All stories by Gordon Cox on BroadwayStars

Thursday, November 3, 2022

‘Almost Famous’ Review: Broadway Musical Adapts a Beloved Film All Too Faithfully by Gordon Cox

Writer-director Cameron Crowe’s Oscar-winning screenplay about a teen rock journalist’s coming-of-age in the ’70s, “Almost Famous,” lands pretty much intact in Broadway’s latest …

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Thursday, October 27, 2022

‘Walking With Ghosts’ Review: Gabriel Byrne Stars on Broadway in a Heartfelt Solo Show by Gordon Cox

Who better to tell your story than … you?  Gabriel Byrne won kudos for his intimate memoir “Walking with Ghosts,” which he subsequently adapted into this heartfelt solo show now playi…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:30PM

‘Tammy Faye’ Review: New Elton John Score Doesn’t Yet Live Up to a Terrifically Entertaining Production by Gordon Cox

You can take anything and write a song about it. Whether it needs singing about is another question entirely. On the evidence of multitudes of recent musicals, it’s one too few creative te…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:18PM
Tuesday, October 25, 2022

What Samuel L. Jackson Misses Most About Broadway by Gordon Cox

Samuel L. Jackson is back on Broadway for the first time in a decade in “The Piano Lesson,” the new production of the August Wilson play directed by Jackson’s wife, LaTanya Richardson …

SOURCE: Variety at 02:48PM
Thursday, October 20, 2022

‘Topdog/Underdog’ Review: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Corey Hawkins Star in a Live-Wire Broadway Revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Play by Gordon Cox

It is a testament to the acuity of Suzan-Lori Parks’ imagination and powers of perception that “Topdog/Underdog” feels as vital and electric today as it did 20 years ago. The first Bro…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM

‘My Neighbor Totoro’ Review: An Inventive, Visually Thrilling Adaptation of the Studio Ghibli Favorite by Gordon Cox

The Royal Shakespeare Company doesn’t usually sell out an entire run before opening, especially with a new play. But then, it has never had the audacity to stage one of the world’s most …

SOURCE: Variety at 01:21PM
Wednesday, October 19, 2022

‘Local Hero’ Review: A Sweetly Delightful New Musical, Despite Lackluster Songs by Gordon Cox

Charm, a sadly rare theatrical quality, is scarcely a fashionable theatrical virtue, but it’s nonetheless valuable. And, to audiences’ evident delight, it’s there in spades in director…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:03PM
Friday, October 14, 2022

How Award-Winning Musical ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ is Growing Up to Broadway by Gordon Cox

The new musical “Kimberly Akimbo” has already beguiled New York critics. Now it has to win over Broadway audiences.  Based on David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2001 play of the same name, “Ki…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:30AM
Thursday, October 13, 2022

‘The Piano Lesson’ Review: Samuel L. Jackson Leads a Starry Cast in an Affecting Broadway Ghost Story by Gordon Cox

Every family has a skeleton or two in its closet. The starry new Broadway revival of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “The Piano Lesson” has a whole houseful of ghosts. Dire…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:57PM
Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Jesse Williams on Baring All Again in ‘Take Me Out,’ That Leaked Footage and Why He Doesn’t Watch ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ by Gordon Cox

The Tony-winning Broadway revival of “Take Me Out” returns this fall, and Jesse Williams is back with it. In Richard Greenberg’s 2002 play, the “Grey’s Anatomy” actor plays a bir…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:00PM
Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Why the Creators of Broadway’s ‘Topdog/Underdog’ Think the Play Has a Superpower by Gordon Cox

How is a Pulitzer Prize-winning play like a Marvel superhero? Ask Suzan-Lori Parks, the acclaimed writer whose 2001 outing “Topdog/Underdog” was her first show to arrive on Broadway afte…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:52PM
Monday, October 10, 2022

‘Funny Girl’ Review: A Star Is Reborn With Lea Michele Headlining Broadway Musical by Gordon Cox

Take two, and not a moment too soon. Lea Michele steps into one of Broadway’s most iconic roles, which in her mind — or at least the mind of Rachel Berry, the character she played in TV�…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:00PM
Sunday, October 9, 2022

‘Death of a Salesman’ Review: Groundbreaking Broadway Revival Packs a Mighty Punch by Gordon Cox

In the new Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman,” Wendell Pierce’s powerhouse performance firmly identifies Willy Loman as a tragic hero for these modern times. It’s a searing po…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Thursday, October 6, 2022

‘1776’ Review: Bold Choices Enliven Broadway Revival of Revolutionary Musical by Gordon Cox

The opening moments of this exuberant, thought-provoking and radical revival of “1776” makes it clear who was missing from John Trumbull’s famous painting of the signers of the Declara…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Wednesday, October 5, 2022

‘Blues for an Alabama Sky’ Review: Samira Wiley Stars in a Richly Rewarding Production of Pearl Cleage’s Play by Gordon Cox

