All stories by Frank Rizzo on BroadwayStars

Friday, March 15, 2024

Variety Review: "The Notebook" Musical on Broadway by Frank Rizzo

Musical theater can be a sucker for a romantic tale, whether it’s about obsessive devotion, idealized passion, or lost loves. “The Notebook,” based on Nicholas Sparks‘ bestselling, 1…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:20AM
Saturday, March 2, 2024

Review: 'On Set With Theda Bara' Starring David Greenspan by Frank Rizzo

All photos by Emilio Madrid The show: ‘On Set With Theda Bara’ by Joey Merlo at the Brick Theatre in the Williamsburg se…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 04:20PM
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Review: New Off-Broadway Musical "The Connector" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “The Connector” at off-Broadway’s MCC Theatre in New York City What makes it special?: The latest musical by composer Jason Robert Brown, one of the leading musical lights in…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:03PM
Friday, December 29, 2023

My Own Take: Stephen Sondheim's Final Musical -- "Here We Are" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Here We Are” at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City When it was announced nearly 10 years ago that Stephen Sondheim would be collaborating with playwright David Ives on …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 05:53PM
Thursday, December 28, 2023

My Review of Off-Broadway's 'Walk on Through' Starring Gavin Creel by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice” at Manhattan Class Company. What makes it special?: Tony Award-winner Gavin Creel (“Hello, Dolly!” “Thoroughly Modern M…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:22PM
Sunday, December 10, 2023

My Variety Review: Broadway's 'How to Dance in Ohio' by Frank Rizzo

RGoing (or not going) to the big dance has been an irresistible storyline for musicals from “Oklahoma!” to “The Prom.” The set-up inherently inspires social stress, romantic anxiety,…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:42PM
Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Thoughts on 4 CT Shows: First Up, Goodspeed's 'Dreamgirls' by Frank Rizzo

It’s been a busy month or so with much of my attention in New York doing interviews there and catching shows such as “Purlie Victorious” (one of the best productions I’ve seen on st…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 06:53PM

New Haven's Norman Lear Dead at 101 by Frank Rizzo

Sad news about the death of the great Norman Lear at 101, a New Haven native who never forgot his roots. I first interviewed him in the mid-'70s and here's a piece I wrote the last time we t…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:01AM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Mark Lamos And 'Longtime Companion:' A Landmark AIDS-Era Film by Frank Rizzo

Long before the utopian rom-com "Fire Island," there was a movie that told a far darker and disturbing story, set principally on that LGBTQ+ sunny enclave at a perilous time: the 1989 landma…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:52PM

Mark Lamos: Finding An Artistic Home —and Self —in Theatre by Frank Rizzo

Mark Lamos and husband Jerry Jones sit on the stone wall in the backyard of their colonial home on a rolling green lawn off a winding countryside road in Litchfield County.  Bella, their En…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:34PM

Pressure On For Holiday Shows To Boost Box Office by Frank Rizzo

Holiday shows have traditionally provided a major financial boost to Connecticut theaters, but this year — with audiences still not returning to pre-pandemic levels — industry executives…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:13PM
Monday, October 23, 2023

“Taj of the Raj:” New Perspectives on Victoria Memorial Hall by Frank Rizzo

By FRANK RIZZO “There is intense interest in art, architecture and their colonial histories in India right now,” says Tim Barringer, the Paul Mellon Professor in the History of Art Depar…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 06:54PM
Sunday, October 22, 2023

My Broadway Review: "Musical "Back To The Future" by Frank Rizzo

Yogi Berra said the future ain’t what it used to be. We know how he feels. The Broadway arrival of the West End hit “Back to the Future” continues the march of Hollywood brand extensio…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 04:02PM

My Variety Review of Broadway's "Gutenberg! The Musical!" by Frank Rizzo

As backers’ auditions go, “Gutenberg! The Musical!” — a wildly delusional conceit so full of itself that it boasts two exclamation points — doesn’t stand a chance of making it to…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:44PM
Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Review: 'Here Lies Love' Finally Makes It To Broadway by Frank Rizzo

All photos by Billy Bustamante, Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman The show: “Here Lies Love” at the Broadway Theatre in N…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 05:39PM
Tuesday, August 8, 2023

My Review: Broadway Comedy 'The Cottage' with Eric McCormack by Frank Rizzo

The show: “The Cottage” at the Hayes Theatre (formerly the Helen Hayes Theatre) on Broadway What makes it special?: It’s a new comedy and that’s been a too-rare occurance on Broadwa…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 01:46PM
Monday, August 7, 2023

CT Audiences Returning for B'Way Touring Shows...At Least Some by Frank Rizzo

Post-pandemic audiences are returning in various degrees to Connecticut’s largest presenting houses — The Bushnell in Hartford, Palace Theater in Waterbury and Shubert Theatre in New Hav…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 07:14PM
Saturday, August 5, 2023

My Review: 'Here You Come Again' at Goodspeed's Chester Theater by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Here You Come Again” at the Goodspeed Musicals’ Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, CT. What makes it special?: It’s a presentation of a show that’s played a few times arou…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 06:01PM
Thursday, August 3, 2023

My Variety Review: 'Back to the Future: The Musical" by Frank Rizzo

Yogi Berra said the future ain’t what it used to be. We know how he feels. The Broadway arrival of the West End hit “Back to the Future” continues the march of Hollywood brand extensio…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:13PM
Thursday, July 27, 2023

My Review: Goodspeed's "Summer Stock" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Summer Stock” at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Ct. …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 02:40PM
Thursday, July 20, 2023

My Day at the Antiques Roadshow by Frank Rizzo

Amid the chaos of our great political and cultural divides, there is still one event that manages to unite people with the Ambien of sweet nostalgia, the calming embrace of family heritage a…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 02:25PM
Friday, July 7, 2023

Review: "Days of Wine and Roses' Musical Off-Broadway by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Days of Wine and Roses” at the Atlantic Theater Company …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:38PM
Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Ct Critics Circle Salutes the Best of the Season by Frank Rizzo

Godrey Simmons, Artistic Director of Hartbeat Ensemble. and Bowdie. Simmons introduced Michael Price who then introduced animal; trrainer Bill Berloni who received the Tom Killen Award. All …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 02:08PM

Talking To Taylor Mac About His Life -- And Art by Frank Rizzo

Here is my first interview with performance artist Taylor Mac. We talked in 2015 at The Study hotel in New Haven just prior to his show at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas that…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:33AM

My Taylor Mac Talk About His 24-Hour Marathon Show by Frank Rizzo

Photo by Frank Rizzo In 2015, I again interviewed Taylor Mac when he performed just one part of his legendary 24-hour maratho…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 07:39AM

My 2014 Interview With Lyricist Sheldon Harnick by Frank Rizzo

Sheldon Harnick, the great Broadway lyricist died earlier this month at the age of 99. Here is an interview I did with him from his Manhattan home in 2014 to advance a production off “Fidd…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 12:02AM
Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Richard Thomas: Acting Is His Life" by Frank Rizzo

“To Kill a Mockingbird” For 65 years Richard Thomas has been a working actor, first making his Broadway debut when he was …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:53PM

The Magic of Connecticut's Falling Waters by Frank Rizzo

Enter Connecticut’s waterfall wonderland and let your dreams take over. Take in the blurring cascades, the glistening moss, the summer leaves dotting the waters, the hypnotic swirls of an …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:25PM
Tuesday, June 13, 2023

My Own Take: 'Gypsy" at Goodspeed by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Gypsy” at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam What makes it special?: It’s the first time the classic musical from Broadway’s Golden Age is being presented at the theate…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:15AM
Saturday, June 3, 2023

Connecticut's Season of RuPaul's Drag Race: Some Dish and Shade by Frank Rizzo

There was Amethyst killing it on her first Lip Synch-For-Your-Life—and triumphing—after making the ultimate faux pas of wearing sneakers on the runway. Then there was Robin Fierce, tryin…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:42AM

What the Gaze Reveals by Frank Rizzo

Look into their eyes, these tender young men of a century or two ago. In haunting vintage tintypes from the 1840s, secret snapshots taken in mirrors, clandestine shoots in bedrooms, narrow s…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:22AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards