All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Friday, January 11, 2019

Chambre Noire Review: Valerie Solanas, Andy Warhol's Would-Be Killer, As A Puppet by Jonathan Mandell

Valerie Solanas, the mentally ill woman who shot Andy Warhol in 1968, has had a remarkably long run. Her SCUM Manifesto (Society for Cutting Up Men), which called for the overthrow of the go…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:53AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 10, 2019

Choir Boy review. Broadway newcomers in Tarrell Alvin McCraney's powerful, fresh coming-of-age play by Jonathan Mandell

Pharus Jonathan Young is black, gay and gifted, like the playwright who created him, Tarrell Alvin McCraney, best known for the Oscar winning film Moonlight. McCraney is making his Broadway …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:06PM[SHARE]

Choir Boy on Broadway: Pics, Videos, Review by Jonathan Mandell

Pharus Jonathan Young is black, gay and gifted, like the playwright who created him, Tarrell Alvin McCraney, best known for the Oscar winning film Moonlight. McCraney is making his Broadway …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:05PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Lin-Manuel: We're buying The Drama Book Shop. Actors Equity: Strike! #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, theater owner James L. Nederlander, and producer Jeffrey Seller are saving the Drama Book Shop — by buying it, according to an announcement th…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:25AM[SHARE]

Under the Radar Review: Ink. Illuminating visual art through performance and personal history by Jonathan Mandell

In "Ink: A Piece for Museums,' which ran for two days at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival, the musician-storyteller duo of James and Je…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:43AM[SHARE]
Monday, January 7, 2019

4.48 Psychosis review. An operatic version of Sarah Kane's final play by Jonathan Mandell

Playwright Sarah Kane killed herself at the age of 28 shortly after writing her fifth play, which offers a harrowing taste of what it's like to live with, and die from, depression.  Now t…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:18PM[SHARE]

4.48 Psychosis at Prototype: Review and Pics by Jonathan Mandell

Playwright Sarah Kane killed herself at the age of 28 shortly after writing her fifth play, which offers a harrowing taste of what it's like to live with, and die from, depression. Now two d…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:16PM[SHARE]

Under the Radar Review: Minor Character. Uncle Vanya in Six Translations Simultaneously. by Jonathan Mandell

New Saloon, an intellectually playful experimental theater company founded in 2012, returns to Under the Radar with an updated version of their Uncle Vanya adaptation, which they debuted at …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:19AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 6, 2019

Under the Radar Review: Hear Word. Nigerian Woman Tell of Degradation and Sing of Triumph by Jonathan Mandell

In between the exuberant dancing, lively singing and infectious African beat, the ten Nigerian actresses in "Hear Word: Naija Woman Talk True," wearing the colorful clothing of their country…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:14PM[SHARE]

Under the Radar Review: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by Manual Cinema by Jonathan Mandell

As it did last year at the Under Radar Festival, the Chicago-based theater company with the completely apt name of Manual Cinema is charming the audience at the Public Theater by presenting …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:25AM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 5, 2019

Real Review: A Man and A Woman Eras Apart Merge Surreally in New York by Jonathan Mandell

"I am a man," says a middle aged white woman, Dominique (Rebecca Gibel), at the beginning of "Real," which you could call a ghost story.  "I am a man because it's how you see me. But I wa…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:48PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 4, 2019

Off Broadway Spring 2019 Preview Guide by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a selection from an Off-Broadway season full of starry faces like Daveed Diggs, Jake Gyllenhaal, Isabelle Huppert, Uzo Adubi et al,  in plays by Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:27PM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 3, 2019

Broadway Poll: Favorite Spring 2019 Show by Jonathan Mandell

Choose the show that you are most looking forward to. In other words, if you have just one show you could see on Broadway all spring, which of these 15 would it be? The list below is for sho…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:49AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 2, 2019

January 2019 New York Theater Openings: 2 on Broadway, 100 in January Theater Festivals by Jonathan Mandell

Just a couple of plays are opening on Broadway this month — “Choir Boy,” and “True West” — and a handful Off-Broadway, but January is one of the most robu…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:48PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 1, 2019

2019: What's Ahead. The Best of 2018. Watch Hamilton, Cher, Reba et al at Ken Cen Honors. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

When the ball dropped in Times Square, signaling the start of a new year, it took a while for the smoke and the confetti and the fireworks and the rain to clear before we could even make out…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:01PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 31, 2018

