All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Friday, January 22, 2021

#BernieMeme on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Bernadette Peters and Anais Mitchell were among the Broadway enthusiasts who joined the nation riffing on the photograph of Bernie Sanders comfortably sitting with mask and colorful mittens …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:31AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 21, 2021

Watch Celebrating America. Broadway sings! Also: Lady Gaga, JLo, The Boss, Yo Yo Ma, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, John Legend, Justin Timberlake. Ant Clem by Jonathan Mandell

Below: Watch Lady Gaga singing The National Anthem and JLo This Land Is Your Land in the morning; and in the evening, dozens of Broadway stars performing "Seasons of Love" from Rent and "Let…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:16AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 20, 2021

"A country that is bruised, but whole": Amanda Gorman reads her Inauguration poem, The Hill We Climb by Jonathan Mandell

  Below, watch 22-year-old National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman read aloud her poem  "The Hill We Climb" at the Inauguration of  President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kama…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:05PM[SHARE]

President Joe Biden's Inaugural Address video and transcript: Democracy has prevailed by Jonathan Mandell

"We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts," Joseph R. Bid…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:13PM[SHARE]

Broadway Bye-Byes: Watch Bette Midler, Randy Rainbow, James Corden, Patti LuPone in 3 new parody videos by Jonathan Mandell

Randy Rainbow, to the tune of "Seasons of Love" from Rent, and Bette Midler, to the title song of "Hello, Dolly" sing their gleeful goodbyes to the worst president in American history. James…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:24AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Theater Opening This Week Jan 19-22: Joe Iconis, Michael Sheen,  Branden Jacobs-Jenkins by Jonathan Mandell

Below are the listings of theater to see January 19 to 22, which includes a sneak peek at a new musical by Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), two plays by Brian Friel thousands of miles apart, a be…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:01PM[SHARE]

Inauguration Entertainment Schedule. Theater Under Biden Harris: Promises, Pleas and Possibilities. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lady Gaga, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen and Christopher Jackson will be among the performers providing entertainment before and after the noon-time 59th Presidential Inau…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:05AM[SHARE]
Monday, January 18, 2021

Watch We The People, The Biden Harris Inauguration Concert by Jonathan Mandell

Barbra Streisand, Will.i.am, Cher, Carole King, James Taylor, and Fall Out Boy are among the performers in this hour-long concert streamed Sunday to celebrate Joe Biden's forthcoming inaugur…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:36AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 17, 2021

Happy 90th Birthday James Earl Jones: May The Force Be With You by Jonathan Mandell

James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi on January 17, 1931….90 years ago today. He is a 20-time Broadway veteran (most recently in "The Gin Game" in 2015) three-time Tony winn…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:14AM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 16, 2021

Theater Streaming on Martin Luther King Jr Weekend by Jonathan Mandell

Below are the listings of theater to see this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, January 16-18, 2021,  including several new works about African-Americans in addition to the annual rousing M…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:27AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 15, 2021

Adrienne Kennedy festival: He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box, Ohio State Murders, Sleep Deprivation Chamber, Etta and Ella by Jonathan Mandell

"Etta and Ella on the Upper West Side," a world premiere play about the deadly rivalry of two sisters, written by the 89-year-old playwright Adrienne Kennedy, begins the same way as the thre…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:47PM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 14, 2021

Turning the Page: Lincoln Center Theater Artists Read Their Own Poetry and Prose by Jonathan Mandell

These six theater artists read from the following non-theater writing tonight, part of the new Lincoln Center Theater Spotlight series.: Playwright David Adjmi's delightful new book Lot Six:…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:26PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 13, 2021

My famous inoculated mother by Jonathan Mandell

"Muriel Mandell, 99, leaves a New York State COVID-19 vaccination site at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center after receiving her first dose, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, in New York. New Yor…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:28PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Gov Cuomo announces New York Arts Revival program: Pop-up concerts, grants, site tests by Jonathan Mandell

"We must bring culture and the arts back to life," Governor Andrew Cuomo said in the State of the State address this afternoon in announcing a "New York Arts Revival" initiative that will fe…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:58PM[SHARE]

In the Shubert Archive: Mae West, David Bowie and Gaby Deslys' dainty feet by Jonathan Mandell

Photos of Josephine Baker in 1936, Carmen Miranda in 1941,  and a bevy of beauties portraying dabs of paint arranged around a huge painter's palette in 1924;  a costume design for CATS…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:21AM[SHARE]
Monday, January 11, 2021

Theater Openings This Week: 1st Irish festival. Renee Fleming Week at the Met by Jonathan Mandell

Below are the listings this week of the 13th annual Origin 1st Irish Theater Festival, and an original play for Red Hook on the first  African-American theater company in NYC; a reunion r…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:49PM[SHARE]

"Political Theater" and the Insurrection. Theater and Survival. January Festivals. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Words matter. Trump's words clearly incited the storming of the Capitol last week, which reportedly may result in his second impeachment this week. (Some of the hate spouted by the insurrect…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:57AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 10, 2021

Exponential Festival 2021 reviews: Virtual Queerality. A Blueish Fever Dream. ¿comfortidades' 錢意識? by Jonathan Mandell

Be open-minded, be open-minded: That was my mantra while watching the "split bill" of three experimental videos from this year's Exponential theater festival. Also: Don't use dismissive adje…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:06PM[SHARE]

Theater and Democracy, born together, both now under attack. by Jonathan Mandell

Theater and democracy were born in the same place at the same time " in Athens 2,500 years ago " and that is no coincidence: One led to the other. The creation of theater festivals in the 6t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:19AM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 9, 2021

Times³ (Times x Times x Times) Review: A Sonic Tour of Times Square from Prototype Festival by Jonathan Mandell

This sonic tour of Times Square begins with what sounds like a wave of sonic booms " the clacking machinery of an ancient factory maybe, or an old diesel locomotive…until you realize: Oh, …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:39PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 8, 2021

Under the Radar 2021 reviews: Capsule, Espiritu, Incoming by Jonathan Mandell

Isolation, dread, disconnection and video: That's what the first night of the Public Theater's 17th annual Under the Radar festival offers " and that (surely not coincidentally) is what most…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:17PM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 7, 2021

Michelle Obama on the insurrection: Now is a time for true patriotism by Jonathan Mandell

Below is the statement today that the former First Lady Michelle Obama posted on Twitter after yesterday's mob takeover of the U.S.Capitol. "I hurt for our country. And I wish I had all the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:38PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Scenes of Sedition: Pro-Trump Mob Storms The Capitol by Jonathan Mandell

"This is not dissent. It's disorder. It's chaos. It borders on sedition, and it must end now. I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward." " President-Elec…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:34PM[SHARE]

Senator-Elect Raphael Warnock Victory Speech Video and Transcript: Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning by Jonathan Mandell

"In this moment in American history, Washington has a choice to make, we all have a choice to make….Will we seek to destroy one another as enemies or heed the call towards the common good,…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:27AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Saving New York Theater: A Political Status Report by Jonathan Mandell

What are the New York City, state and federal governments doing to address the challenges facing theaters in the city? I contacted Guy Yedwab, president of the League of Independent Theater,…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:12AM[SHARE]
Monday, January 4, 2021

Theater Openings This Week: Under the Radar, David Bowie's Musical by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a selection of theater openings this week, the beginning of a month that is usually jam packed with theater festivals. Two of them are active this time around, both pared down,  …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:39PM[SHARE]

Ratatouille Racks Up $1 Million for Actors Fund. What's Next? 2021 At Last! #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Ratatouille the Tick Tock Musical (my review) has raised more than a million dollars in ticket sales for The Actors Fund, the enthusiasm of the audience seeming to match that of its creators…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:48AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 3, 2021

Theater Blog Roundup: 2020 in Hindsight by Jonathan Mandell

Stars in the House, Sondheim and his 90th birthday concert, Be An #ArtsHero (photo by Howard Sherman), nude body painting in Times Square (ditto), the chance to reinvent the American theater…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:07AM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 2, 2021

Review: Ratatouille The Tik Tok Musical. Many cooks for this flavorful Broadway broth. by Jonathan Mandell

From the first song ("Anyone Can Cook") to the final line of dialogue (Anton Ego the critic: "I didn't like this musical…I loved it"), "Ratatouille" traces the journey not just of Remy,Â…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:14AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 1, 2021

Watch All By Myself: Irving Berlin's Anthem for 1921 and 2021 by Jonathan Mandell

Irving Berlin wrote "All By Myself" in 1921, for "The Music Box Revue" in his then brand new Broadway theater, popularized in the decades to come by Al and Bing and Ethel and Ella. A hundred…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:50PM[SHARE]

Watch New Year's Eve 2021: The Times Square Ball Drop, Concert For Peace, Natalie Douglas by Jonathan Mandell

Miss New Year's Eve 2021? Watch it below  " the festivities at Times Square, the annual Concert for Peace at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the annual Natalie Douglas New Year's Ev…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:41AM[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