All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Bring It On Broadway Review by Jonathan Mandell

"FDR was a cheerleader….Madonna was a cheerleader…Michael Jordan," sing the cast of "Bring It On," a musical based on a movie about two competing high school cheerleading squads, adapted…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 09:01PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 31, 2012

New York Theater July 2012 Quiz by Jonathan Mandell

Test how much you were paying attention this month to New York theater news — questions about Katie Holmes,Celeste Holm, Ernest Borgnine,….Claire Tow, Gilligan’s Island,…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:58PM[SHARE]

New York Musical Theater Festival Award Winners: A Letter to Harvey Milk, Baby Case by Jonathan Mandell

New York Musical Theatre Festival has completed its ninth year, with “A Letter to Harvey Milk” and “Baby Case” (based on the Lindbergh baby abduction) dominating the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:10AM[SHARE]

NY Review: 'Tin Bucket Drum' by Jonathan Mandell

"Tin Bucket Drum," the Imbewu Trust's South African fable of a girl born with rhythm who challenges a police state, is told lyrically by Mpume Mthombeni.

SOURCE: Backstage at 01:20AM[SHARE]
Monday, July 30, 2012

New York Theater Week July 23 to July 30, 2012 by Jonathan Mandell

Two shows are opening on Broadway this coming week, the middle of the summer: "Bring It On: The Musical" on Wednesday and "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth" on Thursday. This past week in New Yo…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:45AM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 28, 2012

Innovative Choreographers Stamps " All 4 Broadway Veterans by Jonathan Mandell

Today is National Dance Day, and the United States Postal Service today issues four new stamps pays tribute by issue stamps of four “Innovative Choreographers” —  Isador…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:08AM[SHARE]

Bob Fosse Stamp by Jonathan Mandell

Bob Fosse is shown on the set of Sweet Charity (1969) on this United States Postal Service stamp, issued today, which is National Dance Day, as part of their Innovative Choreographers ser…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:59AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 26, 2012

Jersey Boys at Broadway in Bryant Park 2012 Concert by Jonathan Mandell

Four members of the Broadway cast of Jersey Boys sang three songs from the musical, which opened Nov 6, 2005 and tells the story of Franki Valli an the Four Seasons, a 60's group whose songs…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:45PM[SHARE]

Broadway in Bryant Park 2012: Aaron Carter, John Davidson from The Fantasticks by Jonathan Mandell

The cast of The Fantasticks sang four songs at Broadway in Bryant Park, including child pop star Aaron Carter, and new cast member John Davidson gave a short funny speech. Davidson says in t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:26PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Into The Woods First Preview: Attack on 'Attack' by Morgana James by Jonathan Mandell

The first preview of Into the Woods at the Delacorte Theater got a mixed response, none more controversial than a tweet by actress and singer Morgana James (Godspell, Wonderland, The Addams …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 24, 2012

2012 New York Innovative Theatre Awards Nominees: Off-Off Broadway's Finest by Jonathan Mandell

Here are the nominees for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards. Winners will be announced in a ceremony on September 24th. Outstanding Ensemble The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:58PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 23, 2012

Dogfight Review: Deliberately Cruel, Sweetly Nostalgic by Jonathan Mandell

"He was young, abstract, and therefore cruel," Dostoevsky writes of a character in Crime and Punishment. "Some things are not forgivable: Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable," Blanche says …

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 11:32PM[SHARE]

New York Theater Week, July 16-23, 2012 by Jonathan Mandell

Monday, July 16, 2012 One more cast addition to Sondheim’s Into The Woods this summer at the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park: Glenn Close will be the voice of the Giant. Yes, …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:30AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 19, 2012

Broadway in Bryant Park 2012: Ghost the Musical by Jonathan Mandell

Ghost the Musical sent its stars to perform at the Broadway in Bryant Park lunchtime concert — an unusual move for a Broadway musical; the understudies perform in most of the other mus…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:51PM[SHARE]

Broadway in Bryant Park 2012 " Wicked by Jonathan Mandell

Wicked, which tells the story of the witches leading up to the Wizard of Oz, opened on Broadway on October 30, 2003. Two years earlier, Bryant Park began presenting songs from Broadway shows…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:27PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Can You Be Michael Jackson of the Jackson 5? Berry Gordy wants you for Motown Musical by Jonathan Mandell

