A century from publication, Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography is still in vogue. Just before the pandemic, Tilda Swinton––who played Orlando in Sally Potter’s landmark film 30 years ago––curated a photography exhibition for Aperture inspired by the novel. Early last year, Megan Fernandes had Woolf’s text in mind when she wrote her eulogy for Roe vs Wade. More recently, theater director Neil Bartlett took a new adaptation to the West End, casting non-binary performer Emma Corrin in the title role. For a while, Potter’s adaptation seemed like the last word on Orlando, but Woolf’s story only grows more relevant (and more malleable) as each generation claims it for themselves.
In her review of Bartlett’s play, the theater critic Helen Shaw wrote that the novel “slots into the current gender discourse with a nearly audible click.” Enter Paul B. Preciado, the celebrated French author...
In her review of Bartlett’s play, the theater critic Helen Shaw wrote that the novel “slots into the current gender discourse with a nearly audible click.” Enter Paul B. Preciado, the celebrated French author...
- 3/23/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
The stage adaptation of “Room,” one of the most anticipated new plays of the spring Broadway season, is postponed indefinitely. The show was scheduled to begin performances on April 3, 2023 at the James Earl Jones Theatre. Rehearsals have ceased as the operation has shut down as of Thursday, March 16 2023.
The news must be particularly devastating for lead Adrienne Warren. The Tony-winner (“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical”) was widely predicted to receive another nomination for her turn as Ma. The role won Brie Larson an Oscar for the movie adaptation. Warren sat in fourth place in the Lead Actress in a Play category in Gold Derby’s combined odds.
Unless the Tony Administration Committee rules that any of the spring contenders will compete in a category contrary to their billing, Warren’s absence means there are just six women contending for a nomination. That is the lowest number of contenders a race...
The news must be particularly devastating for lead Adrienne Warren. The Tony-winner (“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical”) was widely predicted to receive another nomination for her turn as Ma. The role won Brie Larson an Oscar for the movie adaptation. Warren sat in fourth place in the Lead Actress in a Play category in Gold Derby’s combined odds.
Unless the Tony Administration Committee rules that any of the spring contenders will compete in a category contrary to their billing, Warren’s absence means there are just six women contending for a nomination. That is the lowest number of contenders a race...
- 3/16/2023
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Newsi ran from it and was still in it.The Filmmaker Magazine editorial staff shared their annual roster of 25 New Faces of Independent Film, including Antonio Marziale, Darol Olu Kae, Lucy Kerr, and more.John Waters will return to directing with Liarmouth, an adaptation of his own novel of the same name. It will be his first film since 2004’s A Dirty Shame. The Edinburgh International Film Festival has been shut down after the charity that runs it, the Centre for the Moving Image (Cmi), announced it has called in administrators and made 102 out of the 107 current staff redundant. Mark Cousins wrote about the closure of the “feminist, unbridled, Nonconformist Scottish and passionately international” festival in the Guardian. The legendary actress Angela Lansbury died this week at age 96. "She moved so easily between film,...
- 10/11/2022
- MUBI
In the last few days of every Tony Awards season, prognosticators have the tendency to overthink some races that are likely done deals. That could be the case this year with the Featured Actress in a Play category, where frontrunner Kenita R. Miller (“for colored girls”) has dominated the conversation since the revival of Ntozake Shange’s classic choreopoem started previews. But a large number of our users think Uzo Aduba (“Clyde’s”) will pull off an upset, while dozens are picking Rachel Dratch (“Potus”). Those mavericks may be overlooking the real spoiler in the category, though, in past Tony winner Phylicia Rashad, who returned to Broadway in Dominique Morisseau’s Best Play nominee “Skeleton Crew.”
Right now, Miller leads the field to take home the Tony for her “resplendent” performance as the Lady in Red. The actress not only delivered an acclaimed turn, but she took on the role while pregnant,...
Right now, Miller leads the field to take home the Tony for her “resplendent” performance as the Lady in Red. The actress not only delivered an acclaimed turn, but she took on the role while pregnant,...
- 6/11/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
“Nothing is impossible,” remarked Patti LuPone in 1980 just moments after receiving the Tony Award for her performance in “Evita.” The role transformed the actress into a Broadway sensation, and now 42 years later she could pick up the third Tony of her career for her featured performance in “Company,” a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s momentous 1970 musical that reimagines the show with a woman at its center — Katrina Lenk‘s Bobbie — rather than the original male Bobby. Below, see a list of all eight of Patti LuPone’s Tony nominations and her two wins.
See ‘Company’ returns to Broadway reimagined in a ‘sublime’ production that honors the late Stephen Sondheim’s ‘indelible’ score
LuPone leads the Featured Actress in a Musical race for her sensational turn as Joanne, the acerbic character who sings the anthem “The Ladies Who Lunch.” The actress has had a long history with the character and this legendary song in particular.
See ‘Company’ returns to Broadway reimagined in a ‘sublime’ production that honors the late Stephen Sondheim’s ‘indelible’ score
LuPone leads the Featured Actress in a Musical race for her sensational turn as Joanne, the acerbic character who sings the anthem “The Ladies Who Lunch.” The actress has had a long history with the character and this legendary song in particular.
- 6/9/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
“To say that this is a dream come true is an understatement,” marveled Sutton Foster in 2002 when Jerry Orbach and Doris Roberts called her name as the winner of the Tony Award for her performance in “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” Now exactly 20 years later, Foster could win her third trophy for her work in the revival of the classic Broadway musical “The Music Man,” starring opposite fellow Tony winner Hugh Jackman. Below, see a list of all seven of Sutton Foster’s Tony nominations and her two wins.
See Can Sutton Foster (‘The Music Man’) parlay her Drama League upset into Tony Award #3?
Foster contends this year for her turn as Marian Paroo, the librarian in River City who Jackman’s Harold Hill tries to woo. She earned the seventh nomination of her career for the role in the Actress in a Musical category, even though Barbara Cook, who originated the part,...
See Can Sutton Foster (‘The Music Man’) parlay her Drama League upset into Tony Award #3?
Foster contends this year for her turn as Marian Paroo, the librarian in River City who Jackman’s Harold Hill tries to woo. She earned the seventh nomination of her career for the role in the Actress in a Musical category, even though Barbara Cook, who originated the part,...
- 6/8/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
“Thank you for this work that’s just so magic and so worth it,” expressed Mary-Louise Parker when she accepted the Tony Award from presenter Gwyneth Paltrow in 2001 for her unforgettable performance in “Proof.” This year, Parker competes for the same prize for starring in the first Broadway production of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “How I Learned to Drive” and could take home the third trophy of her career for it. Below, see a list of all five of Mary-Louise Parker’s Tony nominations and two wins.
See Mary-Louise Parker (‘How I Learned to Drive’) poised to make Tony Awards history
Parker originated the role of Li’l Bit in the original Off-Broadway production of “How I Learned to Drive” 25 years ago. This Broadway revival reunited her with costars David Morse and Johanna Day as well as director Mark Brokaw. The drama is a haunting memory play that...
See Mary-Louise Parker (‘How I Learned to Drive’) poised to make Tony Awards history
Parker originated the role of Li’l Bit in the original Off-Broadway production of “How I Learned to Drive” 25 years ago. This Broadway revival reunited her with costars David Morse and Johanna Day as well as director Mark Brokaw. The drama is a haunting memory play that...
- 6/7/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
In politics – and Broadway’s Tony Awards season – timing is everything. New play “Potus: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” knows that extraordinarily well, not only because of its finely-tuned farce, but also because it enters the 2021-2022 Tony season just under the eligibility wire. “Potus” opened at the Shubert Theatre on April 27 for a limited engagement.
Written by Selina Fillinger and directed by Broadway extraordinaire Susan Stroman, “Potus” unfolds during a particularly tumultuous day for the President of the United States, as the women in his life – staff members, family, and all – try to get him back on course. The who’s-who ensemble stars Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough, Suzy Nakamura, Julie White, and Vanessa Williams.
See 2022 Tonys predictions: Complete odds for 75th annual Tony Awards nominations
“Potus” earned mostly positive and mixed reviews from theatre critics. Helen Shaw...
Written by Selina Fillinger and directed by Broadway extraordinaire Susan Stroman, “Potus” unfolds during a particularly tumultuous day for the President of the United States, as the women in his life – staff members, family, and all – try to get him back on course. The who’s-who ensemble stars Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough, Suzy Nakamura, Julie White, and Vanessa Williams.
See 2022 Tonys predictions: Complete odds for 75th annual Tony Awards nominations
“Potus” earned mostly positive and mixed reviews from theatre critics. Helen Shaw...
- 5/6/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Time has finally caught up with Billy Crystal, at least in terms of his age and the age of his character in “Mr. Saturday Night.” The 1992 film found the young Crystal playing decades older as Buddy Young, Jr., a stand-up and television comedian in his 70s looking to resuscitate his career and rescue the relationships he had scorched on his path to success. For the musical stage adaptation, which opened at the Nederlander Theatre on April 27, Crystal gets to act his age for the majority of the proceedings, occasionally playing younger for the flashback scenes.
Featuring a book by the original screenwriters and a score by Jason Robert Brown and Amanda Green, “Mr. Saturday Night” stars Crystal, David Paymer – who reprises his role from the movie – Randy Graff, Shoshana Bean, Chasten Harmon, and others. Tony Award-winner John Rando (“Urinetown”) directs.
Watch 2022 Tony Awards slugfest: 13 productions vie for places in Musical...
Featuring a book by the original screenwriters and a score by Jason Robert Brown and Amanda Green, “Mr. Saturday Night” stars Crystal, David Paymer – who reprises his role from the movie – Randy Graff, Shoshana Bean, Chasten Harmon, and others. Tony Award-winner John Rando (“Urinetown”) directs.
Watch 2022 Tony Awards slugfest: 13 productions vie for places in Musical...
- 5/4/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Every so often, a musical arrives on Broadway that fundamentally changes the art form. Just as rarely, a musical will take home the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which has only happened 10 times in its over century-long history. With “A Strange Loop,” which just bowed on April 26 at the Lyceum Theatre, Broadway once again welcomes the rare musical that does both. Composer and librettist Michael R. Jackson’s Broadway debut has been one of the most anticipated of the entire season, and a very long time in the making. Stephen Bracknell, who directed the musical’s earlier productions, also helms this one.
“A Strange Loop” centers on Usher (Jaquel Spivey), a young, Black, queer aspiring musical theatre composer working on a show called “A Strange Loop,” who ushers Broadway musicals and grapples daily with his nagging thoughts, which take human shape via the show’s ensemble, which includes L Morgan Lee,...
“A Strange Loop” centers on Usher (Jaquel Spivey), a young, Black, queer aspiring musical theatre composer working on a show called “A Strange Loop,” who ushers Broadway musicals and grapples daily with his nagging thoughts, which take human shape via the show’s ensemble, which includes L Morgan Lee,...
- 5/3/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Two years after its premature pandemic closure, Martin McDonagh’s play “Hangmen” has slipped the proverbial noose and returned to Broadway in a plot twist you might think McDonagh wrote himself. The unexpected resurrection of this dark comedy about the cessation of the death penalty in England in 1965 stars a slightly different cast than it did back in March 2020: David Threlfall has stepped into the shoes of the hangman played by Mark Addy, while Alfie Allen takes over the menacing character Mooney that Dan Stevens once embodied.
