All stories by Gordon Cox on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

How ‘Real Women Have Curves’ Took the Fast Track to Broadway by Gordon Cox

Grammy-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 05:58PM
Sunday, April 27, 2025

‘Real Women Have Curves’ Review: Broadway Musical Celebrates a Vibrant Community of Women With Joy and Heart by Gordon Cox

The 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 09:30PM

‘Dead Outlaw’ Review: Rambunctious Mummy Musical is Weird But Wildly Entertaining by Gordon Cox

Unlike 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 05:00PM
Saturday, April 26, 2025

‘Just in Time’ Review: Jonathan Groff Plays Bobby Darin in a Lackluster Bio-Jukebox on Broadway by Gordon Cox

It 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 10:00PM
Thursday, April 24, 2025

‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ Review: David Hyde Pierce and Jinkx Monsoon Lead a Rollicking, Riotous Reimagination of Gilbert and Sullivan on Br by Gordon Cox

What 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 10:00PM
Wednesday, April 23, 2025

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ Review: Broadway’s Unwieldy Stage Prequel Delivers Visual Spectacle by Gordon Cox

With 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 09:54AM
Monday, April 21, 2025

‘Floyd Collins’ Review: Jeremy Jordan and a Stellar Score Shine in a Shadowy Broadway Musical by Gordon Cox

Spelunking 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 10:00PM
Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Why New Musicals Are Idina Menzel’s Proudest Accomplishments by Gordon Cox

Idina 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 12:16AM
Monday, April 14, 2025

‘John Proctor Is the Villain’ Review: Broadway Play Is a Powerful, Pop-Inflected Retort to ‘The Crucible’ by Gordon Cox

The 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 11:00PM
Thursday, April 10, 2025

‘Smash’ Review: TV-to-Stage Metamusical is a Fizzy, Fun Comedy With a Few Surprises for Fans by Gordon Cox

On 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 10:30PM
Tuesday, April 8, 2025

‘Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends’ Review: Not Just a Broadway Tribute but a Musical Feast by Gordon Cox

After 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 09:00PM
Monday, April 7, 2025

‘Boop!’ Review: This Cartoon of a Broadway Musical is Stuck in Two Dimensions by Gordon Cox

Following 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 09:00PM
Thursday, April 3, 2025

‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ Review: George Clooney Makes an Impressive Broadway Bow in Taut Film-to-Stage Transfer by Gordon Cox

Like 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 11:59PM
Tuesday, April 1, 2025

How ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ Embraces Its Stage Frights — and Stakes Out a Spot in the Series Mythology by Gordon Cox

The 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 06:58PM
Monday, March 31, 2025

‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ Review: Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk Lead a Surprisingly Humane New Broadway Revival by Gordon Cox

Bob 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 11:30PM
Thursday, March 27, 2025

‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ Review: Sarah Snook’s Solo Broadway Outing Can’t Find Meaning in the Artifice by Gordon Cox

Oscar 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 10:00PM
Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Springtime for Broadway: 2024-25 Season Readies to Close With High Hopes, High Prices and Huge Stars by Gordon Cox

Ever 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 12:54PM
Thursday, March 20, 2025

‘Operation Mincemeat’ Review: Broadway Transfer of the Olivier-Winning Musical Has Absurdity, Laughs and Heart by Gordon Cox

An 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 10:00PM
Wednesday, March 19, 2025

‘Buena Vista Social Club’ Review: Exuberant New Broadway Musical Celebrates the Soul of a Nation by Gordon Cox

Entering “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 10:00PM
Tuesday, March 18, 2025

How a Breakout Newcomer and a Tony-Winning Favorite Are Bringing ‘Boop!’ to Broadway by Gordon Cox

One 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 02:14PM
Tuesday, March 4, 2025

How ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Star Kandi Burruss Is Helping Make ‘A New Broadway’ as a Producer by Gordon Cox

Kandi 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
Tuesday, February 18, 2025

‘Richard II’ Review: Jonathan Bailey Shows Off His Shakespearean Chops in a Stern, Stripped-Down Production by Gordon Cox

“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

Too Bonkers to Be Believed? Why the Creators of the Broadway Musical ‘Operation Mincemeat’ Had to Cut Some Real-Life Details From the True Story by Gordon Cox

The real-life story behind the Olivier Award-winning musical “Operation Mincemeat” isn’t just stranger than fiction. It’s so strange that some parts of the story proved just too much…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:36PM
Thursday, February 13, 2025

‘Redwood’ Review: Idina Menzel Hits the Heights in a Heartfelt Broadway Return by Gordon Cox

There’s a powerful appeal to the idea of leaving behind the turbulence of the personal — or for that matter, the political — and escaping to a place of beauty, safety and solace. A sep…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Tuesday, February 4, 2025

‘Without Art, We’re Gonna Die’: How ‘English’ Playwright Sanaz Toossi Turned Fury Into a Pulitzer-Winning Broadway Comedy by Gordon Cox

The Pulitzer Prize-winning play “English” opened on Broadway just days after Donald Trump took office for the second time — which was notable timing for a show that had it roots in the…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:38PM
Thursday, January 23, 2025

‘English’ Review: Pulitzer Winner Debuts on Broadway at the Top of the Class by Gordon Cox

Unlike casual language learners — say, in a high school French class, or on Duolingo — for the characters in Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer-winning “English,” language acquisition feels i…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:30PM
Tuesday, January 21, 2025

How the Seven Deadly Sins Got Writer Leslye Headland to Broadway by Gordon Cox

For Leslye Headland, the well-received Broadway play “Cult of Love” (pictured above) serves as a turning point and a culmination. Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:50PM
Friday, January 17, 2025

‘Kyoto’ Review: A Riveting, Fast-Paced Political Thriller About Climate Change Accords Makes West End Leap by Gordon Cox

As urgent and vital as it is, an investigation into international angles on climate change doesn’t sound remotely theatrical, let alone a race-to-the finish thriller. But that is precisely…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:37PM
Wednesday, January 15, 2025

‘Sailor Moon’ Stage Musical to Play North American Tour (EXCLUSIVE) by Gordon Cox

A Japanese musical adaptation of the hit manga and anime franchise “Sailor Moon” will launch a North American tour this spring, playing nearly 20 cities on a route that begins in Pittsbu…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:45AM
Monday, January 6, 2025

Playwright August Wilson’s Broadway Legacy Topped With a Posthumous Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by Gordon Cox

On Jan. 7, August Wilson gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — a fitting tribute for a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright who is one of the most celebrated and importan…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:10PM
Tuesday, December 24, 2024

How Joy Woods Became a ‘Gypsy’ Superfan by Gordon Cox

The actor Joy Woods never thought much about “Gypsy” — at least not until she was cast in the show opposite Audra McDonald in one of the buzziest Broadway revivals of the season. Liste…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:28PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes 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