All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

George Floyd's Brother Testifies: Is $20 what a black man is worth? by Jonathan Mandell

"I couldn't take care of George the day he was killed, but maybe by speaking with you today, I can help make sure that his death isn't in vain. To make sure that he is more than another face…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:10PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Black Lives Matter on Stage. Relevant Theater to Watch Online by Jonathan Mandell

Below an alphabetical list of theater by and about African Americans that is available online now (and coming soon), much of it directly relevant to the Black Lives Matter movement, all of i…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:29PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 8, 2020

Playwright Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop) on self love and self acceptance in these turbulent times by Jonathan Mandell

Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, is, itself, stuck in a strange loop. The smash Off-Broadway hit was scheduled to come to Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Septembe…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 04:32PM[SHARE]

I'm Black AND Queer. What will reopened theater look like? What will Broadway do about racism? by Jonathan Mandell

#Stageworthy News of the Week New York City is set to reopen today " partially " 100 days after the first New Yorker was discovered infected by the coronavirus. But most believe at least ano…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:36AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 7, 2020

Celebrating Broadway 2019-2020 Season on Tony Night by Jonathan Mandell

On what would have been the 74th annual Tony Awards, let's celebrate the 41 shows of the Broadway 2019-2020 season, 25 of which actually opened. The shows below are organized chronologically…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:13PM[SHARE]

Watch Broadway on CBS. Not The Tony Awards, but Tony winners Andre De Shields and Bernadette Peters on Sunday Morning by Jonathan Mandell

Tonight was the night that CBS was going to broadcast the 74th Tony Awards from Radio City Music Hall. But Covid-19 changed all that; now Tony winners Andre De Shields and Bernadette Peters …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:44AM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 6, 2020

Four to See Today June 6: A White Otello, A Black Ghost, Inmate Music at the Met, a Political Diva by Jonathan Mandell

An Otello portrayed by a white performer who is not in blackface " a first for the Metropolitan Opera. A dance, set to music composed by inmates at San Quentin, at the Metropolitan Museum of…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:30PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 5, 2020

Q and A with Michael Jackson: "A Strange Loop" and A Strange Time by Jonathan Mandell

"Michael Jackson" is not just "the King of Pop" anymore, but also "the Pulitzer winning playwright." After decades working in obscurity, Michael R. Jackson " or as he puts it, the living Mic…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:54PM[SHARE]

Four Theater Openings Today: Carousel, Black Superman. by Jonathan Mandell

Below are four "theater openings" today,  including Lincoln Center's first Broadway Fridays presentation,  Astoria Performing Arts Center's new entry in its original Musicals from the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:01PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 4, 2020

Watch George Floyd Memorial Service in Minneapolis LIVE by Jonathan Mandell

The first memorial service for George Floyd, who died Memorial Day at the hands of Minneapolis police, is happening now in the sanctuary on the downtown Minneapolis campus of North Central U…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:33PM[SHARE]

Watch Video Love Letter to Broadway and #BlackLivesMatter by Jonathan Mandell

Black Broadway veterans and other performers dance in various (emptied-out) New York City landmarks, in a video that director Tavia Riveè (Motown the Musical) has entitled "Dream Like New Y…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:17PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Barack Obama's Town Hall on Racial Justice & Police Reform: "this is something that's got to change." by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a major portion of Barack Obama's comments during the Town Hall on Racial Justice and Police Reform held by My Brother's Keeper Alliance; the transcript is underneath a 90-second ex…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:28PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 2, 2020

"We're a nation in pain…a nation enraged" " Watch Joe Biden's Philadelphia speech today by Jonathan Mandell

Below is the video and a transcript of the speech by Joe Biden today at Philadelphia's City Hall. "We're a nation in pain," he said in concluding his 20-minute speech. " We must not let our …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:53PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 1, 2020

Theater and Black Lives Matter. Reopening Fears and Plans. Project Pride. by Jonathan Mandell

#Stageworthy News of the Week. Several days after George Floyd was killed on Memorial Day at the hands of Minnesota police, playwright Jeremy O. Harris called on six theaters that produce hi…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:14AM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 31, 2020

June 2020 Online Theater Openings: Pride and Perseverance. What's Streaming Day by Day by Jonathan Mandell

Click here for June 1 openings Below is the calendar of "theater openings"* for June, 2020, with many online shows, series and festivals showcasing LGBTQ Pride Month, and the entire list dem…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:17PM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 30, 2020

New York Theater Quiz for May 2020 by Jonathan Mandell

How well were you paying attention to the news and reviews of theater in May? Answer these ten questions to find out.