These two characters come to loggerheads when they meet in the bar that Threlfall’s Harry runs in his early retirement, while a subsequent kidnapping plot propels both characters to make fateful decisions. Matthew Dunster directs the thriller, which also features original Broadway cast members Tracie Bennett, Gaby French, and many others. “Hangmen” opened at the Golden Theatre on April 21.
Watch Martin...
These two characters come to loggerheads when they meet in the bar that Threlfall’s Harry runs in his early retirement, while a subsequent kidnapping plot propels both characters to make fateful decisions. Matthew Dunster directs the thriller, which also features original Broadway cast members Tracie Bennett, Gaby French, and many others. “Hangmen” opened at the Golden Theatre on April 21.
Watch Martin...
- 4/27/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
For all those people who have been dying to hear the music that makes you dance once again on a Broadway stage, “Funny Girl” has finally returned after a 58-year absence. Beanie Feldstein steps into the role of performer Fanny Brice, which made Barbra Streisand a sensation decades ago. Ramin Karimloo is her gambling love interest Nicky Arnstein, and Jane Lynch her mother. Boasting a classic score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, this production features Harvey Fierstein’s revisions to Isobel Lennart’s original book, and Michael Mayer‘s direction. “Funny Girl” opened at the August Wilson Theatre on April 24.
With such high expectations for the long-awaited return of this musical theatre favorite, it would have been hard for any production to hit the mark, and most critics think this “Funny Girl” missed. In one of the positive notices, Mark Kennedy (Associated Press) calls Feldstein’s interpretation of Brice “earthy,...
With such high expectations for the long-awaited return of this musical theatre favorite, it would have been hard for any production to hit the mark, and most critics think this “Funny Girl” missed. In one of the positive notices, Mark Kennedy (Associated Press) calls Feldstein’s interpretation of Brice “earthy,...
- 4/27/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Twenty five years after the Off-Broadway debut of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “How I Learned to Drive,” the contemporary American classic has at long last made its bow on Broadway. Fittingly for a memory play, the stars of that first production have returned to their roles: Mary-Louise Parker as Li’l Bit, who recalls her relationship with her predatory Uncle Peck – played by David Morse – who gave her driving lessons. The original director Mark Brokaw once again leads the production, which opened at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Friedman Theatre on April 19 for a limited run.
This long-awaited mounting of “How I Learned to Drive” earned rapturous reviews from critics. Maya Phillips (New York Times) calls the production “unforgettable” and labels it a Critic’s Pick. She credits playwright Vogel, who’s “script creates its own piercing language for assault,” and notes how despite the heaviness of the subject,...
This long-awaited mounting of “How I Learned to Drive” earned rapturous reviews from critics. Maya Phillips (New York Times) calls the production “unforgettable” and labels it a Critic’s Pick. She credits playwright Vogel, who’s “script creates its own piercing language for assault,” and notes how despite the heaviness of the subject,...
- 4/20/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
In a Broadway season teeming with exciting plays, musicals, and revivals, a dramatization of a small city council meeting may sound dull. Perhaps in the hands of a lesser playwright than Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts, but his fictional Big Cherry bureaucracy at the center of “The Minutes” is anything but tame. The “August: Osage County” scribe re-teamed with director Anna D. Shapiro for this genre-defying political satire with a horrifying underbelly. The ensemble comprises both New York and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre mainstays, featuring the likes of Blair Brown, Jessie Mueller, Austin Pendleton, and Letts himself, with Noah Reid making his Broadway debut. “The Minutes” opened at Studio 54 on April 17 for a limited engagement.
Letts’ latest work received overwhelmingly strong notices from critics. In a rave review, Naveen Kumar (Variety) calls the play a “cunning,” “sensational,” and “astonishing feat” handled with “brilliant finesse.” He applauds Letts for penning this “thrilling...
Letts’ latest work received overwhelmingly strong notices from critics. In a rave review, Naveen Kumar (Variety) calls the play a “cunning,” “sensational,” and “astonishing feat” handled with “brilliant finesse.” He applauds Letts for penning this “thrilling...
- 4/20/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Over two years after its slated pre-pandemic bow, the fourth production of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” has arrived on Broadway. The nearly 50-year-old play takes place in a junk shop owned by Don (portrayed in this remounting by Laurence Fishburne), who has seller’s remorse over a valuable buffalo nickel and conscripts his assistant and protégé Bobby (Darren Criss) and, later, his buddy Teach (Sam Rockwell) to steal it back. Directed by Mamet’s frequent collaborator Neil Pepe, “American Buffalo” opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 14 for a limited run.
Much of the luster of this staging has been dulled by the recent incendiary comments by playwright Mamet. The majority of the mixed reviews of “American Buffalo” reflect on this news, remark on the strong performances from the trio of actors, and question how well the text has aged. In a negative take, Alexis Soloski...
Much of the luster of this staging has been dulled by the recent incendiary comments by playwright Mamet. The majority of the mixed reviews of “American Buffalo” reflect on this news, remark on the strong performances from the trio of actors, and question how well the text has aged. In a negative take, Alexis Soloski...
- 4/18/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Almost a decade after her Broadway debut, Emmy-winner Debra Messing has returned to the New York stage in new play “Birthday Candles,” which taps into her gifts of comedy and sentimentality. The first play by Noah Haidle to hit Broadway, “Birthday Candles” centers on Messing’s character Ernestine and unspools over nearly a century, as scenes focus on her ritual of baking a cake on her birthday over the course of her lifetime, chronicling her joys and losses. The Roundabout Theatre Company production, which also boasts John Earl Jelks, Enrico Colantoni, and others, opened at the American Airlines Theatre on April 10 under the direction of Vivienne Benesch.
This new drama received a divided reception from critics, who thought the grand aspirations of the work felt a touch under-baked. In a positive notice, Chris Jones (Chicago Tribune) calls the show “wonderful,” “wise and sad.” Touting the sophistication of Haidle’s ideas,...
This new drama received a divided reception from critics, who thought the grand aspirations of the work felt a touch under-baked. In a positive notice, Chris Jones (Chicago Tribune) calls the show “wonderful,” “wise and sad.” Touting the sophistication of Haidle’s ideas,...
- 4/12/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
The ensemble of Second Stage Theatre’s revival of “Take Me Out” has waited over two years for the first pitch of this baseball drama on Broadway, but after the lengthy pandemic delay the remounting finally opened on April 4 at the Hayes Theater. Playwright Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning play centers on fictional baseball team The Empires and chronicles the personal and professional fallout after the center-fielder Darren Lemming (Jesse Williams) reveals that he is gay. The ensemble boasts recognizable faces including Williams and Patrick J. Adams in their Broadway debuts, plus Broadway mainstays Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brandon J. Dirden, and others under the direction of Tony-nominee Scott Ellis.
“Take Me Out” received strong notices from critics, who note how the play still feels relevant despite how much American culture has evolved in the past 20 years. In a Critic’s Pick review, Jesse Green (New York Times) calls the work “mostly delightful and provocative,...
“Take Me Out” received strong notices from critics, who note how the play still feels relevant despite how much American culture has evolved in the past 20 years. In a Critic’s Pick review, Jesse Green (New York Times) calls the work “mostly delightful and provocative,...
- 4/6/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Broadway’s mad dash to the Tony Award nominations began on April 3 with the opening of original musical “Paradise Square,” the first of 17 new productions set to bow this month. Set during the Civil War in Manhattan’s Five Points, “Paradise Square” explores the antagonisms between Irish immigrants and Black Americans during the national conflict and the potential haven for solidarities at the title bar. The musical stars an ensemble cast that boasts Tony Award-nominee Joaquina Kalukango, directed by two-time Tony nominee Moisés Kaufman. The musical runs at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
“Paradise Square” features a book cowritten by Christina Anderson, three-time Tony nominee Craig Lucas, and Larry Kirwan, and a score with music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare with contributions from Kirwin. Tony-nominee Allen Moyer is the musical’s scenic designer, three-time Tony nominee Toni-Leslie James the costume designer, and two-time Tony winner Donald Holder the lighting designer.
“Paradise Square” features a book cowritten by Christina Anderson, three-time Tony nominee Craig Lucas, and Larry Kirwan, and a score with music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare with contributions from Kirwin. Tony-nominee Allen Moyer is the musical’s scenic designer, three-time Tony nominee Toni-Leslie James the costume designer, and two-time Tony winner Donald Holder the lighting designer.
- 4/5/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
It has been eight years since Hugh Jackman notoriously hopped his way into Radio City Music Hall to host the 68th Tony Awards and even longer since he won a Tony himself. But at long last, Jackman has returned to Broadway in a revival of the Americana classic “The Music Man” starring Professor Harold Hill. In this mounting, which opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Feb. 10, Sutton Foster joins him as Marian Paroo.
This fourth production of the Meredith Willson musical on Broadway is directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, who also helmed the lavish and adored remounting of “Hello, Dolly!” a few years ago. Zaks has assembled an impressive ensemble for his production, including Tony winners Shuler Hensley, Jayne Houdyshell, Jefferson Mays, and Marie Mullen, plus Tony-winning creatives Warren Carlyle, Santo Loquasto, and Brian MacDevitt.
See ‘Mj The Musical’ reviews: Myles Frost ‘mesmerizing’ as Michael Jackson,...
This fourth production of the Meredith Willson musical on Broadway is directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, who also helmed the lavish and adored remounting of “Hello, Dolly!” a few years ago. Zaks has assembled an impressive ensemble for his production, including Tony winners Shuler Hensley, Jayne Houdyshell, Jefferson Mays, and Marie Mullen, plus Tony-winning creatives Warren Carlyle, Santo Loquasto, and Brian MacDevitt.
See ‘Mj The Musical’ reviews: Myles Frost ‘mesmerizing’ as Michael Jackson,...
- 2/14/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Two weeks after the closing of her play “Clyde’s,” Lynn Nottage has opened a new jukebox musical about a star who needs no introduction. Penned by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, “Mj The Musical” features three dozen of Michael Jackson’s songs in a dramatization of the rehearsals for his blockbuster “Dangerous” world tour in 1992. The show also features flashbacks to Jackson’s beginnings in The Jackson 5 and his formative years.
“Mj” stars Broadway newcomer Myles Frost as the late sensation, while Walter Russell III and Christian Wilson alternate the role of Little Michael and Tavon Olds-Sample tackles the years in between. Christopher Wheeldon directs and choreographs the production, which also credits Rich + Tone Talauega with those singular Michael Jackson moves.
See ‘Skeleton Crew’ reviews: ‘Commanding’ Phylicia Rashad leads this ‘moving’ Dominique Morisseau play
Critics were overwhelmingly mixed on the musical on both its creative merits and its handling of...
“Mj” stars Broadway newcomer Myles Frost as the late sensation, while Walter Russell III and Christian Wilson alternate the role of Little Michael and Tavon Olds-Sample tackles the years in between. Christopher Wheeldon directs and choreographs the production, which also credits Rich + Tone Talauega with those singular Michael Jackson moves.
See ‘Skeleton Crew’ reviews: ‘Commanding’ Phylicia Rashad leads this ‘moving’ Dominique Morisseau play
Critics were overwhelmingly mixed on the musical on both its creative merits and its handling of...
- 2/3/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Ten days after her first Broadway show ended an acclaimed run, playwright Dominique Morisseau has just opened another. The Tony-nominee penned the libretto for musical “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations,” which closed after nearly 500 performances on Jan. 16, and her drama “Skeleton Crew” has now finally made the leap from Off-Broadway to the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Jan. 26. Set in Detroit in 2008, the play is about the impact of the looming closure of a steel plant on four of its workers.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson directs the production, returning to the Friedman just two months after he wrapped performances of his own play “Lackawanna Blues” at the venue. Phylicia Rashad stars as Faye, a factor worker and union rep on the cusp of her thirtieth anniversary working at the plant; the play marks Rashad’s return to Broadway after over a decade away. Chanté Adams, Joshua Boone,...
Ruben Santiago-Hudson directs the production, returning to the Friedman just two months after he wrapped performances of his own play “Lackawanna Blues” at the venue. Phylicia Rashad stars as Faye, a factor worker and union rep on the cusp of her thirtieth anniversary working at the plant; the play marks Rashad’s return to Broadway after over a decade away. Chanté Adams, Joshua Boone,...
- 1/28/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Over fifty years after its debut on Broadway in 1970, Stephen Sondheim’s genre-redefining musical “Company” has returned in a reimagined production by Tony Award-winning director Marianne Elliott. The classic musical is a series of vignettes that coalesce around its protagonist Bobby on the occasion of his thirty-fifth birthday, but in this revival the main character is now a female Bobbie. “Company” opened at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Dec. 9.
Tony winner Katrina Lenk steps into the role of Bobbie, previously played on Broadway by the likes of Dean Jones, Larry Kert, Boyd Gaines, and Raúl Esparza. Her Joanne – the character known for singing the sardonic Sondheim showstopper “The Ladies Who Lunch” – is two-time Tony winner Patti LuPone. The ensemble boasts a number of Broadway staples, including Nikki Renée Daniels, Matt Doyle, Tony nominees Christopher Fitzgerald, Christopher Sieber, and Jennifer Simard, plus others. George Furth contributed the original book.
See 2022 Tony Awards eligibility rulings,...
Tony winner Katrina Lenk steps into the role of Bobbie, previously played on Broadway by the likes of Dean Jones, Larry Kert, Boyd Gaines, and Raúl Esparza. Her Joanne – the character known for singing the sardonic Sondheim showstopper “The Ladies Who Lunch” – is two-time Tony winner Patti LuPone. The ensemble boasts a number of Broadway staples, including Nikki Renée Daniels, Matt Doyle, Tony nominees Christopher Fitzgerald, Christopher Sieber, and Jennifer Simard, plus others. George Furth contributed the original book.
See 2022 Tony Awards eligibility rulings,...
- 12/11/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Almost thirty years after Robin Williams played “Mrs. Doubtfire” on the big screen, a musical adaptation has bowed on Broadway. The farcical plot follows divorced father Daniel, who dresses as a female housekeeper in order to spend time with his children. The film is best remembered for Williams’ singular performance and won the Oscar for Best Makeup. The material has been modernized, however slightly, for the stage and stars Tony-nominee Rob McClure in Williams’ role. “Mrs. Doubtfire” opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Dec. 5.
The new musical features a score by Tony-nominated songwriters Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick of “Something Rotten!,” a book by Karey and Tony-nominee John O’Farrell, and direction by the prolific Jerry Zaks, who has four Tony Awards for his direction of plays and musicals.
See ‘Diana, The Musical’ reviews: ‘Cold and crass’ new show fails to live up to its beloved subject
“Doubtfire” earned mixed reviews from critics.
The new musical features a score by Tony-nominated songwriters Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick of “Something Rotten!,” a book by Karey and Tony-nominee John O’Farrell, and direction by the prolific Jerry Zaks, who has four Tony Awards for his direction of plays and musicals.
See ‘Diana, The Musical’ reviews: ‘Cold and crass’ new show fails to live up to its beloved subject
“Doubtfire” earned mixed reviews from critics.
- 12/10/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
It has been almost five years since playwright Lynn Nottage made her Broadway debut with “Sweat” and almost 10 since Uzo Aduba last appeared on a Broadway stage. They both return, triumphantly, in Nottage’s “Clyde’s,” a new play with a connection to “Sweat,” which earned three Tony Award nominations and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. “Clyde’s” opened at the Second Stage Theater’s Hayes Theater on Nov. 23.
“Clyde’s” stars Aduba in the title role, the proprietor of a roadside sandwich shop in Pennsylvania who hires former convicts as kitchen staff. The comedy ascends to Biblical proportions as Clyde’s employees navigate their boss’ viciousness and strive for personal redemption through the art of making the perfect sandwich. The ensemble also boasts two-time Emmy-winner Ron Cephas Jones, Edmund Donovan, Reza Salazar, and Kara Young under the direction of Nottage’s frequent collaborator Kate Whoriskey.
See ‘Trouble in Mind’ reviews: Alice Childress’ ‘exemplary,...
“Clyde’s” stars Aduba in the title role, the proprietor of a roadside sandwich shop in Pennsylvania who hires former convicts as kitchen staff. The comedy ascends to Biblical proportions as Clyde’s employees navigate their boss’ viciousness and strive for personal redemption through the art of making the perfect sandwich. The ensemble also boasts two-time Emmy-winner Ron Cephas Jones, Edmund Donovan, Reza Salazar, and Kara Young under the direction of Nottage’s frequent collaborator Kate Whoriskey.
See ‘Trouble in Mind’ reviews: Alice Childress’ ‘exemplary,...
- 11/24/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Diana, Princess of Wales has been portrayed in no shortage of high profile works of fiction this past year, from her introduction on the fourth season of Netflix’s “The Crown” to Pablo Larraín’s new film “Spencer,” and now a new Broadway musical. After beginning previews last March just before the coronavirus pandemic shuttered New York theaters, “Diana: The Musical” returned to the Longacre Theatre on Nov. 17 with Jeanna de Waal in the title role.
“Diana” chronicles nearly two decades in the life of its title character as she enters the public eye and becomes internationally recognizable. Joe Dipietro and David Bryan, the Tony-winning team behind the Best Musical winner “Memphis” (2010), reunited for “Diana” with Dipietro contributing book and lyrics and Bryan the score. Tony-winner Christopher Ashley directs and also reunites with a fellow “Come From Away” alum, the Tony-nominated choreographer Kelly Devine. Broadway stalwarts Erin Davie and two-time...
“Diana” chronicles nearly two decades in the life of its title character as she enters the public eye and becomes internationally recognizable. Joe Dipietro and David Bryan, the Tony-winning team behind the Best Musical winner “Memphis” (2010), reunited for “Diana” with Dipietro contributing book and lyrics and Bryan the score. Tony-winner Christopher Ashley directs and also reunites with a fellow “Come From Away” alum, the Tony-nominated choreographer Kelly Devine. Broadway stalwarts Erin Davie and two-time...
- 11/18/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
‘Caroline, or Change’ reviews: ‘Thrilling’ revival showcases Sharon D Clarke’s ‘titanic’ performance
Seventeen years after its Broadway debut, musical “Caroline, or Change” has returned in what critics describe as an “electrifying” production. The show is set in 1960s Louisiana and centers on its title character Caroline Thibodeaux (Sharon D Clarke), who works for a Jewish family and cares for their son Noah, who inadvertently changes the course of her life with pocket change. This Roundabout Theatre Company production opened at Studio 54 on Oct. 27.
The musical boasts a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (“Angels in America”) and music by Tony-winner Jeanine Tesori (“Fun Home”). The original production starred Tony-winner Tonya Pinkins (“Jelly’s Last Jam”) in the title role and featured direction by Tony-winner George C. Wolfe. This revival is directed by Michael Longhurst, who previously directed the play “Constellations” on Broadway.
See ‘Girl From the North Country’ reopens on Broadway: ‘Ravishing’ Bob Dylan musical eligible for 2022 Tony Awards
“Caroline,...
The musical boasts a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (“Angels in America”) and music by Tony-winner Jeanine Tesori (“Fun Home”). The original production starred Tony-winner Tonya Pinkins (“Jelly’s Last Jam”) in the title role and featured direction by Tony-winner George C. Wolfe. This revival is directed by Michael Longhurst, who previously directed the play “Constellations” on Broadway.
See ‘Girl From the North Country’ reopens on Broadway: ‘Ravishing’ Bob Dylan musical eligible for 2022 Tony Awards
“Caroline,...
- 10/28/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
“The Lehman Trilogy” has had a protracted journey to Broadway. Not quite as long as the nearly two centuries of history that the play chronicles, of course, but what began in London in 2018 and made a splash Off-Broadway in 2019 has finally arrived at the Nederlander Theatre, opening on Oct. 14. Ben Power’s adaptation of Stefano Massini’s play originally began previews on March 7, 2020, but played less than one week before the coronavirus pandemic shuttered theaters.
Beginning in 1844 when the first of the three Lehman brothers arrived in New York from Bavaria, “The Lehman Trilogy” chronicles this notorious family’s insatiable quest for wealth and capital accumulation through the 2008 stock market crash that toppled the firm. Tony-winner Sam Mendes directs a cast of three actors – Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Adrian Lester – who play the innumerable characters needed to tell the tale of generations of Lehmans and centuries of global capitalism.
Beginning in 1844 when the first of the three Lehman brothers arrived in New York from Bavaria, “The Lehman Trilogy” chronicles this notorious family’s insatiable quest for wealth and capital accumulation through the 2008 stock market crash that toppled the firm. Tony-winner Sam Mendes directs a cast of three actors – Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Adrian Lester – who play the innumerable characters needed to tell the tale of generations of Lehmans and centuries of global capitalism.
- 10/15/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Back in March 2020, the Bob Dylan songbook musical “Girl From the North Country” opened on Broadway on March 5, just one week before theaters shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now more than 19 months later, the show returned to the Belasco Theatre and reopened on Oct. 13.
Even though the musical officially opened last year, it did not run long enough for many of the approximately 800 Tony Awards voters to attend and was therefore deemed ineligible for consideration at this past ceremony. Since it has returned to Broadway, though, “North Country” will compete at the 2022 ceremony, over two years after its original opening date.
Three-time Tony nominee Conor McPherson wrote the libretto and directed this original musical, which uses more than 20 songs from Nobel-laureate Dylan’s catalogue to tell a Depression-era story of a family-run boarding house on the brink of foreclosure, which is set in Duluth, Minnesota, the city of Dylan’s birth.
Even though the musical officially opened last year, it did not run long enough for many of the approximately 800 Tony Awards voters to attend and was therefore deemed ineligible for consideration at this past ceremony. Since it has returned to Broadway, though, “North Country” will compete at the 2022 ceremony, over two years after its original opening date.
Three-time Tony nominee Conor McPherson wrote the libretto and directed this original musical, which uses more than 20 songs from Nobel-laureate Dylan’s catalogue to tell a Depression-era story of a family-run boarding house on the brink of foreclosure, which is set in Duluth, Minnesota, the city of Dylan’s birth.
- 10/14/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Back in February, the new play “Thoughts of a Colored Man” installed its marquee at the Golden Theatre, an encouraging sign almost a year into the coronavirus pandemic that the frost on Broadway was about to thaw. Keenan Scott II’s allegorical drama has finally arrived, debuting at the Golden on Oct. 13 under the direction of Steve H. Broadnax III.
