Monday, September 30, 2024

My Conversation with David Sedarias by Frank Rizzo

For David Sedaris, everything is fodder for his slightly twisty and sardonic view of life, whether it’s those annoying post-purchase surveys that flood our emails, the condescending nature…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:41PM
Sunday, September 29, 2024

My Variety Review: "The Hills of California" by Jeb Butterworth by Frank Rizzo

All production photos by Joan Marcus Jez Butterworth’s ambitious, captivating and richly rewarding domestic drama “The Hil…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:51PM
Friday, September 27, 2024

Sad New: Maggie Smith dead at 89 by Frank Rizzo

Sad news about the death of Maggie Smith. Her pre-Broadway performance in "Private Lives" in Boston in 1975 (which I saw nearly 50 years ago -- and wrote a show-off review for a suburban Mas…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:53AM
Saturday, September 14, 2024

Off Broadway: Douglas Lyon's Charming "Table 17" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Table 17” at Manhattan Class Company in New York City. What is it?: A new play by Douglas Lyons, who last wrote Broadway’s “Chicken and Biscuits” What makes it special?:…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:04PM
Thursday, August 15, 2024

My Broadway Review of 'Once Upon a Mattress' Starring Sutton Foster by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Once Upon a Mattress” at the Hudson Theatre. What makes it special:? Another transfer from the New York City Center’s Encores! series to Broadway. Sutton Foster and Michael…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:55PM
Tuesday, July 30, 2024

My Variety Broadway Review: "JOB by Frank Rizzo

It’s no spoiler to say “JOB”, Max Wolf Friedlich’s electrifying synapse of play, features a highly stressed young woman pointing a gun at a therapist in his office. That’s how the …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:28PM
Sunday, July 21, 2024

Can Connecticut Theaters Be Saved? by Frank Rizzo

The site of the former Long Wharf Theatre By FRANK RIZZO It's Saturday night at the New Haven Food Terminal complex. The park…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:41AM
Thursday, July 18, 2024

My Variety Review: 'Choice' by Winnie Holzman at the McCarter by Frank Rizzo

Making life-altering decisions is no small matter, especially for the characters in “Choice,” Winnie Holzman’s provocative but imperfect play, which just completed a run at Princeton�…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:46AM
Saturday, July 13, 2024

My Afternoon with Dr. Ruth by Frank Rizzo

Sad news about the death of Dr. Ruth Westheimer at the age of 96. I remember fondly spending an afternoon with her in her Washington Heights apartment in NYCm in 2013 to advance a production…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 01:13PM

'Mystic Pizza" -- Back in Connecticut -- Is Now A Musical by Frank Rizzo

First "Mystic Pizza" was a hit film which launched Julia Roberts’ career, now it's a musical which will run at the Ivoryton Playhouse in Essex, just a 20 minute drive from the film’s nam…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:50AM

Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary by Frank Rizzo

A scene from “13” at the Norma Terris Theatre. Tucked away in the cozy Connecticut town of Chester, sits the Terris Theatr…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:13AM

Connecticut Critics Awards The Best of '23-'24 Season by Frank Rizzo

An innovative production of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge at Long Wharf Theatre and a high-spirited, buoyant production of Summer Stock at Goodspeed Musicals took top honors at th…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:20AM
Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Some Bali-Ha'i Thoughts on 'South Pacific' at Goodspeed by Frank Rizzo

The show: “South Pacific” at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT. , through Aug. 11. What is it?: A Rodgers & Hammerstein musical based on James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-w…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:17PM
Friday, May 24, 2024

Catching Up With Tony Kushner by Frank Rizzo

Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright of “Angels in America” and Steven Spielberg’s go-to screenwriter over the last 20 years, is never short of opinions t…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:40PM
Monday, May 13, 2024

Randall Beach Is a (Connecticut) People Person by Frank Rizzo

Randy Beach is a character witness. For more than 40 years the veteran journalist has chronicled some of Connecticut’s most colorful, passionate, and often unsung people, in his columns f…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:04PM
Monday, April 22, 2024

