All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Holiday Gifts for Theater Lovers 2013 by Jonathan Mandell

My gift guide from 2012 proved so popular that I am updating it for 2013. Call them theater lovers or theatre lovers or drama queens or Broadway Babies: If you have somebody in your life who…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:11PM[SHARE]
Friday, November 29, 2013

Kinky Boots Performance at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Shocks Viewers? by Jonathan Mandell

The performance of a number from the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade had America all a-Twitter. It had the bigots out in force, at least ju…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:43AM[SHARE]

Sign Up For The New York Theater Weekly Email Newsletter by Jonathan Mandell

Sign up here for my new New York Theater Weekly Email Newsletter, which will have a quick rundown of New York theater news and reviews, plus special offers and contests. A sample of the firs…

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Ticket Giveaway: Bedlam's Hamlet and Saint Joan. Most Memorable Holiday Experience At The Theater? by Jonathan Mandell

Win a pair of tickets to either Bedlam’s Hamlet or St. Joan. The  much-lauded Bedlam theater company employs just four actors playing all the roles (more than 50), offering &#…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:55PM[SHARE]

Top 10 New York Theater To Be Grateful for in 2013 by Jonathan Mandell

2013 has been an amazing year in theater in New York City, and, rather than waiting another month, Thanksgiving seems the right time to express one’s gratitude with a top 10 list. As i…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:30AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Blogger Roundup: A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER by Jonathan Mandell

With the lines blurring between professional and amateur drama critics, and indeed between anointed critics and avid theatergoers, we thought it worth hearing from more alternative voices. H…

SOURCE: BroadwayWorld at 12:30PM[SHARE]
Monday, November 25, 2013

Thanksgiving Week 2013 on Broadway. Is Art A Luxury? The Week in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

After the Tony Awards broadcast, the Thanksgiving Day Parade is probably the best opportunity for television viewers to see performances by current casts of Broadway shows. But the week of T…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:50PM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 24, 2013

Waiting for Godot Review: Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

The Broadway production of “Waiting for Godot” sells itself, which is a relief, since it means I won't have to sell it. Its two stars, British actors Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:32PM[SHARE]
Saturday, November 23, 2013

Regular Singing Review: On the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, a final night with the Apple family by Jonathan Mandell

In “Regular Singing,” the fourth, final and most emotional play in Richard Nelson's pioneering Apple Family series, a character says that the assassination of JFK was one of the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:54PM[SHARE]
Friday, November 22, 2013

JFK and the Arts, 50 Years Later by Jonathan Mandell

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated 50 years ago today, an event that will be memorialized around the country — a solemn ceremony in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, where…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:30AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 21, 2013

Macbeth Reviews: Ethan Hawke on Broadway Upstaged by Witches, Set by Jonathan Mandell

The three male witches are the stars of the Lincoln Center production of Macbeth on Broadway, even though Ethan Hawke plays the title character, according to several of the reviews on openin…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:58PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Small Engine Repair Review: A Shocking(ly Inept) Play Off-Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Small Engine Repair feels like an hour-long acting lesson, full of fast, tough and jocular exchanges. The problem is that John Pollano's play is 70 minutes long " and the last ten minutes tu…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:08PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Spider-Man Closing. Sutton Foster and Monty Python Returning? Aladdin Peek. Week in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

Kissing Spider-Man goodbye: Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark will close January 4, 2014, after a tumultuous three years of breaking all sorts of records nobody would want to break " as well as …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:41PM[SHARE]

The Gettysburg Address at 150: Read by U.S. Presidents, Billionaires, Journalists, Taylor Swift by Jonathan Mandell

The 271 words of the Gettysburg address, which President Abraham Lincoln delivered on November 19, 1863 (150 years ago today), are read in this Ken Burns video by 25 people: Presidents Barac…

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Ticket and CD Giveaway: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 by Jonathan Mandell

Win the original cast album and  two free tickets to see Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, a musical adaptation of a scandalous slice of Tolstoy’s War and Peace by …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:04AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 18, 2013

