The Infectious Qualities of "Bug" by Jan Simpson

Maybe it’s the current dystopic state of the world but I had a hard time with Bug, the revival of Tracy Letts’ 1996 play that opened this month at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. F…

All the Drama: “The Time of Your Life”, 1940 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jan Simpson

All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Photo credit: Library of Congress The Pulitzer Prize for Drama…

10 Shows That Meant the Most to Me in 2025 by Jan Simpson

As usual, I’m late with a list of the shows I most enjoyed in 2025 but I’m going to share it anyway and since I am late, I’m also going to cut right to the chase. There were musicals I…

Happy New Year! by Jan Simpson

Wishing You All the Merriest Christmas... by Jan Simpson

 ...from me and some of our mutual friends:

Challenging Power Plays in "The Burning Cauldon of Fiery Fire" and "Practice" by Jan Simpson

Getting others to see the world in a certain way and then convincing them to do almost anything to preserve that point of view requires a toolbox of skills that include charisma and a ferven…

All the Drama: “Hamilton”, 2016 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jan Simpson

All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: “Hamilton”2016 Pulitzer winn…

Stagecraft: Scott Organ on “Diversion” by Jan Simpson

Photo by Edward T. Morris The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broad…

Thankful Thoughts for This Thanksgiving by Jan Simpson

Happy Thanksgiving!  It’s been a crazy month. An avalanche of shows have been opening both on and off Broadway. I’ve seen 20 of them over the past four weeks—some good, some just OK, …

"Kyoto" is a Call to Action on Climate Change by Jan Simpson

The only thing small about Kyoto, the latest import from Britain that opened this week at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse theater, is its one-word title. Everything else is outsized: th…

Going Solo: "The Least Problematic Woman in the World," "Other" and "Did You Eat? by Jan Simpson

One-person shows are popping up everywhere. And it makes sense that they should.  They’re comparatively cheap to put on since by definitiion there’s only one performer to pay and the co…

All the Drama: “Water by the Spoonful”, 2012 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jan Simpson

All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: “Water by the Spoonful”2012 …

Wrestling with the Head Trips of "And Then We Were No More" and "This Much I Know" by Jan Simpson

Every once in a while I see a show that is filled with smart ideas, and that is interestingly directed and well-performed and yet still leaves me cold. Over the past week or so I saw two sh…

"Mexodus": a Hip Mix of Hip-Hop and History by Jan Simpson

Theater lovers have been celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hamilton this year, and well we should. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about the Founding Fathers made seeing musicals cool again…

The 4 Shows I Most Want to See in Fall 2025 by Jan Simpson

Once again I seem to be late to the party. Other bloggers, critics and influencers have been putting out lists of the things they most want to see in this new theater season since mid-August…

All the Drama: “Street Scene”, 1929 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jan Simpson

All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: “Street Scene”1929 Pulitzer …

A Labor Day Salute to the Back Office Folks by Jan Simpson

Well, here we are: it’s Labor Day Weekend already.  And every year since I started writing here, I’ve marked this unofficial end of summer—and the real start of the fall theater seaso…

Stagecraft: Bubba Weiler on “Well, I’ll Let You Go” by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Bubba Weiler (playwri…

All the Drama: “Dinner With Friends”, 2000 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jan Simpson

All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: “Dinner With Friends”2000 Pu…

Stagecraft: Cary Gitter on “Gene & Gilda” by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Gene & Gilda by C…

A Highly Subjective List of the (So Far) Best Plays and Musicals of the 21st Century by Jan Simpson

The New York Times recently published a fancy interactive list of what it considers to be “The Best Movies of the 21st Century.”  The editors say they assembled the list by asking more …

Why "Ginger Twinsies" Just Isn't for Me by Jan Simpson

It's often said that imitation is the highest form of flattery but sometimes it's just a knock-off of something more original. And I'm afraid the latter seems to be the case with Ginger Twin…

Stagecraft: Charles Randolph-Wright on Duke & Roya by Jan Simpson

The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. Charles Randolph-Wrig…

All the Drama: “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, 1962 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jan Simpson

All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: “How to Succeed in Business Wi…

Theater Books for Summer Reading 2025 by Jan Simpson

We’ve already had our first heat waves of the season—the temperature hit 101° in Central Park this past week!—which is a sure sign that summer is here. But for almost 20 years now, th…

All the Drama: “The Diary of Anne Frank”, 1956 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jan Simpson

All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: “The Diary of Anne Frank“195…

Praise for the Reimagined Myth of "Eurydice" by Jan Simpson

In most tellings of the myth about the ill-fated love story between Orpheus and Eurydice that famously has him going to the underworld to bring her back from the dead, he gets top billing an…

Let Down By "Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole" by Jan Simpson

Several years ago, I reported a piece on the Smithsonian's "American Popular Song" album, which was intended to be a collection of the best rendition of each song in the Great American Songb…

Why Just About Everyone Loves Kara Young by Jan Simpson

This is a slightly different post than I use write but maybe like me, you have wondered why the nominators for so many different theater awards seem to love the actress Kara Young so much th…

The Angry Young Women in "John Proctor is the Villain" and "Five Models in Ruins, 1981" by Jan Simpson

A new genre has been developing over the past few years, one that in tribute to the post-war change in British theater I’ve been calling “angry young women plays.”   These new works …

All the Drama: “Lost in Yonkers”, 1991 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Jan Simpson

All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: “Lost in Yonkers“1991 Pulitz…