All stories by Ben Brantley on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Review: It’s Cain and Abel Redux in ‘Long Lost’ by Donald Margulies by Ben Brantley

This formulaic offering from the author of “Dinner With Friends” chronicles the havoc wrought when a black sheep returns to the family fold.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:54PM
Monday, June 3, 2019

Review: Doubling Up on Toxic Manhood in ‘Dying City’ by Ben Brantley

This revival of Christopher Shinn’s 2007 drama about a widow of the Iraq war keeps its audience at a distance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM
Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Review: A Sex Crime Disarranges a Tidy World in ‘Something Clean’ by Ben Brantley

A splendid Kathryn Erbe plays a sheltered housewife thrown into limbo in Selina Fillinger’s thoughtful, poignant new play.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM
Sunday, May 26, 2019

Review: Agony, Ecstasy and a Dancing Ménage à Trois in ‘Cabin’ by Ben Brantley

Sean Donovan’s multidisciplinary performance piece, set in an isolated rural retreat, finds the chill in summer hedonism.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:12PM
Friday, May 24, 2019

Review: ‘The Ferryman’ Is a Tale That Keeps on Giving by Ben Brantley

Jez Butterworth’s Tony-nominated family drama retains its fierce grip with a new cast led by Brian d’Arcy James.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:24PM
Sunday, May 19, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: The Human Voice Versus the Internet in ‘Octet’ by Ben Brantley

In Dave Malloy’s ravishing new a cappella chamber musical, members of an addiction support group compare notes on getting lost in the web.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM
Thursday, May 16, 2019

Review: In ‘Happy Talk,’ Susan Sarandon Escapes Into Amateur Acting by Ben Brantley

Jesse Eisenberg’s wobbly new play, which also stars Marin Ireland, casts Ms. Sarandon against type as a flamboyant suburban community theater diva.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:36PM
Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Heavenly or Hellish? Our Critics Debate the Broadway Season by Ben Brantley and Jesse Green

Adventurous directors and galvanizing performances made for unexpected — and very welcome — departures on what once felt like the Staid White Way.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:54AM

Tony Awards 2019: Who Will Win (and Who Should) by Ben Brantley and Jesse Green

The chief theater critics for The Times choose who they think should win and who should have been nominated.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:36AM
Monday, May 13, 2019

Review: In ‘Curse of the Starving Class,’ a House Is Really Divided by Ben Brantley

Terry Kinney’s unbalanced Sam Shepard revival, with Maggie Siff and David Warshofsky, finds the prophecy in a wild and woolly play from the 1970s.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48PM
Thursday, May 9, 2019

Review: A Con Man Without a Sting in ‘High Button Shoes’ by Ben Brantley

The last of this season’s Encores! musicals in concert, starring Michael Urie, resurrects a 1947 show that feels nostalgic for nostalgia.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:36PM
Sunday, May 5, 2019

Review: Blazing a New Trail Through a Familiar ‘Passage’ by Ben Brantley

Christopher Chen’s contemplative drama at Soho Rep uses E.M. Forster’s “A Passage to India” as a template for exploring, and exploding, nationalism.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM
Friday, May 3, 2019

Review: ‘Caroline’s Kitchen’ Cooks Up an Eve of Destruction by Ben Brantley

Torben Betts’s comedy of catastrophe, at the Brits Off Broadway festival, portrays a television cooking show host in a state of disastrous denial.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:04AM
Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Critics’ Notebook: When It Came to the Tony Nominations, the News Is the New by Jesse Green and Ben Brantley

New York Times theater critics on a Tonys roster that highlighted originality, if not diversity, and made room for some welcome surprises.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:06PM
Sunday, April 28, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: What the Crow Knows in ‘Grief Is the Thing With Feathers’ by Ben Brantley

An amazing Cillian Murphy portrays both a grieving dad and the mythical bird who takes over his life in Enda Walsh’s adaptation of Max Porter’s novel.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Thursday, April 25, 2019

Review: In ‘Beetlejuice,’ the Afterlife Is Exhausting by Ben Brantley

Adapted from Tim Burton’s 1988 film, this hyperkinetic musical, starring Alex Brightman as a madcap ghoul, tries too hard to haunt.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM

Critic’s Notebook: Broadway on Race: Still More Likely to Comfort Than Confront by Ben Brantley

While electrifying new plays challenged their audiences, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and colorblind musicals catered to the crowds.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:00AM
Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: In ‘Ink,’ a Mephistopheles Named Murdoch Takes Charge by Ben Brantley

James Graham’s invigorating play about London journalism goes on a journey to the tabloid underworld — and the American present.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Monday, April 22, 2019

Review: Love Bites, Hard, in ‘The Pain of My Belligerence’ by Ben Brantley

Halley Feiffer stars opposite Hamish Linklater in her new comedy of anguish, which begins with a memorably chilling first date.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Sunday, April 21, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: In ‘The Appointment,’ the Fetus Sings Out by Ben Brantley

This uncanny, phantasmagorical work from the Lightning Rod Special troupe is a musical cabaret about abortion. That’s right.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:44PM
Thursday, April 18, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: In ‘Hillary and Clinton,’ Codependence, and, Yes, Camaraderie by Ben Brantley

As a born-to-lose presidential contender, Laurie Metcalf is exasperation incarnate in Lucas Hnath’s play, which also stars John Lithgow.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Review: Adam Driver Heats Up a Wobbly ‘Burn This’ by Ben Brantley

In this imbalanced revival of Lanford Wilson’s play, also starring Keri Russell, Mr. Driver unleashes the full, scorching power of his talent.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Review: Marilyn Monroe Goes to War in ‘Norma Jeane Baker of Troy’ by Ben Brantley

Ben Whishaw and Renée Fleming provide the oxygen in Anne Carson’s hypnotic and exasperating work, which imagines the actress as a Euripides heroine.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:15PM
Sunday, April 7, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: A Smashing ‘Oklahoma!’ Is Reborn in the Land of Id by Ben Brantley

Daniel Fish’s wide-awake revival of an American classic gives us an “Oklahoma!” for our own age of anxiety, without ever betraying its source.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Thursday, April 4, 2019

Review: Glenda Jackson Rules a Muddled World in ‘King Lear’ by Ben Brantley

In Sam Gold’s haphazard production of Shakespeare’s bleakest tragedy, Ms. Jackson demonstrates her singular intelligence as an actress.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Sunday, March 31, 2019

Review: ‘Do You Feel Anger’ Plumbs the Depths of Office Humor by Ben Brantley

In Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s fitfully funny play, a female empathy coach faces the insuperable challenge of teaching men some compassion.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Thursday, March 28, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: A Magnificent Road to Ruin in ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ by Ben Brantley

This three-hour-plus portrait of the creation and destruction of the house of Lehman, directed by Sam Mendes, is an endlessly absorbing epic tragedy.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:03PM
Thursday, March 21, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: An All-Star Team in the Temptations Musical ‘Ain’t Too Proud’ by Ben Brantley

This shrewdly assembled show, directed by Des McAnuff, considers the interchangeability of a crew of Motown’s finest, though there’s plenty of star shine, too.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: Hearing the Roar of Racism in ‘White Noise’ by Ben Brantley

In her enthralling study of interracial relationships, featuring a brilliant Daveed Diggs, Suzan-Lori Parks parses the lies we live by.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Sunday, March 17, 2019

Review: A Road Trip Crosses Centuries in ‘Anything That Gives Off Light’ by Ben Brantley

This meandering work of musical stand-up theater, from the TEAM and the National Theater of Scotland, probes the past and present of two nations.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:22PM

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