All stories by Ashley Lee on BroadwayStars

Sunday, January 12, 2025

Pasadena Playhouse cancels 'Anything Goes,' 'Follies' concerts as fires threaten L.A. theater scene by Ashley Lee

'When people are in pain and trauma the way our community is right now, I don't think the show has to go on,' says the Pasadena Playhouse's Danny Feldman.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:35AM
Sunday, September 8, 2024

With 'Only Murders' Emmy win, songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul gain EGOT status at 39 by Ashley Lee

The duo behind music for 'La La Land' and 'Dear Evan Hansen' reach EGOT status with an Emmy for co-writing Steve Martin's 'Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:10PM
Tuesday, August 6, 2024

'Stranger Things,' a Tony winner? 'The First Shadow' is coming to Broadway by Ashley Lee

After making its world premiere last year in London's West End, the sci-fi/horror spectacle, based on the blockbuster Netflix series, is coming to New York in 2025.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:00PM
Sunday, June 16, 2024

2024 Tony Awards winners list updated live: Daniel Radcliffe, 'The Outsiders' and 'Stereophonic' take honors by Ashley Lee

The musical "Hell's Kitchen" and the play "Stereophonic" headed into the Tonys ceremony tied with the most nominations, and Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson were among those v…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:22PM
Tuesday, May 21, 2024

'Plays still matter to the health of Broadway': Leslie Odom Jr. on 'Purlie Victorious' by Ashley Lee

The Tony nominee explains why this 'Purlie Victorious,' premiering Friday on PBS' Great Performances series, isn't a musical — and why it's all the better for it.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

2024 Tony Awards: 'Stereophonic' and 'Hell's Kitchen' lead nominations by Ashley Lee

The nominees for Broadway's biggest prize were announced Tuesday, with "Stereophonic" and "Hell's Kitchen" receiving 13 nods each. Here's the full list of 2024 Tony nominations.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:30AM
Monday, April 29, 2024

Mark Taper Forum to reopen with 'American Idiot,' Larissa FastHorse's 'Fake It Until You Make It' by Ashley Lee

Robert O'Hara's new "Hamlet," as well as the Broadway tours of "Life of Pi" and "Parade," are among Center Theatre Group's 2024-25 season offerings.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:00AM
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Inside 'Moonlight' writer Tarell Alvin McCraney's inaugural Geffen Playhouse season by Ashley Lee

The Geffen Playhouse's 2024-25 season lineup includes premieres by Sara Porkalob, a.k. payne and Jake Brasch, plus a 20th anniversary staging of artistic director Tarell Alvin McCraney's 'Th…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Saturday, March 16, 2024

'Where are you really from?' A Latine landmark disrupts Pasadena Playhouse's 100-year history by Ashley Lee

TV veteran Gloria Calderón Kellett explains how Hollywood treating her with 'zoo animal fascination' inspired her history-making play 'One of the Good Ones,' opening Sunday.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

'The Wiz' revival now in L.A. is a 'risk.' It could also change how Broadway does business by Ashley Lee

Musicals have come to follow a Broadway run with a national tour. 'The Wiz,' starting Tuesday at the Pantages, is doing the opposite — and the strategy is paying off.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Thursday, January 18, 2024

A Black actor was denied a wig for a major Broadway tour. She's now suing for racial discrimination by Ashley Lee

Broadway actor Zuri Washington hopes her racial discrimination suit reignites conversations about the industry's inequitable treatment of Black hair and the harmful perpetuation of the 'angr…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:32PM
Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Commentary: Broadway hasn't always shown up for female fans. A surprise smash proved their power by Ashley Lee

A filmed performance of 'Waitress,' starring Sara Bareilles, captures how the musical won over Broadway's most underappreciated audience: women.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Monday, November 6, 2023

Actors' Equity, Broadway League settle after historic effort to organize 'Waitress' tour by Ashley Lee

The settlement comes after Equity attempted to organize a nonunion tour of the Sara Bareilles musical, the first effort of its kind in more than 20 years.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:00PM
Thursday, September 28, 2023

American theater is in crisis. Some big names want Congress to help by Ashley Lee

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phylicia Rashad and others will unveil a new bill Thursday as the industry struggles: 'If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Thursday, August 24, 2023

Inside the unsavory, unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson musical with Broadway in its sights by Ashley Lee

