At the start of every performance of Liberation, Susannah Flood walks on stage with the house lights still up and delivers a funny monologue about the audience’s phones (all locked in pouches!), their wardrob…

The complete cast of Bess Wohl’s em>Liberation, will reprise their roles when the production moves to Broadway this fall. Directed by Whitney White, the limited 14-week engagement begins previews at the Ja…

Noah Haidle’s Moving Masterpiece Birthday Candles is Beautifully Realized by the Lighthouse Repertory Theatre Company Ernestine Ashworth celebrates her 17th birthday with her mom Alice (Alissa Wexler) as per …

Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed. Dead Outlaw Lands in the Library of Congress The Broadway musical Dead Outlaw, telling the story of outlaw-turned-corpse-turned-celebrity Elmer McCur…

Superbly produced by People’s Light, Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles sensitively balances the sentimental and the profound as it follows one extraordinary, ordinary woman through her long life. Cameron Kelsa…

Abbey Adams’ took time here to reflect on the creative process, the challenges of staging BIRTHDAY CANDLES, and the emotional impact of this unique production. The post Birthday Candles: Director Abbey Adams …

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced complete casting for the world-premiere production of The Counter by Meghan Kennedy,directed by David Cromer. The Off-Broadway show will feature Anthony Edwards a…

From BroadwayWorld's Archive: Watch a video from Roundabout Theatre Company's New York premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, starring Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch. Lear…

For my money, Noah Haidle’s play is precisely why people go to the theater.

Concord Theatricals has secured exclusive worldwide stage licensing rights to Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles. This tender and funny Broadway hit is now available for performance by professional and amateur th…

Debra Messing starred in the work's Broadway debut last season.

Collectible Playbill from the opening night performance of Birthday Candles staring Debra Messing. Guaranteed authentic, sealed in a custom fitted ...

"They're singing, "Happy birthday" You just wanna lay down and cry..." Grab your birthday candles and your piano because this week we're joined by our good friend Ethan from Sideways to talk about the

Debra Messing (Will & Grace) returns to the stage as Ernestine Ashworth, who spends her 17th birthday agonizing over her insignificance in the universe. Soon enough, it’s her 18th birthday. Even sooner,

Debra Messing stars in the limited engagement of Noah Haidle's play.

With awards season in full swing, spring offerings like The Music Man, Plaza Suite, Six and Funny Girl continue to pack houses. Nevertheless, the long-running, Tony-winning musical Hadestown has theatergoers fl…

Although New York City lifted its mask and vaccine mandates on March 7, 2022, the Broadway League has its own COVID-19 safety protocols. On Friday, May 20, the organization announced that: Masks Through June 30…

Awards season is in full swing, and be it a brand new musical or a star-led revival, there is something sure to satisfy every Broadway theatergoer. Both The Music Man, headlined by 2022 Tony nominees Hugh Jack…

SIX: Abby Mueller (Jane Seymour), Samantha Pauly (Katherine Howard), Adrianna Hicks (Catherine of Aragon), Andrea Macasaet (Anne Boleyn), Brittney Mack (Anna of Cleves) and Anna Uzele (Catherine Parr). Photo: J…

Roundabout Theatre Company will conclude the New York premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, starring Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch on Sunday, May 29.

It was a big week for Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, which saw an increase both at the box office and capacity. The musical, starring Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, brought in $1,065,578 in gross sales, almost $200,00…

5 Reasons Why Birthday Candles is Worth Celebrating By: Iris Wiener May 9, 2022: In the swiftly-moving, 90-minute Birthday Candles, we see a woman celebrating her birthdays from ages 17 through 107 throug…

Winners of the the 76th Annual Theatre World Awards have been announced. The awards will be given out at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre on June 6 at 7PM. Theater journalist Peter Filichia will host…

The Tony Awards Administration Committee met on May 5 to confirm the eligibility status of 15 Broadway productions for the 2021-2022 season. This was the third and final time the committee met to decide the e…

Debra Messing has only been in the Broadway play “Birthday Candles” since March, but in some ways, she feels more deeply connected to her character Ernestine than she felt to the leading role she played for…

Now on Broadway in ‘Birthday Candles,’ the actor talks aging 90 years in 90 minutes, live studio audiences and what she knows about what’s next for ‘Smash.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg…

Now on Broadway in 'Birthday Candles,' the actor talks aging 90 years in 90 minutes, live studio audiences and what she knows about what's next for 'Smash.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/…

“I’m bringing all of myself to this play,” explains Enrico Colantoni of the new Broadway show “Birthday Candles.” A veteran of TV series like “Just Shoot Me” and “Veronica Mars,” this moving s…

  From left, Susannah Flood (Alice/Madeline/Ernie),Enrico Colantoni(Kenneth),Debra Messing(ErnestineAshworth),Christopher Livingston(Billy/John),John Earl Jelks(Matt/William),Crystal Finn (Joan/Alex/Beth). Ph…

  The Lehman Trilogy, Harmony and Kimberly Akimbo lead nominations for the The Outer Critics Circle Awards honoring the 2021-2022 Broadway and Off-Broadway season. The Lehman Trilogy, a play, topped the …

Food is often the centerpiece of family holidays and celebrations. In “Birthday Candles”, the new play presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, the special food is a tra…

The actor chatted on Live With Kelly and Ryan about baking a real cake on stage with a real oven.

Debra Messing sat down with Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest this morning to discuss her current Broadway run in Birthday Candles. She discusses the plot of the play and how her character bakes a real cake onstage …

By: David Sheward April 22, 2022: In this theater season when African-American women playwrights such as Lynn Nottage, Dominique Morriseau, Antoinette Chinoye Nwandu and the late Alice Childress are receivin…

By: Isa Goldberg Two classic works, “Birthday Candles” at the Roundabout Theatre on Broadway and “The Patsy,” in revival by the Transport Group off Broadway at the Abrons Arts Center, bring to light …

Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Cyrano de Bergerac @ BAM, Roundabout Theatre Company’s Birthday Candles, The Little Prince, Harmony: A New Musical by Barry Manilow & Bruce…

By: Paulanne Simmons April 16, 2022: The best thing you can say about Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles is that it manages to stuff a traditional, long and sappy soap opera, which usually goes on for years,…

"Birthday Candles" also has an unusual theatrical device: we follow Ernestine Ashford from 17 to 107 meeting her on her various birthdays that are depicted.  The other characters come and go (by death, moving …

A lifetime is portrayed in 90 minutes as Debra Messing gracefully ages a century in the Broadway premiere of "Birthday Candles." The post Broadway Review: Debra Messing in ‘Birthday Candles’ appeared first …

BIRTHDAY CANDLES is now on Broadway through May 29: https://bit.ly/candlesbway Emmy Award winner Debra Messing (Will & Grace) comes home to Broadway in the poignant and funny new hit play about the extraordina…

Inspired by Thornton Wilder’s The Long Christmas Dinner of 1931 – a 35-minute one-act play tracing five generations through a fast-moving 90 years of Yuletide meals in the family dining room – playwright …

By Sandi Durell . . . The effervescence of life . . .  we repeat rituals, saying the same little dogmas and platitudes to family and friends as if laid down in stone hoping to influence as we move forward in t…

Listen: Lauren Class Schneider talks to Crystal Finn, from “Birthday Candles” CRYSTAL FINN (Joan/Alex/Beth). Broadway debut. Also at Roundabout: Bobbie Clearly and Kingdom Come. New York: Playwright’s Hor…

Todd Haimes, the Artistic Director of the Roundabout Theatre Company, tells us in the Playbill for this production that the play first went into rehearsal on March 3, 2020.  Because of  the return of the pand…

Three-time Tony nominee Toni-Leslie James on her very busy return season --- Toni-Leslie James didn't just make it as a costume designer. The self-taught Broadway vet and Yale School of Drama professor tireless…

Corine Reviews, ” Birthday Candles ” I hope Debra Messing is honored at award time. She is wonderful and I enjoyed the play and the entire cast. It is a must see. Listen to my podcast review. 227 west,42nd.…

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 …

Dan joins Theatrely after previously serving as an Assistant Editor at Playbill. His favorite musicals are fast, historical, and witty, like Six, ...

