All stories by FRANK RIZZO on BroadwayStars

Saturday, July 13, 2024

'Mystic Pizza" -- Back in Connecticut -- Is Now A Musical by Frank Rizzo

First "Mystic Pizza" was a hit film which launched Julia Roberts’ career, now it's a musical which will run at the Ivoryton Playhouse in Essex, just a 20 minute drive from the film�

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:50AM

Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary by Frank Rizzo

A scene from “13” at the Norma Terris Theatre. Tucked away in the cozy Connecticut town of Chester, sits the Terri…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:13AM

Connecticut Critics Awards The Best of '23-'24 Season by Frank Rizzo

An innovative production of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge at Long Wharf Theatre and a high-spirited, buoyant production of Summer Stock at Goodspeed Musicals took top honors …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:20AM
Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Some Bali-Ha'i Thoughts on 'South Pacific' at Goodspeed by Frank Rizzo

The show: “South Pacific” at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT. , through Aug. 11. What is it?: A Rodgers & Hammerstein musical based on James A. Michener’s Pul…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:17PM
Friday, May 24, 2024

Catching Up With Tony Kushner by Frank Rizzo

Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright of “Angels in America” and Steven Spielberg’s go-to screenwriter over the last 20 years, is never short …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:40PM
Monday, May 13, 2024

Randall Beach Is a (Connecticut) People Person by Frank Rizzo

Randy Beach is a character witness. For more than 40 years the veteran journalist has chronicled some of Connecticut’s most colorful, passionate, and often unsung people, in his colu…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:04PM
Monday, April 22, 2024

My Variety Review: New Musical "The Heart of Rock and Roll by Frank Rizzo

When a character in the new musical “The Heart of Rock and Roll” tries to convince his ex to leave her job at a factory that makes shipping materials, he is stunned: “Oh, m…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:35PM

My Variety Review: "Patriots" on Broadway by Frank Rizzo

In Peter Morgan’s tantalizing but disappointing new play “Patriots,” Boris Berezovsky is presented as a larger-than-life oligarch in a post-Soviet Russia who transforms Vl…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:57PM
Saturday, April 20, 2024

My Variety Review: New Broadway Musical "Lempicka" by Frank Rizzo

To the list of larger-than-life, survivalist women in musical theater, add Tamara de Lempicka — but with an asterisk. The name of the Polish-born portraitist who died in 1980 might no…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:55AM

My Variety Review: "Stereophonic" by Frank Rizzo

There’s a moment in David Adjmi’s play “Stereophonic” when a discordant, mid-’70s band-on-the rise hears one of its songs played back to them in the recordin…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:25AM
Thursday, April 18, 2024

My Variety Review: New Musical "Suffs" on Broadway by Frank Rizzo

A musical that captures the sweep of history in all its complexities without sacrifice of character or credibility is no easy feat.   But “Suffs,” which tells the story of the…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:50PM
Sunday, March 31, 2024

Off-Broadway Review: "Corruption" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Corruption” by J.T. Rogers at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:03PM

Jose Llana: Here Lies Pride by Frank Rizzo

It was an awkward moment for Jose Llana when he told his family that he would be starring in the new stage musical "Here Lies Love." But Llana would not be playing heroic Philippine politici…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:56AM

'Fellow Traveler' Jelani Alladin Is His Own Man by Frank Rizzo

When Jelani Alladin (pictured left) read the description of his character in the Showtime/Paramount + series “Fellow Travelers,” the romantic leading man of the stage musicals â…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:37AM
Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Shakespeare Is On The Case In 'The Sister Queens' by Frank Rizzo

Justin Scott of Newtown is a writer of more than 30 historic adventure thrillers, including the “The Shipkiller," the Ben Abbott mystery series, and 10 best sellers co-authored with Cl…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 09:22AM
Sunday, March 24, 2024

Broadway's "Purlie Victorious:' Hallelujah! Now To Be Shown On PBS by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch” played Broadway’s Music Box Theatre this fall and early winter and will now be seen on PBS…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 01:57PM
Thursday, March 21, 2024

