All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

NY Pops-Up: 50 Stars, 1000 Performances by Jonathan Mandell

Below are photographs of 50 of the stars, listed alphabetically by first name from Alec Baldwin to Tina Landau, who have signed up so far for NY Pops-Up, the series of free performances thro…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:10AM
Monday, February 8, 2021

#Stageworthy News of the Week. 376 Years of Theater Legends Lost. 11 Months of Grief and Gratitude and…Joy. by Jonathan Mandell

Four legendary actors died within little more than a week of one another, all in their nineties, long lifetimes devoted to their art. The latest Christopher Plummer and Hal Holbrook. It was…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:13AM

Watch 5 of the Best and 1 of the Creepiest Super Bowl LV Commercials by Jonathan Mandell

Below watch Super Bowl commercials featuring Daveed Diggs, Big Bird, Nick Jonas, Timothée Chalamet, Winona Ryder, Michael B. Jordan and Nick Jonas, both young and old, Matthew McConaughey i…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:32AM
Sunday, February 7, 2021

Amanda Gorman recites her Super Bowl poem. Watch Video and read text by Jonathan Mandell

Inauguration poet Amanda Gorman recites her new poem “Chorus of the Captains” in the pre-show of Super Bowl LV. The poem below recognizes “three honorary game captains the NFL has chos…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:54PM

February 2021 Theater Openings Week 2: Love, Justice and Ann Harada by Jonathan Mandell

Valentine’s Day and Black History Month each influence several works of theater opening this week, February 8-14, 2021, listed day by day below.   The Valentine-oriented shows this week r…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:34PM
Saturday, February 6, 2021

All The Devils Are Here Review: Patrick Page as Shakespeare’s Villains by Jonathan Mandell

“Shakespeare, for all intents and purposes, invented the character we now call The Villain,” Patrick Page claims near the beginning of his solo show, presented online by the Shakespeare …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:17PM
Friday, February 5, 2021

Simply Sondheim Revue Review: Great Musical Theater Without the Theater by Jonathan Mandell

While watching “Simply Sondheim,” the third virtual concert of Sondheim songs that I’ve viewed during the pandemic, I suddenly recalled an argument I had with a fellow usher at the New…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:31PM
Thursday, February 4, 2021

Theater Blog Roundup: Jump-starting an arts revival. TikTok Followup. Sylvester Stallone Off-Broadway?! by Jonathan Mandell

Theater bloggers this past month are taking in the changes in the art form in order to riff on what the future might be – or should be. At the same time, many are recalling what once was o…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:39PM
Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Village Song: A Washington Square Park Police Riot, Malcolm X, Allen Ginsberg, A Tree and A Cookie by Jonathan Mandell

I grew up in Greenwich Village, and live there still, which is one reason why I was thrilled by the five musical numbers of Village Song, all set in the Village, all about either historical…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:07AM
Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Blood Meal, from Theater in Quarantine by Jonathan Mandell

Watch “Blood Meal” below Billed as a “satirical thriller” about a young couple whose home is overtaken by blood-sucking insects, “Blood Meal” didn’t seem for me; I’m not a ho…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:03PM
Monday, February 1, 2021

#Stageworthy News of the Week: Tony voting and so what? Leaping Online! by Jonathan Mandell

Black History Month begins bittersweet, with the death last week of Cicely Tyson, an actress whose electrifying portrayals of resilient Black women served as inspiration for many; the new Au…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:28PM
Sunday, January 31, 2021

February 2021 theater openings, Week 1: Prodigal Son Returns, Online. by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a selection of streaming plays that are opening day by day in the first week of February — a reunion reading of a play by Billy Porter, a Sondheim concert, and a slew of shows hon…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:47PM
Saturday, January 30, 2021

Theater Quiz for January 2021 by Jonathan Mandell

How well were you paying attention to the theater news and reviews in January? Answer these ten questions to find out. Loading…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:08PM
Friday, January 29, 2021

Book Review: The Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939: Engagement and Experimentation by Jonathan Mandell

Given how many theater advocates are calling these days for “a new Federal Theatre Project,” this newly-published book about the first one is, if nothing else, well timed. In The Federal…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:36PM
Thursday, January 28, 2021

Homebound Project 6 Review: Plays about 2021 (stuck in 2020) by Jonathan Mandell

After 29 years of marriage – and, more to the point, ten months of Covid lockdown together – Gale (Becky Ann Baker)  tells her husband Perry (Dylan Baker) she needs a breather, in “T…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:39PM

RIP Cicely Tyson, 96 by Jonathan Mandell

Cicely Tyson, nine-time Broadway veteran, a Tony winner at age 88 for The Rip to Bountiful, was best known as “an actress whose electrifying portrayals of resilient Black women…brought s…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:43PM
Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Three Hotels. Bobby Cannavale and Marisa Tomei as an Idealist Corrupted, A Marriage Betrayed by Jonathan Mandell

