In “jazz singer” a group of artists grapple with making a piece of theatre about the film “The Jazz Singer” by examining its roots in Jewish mythology, wrestling with its use of blackface, exploring vital themes of assimilation, appropriation, and atonement, and questioning its legacy. While the piece substantively evinces the feel of a work still in progress, the production design is impeccable and unimpeachable, and its mission is achieved.
“Freestyle Love Supreme” is an abundantly joyful and amusing freestyle, improvisational, hip-hop comedy show created by Thomas Kail, Anthony Veneziale, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. A pricey enterprise given that it is, fundamentally, an improv show, lovers of wordplay will take great pleasure in the clever and witty rhymes that the rotating cast of rappers and beatboxers come up with on the spot based on audience suggestions, and cynics will see a well-marketed cash grab.
"Beetlejuice" plans events for every day of October; "Sea Wall/A Life" to be audio-recorded for Audible; Jason Robert Brown and Robert Horn's "13" musical will be made into a film; "Saturday Night Fever" 20th anniversary reunion event CSC’s "Assassins" casting announced; "Between the Lines" musical to play Off-Broadway; transgender actor Alexandra Billings will join the Broadway company of "Wicked" in January; Caissie Levy and Patti Murin will leave “Frozen” in February; MCC Theater announces a new musical development initiative
Wives”, Jaclyn Backhaus’ smartly satiric and forthrightly feminist play, deconstructs the way in which women are “supposed” to behave, think, and feel about each other, and retells three historical episodes typically told through the male gaze, but this time from the perspective of the “wives”. The result is hilarious and poignant.
Jack Thorne’s listless, shapeless, and dreadful new play “Sunday” centers on a book group of Gen Z-ers grappling with ennui; yes, it is as painful as that sounds. Mr. Thorne doesn’t have much to say for this unconvincingly invented milieu, other than to wallow in the imagined ennui and dullness of a supposedly disillusioned generation to which he does not belong.
The Gingold Theatrical Group is currently presenting a rare revival of Shaw’s 1898 play “Caesar & Cleopatra”; superbly rendered, well-acted, and keenly directed, this production makes a convincing case for reconsidering “Caesar & Cleopatra” as a play worthy of more examination and rightful placement in the canon of classics.
"American Buffalo" with Laurence Fishburn and Sam Rockwell will play on Broadway this spring; "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" books the Booth Theatre; Kristin Chenoweth’s concert "For the Girls" to play the Nederlander in November; New York Magazine/Vulture theatre critic Sara Holdren steps down; "The Great Society" to host voter registrations; Bob Marley musical in the works; RIP Phyllis Newman, Betty Corwin, and Artie Gaffin
Prepare to have your mind blown by British mentalist and illusionist Derren Brown during his brilliantly suspenseful and thrilling one-man magic show: “Derren Brown: Secret”. Entertaining and enthralling, you might just emerge from the theatre a true believer.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick will reunite on stage for the first-ever Broadway revival of Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite"; 2019 Theater Hall of Fame inductees; Angela Lansbury to headline one-night-only benefit staging of "The Importance of Being Earnest"; Ari’el Stachel to star "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" concert at Lincoln Center; Rupert Everett has replaces Eddie Izzard in "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"; Harry Hadden-Paton and James Frain helm North American premiere of "The King’s Speech"; Gwen Verdon documentary "Merely Marvelous" premieres on September 20th; RIP Chris March, Jeff Fenholt, P.J. Barry, and Peter Nichols
Tom Hiddleston’s magnetic and gripping performance is the reason to see this otherwise pretentiously unadorned and wholly unremarkable production of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal”—the third major revival on Broadway in just 19 years. The text is gold but this muted and non-contextual production does not do it justice.
"Company" on Broadway will star Katrina Lenk as a female Bobbie and Patti LuPone as Joanne; Richard Linklater will make a movie adaption of "Merrily We Roll Along" filmed in real time over the next 20 years; "The Lehman Trilogy" books Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre; Tony Award winners Jayne Houdyshell, Jefferson Mays, Shuler Hensley, and Marie Mullen join the Fall 2020 revival of "The Music Man"; Solea Pfeiffer and Maia Reficco will share the title role in "Evita" at New York City Center; Rob McClure will star in the world premiere of "Mrs. Doubtfire" the musical in Seattle; Ryan Murphy is developing a ten-part Netflix adaptation of "A Chorus Line"; Tony Award winner André de Shields will receive the York Theatre Company's Oscar Hammerstein Award for lifetime achievement; RIP: Isabel Toledo, Valerie Harper, and Ken LeRoy
The city that never sleeps also boasts a theatre scene that never sleeps. With the summer now behind us, this is an overview of all that’s coming to New York stages this fall (spoiler alert: it’s a lot).
