All stories by Jacob Malizio on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Bernadette Peters and a glorious cast sing Sondheim by Jacob Malizio

It’s a rare and special experience to watch performers of the calibre of Peters and co-stars like Lea Salonga backed by a sensational 14-piece orchestra in an intimate room that seats just…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PM

Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga lead Broadway’s latest salute to Stephen Sondheim. by Jacob Malizio

To those unfamiliar with Sondheim’s oeuvre, Old Friends offers a respectable and professional introduction to the late master’s voice, both as a peerlessly witty lyricist and as a unique…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PM

Do We Need Another Stephen Sondheim Revue? by Jacob Malizio

Unlike what Salonga does with a song, other singers in “Old Friends” tend to overact every song. Beth Leavel sings “The Ladies Who Lunch” from what sounds like a cocktail shaker. The…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PM

A Lot of Night Music by Jacob Malizio

While [Bernadette Peters’] voice has lost some of its rich timbre, her rendition of “Send in the Clowns” is so deeply infused with soul-searching that any vocal imperfections are quick…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:08PM
Monday, April 7, 2025

BOOP! The Musical by Jacob Malizio

Betty Boop longs for an ordinary day off from fame in her black-and-white world. What she finds is an extraordinary adventure of color, music, and love in New York City! The post BOOP! The M…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:36PM

Betty Gets a Brand Extension by Jacob Malizio

The most disappointing subgenre of musical, at least in terms of opportunity cost, is the “why?” show: a well-crafted, charmingly performed, highly professional production that nobody as…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:36PM

‘Boop! The Musical’ is a big Broadway joy bomb by Jacob Malizio

In “Boop! The Musical,” the canonical cartoon recounts stints as a lion tamer, judge and hula dancer — professions lifted straight from her shorts. But evidently, Betty Boop missed a c…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:35PM

This Cartoon of a Broadway Musical is Stuck in Two Dimensions by Jacob Malizio

The alternating worlds are meant to be playful, but Toontown especially gets exhausting quickly, with characters mugging, clowning and amplifying every limp punchline. But the real world is …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PM

Jasmine Amy Rogers Gives a Big Boop! to Broadway in an Animated Musical by Jacob Malizio

With a zippy score, terrific tap numbers choreographed by director Jerry Mitchell, energetic performances from a top-notch cast, and a plot that doesn’t tax your brain, Boop! is one of the…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PM

Does Betty Boop Exist in Three Dimensions? by Jacob Malizio

We may not know Betty Boop deeply, but we can agree she has that certain “It” quality that has made her stick around for nearly a century, even if just on lunchboxes. I wish, after seein…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PM

Betty Lands on Broadway and Broadway Gains a Star by Jacob Malizio

Like all the best early 20th century works tragically and systematically erased from our cultural memory, she’s bright, effervescent, relentlessly charming and sexy. Pretty much the same c…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PM

First Barbie, Now Betty Gets Dragged Into the 21 Century by Jacob Malizio

It’s difficult to say what’s more embarrassing: the people in Disney outfits out on the street or the chorus at the Broadhurst in costumes that look just as seedy and smelly. Pooph, anyo…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PM

‘Boop! The Musical’ Should Turn Betty Boop Into the New Barbie by Jacob Malizio

Yet you will likely have more fun at Boop! than in many other theaters this spring; this is an old-fashioned stage-frolic filled show, with big songs and bigger dancing, including roof-raisi…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PM

A Broadway star is born in new musical by Jacob Malizio

[Rogers] can do it all. As smiley, effervescent and, well, animated as t he actress is for most of the night, she finds power and emotional resonance in her 11 o’clock number “Somethin…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:34PM

Jasmine Amy Rogers paints the town red in a bright and bubbly new musical. by Jacob Malizio

Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, this is an old-fashioned candy shop of a show, where tasty confections are sold in bulk. When Boop! is corny, it’s candy corn. Gorge on the mu…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:33PM