My Variety Review: New Musical "The Heart of Rock and Roll by Frank Rizzo

When a character in the new musical “The Heart of Rock and Roll” tries to convince his ex to leave her job at a factory that makes shipping materials, he is stunned: “Oh, my god. It’…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:35PM

My Variety Review: "Patriots" on Broadway by Frank Rizzo

In Peter Morgan’s tantalizing but disappointing new play “Patriots,” Boris Berezovsky is presented as a larger-than-life oligarch in a post-Soviet Russia who transforms Vladimir Putin …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:57PM
Saturday, April 20, 2024

My Variety Review: New Broadway Musical "Lempicka" by Frank Rizzo

To the list of larger-than-life, survivalist women in musical theater, add Tamara de Lempicka — but with an asterisk. The name of the Polish-born portraitist who died in 1980 might not be …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:55AM

My Variety Review: "Stereophonic" by Frank Rizzo

There’s a moment in David Adjmi’s play “Stereophonic” when a discordant, mid-’70s band-on-the rise hears one of its songs played back to them in the recording studio for the first …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:25AM
Thursday, April 18, 2024

My Variety Review: New Musical "Suffs" on Broadway by Frank Rizzo

A musical that captures the sweep of history in all its complexities without sacrifice of character or credibility is no easy feat.   But “Suffs,” which tells the story of the final pus…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 11:50PM
Sunday, March 31, 2024

Off-Broadway Review: "Corruption" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Corruption” by J.T. Rogers at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:03PM

Jose Llana: Here Lies Pride by Frank Rizzo

It was an awkward moment for Jose Llana when he told his family that he would be starring in the new stage musical "Here Lies Love." But Llana would not be playing heroic Philippine politici…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:56AM

'Fellow Traveler' Jelani Alladin Is His Own Man by Frank Rizzo

When Jelani Alladin (pictured left) read the description of his character in the Showtime/Paramount + series “Fellow Travelers,” the romantic leading man of the stage musicals “Frozen�…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:37AM
Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Shakespeare Is On The Case In 'The Sister Queens' by Frank Rizzo

Justin Scott of Newtown is a writer of more than 30 historic adventure thrillers, including the “The Shipkiller," the Ben Abbott mystery series, and 10 best sellers co-authored with Clive …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 09:22AM
Sunday, March 24, 2024

Broadway's "Purlie Victorious:' Hallelujah! Now To Be Shown On PBS by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch” played Broadway’s Music Box Theatre this fall and early winter and will now be seen on PBS’s American…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 01:57PM
Thursday, March 21, 2024

My Variety Review: "Water for Elephants"" by Frank Rizzo

Ever feel like running away from home to join a musical? Then “Water for Elephants” would be the show of choice that offers escapism, enchantment and heart — and thrills, too. Based o…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 10:17PM

Review: "Illinoise" Off Broadway at Park Avenue Armory by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Ilinoise” through March 26 at the Park Avenue Armory. The show will have a limited Broadway run at the St. James Theatre, beginning performances on its official opening date …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 04:59PM
Friday, March 15, 2024

Variety Review: "The Notebook" Musical on Broadway by Frank Rizzo

Musical theater can be a sucker for a romantic tale, whether it’s about obsessive devotion, idealized passion, or lost loves. “The Notebook,” based on Nicholas Sparks‘ bestselling, 1…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 08:20AM
Saturday, March 2, 2024

Review: 'On Set With Theda Bara' Starring David Greenspan by Frank Rizzo

All photos by Emilio Madrid The show: ‘On Set With Theda Bara’ by Joey Merlo at the Brick Theatre in the Williamsburg se…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 04:20PM
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Review: New Off-Broadway Musical "The Connector" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “The Connector” at off-Broadway’s MCC Theatre in New York City What makes it special?: The latest musical by composer Jason Robert Brown, one of the leading musical lights in…

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 03:03PM
Friday, December 29, 2023

My Own Take: Stephen Sondheim's Final Musical -- "Here We Are" by Frank Rizzo

The show: “Here We Are” at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City When it was announced nearly 10 years ago that Stephen Sondheim would be collaborating with playwright David Ives on …

SOURCE: ShowRiz at 05:53PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 15, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
TBA: Titanic