Bryan Cranston in Broadway Poster for All The Way, about LBJ by Jonathan Mandell

All The Way, the play about LBJ starring Bryan Cranston that has announced it will open on Broadway this season, doesn’t have a Broadway theater or an opening date yet, but it does hav…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:58PM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 17, 2013

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder Review: Too Clever on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Jefferson Mays dies eight times in "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder," a musical now opened on Broadway whose story is familiar to those who have seen the 1949 Alec Guinness movie, "Ki…

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Friday, November 15, 2013

Aladdin on Broadway: Preview in Photographs by Jonathan Mandell

  Aladdin, Disney's new stage musical with music by Alan Menken (Newsies, etc.) currently playing in Toronto, will begin performances on Broadway at the New Amsterdam on February 26, an…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:49AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 13, 2013

700 Sundays Reviews: Billy Crystal Back on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Billy Crystal reprises his autobiographical one-person show, 700 Sundays, through January 5, that he presented on Broadway in 2004. Many of the reviews are positive, although some feel the s…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:51PM[SHARE]

The Winslow Boy Ticket Giveaway Contest by Jonathan Mandell

Win two free tickets to see The Winslow Boy, a well-reviewed play currently on Broadway about the true story of a father who fought to clear his son’s name, and the effect it had on hi…

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Fun Home Review by Jonathan Mandell

Fun Home,  a remarkable musical now running at the Public Theater through December 15,  swiftly lays out what it seems to be about, when a middle-aged Alison compares herself to her fa…

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Monday, November 11, 2013

3 Broadway shows closing. Alanis Morissette. Il Divo. Thursday matinees. The Week in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

“Before something can be brilliant, it first has to be competent” — from list of lessons learned in Song of Spider-Man, newly published memoir by Glen Berger, book writer o…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:18PM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 10, 2013

Twelfth Night and Richard III Review: Mark Rylance Brings Shakespeare to Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

After a Romeo on a motorcycle, Macbeth in an insane asylum, and Julius Caesar in a women's prison, Mark Rylance decided to bring his own high concept to  Shakespeare's plays " presenting …

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Saturday, November 9, 2013

Domesticated Review: Political Sex Scandal at Lincoln Center and the Plight of the Male Zombie Worm by Jonathan Mandell

"Domesticated," Bruce Norris's comedy about the aftermath of a political sex scandal, stars Jeff Goldblum as the politician and  Laurie Metcalfe as his wife, but the clue to assessing …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:41PM[SHARE]
Friday, November 8, 2013

Il Divo on Broadway Reviews: Il Don't-go by Jonathan Mandell

"Il Divo, A Musical Affair: The Greatest Songs of Broadway Live" is playing for just six performances at the Marquis Theater, and coincides with their release of a new album. The group, whic…

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The Sound of Music on NBC " video trailer by Jonathan Mandell

  Here is a 31-second video (not counting the 30-second ad) of Carrie Underwood in NBC’s production of Rodger and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, which will be broadcast o…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:29AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 7, 2013

The Jacksonian Review: Ed Harris, Murder and a Lousy Marriage In Mississippi by Jonathan Mandell

"The Jacksonian" by Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart) is the second  play debuting in New York this season to feature a murder taking place in Mississippi. The first, A Time To Kill, b…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:32PM[SHARE]

Seize The Day from Newsies: New video with lyrics by Jonathan Mandell

A Disney video that presents the music and lyrics of the song from Newsies, Seize the Day in an artful way: “Now is the time to seize the day / Stare down the odds and seize the day / …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:14PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Murder For Two Ticket Giveaway Contest by Jonathan Mandell

Win two free tickets to see Murder for Two,  a musical comedy/ murder mystery with a twist: One actor investigates the crime. The other plays all of the suspects. They both play the piano…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:20PM[SHARE]
Monday, November 4, 2013

New York Theater October 2013 Quiz by Jonathan Mandell

How well were you paying attention to New York theater news in October? Answer these ten questions to find out. Consider this the special Lion King, Wicked, Les Miz edition of my monthly the…

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Fantasia! Julie Taymor! Daniel Craig! Dr. Ruth! The Week in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

“After Midnight” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” opened during the week in New York theater: We are clearly in the middle of the theater season. I reviewed thes…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:16PM[SHARE]

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