My Variety Review: "Water for Elephants"" by Frank Rizzo

Ever feel like running away from home to join a musical? Then “Water for Elephants” would be the show of choice that offers escapism, enchantment and heart — and thrill…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:17PM

Review: "Illinoise" Off Broadway at Park Avenue Armory by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Ilinoise” through March 26 at the Park Avenue Armory. The show will have a limited Broadway run at the St. James Theatre, beginning performances on its official openi…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 04:59PM
Friday, March 15, 2024

Variety Review: "The Notebook" Musical on Broadway by Frank Rizzo

Musical theater can be a sucker for a romantic tale, whether it’s about obsessive devotion, idealized passion, or lost loves. “The Notebook,” based on Nicholas Sparks 

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:20AM
Saturday, March 2, 2024

Review: 'On Set With Theda Bara' Starring David Greenspan by Frank Rizzo

All photos by Emilio Madrid The show: ‘On Set With Theda Bara’ by Joey Merlo at the Brick Theatre in the Willia…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 04:20PM
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Review: New Off-Broadway Musical "The Connector" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “The Connector” at off-Broadway’s MCC Theatre in New York City What makes it special?: The latest musical by composer Jason Robert Brown, one of the leading musi…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:03PM
Friday, December 29, 2023

My Own Take: Stephen Sondheim's Final Musical -- "Here We Are" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Here We Are” at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City When it was announced nearly 10 years ago that Stephen Sondheim would be collaborating with playwright David …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 05:53PM
Thursday, December 28, 2023

My Review of Off-Broadway's 'Walk on Through' Starring Gavin Creel by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice” at Manhattan Class Company. What makes it special?: Tony Award-winner Gavin Creel (“Hello, Dolly!” â€�…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:22PM
Sunday, December 10, 2023

My Variety Review: Broadway's 'How to Dance in Ohio' by Frank Rizzo

RGoing (or not going) to the big dance has been an irresistible storyline for musicals from “Oklahoma!” to “The Prom.” The set-up inherently inspires social stress, r…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:42PM
Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Thoughts on 4 CT Shows: First Up, Goodspeed's 'Dreamgirls' by Frank Rizzo

It’s been a busy month or so with much of my attention in New York doing interviews there and catching shows such as “Purlie Victorious” (one of the best productions I�

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 06:53PM

New Haven's Norman Lear Dead at 101 by Frank Rizzo

Sad news about the death of the great Norman Lear at 101, a New Haven native who never forgot his roots. I first interviewed him in the mid-'70s and here's a piece I wrote the last time we t…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:01AM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Mark Lamos And 'Longtime Companion:' A Landmark AIDS-Era Film by Frank Rizzo

Long before the utopian rom-com "Fire Island," there was a movie that told a far darker and disturbing story, set principally on that LGBTQ+ sunny enclave at a perilous time: the 1989 landma…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:52PM

Mark Lamos: Finding An Artistic Home —and Self —in Theatre by Frank Rizzo

Mark Lamos and husband Jerry Jones sit on the stone wall in the backyard of their colonial home on a rolling green lawn off a winding countryside road in Litchfield County.  Bella, their …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:34PM

Pressure On For Holiday Shows To Boost Box Office by Frank Rizzo

Holiday shows have traditionally provided a major financial boost to Connecticut theaters, but this year — with audiences still not returning to pre-pandemic levels — industry …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:13PM
Monday, October 23, 2023

“Taj of the Raj:” New Perspectives on Victoria Memorial Hall by Frank Rizzo

By FRANK RIZZO “There is intense interest in art, architecture and their colonial histories in India right now,” says Tim Barringer, the Paul Mellon Professor in the History of A…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 06:54PM
Sunday, October 22, 2023

My Broadway Review: "Musical "Back To The Future" by Frank Rizzo

Yogi Berra said the future ain’t what it used to be. We know how he feels. The Broadway arrival of the West End hit “Back to the Future” continues the march of Hollywood b…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 04:02PM

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off