All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Sunday, January 26, 2020

First Look BroadwayCon 2020: Watch Six The Musical, Company, Mrs. Doubtfire, Caroline or Change, Sing Street, Girl from the North Country by Jonathan Mandell

Casts from six shows opening this season on Broadway — including shows with music by Bob Dylan and Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Tony Kushner – performed at First Look at BroadwayCon 2…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:40PM
Saturday, January 25, 2020

The Transfiguration of Benjamin Banneker: Theodora Skipitares’ puppetry collage about an 18th Century African-American astronomer, a 20th Century bl by Jonathan Mandell

In this gorgeous, enlightening and ambitious —  if over-stuffed — hour-long theatrical collage, Theodora Skipitares uses the eerie visual splendor of puppetry to illuminate a serious su…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:47PM

“If truth doesn’t matter, we’re lost” – transcript and video of Adam Schiff’s closing arguments in Trump Impeachment Trial Days 4 and 5 by Jonathan Mandell

A transcript and video of the closing arguments both Thursday and Friday by Representative Adam Schiff, the House impeachment manager for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:37AM
Friday, January 24, 2020

Review: A Soldier’s Play on Broadway at long last. by Jonathan Mandell

Charles Fuller’s murder mystery, finally on Broadway in a fine production directed by Kenny Leon some four decades after it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is so good that even if you’…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:18PM

A Soldier’s Play on Broadway At Last by Jonathan Mandell

Charles Fuller’s murder mystery, finally on Broadway in a fine production directed by Kenny Leon some four decades after it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is so good that even if you’…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:36AM
Thursday, January 23, 2020

Broadway review: Grand Horizons. A starry cast for a hip, old-fashioned comedy. by Jonathan Mandell

“I think I would like a divorce,” Jane Alexander as Nancy French says to her husband of 50 years,  played by James Cromwell. “All right,” Bill replies.  Blackout. More production p…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:18PM

Grand Horizons on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

“I think I would like a divorce,” Jane Alexander as Nancy French says to her husband of 50 years, played by James Cromwell. “All right,” Bill replies. Blackout. That’s all the dial…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:15PM
Wednesday, January 22, 2020

When a play leaves you speechless: Cezary Goes To War. As Long As It Lasts. Must Go On. by Jonathan Mandell

Some shows you leave needing to tell people about; some shows you leave thinking about what you are going to have for dinner. A few shows ruin your dinner. If you’re a drama critic, you ar…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:30PM
Tuesday, January 21, 2020

“Theater” as political insult. Lesbians on Stage. Broadway Week. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

When did “theater” become an insult? With the impeachment trial scheduled to begin in earnest this week, the one thing that the right and the left, Democrats and Republicans, seem to agr…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:26AM
Monday, January 20, 2020

Leaving the Blues Review: The (Gay) Life of Alberta Hunter by Jonathan Mandell

“Leaving the Blues” dramatizes the life of the amazing jazz, blues and Broadway singer/songwriter Alberta Hunter. I long thought her story was ideal for a musical, ever since I saw her a…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:36PM

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 1/20/2020: King on Health Over Hotels, Housing Over War, Morality Over Materialism by Jonathan Mandell

“We must devote at least as much to our children’s education and the health of the poor as we do to the care of our automobiles and the building of beautiful, impressive hotels,” Marti…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:53PM
Sunday, January 19, 2020

Ich kann nicht anders review: Slovenian avant-garde theater troupe Beton at La MaMa by Jonathan Mandell

“You will hear an unbelievable true story,”  one of the three actors from the Republic of Slovenia on a stage designed to look like a makeshift bunker, tells us at the beginning of the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:04PM

Broadway Review: My Name Is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney by Jonathan Mandell

“Lonely was the first flavor I had tasted in my life, and it was always there, hidden inside the crevices of my mouth, reminding me.” That’s what Laura Linney as Lucy Barton tells us f…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 05:54AM
Saturday, January 18, 2020

My Name Is Lucy Barton on Broadway with Laura Linney by Jonathan Mandell

…”My Name is Lucy Barton” is a sometimes poignant, often tedious 90-minute monologue… The hope was that Laura Linney would do for it what France McDormand did in the HBO miniseries t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:51PM
Friday, January 17, 2020

Ann Harada, from Q to Poo by Jonathan Mandell

Ann Harada, who made her Broadway debut more than 30 years ago, is philosophical about the latest character she portrays. “Sometimes you get to play glamorous roles,” she says, “and so…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:54AM
Thursday, January 16, 2020

Under the Radar: Feos. Two ugly puppets meet and mate by Jonathan Mandell

They meet on a line for a movie; the man and the woman — each disfigured by childhood accidents —  are used to be stared at, and they are used to being alone. Inspired by the late Urugu…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:41PM
Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Modern Maori Quartet Two Worlds Review: New Zealand Musical Theater, Via Vegas by Jonathan Mandell

Those theatergoers drawn to “Modern Maori Quartet: Two Worlds” for the authentic music and culture of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand might feel blindsided by what seems like …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:18AM
Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Under the Radar: To The Moon. Laurie Anderson’s playful lunar exploration via Virtual Reality by Jonathan Mandell

This 15 minutes of Virtual Reality offering the sensation of looking at, walking on and flying over the moon — created by performance artist Laurie Anderson and new media artist Hsin-Chien…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:06PM
Monday, January 13, 2020

Diana, MJ, Mack and Mabel, Birthday Candles, Intimate Apparel Complete Their Casts. Who Goes to Broadway! #Stageworthy News of the Week. by Jonathan Mandell

The typical Broadway theatergoer is still a well-to-do , middle-aged woman from out-of-town, according to statistics presented in The Demographics of the Broadway Audience 2018–2019, the 2…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:54PM

Oscar Nominations 2020 by Jonathan Mandell

Below are the nominations in 24 categories for the 92nd Academy Awards, Joker” led all films with 11 nominations, including for Best Actor Joaquin Phoenix and Best Director Todd Phillips, …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:24AM
Sunday, January 12, 2020

Broadway and the Oscars: A Quiz by Jonathan Mandell

Nominations for the 92nd annual Academy Awards will be announced tomorrow January 13, so it seems a good time to test your knowledge of the history of Broadway at the Oscars. (The 92nd Oscar…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:25PM
Saturday, January 11, 2020

Broadway Week 2-for-1 tickets on sale now by Jonathan Mandell

Tickets are now on sale for Broadway Week, where you can buy two tickets for the price of one for performances from January 21 through February 9 of 21 Broadway shows, from “Ain’t Too Pr…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:35AM
Friday, January 10, 2020

A Hunger Artist Review: A Visual Feast, A Morsel of Meaning by Jonathan Mandell

There was a time when people made a living by starving themselves in front of a paying audience — an art form that lasted for centuries, but one that was on the wane when Franz Kafka wrote…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:04PM
Thursday, January 9, 2020

Under the Radar: The Shadow Whose Prey The Hunter Becomes by Jonathan Mandell

The long arty title and the vague, grand description of the show in the Under the Radar festival listing are both misleading. “The Shadow” etc. has a straightforward subject and a clear …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:13PM
Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Wild Dogs Under My Skirt Review: When the Rainbow is Enuf in New Zealand by Jonathan Mandell

“Wild Dogs Under My Skirt,” a rhythmic, exuberant and startling work of theater that is the first of three New Zealand plays at Soho Playhouse this month, resembles Ntozake Shange’s ch…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:30PM
Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Off-Off Broadway Season Preview Guide by Jonathan Mandell

Two Broadway veterans — Taylor Mac, Tony-nominated playwright of “Gary” and Greg Kotis, the Tony-winning co-author of “Urinetown” – are back Off-Off Broadway this season, and why…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:44PM
Monday, January 6, 2020

Broadway at the Golden Globes. What To See in 2020. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Broadway and Off-Broadway were represented at the 77th annual Golden Globes; click on photographs for details. (Full list of 2020 Golden Globe winners and nominees.) Theater is an art form t…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:20AM
Sunday, January 5, 2020

Broadway Poll: Spring 2020 Show You Most Want to See by Jonathan Mandell

Choose the show that you are most looking forward to. The list below is for shows that have opening dates on Broadway from January through April 2020 as of this writing, and they are listed …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:48AM
Saturday, January 4, 2020

Off Broadway Spring 2020 Preview Guide: 20 Shows to See Through April by Jonathan Mandell

Genocide, suicide, murder, deportation, terror, kidnapping, mass explosion – those are some of the bleak subjects of the Off-Broadway shows I’m most looking forward to this season, liste…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:49PM
Friday, January 3, 2020

Spring 2020 Broadway Preview: Familiar Stars, Familiar Stories, With A Few Curveballs by Jonathan Mandell

For all the Broadway lore and persistent hope that a show on the Great White Way will make new stars and break new ground, the appeal of Broadway increasingly has become its familiarity – …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:50PM
Thursday, January 2, 2020

January 2020 New York Theater Openings by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a selection of New York theater openings in January, organized chronologically by opening date.* Three shows  are opening on Broadway this month —  Laura Linney in “My Name Is…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:13PM

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