The Last Five Years by Jacob Malizio

Experience the messy, euphoric, sexy, savage, fleeting rush of falling in and out of love in New York City at The Last Five Years, starring Grammy Award® and Golden Globe nominee Nick Jonas…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:21AM

How ‘The Last Five Years’ Became a Blur on Broadway by Jacob Malizio

But in the show’s first Broadway incarnation, starring the resplendent Adrienne Warren and an underpowered Nick Jonas, the structure (along with the balance) has been compromised. The prod…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:16AM

‘The Last Five Years’ is a romance that lacks connection by Jacob Malizio

Each song must bear the emotional fullness of a scene, because it’s an entire memory. Warren can do this. Jonas, simply, cannot. Or does not. The post ‘The Last Five Years’ is a romanc…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:15AM

Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren Unpack The Last Five Years on Broadway by Jacob Malizio

But for the most part, this is still The Last Five Years as devoted fans know it: a tuneful sketch of an ill-considered marriage between two young people who still hadn’t fully discovered …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:15AM

Nick Jonas & Adrienne Warren Make Love in Reverse by Jacob Malizio

They sing magnificently and there’s real chemistry between the two of them, but Whitney White’s direction is literal and unimaginative to the extreme. There’s no emotional payoff in th…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:15AM

An Ambitious LAST FIVE YEARS On Broadway by Jacob Malizio

White has crafted an intriguing and intellectually ambitious revival, one that embraces the brutal emotional honesty of Brown’s source material. The post An Ambitious LAST FIVE YEARS On Br…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:14AM

Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren in The Last Five Years by Jacob Malizio

Whitney White’s revival is sleek and unpretentious—Stacey Derosier’s lights, elegantly juxtaposing oranges, golds, and blues, are particularly lovely in helping to score the story’s …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:14AM

Nick Jonas musical is the worst of the Broadway season by Jacob Malizio

In the ugly revival of a work that doesn’t belong on Broadway in the first place, the pair’s already monotonous journey becomes a textureless concert that’s frustratingly hard to track…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:14AM

Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren fall in and out of love by Jacob Malizio

The score, as ever, is jammed with gems. But like a troubled couple, the production has issues. Under the direction of Whitney White, Warren and Jonas overdo their performances, pushing too …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:14AM

Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren soar in relationship musical by Jacob Malizio

In a season of overhyped shows, the evident sincerity, the effort, the fervent belief in character – and Warren’s occasional transcendence – feels refreshing. The post Nick Jonas and A…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:14AM

‘Last Five Years’ with Nick Jonas has beautiful score, disconnected characters by Jacob Malizio

Both of these performers are, of course, whopping musical talents and their mutual vocal prowess is very much on display to the obvious delight, especially, of the many Jonas fans in the hou…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:14AM
Friday, April 4, 2025

Good Night, and Good Luck by Jacob Malizio

Tune in to the golden age of broadcast journalism and Edward R. Murrow’s (Clooney) legendary, history-altering, on-air showdown with Senator Joseph McCarthy. As McCarthyism casts a shadow …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:50AM

Clooney, Fair and Balanced, in ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ by Jacob Malizio

Clooney’s glamour, abetted by David Cromer’s suave direction, does a lot of that work; even when the actor is in some remote corner of Scott Pask’s huge and infinitely reconfiguring se…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:50AM

‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ is a straightforward retelling of its source material by Jacob Malizio

Director David Cromer successfully activates the stage, orchestrating that kinetic hum we associate with a network newsroom. And scenic designer Scott Pask’s set is a wonder, particularly …

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:49AM

George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck Has Good Intentions but Lives in an Echo Chamber by Jacob Malizio

An empty reassembly of their screenplay, with period chicness substituting for tension, the play doesn’t trust the audience to see the parallels between past and present, creating little m…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:48AM

George Clooney Makes an Impressive Broadway Bow in Taut Film-to-Stage Transfer by Jacob Malizio

This transfer from screen to stage is as intense and laser-focused as the penetrating gaze coming from its star and co-writer, George Clooney. The post George Clooney Makes an Impressive Bro…

SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 01:48AM

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