Just last night, Roundabout Theatre Company New York premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, starring Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch, celebrated opening night at the American…

The Noah Haidle play also features John Earl Jelks and Enrico Colantoni.

BIRTHDAY CANDLES is now on Broadway: https://bit.ly/candlesbway

BIRTHDAY CANDLES is now on Broadway: https://bit.ly/candlesbway

Yesterday, Sunday, April 10, manhole cover explosions in Times Square caused panic among tourists and the exiting opening night audience of Broadway's Birthday Candles.

In Birthday Candles, tragedy and trauma have been rushed off stage with the ring of another gong and another year gone. The post <em>Birthday Candles</em> Review: Celebrating a Sentimental Life, One…

Positive COVID-19 tests caused the cancellation last week of four Broadway shows, two of them still in previews, presenting a test of the enthusiasm for the April line-up (celebrated by the “garden” of ten-…

No injuries were confirmed following a blast caused by a faulty cable.

Just last night, Roundabout Theatre Company New York premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, starring Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch, celebrated opening night at the American…

Just last night, Roundabout Theatre Company New York premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, starring Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch, celebrated opening night at the America…

Just last night, Roundabout Theatre Company New York premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, starring Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch, celebrated opening night at the America…

Messing stars in Noah Haidle's generation-spanning new play at the American Airlines Theatre.

One or more manhole cover explosions in Times Square sent crowds of tourists and the exiting opening night audience of Broadway’s Birthday Candles scrambling Sunday night. According to Con Edison, fires cause…

There are flickers of beauty in the new Broadway play “Birthday Candles.”

One minute you’re a teenager ready to “rebel against the universe,” then in the blink of an eye you’re a senior making peace with the life that was handed to you. That’s the short and sweet premise of…

Roundabout Theatre Company's New York premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, starring Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch officially opens tonight, April 10, 2022. This is a li…

Three manholes on West 43rd Street caught fire Sunday evening, causing panic as patrons of “Birthday Candles” attempted to leave the nearby American Airlines Theatre on opening night.  The incident was rep…

Debra Messing expounds on the preciousness of life in a production that aspires to convey eloquent whimsy, but too often feels methodically sentimental.

John Earl Jelks and Enrico Colantoni co-star in the Noah Haidle play, which opened on Broadway April 10.

There are some things in life you can count on. Birthdays will tick by like clockwork, a good cake recipe won’t fail and the young will chase their future while elders reminisce. But combining staple observat…

Birthday Candles, Noah Haidle’s Broadway dramedy starring Debra Messing as a woman who, over the course of the play’s 90 minutes ages from 17 to 107, has just about all the right ingredients for the poignan…

We first meet Ernestine when she is 17 years old, learning one of her family’s most abiding rituals: the baking of a favorite birthday cake

★★★☆☆ Debra Messing ages 90 years—playing a daughter, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother—in a 90-minute play The post Birthday Candles: A Quirky Time-Hopping Rom-Com appeared first on New …

★★★☆☆ Debra Messing stars in Noah Haidle's dramedy spanning 90 years in the central character's life. The post Birthday Candles: Casts a Dim Theatrical Flame appeared first on New York Stage Review.

 In “Birthday Candles,” opening on Broadway tonight,  Debra Messing portrays Ernestine, a woman who we see celebrating her birthdays from age 17 to age 107 by baking a cake.  She does this in a set des…

John Earl Jelks and Enrico Colantoni co-star in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Noah Haidle's play.

John Earl Jelks and Enrico Colantoni co-star in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Noah Haidle's play.

Previews are currently underway for Roundabout Theatre Company's New York premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, starring Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch. Birthday Candles wi…

Playwright Noah Haidle and director Vivienne Benesch on Birthday Candles starring Debra Messing --- The last time Roundabout Theatre Company produced one of Noah Haidle's plays, it was a formative experience. "…

Colantoni stars alongside Debra Messing in Noah Haidle's new play at the American Airlines Theatre.

The Roundabout Theatre Company production of Noah Haidle's play also features John Earl Jelks and Enrico Colantoni.