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:51PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 29, 2020

5 Big Broadway Shows This Weekend: Hairspray, Allegiance, Holiday Inn, Chita! by Jonathan Mandell

In this last weekend of a busy May, there are five online shows "opening" that remind us what's big about Broadway, all but one of them free (though welcoming your charitable contribution.) …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:53PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 28, 2020

Town Hall: How Off-Off Broadway Can Be Saved by Jonathan Mandell

Hundreds of people attended a virtual town hall Thursday afternoon with city and state  public officials to talk about how to save Off-Off Broadway. That  was not the explicit topic. H…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:08PM[SHARE]

Theater Blog Roundup: Praising theater activism, fighting despair, toasting "Corona lit" by Jonathan Mandell

"If you look at history of American theater, it has always"more perhaps than any other form in America"been activist at times of national trauma," That's a quote by former New York Times cri…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:53PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 27, 2020

RIP Larry Kramer 84, playwright of The Normal Heart, AIDS activist: "Almost more than talent you need tenacity: by Jonathan Mandell

Larry Kramer, who wrote "The Normal Heart" and founded GMHC (the Gay Mens Health Crisis) and ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) has died at age 84. Kramer's obituary In 2011, The Norma…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:40PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Celebrating Theater (Obies on June 4th, "Tonys" June 7th.) Redefining Theater. Aiming To Reopen Theaters in Spring 2021 by Jonathan Mandell

#Stageworthy News of the Week. Ten weeks after the governor shut down all theaters in New York City, signs point to widespread expectation that they won't reopen until Spring 2021.  Some …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:46PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 25, 2020

Memorial Day 2020: Remembering Those Who Died of COVID-19 by Jonathan Mandell

Memorial Day, which became an official national holiday in 1971, was created to honor Americans who died in military service. But it feels appropriate to use the day this year also to honor …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:42AM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 24, 2020

Watch PBS National Memorial Day Concert LIVE by Jonathan Mandell

Cynthia Erivo, Kelli O'Hara, Christopher Jackson, Renee Fleming are among the many performers who will be part of the 90-minute National Memorial Day Concert on PBS, which you can watch live…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:03PM[SHARE]

Homebound Project 2. How DO the arts fortify and sustain us? by Jonathan Mandell

Mary-Louise Parker introduces us to the second edition of The Homebound Project, an hour-long online collection of 11 new short plays, by explaining that the theme this time is "sustenance,"…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:50PM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 23, 2020

What Theater to See Memorial Day Weekend 2020 by Jonathan Mandell

Some shows are "opening" over the next few days but this Memorial Day weekend is a good time to catch up on theater that's still "running" (though not for long) and worth your time. These re…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:37PM[SHARE]

Mad Forest Review: Caryl Churchill's play about revolution creates a new one on Zoom by Jonathan Mandell

Bard's splendidly glitchy production of "Mad Forest," Caryl Churchill's fascinating avant-garde drama about the 1989 Romanian Revolution, is the first live play I've seen since the shutdown …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:03PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 22, 2020

Playwrights on Television: Conversations with Dramatists. Are Stage and Screen Starting to Merge? by Jonathan Mandell

When David Henry Hwang was first starting out as a dramatist, there was an "indivisible wall" between theater and television. Forty years later, "playwrights have become very popular in tele…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:49PM[SHARE]

Five Theater Openings Today: Caryl Churchill, LES Festival by Jonathan Mandell

Below are five "theater openings"* today, a  diverse selection, including  a new romantic musical comedy to an inventive take on an old Caryl Churchill play, as well as an entire annua…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:38AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 21, 2020

Love Letters LIVE with Bryan Cranston and Sally Field by Jonathan Mandell

Watch Bryan Cranston and Sally Field live in A.R. Gurney's two-character play about a man and woman writing to one another over half a century. This is the third in a series of new live-stre…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:04PM[SHARE]

Watch The Sentinels, a new 9/11 play by Matthew Lopez by Jonathan Mandell

  Katrina Lenk, Jane Alexander and Denée Benton portray 9/11 widows in this half hour play by Matthew Lopez, a radical departure in running time from his Broadway debut play The Inherita…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:47PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Watch Bombshell. Relive Smash by Jonathan Mandell

Watch the streaming of the 2015 concert of "Bombshell," the fictional  musical about Marilyn Monroe that the characters were putting together in the first season of the TV series "Smash" …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:04PM[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