All stories by Ron Fassler on BroadwayStars

Friday, November 8, 2024

“AUGUST” HEAT by Ron Fassler

Estelle Parsons as Violet Weston in “August: Osage Country” (2008).November 8, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler In New York City this week, an unseasonably warm Novemb…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 10:06AM
Monday, November 4, 2024

A STIRRING “RAGTIME” FOR OUR TROUBLED TIMES by Ron Fassler

The company of “Ragtime” at City Center (photo by Joan Marcus).November 4, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler Last June, as I exited the City Center Encores! production …

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 05:15PM
Wednesday, October 30, 2024

The Gershwins’ “Strike Up the Band” at Carnegie Hall by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler I’m a longtime fan of MasterVoices, a performing arts organization which continues to thrive after undergoing many changes in its long history. Founded in 1941, it ha…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 06:23PM

“My Favorite Things” About a Certain “Cockeyed Optimist” by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler . . . Oscar Hammerstein II was a man of many accomplishments, though he will be best remembered for three indisputably monumental things: 1) He wrote Show Boat with J…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 02:41PM
Tuesday, October 29, 2024

“WHAT! YOU HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN ‘MAN OF LA MANCHA’ ONCE?” by Ron Fassler

Advertising used throughout “Man of La Mancha’s” six-year run (1965–1971).October 29, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler As a teenager and developing theatre nerd of …

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 08:52AM
Monday, October 28, 2024

“Sunset Blvd.” Surprises at Every Twist in the Road by Ron Fassler

Theater Review by Ron Fassler . . . Well, knock me over with a feather. I really liked Jamie Lloyd’s sexually charged, visually exhilarating, and highly conceptualized Sunset Boulevard, n…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 02:21PM
Sunday, October 27, 2024

The 35th New York Cabaret Convention Night #2 by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . Sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, the 35th annual New York Cabaret Convention was presented over a three-night period this past week at Rose Hall …

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:57AM
Thursday, October 24, 2024

FLAMING AGNES by Ron Fassler

The incredibly photogenic Lee Remick (1935–91).October 24, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today by Ron Fassler In 1982, when John Pielmeier’s Agnes of God was trying out in Boston, the top…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 11:16AM
Monday, October 21, 2024

“What Doesn’t Kill You” is Food for the Soul by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . Actor and Playwright James Hindman’s What Doesn’t Kill You, which recently opened at the 59E59 Theaters complex in midtown, has just been extended th…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:51AM

Jeff Harnar Sings Sammy Cahn by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . The lyric writers of popular song have never attracted nearly the spotlight the way composers do in receiving the lion’s share of attention. As Ira Gers…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:14AM
Saturday, October 19, 2024

“Putnam County” Spells Success in Washington, D.C. by Ron Fassler

Theater Review by Ron Fassler . . . It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly twenty years since The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee opened on Broadway. It arrived during one of th…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:00PM
Wednesday, October 16, 2024

THICK AS “THIEVES” by Ron Fassler

Richard Mulligan with his two leading ladies: Valerie Harper and Marlo Thomas in “Thieves” (1974).October 16, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler. For those with a sense o…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 11:45AM
Monday, October 14, 2024

“AN EVENING WITH KELLI O’HARA” AT 92Y IS CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION by Ron Fassler

Music Review By Ron Fassler . . . It’s hard to believe that Kelli O’Hara, an ingenue’s ingenue if there ever was one, first made her Broadway debut close to twenty-five years ago. Sinc…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 12:50PM

“MARILYN MAYE BY REQUEST” AT 54 BELOW by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . All is right with the world when Marilyn Maye is in town and performing in a small room packed with her fans. And at ninety-six, she still has the charm…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:54AM
Thursday, October 10, 2024

“Our Town” Returns to Broadway by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . .  Picture the surprise gasp from the audience as the curtain rose on Our Town at its premiere in 1938. The sight of there being no scenery must have shock…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:50PM
Wednesday, October 9, 2024

“The Counter” Serves Up a Tasty Treat by Ron Fassler

Theater Review by Ron Fassler . . . David Cromer is one of the most in-demand directors in the theatre. With his choice of projects his for the asking, when a play arrives with his name atta…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:05PM

FEEL THE STURM AND DRANG IN THE AIR: WHEN “LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS” WENT SUPER-SIZE by Ron Fassler

Hunter Foster and Kerry Butler in “Little Shop of Horrors” (2003).October 9, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler Amongst the legendary stories of Broadway shows that have…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 12:17PM
Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Goldie Dver Sings Anthony Newley  by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . When I was a boy interested in musicals, the scores Anthony Newley wrote (with Leslie Bricusse) for Stop the World I Want to Get Off and The Roar of th…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 09:00AM
Sunday, October 6, 2024

Funny Is As Funny Does: “The Big Gay Jamboree.” by Ron Fassler

October 6, 2024 Theater Review by Ron Fassler . . . It’s big (well, not that big). It’s gay (it’s very gay). And if a log line like “Stacey woke up in some b*tch ass Music Man …

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:53PM
Saturday, October 5, 2024

“The Hills of California” Provides a Jolt to the New Broadway Season by Ron Fassler

October 5, 2024 Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . If you like a play that starts slowly and takes its time setting up characters and the world in which they live, then builds inexorably to…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 06:04PM
Sunday, September 29, 2024

ANN KITTREDGE: “ROMANTIC NOTIONS” AT CHELSEA TABLE + STAGE by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . .  This past spring, song stylist Ann Kittredge released an album titled “Romantic Notions,” her musings on the theme of love covering more than a do…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:04AM
Friday, September 27, 2024

“FATHERLAND” BRINGS THE PAIN OF JANUARY 6 TO LIFE by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . .  . Conceived and directed by Stephen Sachs, Fatherland is a powerful verbatim play that is currently at New York City Center Stage II through November 2…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 09:23AM
Thursday, September 26, 2024

RENEE KATZ IS “LOST IN HIS ARMS” AT DON’T TELL MAMA by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . .  Cabaret regular Renee Katz is back with a new show at Don’t Tell Mama titled “Lost in His Arms.” It doesn’t take much of a sleuth to figure…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:19AM
Wednesday, September 25, 2024

CHEYENNE JACKSON: “SIGNS OF LIFE” AT 54 BELOW by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . I’ve never had the pleasure until the other night at 54 Below of seeing Cheyenne Jackson onstage. Well aware of his talents, and having seen him in such…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 08:10PM

“The Ghost of John McCain”: A Haunting We Will Go by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . .  Political satire isn’t an easy thing to pull off. Ask the folks at Saturday Night Live who’ve been doing it for fifty years (and those are just sk…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 08:44AM
Tuesday, September 24, 2024

“Table 17” Serves up a Hearty Meal by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . .  If you aren’t aware of who Kara Young is by now you are missing out on one of the best actresses currently working in the theatre. And man does she wo…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 01:02PM
Wednesday, September 18, 2024

“See What I Wanna See” Revived Off-Broadway by Ron Fassler

Theater Review by Ron Fassler . . . See What I Wanna See is a musical written by composer/lyricist Michael John LaChiusa, first produced at the Public Theatre in 2005. Inspired by the stori…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:23PM
Tuesday, September 17, 2024

In Support of 54 Below, an Evening with LaChanze by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler… In 2023, the fabled supper club 54 Below became a non-profit organization. Since that time, its longstanding goals of expanding the art of cabaret have taken…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 12:01PM
Thursday, September 12, 2024

Musical About Parenting Needs Some Adult Supervision by Ron Fassler

Dwayne Washington and McKenna OGrodnik in "That Parenting Musical." The post Musical About Parenting Needs Some Adult Supervision appeared first on Theater Pizzazz.

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:15PM
Tuesday, September 10, 2024

THERE’S A GIANT IN THE SKY by Ron Fassler

James Earl Jones (1931–2024).September 10, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler James Earl Jones, who died yesterday at ninety-three, was not only the first dramatic actor to…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 09:18AM
Friday, August 30, 2024

“Isaac Mizrahi: A Brief History” Brings Cabaret & Challah Braiding to 54 Below by Ron Fassler

Cabaret review by Ron Fassler … While attending Isaac Mizrahi’s new show at 54 Below, a well-known Shakespeare quote came to mind. In the scene from Hamlet where Polonius is chatting w…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 04:49PM

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
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis 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