Sometimes the only refuge from the brutalities of a life pre-destined for loneliness, poverty and violence is a poetic voice. In playwright Jamie Wax’s one-hander “Call Me Izzy,” Jean …
SOURCE: Variety at 11:00PMThe 2025 Tony Awards had it all — Cynthia Erivo, Oprah, a “Hamilton” reunion, and a fair share of snubs and surprises to keep awards-season prognosticators on their toes. After making …
SOURCE: Variety at 12:01AMWith the 2024-25 theater season now complete, a new rule has been added to the old Broadway playbook. That rule? Throw out the playbook. In a banner year that’s seen Broadway sales finally…
SOURCE: Variety at 03:25PMThe Emmy-winning writer-actor Lena Waithe (“The Chi,” “Master of None”) recently sat down with the playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to discuss his Pulitzer Prize-winning new play, �…
SOURCE: Variety at 02:50PMBranden Jacobs-Jenkins’ family drama “Purpose” is already one of the big winners of the Broadway awards season: The play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the New York Drama Critics…
SOURCE: Variety at 05:30PMMichelle Williams may not be a Tony nominee this year, but in her estimation, she still has plenty to celebrate. The former member of Destiny’s Child is back on Broadway for the first time…
SOURCE: Variety at 05:15PMBob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”) earned a Tony nomination for his Broadway debut in the hit revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross.” But almost 30 years ago, if he’d gotten his way, he w…
SOURCE: Variety at 03:05PMThe biggest, most trenchant laugh on the London stage is nightly cracking up the audience at the West End staging of “Giant” — and it’s a moment indicative of the blissful timing in …
SOURCE: Variety at 04:28PMIt’s been a busy season on Broadway, crowded with big stars, boffo hits — and strong contenders for awards attention. This year’s Tony Awards nominations seemed particularly hard to pr…
SOURCE: Variety at 11:20AMGrammy-winning musician Joy Huerta and musical theater songwriter Benjamin Velez didn’t know each other before they started working together on the score for “Real Women Have Curves.” …
SOURCE: Variety at 05:58PMThe Latina seamstresses at a dressmaking workshop in East L.A. express their credo at the top of the new musical “Real Women Have Curves.” With the pulsating song “Make It Work” thes…
SOURCE: Variety at 09:30PMUnlike the mobile British corpse in “Operation Mincemeat,” the traveling American cadaver in the Broadway musical “Dead Outlaw” has a far less noble posthumous purpose than winning W…
SOURCE: Variety at 05:00PMIt might be time to call it quits on biographical jukebox musicals. “Jersey Boys” ignited a trend, but its many spawn have been mostly ill-conceived. Recently we’ve had “Summer: The …
SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PMWhat ever happened to Gilbert and Sullivan? Once theatrical icons, Gilbert and Sullivan — co-creators of famed comic operettas including “H.M.S. Pinafore” and “The Mikado” — have…
SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PMWith the Broadway arrival of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a stage prequel to the popular Netflix series, comes the question: Will this stand-alone tale appeal — and then satisf…
SOURCE: Variety at 09:54AMSpelunking is not exactly a go-to subject for a musical. Yet Adam Guettel and Tina Landau saw something in the true story of Floyd Collins, a cave explorer who famously got trapped undergrou…
SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PMIdina Menzel is back on Broadway in a new musical — and for the Tony-winning actor, now starring in “Redwood,” it’s exactly the kind of work she loves most. Listen to this week’s …
SOURCE: Variety at 12:16AMThe first word spoken in “John Proctor Is the Villain” is “sex,” a portent of things to come. Mr. Smith (Gabriel Ebert), a high school English teacher, has been tasked with handling …
SOURCE: Variety at 11:00PMOn the surface, “Smash” is a new backstage musical about the making of the fictional Broadway musical “Bombshell: The Marilyn Monroe Story,” but for diehard fans of the cult-classic …
SOURCE: Variety at 10:30PMAfter three Broadway revues of Stephen Sondheim’s music you would think a fourth wouldn’t offer anything fresh, have any surprises, or be anything special. Think again. “Old Friends”…
SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PMFollowing on the high heels of the 2023 hit film “Barbie,” “Boop! The Musical” likewise aims to remake and rebrand another dated pop character for contemporary times and audiences. U…
SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PMLike television journalist Edward R. Murrow’s historic broadcasts, the stage adaptation of the 2005 film “Good Night, and Good Luck” has a seriousness of purpose that is again dram…
SOURCE: Variety at 11:59PMThe creators of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” went into the project with one goal top of mind: They wanted to make theater legitimately scary. Listen to this week’s “Stagecraf…
SOURCE: Variety at 06:58PMBob Odenkirk has, in recent years, been best-known for the role of Jimmy McGill, a desperate lawyer constantly attempting to find an advantage — ethics be damned — on TV’s “Breaking …
SOURCE: Variety at 11:30PMOscar Wilde’s infamous antihero Dorian Gray probably would’ve loved to have a barrage of cameras pointed at him, reflecting his gorgeous visage. This is exactly what Kip Williams’ tech…
SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PMEver since the theater industry’s post-lockdown return, one question has loomed large: When will Broadway return to the heights of the last full season before the pandemic, when both sales…
SOURCE: Variety at 12:54PMAn astonishing, loopy and very true World War II story about Great Britain tricking Germany into believing false invasion plans has been the source material for non-fiction books and movies …
SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PMEntering “Buena Vista Social Club” is like stepping into a heady world of the senses, of heightened emotions, and of passionate music and dance. The Social Club was a real place for loca…
SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PMOne actress is a newcomer making her Broadway debut after winning raves out of town. The other is a Tony-winning favorite, back on Broadway for the first time in almost a decade. Together, t…
SOURCE: Variety at 02:14PMKandi Burruss is a reality TV star, a music industry veteran, and an entrepreneur — and now, she’s a Broadway producer. Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below: A former…
SOURCE: Variety at 03:18PM“Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.” OK, that’s the wrong play since it’s a line from “Macbeth,” but it best sums up Jonathan Bailey’s performance in the new L…
SOURCE: Variety at 06:30PM