All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Review: Junot Diaz's Dominican-American Novel On Stage by Jonathan Mandell

Oscar, a fat freshman in thick bifocals meeting his college roommate for the first time, greets him with what sounds like an insult: "Hail, dog of God!" His new roommate, the street-smart Yu…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:07PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 15, 2019

#Stageworthy News of the Week. Theater as Politics, Politics as Theater. Bad Theater Festival. by Jonathan Mandell

The announcement of the latest very unscientific results from the nightly poll conducted in the lobby of Lincoln Center, is a marketing gimmick for "The Great Society" that strikes me as at …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:41PM[SHARE]
Monday, October 14, 2019

Christopher Columbus on Stage: No Respect by Jonathan Mandell

In "The Thanksgiving Play," a satire by Larissa FastHorse that debuted at Playwrights Horizons last year and has become one of the most produced plays throughout the country, Jaxton, the wok…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:31AM[SHARE]
Sunday, October 13, 2019

Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda as Julián Castro, Billy Porter as MC in SNL Spoof of CNN LGBT Town Hall by Jonathan Mandell

On Thursday night,  CNN held an "LGBTQ Town Hall" in which nine of the Democratic candidates for President separately answered questions on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender an…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:33PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 11, 2019

Broadway Review: Slave Play. Interracial Role-playing on the Great White Way by Jonathan Mandell

I first saw Slave Play Off-Broadway, long before Rihanna made headlines for texting during the show (playwright Jeremy O. Harris publicly defended her; he was the one she was texting); and s…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 04:06PM[SHARE]

Slave Play on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

When I saw "Slave Play" Off-Broadway last December, it felt like the work of a novice playwright " promising, provocative, and well produced, but too derivative, too long, too full of ide…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:30PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 10, 2019

Broadway review: Tracy Letts is back on Broadway with Linda Vista by Jonathan Mandell

Can an underemployed middle-aged jerk be a babe magnet?   That's a question theatergoers are likely to ask about Wheeler, the central character in Linda Vista, Tracy Letts' latest play…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:48PM[SHARE]

Linda Vista on Broadway: Review and Pics by Jonathan Mandell

Can an underemployed middle-aged jerk be a babe magnet?   That's a question theatergoers are likely to ask about Wheeler, the central character in Linda Vista, Tracy Letts' latest play…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:30PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 9, 2019

The Wrong Man Review: Hamilton-Like in Form, The Anti-Hamilton in Content by Jonathan Mandell

"The Wrong Man,"  a sung-through musical starring the spectacular Joshua Henry,  may remind people of "Hamilton" in its catchy rap-inflected eclectic score and jerky hip hop choreog…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:20PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 8, 2019

#Stageworthy News of the Week: Diahann Carroll (1935-2019) Broadway Groundbreaker. DeNiro, Pacino, Cannavale in Broadway's Belasco….for Netflix. by Jonathan Mandell

Diahann Carroll, who died Friday at the age of 84, is best known as the first black woman to star on a TV series, "Julia" in 1968, but she was a barrier breaker on Broadway too. Born in t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:55PM[SHARE]
Monday, October 7, 2019

Heroes of the Fourth Turning Review: Conservatives Have Problems Too by Jonathan Mandell

Conservatives don't all think alike; some of them hate Trump; some don't see Liberals as evil (some do.) Some are deeply weird. It is a sure sign of the political divisiveness in America tha…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:33PM[SHARE]
Sunday, October 6, 2019

Fringe Review: Chalk. A silent clown draws us into his world by Jonathan Mandell

"Chalk," a 40-minute comedy in which silent comic Alex Curtis creates an entire world for the audience using little more than a piece of chalk, is exactly the sort of show I always hope for …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:20PM[SHARE]
Saturday, October 5, 2019

The 2019 New York International Fringe Festival: What Happened?! by Jonathan Mandell

  At the 22nd annual New York International Fringe Festival, which is running through the end of October, there are 40 shows in six venues "  plus more than 25 shows at The Nuyorican P…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:14PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 4, 2019

What is immersive theater? The six elements that define it at its best by Jonathan Mandell

"Immersive theater" has come to mean something separate from the dictionary definition of the word "immersive" " in much the same way that phrases Absurdist Theater and Abstract Expressionis…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:56PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 3, 2019

Unmaking Toulouse-Lautrec Review: Moulin Rouge on a Low Budget by Jonathan Mandell

"Moulin Rouge" on Broadway has several things in common with Bated Breath Theater Company's low-budget show about the same people, place and period, especially in my reaction to them both. A…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:58PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Political Theater in an Impeachable Age. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

  I was struck in seeing "The Great Society," which depicts President Lyndon Johnson's turbulent full term in office, how Robert Shenkkan's play represents political theater in more ways …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:07PM[SHARE]

The Great Society Review: LBJ Back on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

"I feel strongly that I should not permit the Presidency to become involved in the partisan divisions that are developing in this political year. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will no…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:54AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 1, 2019

The Great Society Review and Pics by Jonathan Mandell

The Great Society, a play by Robert Schenkkan that offers a largely sympathetic portrait of the 36th president of the United States as it chronicles the final four years of Lyndon Johnson…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:36PM[SHARE]

October 2019 New York Theater Openings by Jonathan Mandell

October is always a busy month for theater in New York, but it's gone up a notch this time. Below is a selection, organized chronologically by opening date. On Broadway alone, eight shows ar…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:00PM[SHARE]
Monday, September 30, 2019

New York Theater Quiz for September 2019 by Jonathan Mandell

How well were you paying attention to New York theater news, views and reviews in September? Answer these ten questions and find out.

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:38PM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 29, 2019

André De Shields as the Gay Character August Wilson Left Out by Jonathan Mandell

Three generations of black, queer theater artists " actor André De Shields, 73; playwright Kevin R. Free, who is 50;  and director Zhailon Levingston, 25 "  are collaborating on a pla…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:28AM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 28, 2019

Why? Review: Peter Brook's Paean to Theater and a Theater Martyr by Jonathan Mandell

Those for whom theater is their religion are more likely to appreciate "Why?," a 70-minute theater piece about theater that, aptly, begins with a whimsically modified Biblical tale: God proc…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:28PM[SHARE]
Friday, September 27, 2019

Broadway Review: The Height of the Storm. Tricky plotting, or just a trick? by Jonathan Mandell

The same playwright who gave us The Father with a demented Frank Langella and The Mother with a depressed and possibly deranged Isabelle Huppert now offers us…dead Jonathan Pryce and…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:03PM[SHARE]

The Height of the Storm: Review and Pics by Jonathan Mandell

The same playwright who gave us "The Father" with a demented Frank Langella and "The Mother" with a depressed and possibly deranged Isabelle Huppert now offers us…dead Jonathan Pryce and E…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:35PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 26, 2019

Antigone Review: Greek Tragedy as Japanese Theater by Jonathan Mandell

Ethereal, stylized and visually stunning, Japanese director Satoshi Miyagi's production of "Antigone," at the Park Avenue Armory through October 6, fuses several theatrical traditions, some …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:09PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Museum of Dead Words Review: Racism and Sexism and Normal are Dead, This Rapper Says by Jonathan Mandell

The artist known as Dyalekt (pronounced dialect) greets us looking like a young Allen Ginsberg in his Yippie Uncle Sam phase, holding up a bucket labeled "dead words," asking us for words th…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:12PM[SHARE]
Monday, September 23, 2019

Scenes at Broadway Flea. Immigrants Get Their Own Theater, and a Voice. Billy Porter Wins at 50. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

  The city has announced plans  to build a performing arts center dedicated to Immigrants. The proposed Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center will go up in Inwood, the north…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:38PM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 22, 2019

Billy Porter Wins an Emmy by Jonathan Mandell

Billy Porter won an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for "Pose." " the first openly gay black man to win the lead actor in a drama category "The category is love, y'all. Lov…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:28PM[SHARE]

2019 Broadway Flea Market Map and Selfie Schedule by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a map showing the location of the more than 50 tables at today's 33rd Annual Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.  Beneath that are t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:03AM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Invention of Tragedy Review by Jonathan Mandell

There are three ways of looking at Mac Wellman's "The Invention of Tragedy" that offer some satisfactions " as a political parable, as a metaphor for Western theater,  or as entertaining …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:48PM[SHARE]
Friday, September 20, 2019

Broadway Live on Netflix and Audible and… by Jonathan Mandell

Taping live Broadway shows for the screen is no longer seen as an experiment. It's a routine practice, and it's moved from movie theaters to home computers. Life is not all that's gone onli…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:03PM[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