Ring IN The Old: Saluting Broadway Stars, Age 91 to 104 by Jonathan Mandell

Here again, we celebrate the new year by saluting a dozen Broadway veterans, aged 91 to 105. Click on any photograph to see it enlarged and read the caption. Why, you may ask, is Betty White…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:42AM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 30, 2018

Memorable Moments on Stage in 2018 by Jonathan Mandell

Some of the most memorable moments on stage this year were not just unplanned — they were on unexpected stages. The student survivors of Marjory Stoneman Douglas H.S. gave a surprise p…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:22PM[SHARE]

Watch Top 10 New York Theater Videos of 2018: Be More Chill, Anastasia, John Leguizamo, Lin-Manuel by Jonathan Mandell

The 10 videos directly below were the most viewed of those I posted on my YouTube channel, New York Theater, in 2018, arranged in order of popularity. All three videos from “Be B…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:23AM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 29, 2018

New York Theater Year-End Quiz: A Look Back at 2018 by Jonathan Mandell

Recall what happened in theater in 2018 — some of it just plain weird — by answering these 20 questions, many adapted from my monthly quizzes throughout the year.

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:41PM[SHARE]

Best Posts of 2018: A Broadway Fixer, The Fall of Rise, Actors' Bodies, Immersive Pioneer Re-Emerges, Life Without Theater. by Jonathan Mandell

Below are the five best reads posted in 2018: an essay about actors’ bodies; a contemplation of what life would be like without theater; a profile of an engineer who fixes theater to m…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:25AM[SHARE]
Friday, December 28, 2018

Theater books of 2018 to read in 2019 by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a list of theater books to read in 2019, most of which were  published in 2018. Click on the titles to find more information and to purchase these books, grouped under four categ…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:12PM[SHARE]

2018 in Theater News: 5 #Stageworthy Trends on Broadway and Beyond by Jonathan Mandell

Yes, 2018 in theater was the Year of Leonard Bernstein (centennial celebrations and new movies underway) and of Andrew Lloyd Webber (who got his EGOT, published his memoir, Unmasked, and got…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:56PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 27, 2018

Rest in Peace: Theater Community Members Who Died in 2018 by Jonathan Mandell

Below are some of the people from the theater community who died in 2018.

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:52AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 26, 2018

New Year's Eve in New York City 2019: Last Minute Plans by Jonathan Mandell

My annual New Year’s Eve last-minute guide to events that are still available to do on New Year's Eve 2019 (when 2018 turns into 2019) in New York City New Year’s Eve in New Y…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:41PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 24, 2018

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Broadway. New Casts for Harry Potter and Rent. A Summer of Sondheim,Fornés,Schwartz. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

This is the last Christmas Eve New Yorkers will be spending with Christmas Eve, the character originated by Ann Harada in Avenue Q, because, after 15 years, Avenue Q will close in April. All…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:39AM[SHARE]

Up Close Festival Review: Recapturing What Makes Us Love New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

It seems apt that the Up Close Festival at the New Ohio Theater is likely the last work of theater I will see in 2018, because it reminded me what there is to love about theater, and how I c…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:50AM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 22, 2018

20 Favorite New York Stage Performances in 2018, and 5 Top Puppet Performances by Jonathan Mandell

My ten favorite individual human performances in New York stage shows that opened in 2018 are listed alphabetically, with explanations for my choices largely excerpted from my reviews, but l…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:19PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 21, 2018

Holiday Theatergoing, What and When. Broadway Christmas Week Schedule by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a guide for theatergoing during Christmas Week. Not every show worth seeing during the holidays is a “holiday show,” nor are they all “family friendly.” (See…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:27PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 20, 2018

Spring 2019 Broadway Preview Guide: A Season of Theater Geniuses Making Their Broadway Debuts by Jonathan Mandell

It’s a thrill that Annette Bening, Paul Dano, Adam Driver, Santino Fontana, Ethan Hawke, Glenda Jackson, John Lithgow, Laurie Metcalfe and Kelli O’Hara are among the celebrated p…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:07PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 19, 2018

The Lin-Manuel Miranda Quiz by Jonathan Mandell

Lin-Manuel Miranda co-stars as Jack the Lamplighter in "Mary Poppins Returns," which has opened in movie theaters nationwide today. This is Miranda’s first co-starring role in a major …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:32PM[SHARE]

Review: Fabulation, or The Re-education of Undine. Lynn Nottage's Unusual Comedy by Jonathan Mandell

"Fabulation, or The Re-education of Undine," Lynn Nottage's play about a fashionable public relations executive's Job-like descent into poverty and ascent into moral clarity, is the first in…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:31PM[SHARE]

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