Featuring an ensemble of seven actors – each representing a different emotion from happiness to depression, love, anger, and beyond – “Thoughts of a Colored Man” unfolds as a series of vignettes of prose, poetry, and song set over the course of a day in a gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood. Those seven actors are Dyllón Burnside, Bryan Terrell Clark, Da’Vinchi, Luke James, Forrest McClendon, Esau Pritchett, and Tristan ‘Mack’ Wilds. Its form has drawn comparisons to Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” a landmark...
Featuring an ensemble of seven actors – each representing a different emotion from happiness to depression, love, anger, and beyond – “Thoughts of a Colored Man” unfolds as a series of vignettes of prose, poetry, and song set over the course of a day in a gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood. Those seven actors are Dyllón Burnside, Bryan Terrell Clark, Da’Vinchi, Luke James, Forrest McClendon, Esau Pritchett, and Tristan ‘Mack’ Wilds. Its form has drawn comparisons to Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” a landmark...
- 10/14/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
The long-awaited reopening of Broadway has just welcomed one of its most unique offerings of the season with the debut of new drama “Is This a Room.” One of a duo of transcript plays to bow this fall, “Is This a Room” uses the verbatim transcript of the FBI interrogation of Reality Winner – an Nsa employee incarcerated for leaking classified information about Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election to the press – as the basis for this spartan and experimental play. “Is This a Room” opened at the Lyceum Theatre on Oct. 11.
Conceived and directed by Tina Satter, “Is This a Room” stars a quartet of actors who reenact the June 3, 2017 interrogation and arrest of Winner, played by Emily Davis in her Broadway debut. Pete Simpson and Will Cobbs play FBI agents, and Becca Blackwell rounds out the cast. “This Is a Room” has had two prior incarnations in 2019 at...
Conceived and directed by Tina Satter, “Is This a Room” stars a quartet of actors who reenact the June 3, 2017 interrogation and arrest of Winner, played by Emily Davis in her Broadway debut. Pete Simpson and Will Cobbs play FBI agents, and Becca Blackwell rounds out the cast. “This Is a Room” has had two prior incarnations in 2019 at...
- 10/12/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Ten years after making his Broadway debut as an actor in “The Book of Mormon,” Douglas Lyons just took his first bow as a playwright with “Chicken & Biscuits,” which opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Oct. 10. The comedy centers on the funeral of a pastor, which brings together two at-odds sisters and raises a whole host of family foibles.
Directed by Zhailon Levingston, “Chicken & Biscuits” features an eight-person ensemble, with the majority of the cast making their Broadway debuts. Cleo King and Ebony Marshall-Oliver play sisters Baneatta and Beverly, respectively, and are joined by Broadway stalwarts Norm Lewis, Michael Urie and NaTasha Yvette Williams.
See ‘Lackawanna Blues’: Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s ‘vibrant’ play and performance are a ‘master class’
In a rave review, Ayanna Prescod (Variety) calls the play “a portrait of Black joy, love and laughter” that features “a brilliant script that’s fresh, relatable and laugh-out-loud funny.
Directed by Zhailon Levingston, “Chicken & Biscuits” features an eight-person ensemble, with the majority of the cast making their Broadway debuts. Cleo King and Ebony Marshall-Oliver play sisters Baneatta and Beverly, respectively, and are joined by Broadway stalwarts Norm Lewis, Michael Urie and NaTasha Yvette Williams.
See ‘Lackawanna Blues’: Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s ‘vibrant’ play and performance are a ‘master class’
In a rave review, Ayanna Prescod (Variety) calls the play “a portrait of Black joy, love and laughter” that features “a brilliant script that’s fresh, relatable and laugh-out-loud funny.
- 10/11/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
In March of last year, the new musical “Six” was literally minutes away from opening on Broadway when the coronavirus pandemic halted its performance. Eighteen months later, the musical by Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow has officially bowed at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Oct. 3, the second new production of the 2021-2022 season.
Moss and Marlow wrote the music, lyrics, and book for this reimagining of the six wives of King Henry VIII as their varyingly unfortunate tales of abuse, neglect, and, yes, beheading get remixed into contemporary pop confections performed concert-style as they attempt to name a leader of their band. The multi-hyphenate Moss also directs the musical with Jamie Armitage. The six wives are portrayed by Adrianna Hicks, Andrea Macasaet, Brittney Mack, Abby Mueller, Samantha Pauly, and Anna Uzele.
Watch our exclusive video interview with Lucy Moss
“Six” received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. Jesse Green (New York...
Moss and Marlow wrote the music, lyrics, and book for this reimagining of the six wives of King Henry VIII as their varyingly unfortunate tales of abuse, neglect, and, yes, beheading get remixed into contemporary pop confections performed concert-style as they attempt to name a leader of their band. The multi-hyphenate Moss also directs the musical with Jamie Armitage. The six wives are portrayed by Adrianna Hicks, Andrea Macasaet, Brittney Mack, Abby Mueller, Samantha Pauly, and Anna Uzele.
Watch our exclusive video interview with Lucy Moss
“Six” received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. Jesse Green (New York...
- 10/4/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Almost 30 years after earning his first Tony Awards nomination for portraying Jackie Robinson in the musical “The First,” David Alan Grier may finally take home his first trophy. Nominated this year for his work in the Broadway debut of Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “A Soldier’s Play,” Grier currently leads our odds in the Featured Actor category.
Grier earned some of the best notices of his career for his role in the revival, which ran at the American Airlines Theater from January to March 2020. Set on a segregated military base in Louisiana in 1944, the play starred Grier as the vicious Sergeant Vernon C. Waters, whose murder gives the play its central mystery and plot. Helen Shaw (Vulture) wrote that Grier “machines each of his scenes to the inch, developing his portrait from a comic tinpot bellower into villainy and then, remarkably, something more tragic,” while Vinson Cunningham (New Yorker) said,...
Grier earned some of the best notices of his career for his role in the revival, which ran at the American Airlines Theater from January to March 2020. Set on a segregated military base in Louisiana in 1944, the play starred Grier as the vicious Sergeant Vernon C. Waters, whose murder gives the play its central mystery and plot. Helen Shaw (Vulture) wrote that Grier “machines each of his scenes to the inch, developing his portrait from a comic tinpot bellower into villainy and then, remarkably, something more tragic,” while Vinson Cunningham (New Yorker) said,...
- 9/23/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Almost 18 months after the last new show opened on Broadway – the musical “The Girl from the North Country,” which bowed on March 5, 2020 – the New York theatre community celebrated the rialto’s return with the premiere of “Pass Over.” Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s play opened at the August Wilson Theatre on August 22 under the direction of Danya Taymor.
Inspired by both Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and the book of Exodus, “Pass Over” occurs under the glow of a single streetlight. With a deft balance of comedy and horror, joy and sorrow, Nwandu explores centuries of systemic racism, including the plantation and the present, through the conversations between the indefatigably optimistic Moses (Jon Michael Hill) and Kitch (Namir Smallwood), which are punctuated by the two different white men (both played by Gabriel Ebert) who disrupt their space.
Watch 2021 Tony Awards slugfest: Who has the edge in the incredibly competitive Play races?...
Inspired by both Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and the book of Exodus, “Pass Over” occurs under the glow of a single streetlight. With a deft balance of comedy and horror, joy and sorrow, Nwandu explores centuries of systemic racism, including the plantation and the present, through the conversations between the indefatigably optimistic Moses (Jon Michael Hill) and Kitch (Namir Smallwood), which are punctuated by the two different white men (both played by Gabriel Ebert) who disrupt their space.
Watch 2021 Tony Awards slugfest: Who has the edge in the incredibly competitive Play races?...
- 8/26/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
“West Side Story,” one of the most beloved and enduring Broadway musicals of all time, has often been seen on the Great White Way since it premiered more than sixty years ago, but never quite like this. The revolutionary musical has been reimagined in equally revolutionary fashion this season by Tony-winning director Ivo van Hove (“A View From the Bridge”), whose production opened at the Broadway Theatre on February 20.
This modern, taut staging of the Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents musical stars Isaac Powell and Shereen Pimentel as star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria, who lead a company that boasts dozens of Broadway debuts. To distinguish his take on this iconic material, van Hove enlisted Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker to contribute new choreography––controversially replacing Jerome Robbins’ original, indelible dances––as well as designer Luke Halls to create videos that accompany the onstage action on a massive screen that...
This modern, taut staging of the Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents musical stars Isaac Powell and Shereen Pimentel as star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria, who lead a company that boasts dozens of Broadway debuts. To distinguish his take on this iconic material, van Hove enlisted Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker to contribute new choreography––controversially replacing Jerome Robbins’ original, indelible dances––as well as designer Luke Halls to create videos that accompany the onstage action on a massive screen that...
- 2/21/2020
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Last season, director Stephen Brackett and librettist Joe Tracz teamed up for the musical “Be More Chill,” which found much favor with the teenage demographic of Broadway theatergoers. Just two months after that show shuttered, Brackett and Tracz return to the Great White Way with another teen-oriented tuner, “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” which officially began its limited run at the Longacre Theatre on October 16.
Featuring a score by Broadway newcomer Rob Rokicki, “The Lightning Thief” hews closely to the popular young adult novel by Rick Riordan (which also inspired a movie franchise). Set present day, the musical follows the titular demigod Percy Jackson, played by Chris McCarrell, who attends Camp Half-Blood after he learns of his parentage to hone his skills and ward off the demons of Greek mythology.
Sign Up for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
“The Lightning Thief” received mostly negative reviews from critics.
Featuring a score by Broadway newcomer Rob Rokicki, “The Lightning Thief” hews closely to the popular young adult novel by Rick Riordan (which also inspired a movie franchise). Set present day, the musical follows the titular demigod Percy Jackson, played by Chris McCarrell, who attends Camp Half-Blood after he learns of his parentage to hone his skills and ward off the demons of Greek mythology.
Sign Up for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
“The Lightning Thief” received mostly negative reviews from critics.
- 10/17/2019
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Almost a decade after her Broadway debut, Kerry Washington has returned to the boards in an explosive new drama “American Son,” which opened at the Booth Theatre on November 4. Washington leads a quartet of actors that also includes Steven Pasquale, Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan (“Newsies”) and Eugene Lee.
Written by Broadway freshman Christopher Demos-Brown and directed by Tony-winner Kenny Leon, “American Son” unfolds in real time in a police station in Miami, Florida at 4:00am. Kendra (Washington) waits for any news about her missing 18 year-old son Jamal from Office Paul Larkin (Jordan), who seems reluctant to share any details without the Lieutenant (Lee) present, or until Kendra’s estranged husband Scott (Pasquale) arrives.
Sign Up for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Critics were divided on this searing exploration of race in contemporary American society. On the positive side, Jesse Green (New York Times) gives “American Son...
Written by Broadway freshman Christopher Demos-Brown and directed by Tony-winner Kenny Leon, “American Son” unfolds in real time in a police station in Miami, Florida at 4:00am. Kendra (Washington) waits for any news about her missing 18 year-old son Jamal from Office Paul Larkin (Jordan), who seems reluctant to share any details without the Lieutenant (Lee) present, or until Kendra’s estranged husband Scott (Pasquale) arrives.
Sign Up for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Critics were divided on this searing exploration of race in contemporary American society. On the positive side, Jesse Green (New York Times) gives “American Son...
- 11/5/2018
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.