Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon to star in "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" on Broadway; "American Son" to be adapted for Netflix; Michael C. Hall to star in an original musical commercial for Skittles; Broadway's "Frozen" announces new cast; Melissa Etheridge composing "Mystic Pizza" musical; David Henry Hwang penning live action Disney remake of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"; Tony Hawk is spearheading a musical adaptation of Nick Hornsby's 2007 novel "Slam"; Jason Robert Brown's new musical "Farewell My Concubine" to get a reading; "The Band's Visit" marks 500 performances on Broadway; RIP Kaye Ballard
REVIEW: Breaking down barriers with “Nassim”
Iranian playwright and performer Nassim Soleimanpour’s latest play features a different guest actor at each performance, reading cold from a script fed by the author. This mysterious but sweet, slowly enveloping experience speaks to our shared humanity and breaks down the perceived barriers we erect between people, groups, and nations. Check it out.
REVIEW: Immersive “Bleach” in Brooklyn
“Bleach” is an immersive, site-specific solo show about a gay sex worker that is performed for an audience of ten or less in a drafty basement in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The experience is memorable, but the play itself is too safe for its own good.
Broadway legend Carol Channing is dead at 97; Heidi Schreck's "What the Constitution Means to Me" will play 12 weeks on Broadway; Palace Theatre renovations have hit a snag; casting announced for “The Ferryman”, "The Courtroom", "Call Me Madam", and the film version of "West Side Story"; Brittney Johnson becomes first Glinda of color in an English language production of "Wicked"; "Beautiful" marks 5 years with appearance by Carole King
REVIEW: “Choir Boy” sings and soars
The Broadway premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “Choir Boy” at Manhattan Theatre Club, finely acted and beautifully told, is transcendent. The very presence of this play on Broadway about a black, queer teenage boy navigating private, Christian Prep school life is seismic, and Jeremy Pope offers a memorable debut in this timely and important work.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Jeffrey Seller, and James Nederlander purchase the Drama Book Shop; Ingrid Michaelson composing "The Notebook" musical; "Almost Famous" to get development lab; "Houdini Among the Spirits" musical has industry reading; Actors’ Equity Association calls for a strike against developmental presentations; Broadway's box office reaches record-breaking $57M gross; RIP Liza Redfield
REVIEW: “Slave Play”
Jeremy O. Harris’s scintillating debut play, “Slave Play” at New York Theatre Workshop, is not what you think it is, packing twists, some heavy satire, graphic sexuality, and an important discourse on race, gender, and sexuality in contemporary America. To write about it is to spoil its surprises, but this sold out run will no doubt inspire future productions.
REVIEW: Mike Birbiglia’s “The New One” on Broadway
Comedian Mike Birbiglia’s solo show “The New One” now on Broadway is a hilarious and heartwarming standup comedy act recounting one man’s skeptically reluctant journey to parenthood. Teeming with insight and wit, and performed by an instantly lovable schlub, this is an ideal show for, well, everyone.
Ben Whishaw will star as Marilyn Monroe in "Norma Jean Baker of Troy" at The Shed; Eileen Atkins and Jonathan Pryce will star in “The Height of the Storm” on Broadway; is a new production of “Parade” in the works?; new "Harry Potter” cast announced; watch the Kennedy Center Honors; RIP groundbreaking Japanese-American ballerina Sono Osato
FEATURE: Top 10 Shows of 2018
By my count, I’ve attended 246 performances of theatre, dance, music, opera, and cabaret during 2018. Out of a field that large, it’s hard to pick just ten, but nevertheless, here are my top ten favorite shows I saw in New York (including no new musicals and only three Broadway shows!).
"Network" extends to April 28th; "The Play That Goes Wrong" will transfer to New World Stages; City Center announces Encores! Off-Center series; "Lifespan of a Fact" has recouped; cast announced for Duncan Sheik's new musical, "Alice by Heart" at MCC Theater; Off-Broadway cast of "Be More Chill" will transfer to Broadway; Lea Salonga will return to "Once On this Island"; Christian Dante White will be the next Freddy Eynsford-Hill in "My Fair Lady"; Jack O'Brien replaces Gregory Mosher as director of the upcoming Broadway revival of "All My Sons"; listen to Patti LuPone sing "The Ladies Who Lunch" on the forthcoming West End cast album of "Company"; Galt MacDermot, composer of "Hair" and "Two Gentlemen of Verona", dead at 89
FEATURE: Look Left – London Dispatch
On my recent trip to London, I caught six shows—a mix of musicals, plays, and dance, both new and in revival. Here I offer a roundup “look left” at “Caroline, or Change”, “A Christmas Carol”, “The Inheritance”, Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake”, “TINA: The Tina Turner Musical”, and “War Horse”