Part of the instant appeal of “Friends” was that, from the get-go, the relationships between the members of the gang who hung out in the apartments above Central Perk felt not just likea…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:19PM
Monday, October 3, 2022

‘Cost of Living’ Review: Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer-Winning Drama Makes Sensational Broadway Debut by Gordon Cox

What gives life value and makes it worth our daily toil? What does it mean to need another person, and what do we owe each other? It is a testament to the brilliant craft of Martyna Majok’…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Sunday, October 2, 2022

‘Leopoldstadt’ Review: A Moving Broadway Production of Tom Stoppard’s Intensely Personal Drama by Gordon Cox

In a radical departure from his usual intellectually esoteric style, Tom Stoppard’s new play is an intensely personal family drama. “Leopoldstadt,” which takes its name from the Jewish…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Thursday, September 29, 2022

‘The Crucible’ Review: A Soggy London Revival of Miller’s Masterpiece by Gordon Cox

There is an opera of “The Crucible.” Written by Robert Ward, it won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize. But this is not the opera… or is it? Lyndsey Turner’s grandiloquent National Theatre prod…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:54PM
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Madison Wells Live Unveils Slate With New Projects From Trio of Buzzy Theater Directors (EXCLUSIVE) by Gordon Cox

Madison Wells Live, the stage entertainment division of Gigi Pritzker’s Madison Wells Media (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), has emerged from theater’s lockdown phase with a lineup of bre…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00AM
Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Broadway Kicks Off Fall Season With High Hopes and Lingering Uncertainty by Gordon Cox

Broadway hasn’t been the same since the pandemic. Just consider “The Phantom of the Opera.” The recent closing announcement of the landmark long-runner underscored just how unpredictab…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:44PM

‘The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation’ Review: New Musical Struggles to Strike Balance Between Slapstick and Sentiment by Gordon Cox

After a bunch of peppy up-tempo numbers, you just know there is going to be at least one ballad somewhere in “The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation,” the new musical with Broadway aspiratio…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:07PM

Why ‘Cost of Living’ Is on the Broadway Forefront by Gordon Cox

For the actor Gregg Mozgala, his Broadway debut in “Cost of Living” isn’t just a step forward for him — it’s a step forward for all of Broadway. Listen to this week’s “Stagecr…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:30PM
Monday, September 26, 2022

‘Eureka Day’ Review: Timing Is Almost Everything for This Vaccine Comedy Starring Helen Hunt in London by Gordon Cox

Jonathan Spector’s 2018 comedy “Eureka Day” first attracted attention in productions in Berkeley and Brooklyn. But in its sharp U.K. premiere starring Helen Hunt, this often very funny…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:39AM
Tuesday, September 13, 2022

How Patina Miller Made ‘Into the Woods’ Her Own by Gordon Cox

Few theater performances are as indelible as the original Broadway production of “Into the Woods,” which raised a generation of theater fans through a legendary American Playhouse record…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:24PM
Tuesday, August 30, 2022

‘As You Like It’ Review: A Joyful Musical Closes Out the Summer in Central Park  by Gordon Cox

Get thee to Arden — or at least to the Arden depicted in the glorious, delightful and big-hearted musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” created as part of the Public …

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM

Why Mary Rodgers Pushed to Make Her Memoir Meaner, Funnier and More Revealing About Her Life Among Broadway Greats by Gordon Cox

The composer (“Once Upon a Mattress”), young adult author (“Freaky Friday”) and philanthropist Mary Rodgers wanted to write a memoir that was candid, cutting, dishy and vanity-free �…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:08PM
Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Cornelius Smith Jr. on His Hopes to Bring ‘American Prophet’ to Broadway by Gordon Cox

The new musical “American Prophet” is now in the midst of its world premiere run at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Next stop: Broadway? Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcas…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:29PM
Monday, August 8, 2022

‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Review: Broadway-Bound Musical Needs to Take a Cue From Miranda Priestly and Get Meaner by Gordon Cox

Taking an overly respectful and frankly miscalculated approach to its source materials — the 2003 roman à clef novel and the 2006 Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway-starring film — the new …

SOURCE: Variety at 04:24PM
Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Why Amir Arison Exited ‘The Blacklist’ and Fell in Love With Broadway’s ‘The Kite Runner’ by Gordon Cox

After nine seasons on the hit TV series “The Blacklist,” actor Amir Arison’s next step is starring on Broadway in “The Kite Runner.” Which is pretty surprising for a guy who’d de…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:31PM
Friday, July 22, 2022

‘The Kite Runner’ Review: An Uplifting Broadway Adaptation of the Bestselling Novel by Gordon Cox

Playwright Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of “The Kite Runner,” Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling 2005 novel about the friendship of two boys living parallel lives in Afghanistan, is a he…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:00AM
Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Why Bestselling Novelist Jodi Picoult Has Become a Prolific Musical Theater Creator by Gordon Cox

Most people know Jodi Picoult as the busy author of more than 25 bestselling books, including “My Sister’s Keeper,” “Small Great Things” and “The Pact.” But more recently, she�…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:01PM

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