The gonzo journalism pioneer could be 'pretty despicable.' And unlike its bio-musical counterparts, a new SoCal show about the author doesn't shy away from it.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Monday, July 24, 2023

'A Strange Loop,' 'Funny Girl' lead Center Theatre Group's 2023-24 season by Ashley Lee

Center Theatre Group announces its 2023-2024 season, which includes 'A Christmas Story, The Musical,' 'Hadestown' and other offerings.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:00PM
Monday, June 26, 2023

What it's like to lead a national Broadway tour with your spouse by Ashley Lee

Broadway stars Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus have been married for 15 years and play a married couple onstage in Stephen Sondheim's 'Into the Woods.' The national tour arrives in …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:44PM
Friday, June 9, 2023

The 2023 Tony Awards were nearly canceled. Here's how to watch the ceremony by Ashley Lee

Broadway's biggest night will broadcast live from New York City on June 11, airing on CBS and Paramount+. A preshow ceremony will stream for free on Pluto TV.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Thursday, May 25, 2023

After two 'catastrophic' years for Broadway, have the Tonys become too big to fail? by Ashley Lee

The threat to this year's Tonys underscored their sway over the industry. Some say making them the 'be-all, end-all' of shows' survival is risky business.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Sunday, May 21, 2023

How 'Six' turned a huge theater faux pas into a game-changing phenomenon by Ashley Lee

Filming live theater is usually a form of sacrilege. A musical about the wives of Henry VIII turned it into grassroots marketing for a new generation of fans.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Writers Guild clears path for Tony Awards to proceed — with alterations by Ashley Lee

The WGA announced Monday that it would not picket the Broadway awards show, scheduled for June 11, allowing it to proceed in altered form.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:31AM
Tuesday, May 2, 2023

J. Harrison Ghee, Alex Newell make Tony Awards history as first nonbinary-identifying actor nominees by Ashley Lee

Ghee and Newell's nominations follow last year's historic first, when composer Toby Marlow's became the Tony Awards' first nonbinary nominee and winner.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:38AM
Sunday, April 30, 2023

The overwhelming, glorious quest of starring in a Stephen Sondheim revival by Ashley Lee

Merle Dandridge, Montego Glover, Annaleigh Ashford, Katie Rose Clarke and Britney Coleman, each starring in a Stephen Sondheim musical, reflect on the texts of the late theater legend.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:00AM
Thursday, December 8, 2022

Broadway's trailblazing 'KPOP' musical is abruptly closing. What went wrong? by Ashley Lee

The creative team behind the ambitious spectacle discuss its sudden end and potential future: 'We never got a fair chance.'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:07PM
Saturday, October 15, 2022

Loud boos. Audible vomiting. How Broadway's edgy 'Oklahoma!' fared across America by Ashley Lee

Daniel Fish and members of the cast reflect on the bold revival of the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical — and the more extreme reactions it's elicited from audiences.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM
Tuesday, August 9, 2022

A Chicago theater's staff unionizes amid protests of its board of directors by Ashley Lee

The organization's employees see unionization as 'a new way to rebalance power structures in the American theater.'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:45PM
Monday, July 11, 2022

Lea Michele is Broadway's next 'Funny Girl.' So Beanie Feldstein is leaving early by Ashley Lee

'Glee' star Lea Michele will star in 'Funny Girl' on Broadway. The 'different direction' pushed Beanie Feldstein to exit two months earlier than expected.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:00PM
Thursday, June 23, 2022

'Transparent' musical, Larissa FastHorse comedy lead Mark Taper Forum 2022-23 season by Ashley Lee

As promised, the Center Theatre Group venue will feature works written exclusively by women, transgender or nonbinary artists for its 2022-23 season.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:00PM
Thursday, June 16, 2022

Inside the radically transparent program training theater producers of color by Ashley Lee

Theatre Producers of Color is a free, virtual program that aims to diversify the decision makers of the industry's commercial productions.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Sunday, June 12, 2022

Understudies and swings kept Broadway afloat. Here's how the Tonys thanked them by Ashley Lee

Host Ariana DeBose led a round of applause for the artists and arts workers "who played a vital role in keeping Broadway shows open these past few months."

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:22PM
Saturday, April 30, 2022

Fosse put on Broadway's most rigorous dance show. Can a new generation stage it safely? by Ashley Lee

Billed as 'Bob Fosse's Dancin',' the revival of the ambitious dance musical runs through May 29 at San Diego's Old Globe before heading to Broadway.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime