comedy that should have been on Broadway; now resurrected by Jonathan Mandell

The latest free reading from Roundabout's new Refocus Project, "I Gotta Home," is a 1940 play about a financially challenged preacher, his large rambunctious family, and his long-lost sister…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:17PM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 8, 2021

May 2021 Theater Openings, Week 2: Starry galas, a new musical, Kander and Ebb twice, Zora Neale Hurston unearthed by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a day-by-day selection of theater* that is opening between May 8 and May 14, 2021, including TWO tributes to Kander and Ebb (at the exact same time!), TWO new works about the eff…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:53PM[SHARE]

Waiting for Godot: Falling asleep to Ethan Hawke and John Leguizamo by Jonathan Mandell

It must have seemed the exact right time to produce "Waiting for Godot," the bleak, sardonic, enigmatic play about a pair of scruffy pals trying to stay connected and hopeful during a time o…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:28AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 7, 2021

The Woman's Party Review: Women's Rights Costs and Confrontations by Jonathan Mandell

Near the end of "The Woman's Party," Clubbed Thumb's clever, stylishly designed three-part dramatization of an odd, little-known moment in the history of the fight for women's rights, Alice …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:55AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 6, 2021

Jeremy Jordan and Marilyn Maye at Feinstein's/54 Below by Jonathan Mandell

It would be too glib to call Jeremy Jordan pop hot and Marilyn Maye jazz cool. Both these terrifically talented and engaging singers can either belt or croon at will. But there is an astonis…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:53PM[SHARE]

Broadway Reopening September 14, 2021: Truth, Tease or Torture? by Jonathan Mandell

Starting today, Broadway can start selling tickets for shows that can open or reopen at full capacity beginning September 14. That was what New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:39AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Snow in Midsummer Review: Injustice Against Woman, in Ancient China and Now by Jonathan Mandell

A young widow is framed for a murder she didn't commit, and her ghost causes a three-year drought as revenge, forcing the community to acknowledge her innocence: That's the story told in "Th…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:47PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 4, 2021

"Major Reopening" May 19, says Gov. Cuomo, upstaging Mayor de Blasio. BUT… #Stageworthy News of the Week. by Jonathan Mandell

"Major Reopening" is what New York Governor Andrew Cuomo headlined the announcement from all three governors of the tri-state region that starting May 19th there will be "a significant ea…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:45AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 3, 2021

Touch Review. Blessed Unrest's yearning and reopening in person, on the street. by Jonathan Mandell

Michael Gene Jacobs slept in the same bed as his mother throughout his childhood, but they never touched. Now, he tells us speaking as his mother, he realizes why: "'I can't afford to coddle…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:44PM[SHARE]

The Waves in Quarantine Review. Raúl Esparza, Virginia Woolf, incomplete lives and friendships in isolation by Jonathan Mandell

It's challenging even just to describe "The Waves in Quarantine," a digital "Theatrical Experiment in 6 Movements" starring six beloved  Broadway veterans,  which is available fo…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:05PM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 1, 2021

May 2021 Theater Openings, Week 1: John Leguizamo, Ethan Hawke in Beckett. Céline Dion Sinking. Gabourey Sidibe at Billie Holiday.Sierra Boggess at t by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a day-by-day selection of theater* " both online and in person! " that is opening between May 1 and May 7: a starry Waiting for Godot, musical celebrations of the lives of actres…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:29PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 30, 2021

The Woman's Party, Episode 2: More Clubbed Thumb History of The Fight For Women's Rights by Jonathan Mandell

After the fascinating first episode last week of Clubbed Thumb's "The Woman's Party," there was no way I was going to miss the second of this three-part play about the little-remembered Nati…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:02AM[SHARE]

All The Different Ways Commodore Matthew Perry Could Have Died….from Theater in Quarantine by Jonathan Mandell

Watch the 40-minute play by Julia Izumi below Theater in Quarantine returns with another "Youtube theater thingy," as Joshua William Gelb refers to this latest original, off kilter play that…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:14AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 29, 2021

Mayor de Blasio: "Our plan is to fully reopen NYC on July 1," including theaters. BUT….. by Jonathan Mandell

Mayor Bill de Blasio said this morning that the city plans to "fully reopen New York City on July 1… We are ready for stores to open, for businesses to open, offices, theaters " full stren…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:31AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 27, 2021

A Mother's Rite. A dance of grief after another police killing of an unarmed Black man by Jonathan Mandell

Watch "A Mother's Rite," a 40-minute film of an original dance by Jeremy McQueen's Black Iris Project starring Courtney Celeste Spears of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which is availab…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:52AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 26, 2021

Low-key at The Oscars, though Tony winners howl like a wolf and dance Da Butt. Digital Theater Forever! #Stageworthy News of the Week. by Jonathan Mandell

Yes it's true that Frances McDormand howled like a wolf during one of her acceptance speeches for "Nomadland," which won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress (her), and Glenn Close d…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:24AM[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