Berry Gordy, founder of Motown records and producer and book writer of the planned Broadway musical “Motown,” is casting a wide net for an actor to play young versions of Michael…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:04PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 16, 2012

New York Theater Week of July 9-16, 2012 by Jonathan Mandell

The actor is Richard Fleeshman, star of Ghost the musical, reenacting the pottery wheel scene with a lascivious Sharon Osbourne in a recent appearance on TV's The Talk. His shirt is now the …

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

NY Review: 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' by Jonathan Mandell

The Drilling Company's crowd-pleasing production of Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" is played as a gentrification battle on the Lower East Side.

SOURCE: Backstage at 06:48AM[SHARE]
Sunday, July 15, 2012

Broadway Barks 2012 by Jonathan Mandell

For the 14th year in a row, Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore were hosts of Broadway Barks, the organization they founded that involves Broadway performers encouraging people to adopt d…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:16AM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 14, 2012

NY Review: 'Probation' by Jonathan Mandell

In playwright-director Yoshvani Medina's "Probation," at Repertorio Español, first-rate acting rescues a half-baked plot about Cuban immigration to America.

SOURCE: Backstage at 04:43AM[SHARE]

Rio Review by Jonathan Mandell

My @BackStageCast review of @RioTheMusical from @NYMF: Propulsive beat, but has Capeman-like problems bit.ly/LOK2VM — Jonathan Mandell (@NewYorkTheater) July 13, 2012

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:01AM[SHARE]
Friday, July 13, 2012

Broadway in Bryant Park: Porgy and Bess by Jonathan Mandell

The cast of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess presented three songs on July 12th as part of the first of six Broadway in Bryant Park concerts this summer, every Thursday through mid-…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:24AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 12, 2012

Broadway in Bryant Park 2012: Spider-Man by Jonathan Mandell

As part of the summer Thursday lunchtime concert series in Bryant Park, the Broadway cast of Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark sang three songs on July 12. 1. Bouncing Off the Walls 2. Ris…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:58PM[SHARE]

Broadway in Bryant Park 2012: The Phantom of the Opera by Jonathan Mandell

Cast members from “Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show in the history of Broadway, performed today in Bryant Park, the first of a six-part concert series on Thursdays…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:10PM[SHARE]

NY Review: 'Rio' by Jonathan Mandell

"Rio," at NYMF, a tuneful musical with a propulsive beat that sets the story of "Oliver Twist" in the slums of Brazil, is undermined by errant stagecraft.

SOURCE: Backstage at 06:02AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Magic Moments in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

"Every moment at the theater is magical," Anna Kivela wrote, one of more than 100 theatergoers who responded to the question: "What was the most magical moment you have witnessed on a New Yo…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:37AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Broadway in Bryant Park 2012 by Jonathan Mandell

For the seventh year on the lawn at Bryant Park, the most popular as well as the newest shows on Broadway, and several Off-Broadway, will offer a series of six free weekly concerts over the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:21AM[SHARE]
Monday, July 9, 2012

New York Theater Week July 2-9, 2012 by Jonathan Mandell

This week saw some beginnings —  the New York summer theater festival season, Real Raging Bull Jake LaMotta going thespian to thespian with Mike Tyson — but too many endings: …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:28PM[SHARE]

Costume Designer Martin Pakledinaz (1953-2012) by Jonathan Mandell

Marty Pakledinaz, who died on Sunday at the age of 58, designed costumes for 35 Broadway shows over the last three decades, his work nominated ten times for a Tony Award, and winning twice, …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:15AM[SHARE]
Sunday, July 8, 2012

Ernest Borgnine, 1917 " 2012 by Jonathan Mandell

Ernest Borgnine, best-known for the title role of Oscar-winning 1955 film “Marty,” for the 1960′s TV show ‘McHale’s Navy,” and for being married to Ethel …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:26PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 6, 2012

Daphne Rubin-Vega, from Mimi in Rent to Stella in Streetcar by Jonathan Mandell

Daphne Rubin-Vega is playing her fifth role on Broadway, as Stella in Tennessee Williams’ “Streetcar Named Desire,” 16 years after her first and still best-known part, as M…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:22AM[SHARE]

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