All stories by Sandra Mardenfeld on BroadwayStars

Monday, November 2, 2015

Allegiance by Sandra Mardenfeld

I saw something I've never seen when I went to an October evening preview of Allegiance: a 69-question survey taped to my seat. From queries about story lines and characters to why you chose…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:15PM
Thursday, October 1, 2015

Cinderella by Sandra Mardenfeld

The intimate atmosphere of the Minetta Lane Theater -- a venue that seats just under 400 -- provides a perfect place for Company XIV's 2015-2016 season. With their signature slinky and sexy …

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 07:13PM
Wednesday, September 9, 2015

The Legend of Georgia McBride by Sandra Mardenfeld

The MCC Theater’s latest offering, The Legend of Georgia McBride, shows drag queens at work: those that dress up as a sparkly symbol of protest against discrimination; those who are just b…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:39PM
Thursday, August 20, 2015

Cymbeline--Words for Its Final Four Days by Sandra Mardenfeld

Three Reasons to Go See One of Shakespeare's Least Liked PlaysThere are four days left to see Cymbeline, the second offering of The Public's annual Free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delaco…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:50AM
Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Blood Red Roses: The Female Pirate Project by Sandra Mardenfeld

Yo ho ho ... here be the tales of some of the most infamous women pirates known. Staged on the 100-year-old Lehigh Valley Barge No. 79 in Red Hook, also home to The Waterfront Museum, Blood …

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:16PM
Sunday, May 10, 2015

Doctor Zhivago by Sandra Mardenfeld

Doctor Zhivago closes today after just 49 performances (including previews) ... and that's a shame. Because even though it mostly deserves the mixed to negative reviews it received, the show…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:56PM
Monday, November 17, 2014

Love Letters by Sandra Mardenfeld

Photo Credit: Carol RoseggAlan Alda and Candice Bergen replaced Carol Burnett and Brian Dennehy as the two life-long pen pals that rarely physically connect in A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters a…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:05AM
Friday, January 24, 2014

Outside Mullingar by Sandra Mardenfeld

A slight, but emotional play by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt--Tony Award/Pulitzer Prize), Outside Mullingar excels at beautifying life's minutiae without delving deeply into its complexities.…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:22AM
Saturday, December 14, 2013

Blessed Unrest's A Christmas Carol by Sandra Mardenfeld

The cast of Blessed Unrest's A Christmas Carol. Photo by Alan Roche ‘Tis the season when perennial favorites, such as A Christmas Carol, come to visit. Just as Scrooge’s three spiri…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 05:37PM
Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Romeo and Juliet by Sandra Mardenfeld

I’m always late to the party—so it is predictable for me to see a show days before its closing. But Romeo and Juliet, which ends on Sunday, deserves an audience. The first Broadway reviv…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:39PM
Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Love's Labour's Lost by Sandra Mardenfeld

Love and the fools it makes of us sets the background for The Public Theater’s world premiere of a new musical version of Love’s Labour’s Lost, the second show of The Public’s 2013 f…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:06PM
Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Geppetto by Sandra Mardenfeld

Carlo Adinolfi as Geppetto/Photo credit: Stefan Hagen  Even before Geppetto (Carlo Adinolfi) walks into his workshop, the simple set reflects a yearning of years gone past. Its brick wa…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:18PM
Thursday, April 11, 2013

Matilda by Sandra Mardenfeld

Matilda, both the musical that opens tonight, and its source material—the beloved 1988 Roald Dahl children’s novel—challenges the typical mythology of childhood, where angelic preschoo…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:31PM
Sunday, March 24, 2013

Rodger + Hammerstein's Cinderella by Sandra Mardenfeld

--> Cinderella (Laura Osnes) and her Prince (Santino Fontana) dance at the ball.Photo credit: Carol RoseggWhat does a girl need to do for a little attention? In the new version of R…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:00PM
Sunday, January 13, 2013

The Other Place by Sandra Mardenfeld

Even as the audience finds their seats at Manhattan Theater Club’s presentation of The Other Place, the juxtaposition of human strength and fragility and the whisper of the bridge between,…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:39PM
Monday, October 29, 2012

You Will Make a Difference by Sandra Mardenfeld

--> Photo by Charlie WinterThis Halloween, AliveWire Theatrics provides a sepulchral journey to self-discovery with You Will Make a Difference, a collaboratively created show more e…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:24PM
Monday, September 24, 2012

ART by Sandra Mardenfeld

Changing the sex of the characters in the workinggirls productions presentation of ART, the Yasmina Reza play that swept the 1998 awards season (Tony, New York Drama Critics’ Circle and Ev…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 10:58AM
Sunday, July 29, 2012

Evita by Sandra Mardenfeld

Ricky Martin gives good lean—posing against a wall, languishing next to a pillar, and climbing a ladder, tilting his body precariously away from the rungs. Despite a voice that merely hits…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 08:20PM
Friday, July 20, 2012

Peter and the Starcatcher by Sandra Mardenfeld

Fairytales should seem magical—and parts of this prequel to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, (adapted by Jersey Boys co-writer Rick Elice from humor writer Dave Barry and suspense novelist Ridle…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:47PM
Friday, June 29, 2012

The Etiquette of Death by Sandra Mardenfeld

The Etiquette of DeathPhoto by: Ves PittsCaption: Chris Tanner as Joan Girdler (standing) and Everett Quinton as Death.The premiere of Chris Tanner’s heavy-handed farce, The Etiquette of D…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:34PM
Thursday, May 17, 2012

Announcement: Show Showdown Review Nominated for Media Award by Sandra Mardenfeld

The Show Showdown review for Company XIV's version of Snow White posted on December 16, 2011 written by Sandra Mardenfeld is a finalist in the Press Club of Long Island Media Award competiti…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 01:40PM
Monday, February 13, 2012

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess by Sandra Mardenfeld

Photo by Michael J. LutchWhile watching The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, the newest incarnation of the famed opera, Audra McDonald’s performance in the title role continually reminded me o…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:46PM
Sunday, January 8, 2012

Sandra's Faves of 2011 by Sandra Mardenfeld

My New Year's resolution is to see more theater. I just joined Show Showdown last spring, and, as a result, only saw about 16 shows last year. That does not qualify me to do a "Best of" list…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:31AM
Friday, December 16, 2011

SNOW WHITE by Sandra Mardenfeld

Caption: Gracie White as Snow White, Ashley Handel & Laura Careless as the Evil QueenPhoto credit: Steven SchreiberWith two big-budget Snow White films coming out in 2012, the porcelain-face…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:32PM
Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Venus in Fur by Sandra Mardenfeld

A story I once heard kept haunting me during Manhattan Theatre Club’s presentation of David Ives’ Venus in Fur: when Michelangelo worked on the Sistine Chapel’s The Last Judgment, the …

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 11:29PM
Monday, October 24, 2011

Question of the Week—Porgy and Bess: How much revision is too much? by Sandra Mardenfeld

Composer Steven Sondheim really, really hates the idea of the new version of Porgy and Bess on Broadway (opening on January 12, 2012). In summary, he disagrees with the decision to dub it Ge…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 03:02PM
Saturday, October 1, 2011

Follies by Sandra Mardenfeld

I think Liz stole my best lines in her review of Follies last week—my damn procrastination foils me again! Seriously, though, my colleague and I share much of the same impression of the sh…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 09:10PM
Friday, September 23, 2011

Shows I Wish I Could See? Continuing the Conversation. by Sandra Mardenfeld

I never understand the fascination with Ethel Mermen. Her brassy voice on recordings never really impresses me and, yet, she is one of Broadway's most treasured icons(I know. I know. It's he…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:37PM
Thursday, September 15, 2011

Tape by Sandra Mardenfeld

Photo credit: Sal Cacciato Caption: Don DiPaolo and Therese PlaehnIt seems we never leave high school. In the revival of Stephen Belber’s Tape, the indelible mark of former school days per…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 02:59PM
Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Be Story Free by Sandra Mardenfeld

I admit it. I’m a Steve Burns groupie. With three children under the age of four, “Blue’s Clues” gets plenty of airtime on our television. So curiosity to see Steve sans his sidekick…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 04:38PM
Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Normal Heart by Sandra Mardenfeld

The most poignant character of Larry Kramer’s incendiary The Normal Heart appears silently throughout the action: the growing count of AIDS victims. Character, perhaps, provides an insuffi…

SOURCE: Show Showdown at 12:20PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards