Hugh Jackman to lead fall 2020 Broadway revival of "The Music Man"; "The Humans" to get film adaptation; "Network" recoups; Broadway-aimed Britney Spears jukebox musical books Chicago; "Avenue Q" postpones closing by one month; April Matthis replaces Uzo Aduba in Roundabout's "Toni Stone"; cast set for D.C. concert production of "The Who’s Tommy"; 2016-2017 "Ethnic Representation on New York City Stages" study results; the latest "R&H Goes Pop!" video; RIP George Morfogen
REVIEW: “Be More Chill” Gets a Broadway Upgrade
Tween science-fiction, pop-rock sensation “Be More Chill” makes the leap to Broadway and gets an upgrade in the process with a snazzier production design and revised score and script that give it a clearer narrative and a more even tone. Relentlessly hyperactive, broad, and sophomoric, it still lacks the sophistication, polish, and emotional resonance of its high school musical peers, but it is infectiously fun.
REVIEW: Isabelle Huppert in “The Mother”
Isabelle Huppert offers a devastating portrait of maternal sublimation and abandonment in Florian Zeller’s disturbing and disorienting dark comedy, “The Mother”. Under the brilliant direction of Trip Cullman, the play offers a highly theatrical, distorted, collage-like, meditative, and surreal look at one woman coping with an empty nest, a loveless marriage, and a purposeless life. My advice: get tickets if you can. And call your mother.
REIVEW: “The Cake”
Drawing from the headlines, in Bekah Brunstetter’s “The Cake” Debra Jo Rupp gives a fantastic, full dimensional performance as a lovable, conservative baker who struggles with the decision to bake a wedding cake for her surrogate daughter’s same sex wedding. Despite a great performance and a gorgeous production, the play contains a dated treatment of its gay characters and their milieu, presenting an incongruous and ultimately flawed portrait of the relevant issues at hand.
"Sunset Boulevard" film headed to production with Glenn Close; injury forcesAndrea Martin out of "Gary"; Morrissey to play Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre; "Tea at Five" will play Boston prior to Broadway; "One Man, Two Guvnors" will be adapted for film; Cynthia Erivo to star in new Rip van Winkle-inspired movie musical; NYPL for the Performing Arts to host Hal Prince exhibit; all female "Glengarry GlenRoss" still in the mix; Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater working on six new musicals; "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" musical to premiere in London; GOT prequel musical to receive workshop; TV series "Nashville" to be adapted for the stage; "To Kill a Mockingbird" licensing controversy; Olivier Award nominations; RIP André Previn and Katherine Helmond
REVIEW: Lynn Nottage’s “By The Way, Meet Vera Stark”
“By The Way, Meet Vera Stark”, a smart satire that takes a piercing look at the damage done by early Hollywood representations of people of color, and the legacy that echoes forth today. With a terrific cast and Lynn Nottage’s is incisive and engaging writing, this play is an easy critic’s pick.
REVIEWS: “Alice By Heart” and “Superhero”
Two hotly-anticipated new musicals opened Off-Broadway recently: Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s “Alice By Heart” at MCC Theater, and Tom Kitt and Joshua Logan’s “Superhero” at Second Stage Theater. I take a look at each.
"Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" cancels pre-Broadway tryout; "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" books the Broadshurt; “Network” extends to June; Roundabout announces 2020 Off-Broadway season; "Oklahoma!" cast announced; Annie Golden to headline "Broadway Bounty Hunter"; Claybourne Elder and Bryce Pinkham to lead "Benny & Joon"; private reading of "The Prince of Egypt" held in London; Rob Zombie floats "House of 1,000 Corpses" musical; union controversy over musical orchestrators playing in the pit band; RIP Mark Bramble and Stanley Donen
FEATURE: Look Left – London Dispatch
On my recent trip to London, I caught six shows—a mix of musicals and plays, both new and in revival. Here I offer a roundup “look left” at “9 to 5”, “All About Eve”, “The American Clock”, “Follies”, “Six”, and “Tartuffe”.
REVIEWS: “Sea Wall / A Life”, “Mies Julie”, and “The Dance of Death”
Two duos of complementary works recently opened Off-Broadway: “Sea Wall / A Life” at the Public Theater, featuring Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal performing monologues by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne, and Classic Stage Company’s repertory presentation of “Mies Julie” and “The Dance of Death”, two newly adapted works of August Strindberg. This is a short look at each.
Actors’ Equity and the Broadway League reached an agreement to end five week strike; "The Height of the Storm" to play MTC's Friedman Theatre on Broadway; "The Band's Visit" wins Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album; Off-Broadway's Davenport Theatre closes; Adrienne Warren to reprise her celebrated performance as Tina Turner on Broadway; "Beetlejuice" and “Hadestown” announce Broadway casts; Laura Benanti extends run in "My Fair Lady"; Krystina Alabad to replace Ashley Park in "Mean Girls"; "Wicked" movie sets December 2021 release date; RIP Albert Finney and Cy Lee
REVIEW: Loy A. Webb’s explosive and exquisite “The Light” at MCC Theater
“The Light” is an urgent and painful story of revelation, redress, and hopeful reconciliation cued at the intersection of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. Tautly and evocatively sketched by playwright Loy A. Webb, this exquisite two-hander starts like a rom-com before embarking on tragic territory, forcing the audience to reckon with its own baked-in biases and assumptions based on race and gender, and to do and be better.