Watch “Three Hotels” below through Saturday January 30, 2021 Bobby Cannavale and Marisa Tomei portray a couple who began in the Peace Corps aiming to change the world and found that the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:22PM
Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Rent Began 25 Years Ago: What Allen Ginsberg and Idina Menzel, Daphne, Wilson, and Adam said then by Jonathan Mandell

“Rent” opened Off-Broadway 25 years ago today at the New York Theatre Workshop, which will mark the anniversary in March with a starry streaming fundraising gala.  The opening came a da…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:20PM

The Catastrophist Review: Lauren Gunderson’s surprising new play about a real-life scientist of pandemics (her husband) by Jonathan Mandell

“The Catastrophist,” streaming today through February 28th, is a timely, informative and often eye-opening portrait of a widely respected virologist – a man whose job it is to study vi…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:33PM

Watch Asè, a satire about racial insensitivity in the workplace by Jonathan Mandell

Watch Asè below. York Walker’s 18-minute play, a broad and brutal satire of workplace insensitivity, is the first piece in a series called Consequences, a joint project of Harlem9, Harlem…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:17AM
Monday, January 25, 2021

#Stageworthy News: A Thrilling Week of Theater and Resilience by Jonathan Mandell

What it took to put on the Inaugural festivities in “ a twitchy, locked-down Washington, less than two weeks after a deadly insurrection, during a pandemic” In a word: resilience Resilie…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:48AM
Sunday, January 24, 2021

Theater Opening This Week January 25 to 31: Marisa Tomei twice, Bobby Cannivale, Bill Murray, Joe Biden (!), Irish Rep on Repeat. by Jonathan Mandell

It’s a thrilling last week of January for theater lovers: Bobby Cannivale and Marisa Tomei in a play by Jon Robin Baitz; Tomei again and Oscar Isaac in a play about an unnamed illness; a w…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:11PM
Saturday, January 23, 2021

Theater Streaming This Weekend January 23-24: Happy Birthday Chita Rivera! Save Birdland! Welcome Biden Harris! by Jonathan Mandell

You can see Chita Rivera in three different shows during this jam-packed weekend, which also features theater festival offerings, a starry reading of a Pulitzer-winning play; a reunion readi…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:33AM
Friday, January 22, 2021

#BernieMeme on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Bernadette Peters and Anais Mitchell were among the Broadway enthusiasts who joined the nation riffing on the photograph of Bernie Sanders comfortably sitting with mask and colorful mittens …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:31AM
Thursday, January 21, 2021

Watch Celebrating America. Broadway sings! Also: Lady Gaga, JLo, The Boss, Yo Yo Ma, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, John Legend, Justin Timberlake. Ant Clem by Jonathan Mandell

Below: Watch Lady Gaga singing The National Anthem and JLo This Land Is Your Land in the morning; and in the evening, dozens of Broadway stars performing “Seasons of Love” from Rent and …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:16AM
Wednesday, January 20, 2021

“A country that is bruised, but whole”: Amanda Gorman reads her Inauguration poem, The Hill We Climb by Jonathan Mandell

  Below, watch 22-year-old National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman read aloud her poem  “The Hill We Climb” at the Inauguration of  President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:05PM

President Joe Biden’s Inaugural Address video and transcript: Democracy has prevailed by Jonathan Mandell

“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts,” Joseph R.…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:13PM

Broadway Bye-Byes: Watch Bette Midler, Randy Rainbow, James Corden, Patti LuPone in 3 new parody videos by Jonathan Mandell

Randy Rainbow, to the tune of “Seasons of Love” from Rent, and Bette Midler, to the title song of “Hello, Dolly” sing their gleeful goodbyes to the worst president in American histor…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:24AM
Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Theater Opening This Week Jan 19-22: Joe Iconis, Michael Sheen,  Branden Jacobs-Jenkins by Jonathan Mandell

Below are the listings of theater to see January 19 to 22, which includes a sneak peek at a new musical by Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), two plays by Brian Friel thousands of miles apart, a be…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:01PM

Inauguration Entertainment Schedule. Theater Under Biden Harris: Promises, Pleas and Possibilities. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lady Gaga, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen and Christopher Jackson will be among the performers providing entertainment before and after the noon-time 59th Presidential Inau…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:05AM
Monday, January 18, 2021

Watch We The People, The Biden Harris Inauguration Concert by Jonathan Mandell

Barbra Streisand, Will.i.am, Cher, Carole King, James Taylor, and Fall Out Boy are among the performers in this hour-long concert streamed Sunday to celebrate Joe Biden’s forthcoming inaug…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:36AM

All that Chat