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Take-Home Musicals

As of this writing, cast albums of most of the recently ended season’s new musicals, revivals, and “revisals” have been or are very soon to be released. So, for the benefit of those who are planning to acquire some or all of the recordings, here in no particular order is my review rundown. Still to come is Sony’s cast album of the ersatz Gershwin tuner Nice Work if You Can …more…

Old Jews Telling Jokes

The cast of OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES (Photo: Joan Marcus)

The great thing about a show like Old Jews Telling Jokes is that the title tells you pretty much exactly what you’re getting. No basis for a consumer fraud lawsuit here, that’s for sure!

This delightful revue at the Westside Theatre features veterans Marilyn Sokol, Lenny Wolpe, and Todd Susman as the “old Jews,” along with younger actors Audrey Lynn Weston …more…

Bad Work If You Can Stand It

Kelli O'Hara and Matthew Broderick in NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (Photo: Joan Marcus)

In my last ArtsAmerica blog entry, I wrote about what I consider to be an unfortunate omission from the list of this year’s Tony Award nominees for Best Play: David Auburn’s The Columnist. Now I’d like to call attention to an unfortunate inclusion among the nominees for Best Musical: Nice Work If You Can …more…

John Lithgow Shines in THE COLUMNIST

John Lithgow in THE COLUMNIST

One of the most inexplicable and unfortunate omissions from this year’s Tony Award nominations is David Auburn’s The Columnist, which definitely deserved to be put up for Best Play. In terms of both the writing and the overall production, it’s notably superior to two of the other nominees, Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park and Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities, and is at least as satisfying …more…

Streetcar Is Right on Track

Nicole Ari Parker and Blair Underwood

It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised, as I was by the very fine production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire that recently opened at the Broadhurst Theatre.  What might have sounded like an ill-advised new take on the play in which “color-blind” casting is done as little more than a stunt turns out to be a commendable, idiomatically valid interpretation of an American …more…

The Boy Who Would Be Peter Pan

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER

When they are well done, so called “prequels” can serve as highly entertaining and intriguing adjuncts to beloved classics. Though prequels are far more common in film than in theater, there are some  examples from the stage — most notably the mega-hit Broadway musical Wicked, which is largely a prequel to The Wizard of Oz.

Although it’s doubtful that Peter and the Starcatcher will ever approach the …more…

The Big Meal Satisfies, Big Time

Anita Gillette and Tom Bloom in THE BIG MEAL (Photo: Joan Marcus)

For reasons too obvious to list here and now, the most thoroughly satisfying new American plays — those that feature strong characters, compelling subject matter, and vivid dialogue but nothing in the way of cheap thrills — rarely come to light on Broadway anymore, though many still get there eventually.

Instead, look to Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and the country’s finest …more…

Smeared Rainbow

Tracie Bennett in END OF THE RAINBOW

With so many Broadway shows opening this spring (as happens every year), it can be very difficult to budget one’s money and time in deciding what to see and what not to see. But if your taste is equivalent to mine, there’s one “entertainment” that can safely be placed at the bottom of your list: Peter Quilter’s play End of the Rainbow, which …more…

Praise Jesus!

Paul Nolan in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

People have all sorts of opinions as to what defines an opera as compared to a musical. I think one important difference is that, in opera, the music making — i.e., the singing, conducting, and orchestral playing — is of such paramount importance that a musically excellent performance is likely to please audiences even if other production elements such as direction, sets, and costumes …more…

Musicals Tonight! Serves up L’IL ABNER

Bill Coyne and Jody Cook in L'IL ABNER (Photo: Michael Portantiere)

Based on the Al Capp comic strip of the same title, and featuring a terrific score by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer, the musical L’il Abner was a big hit when it originally opened on Broadway in 1956. But first-class revivals since then have been scarce, and the show has not yet returned to Broadway, perhaps because the …more…

The Washington Senators Score in DAMN YANKEES at Paper Mill

As if theater-loving residents of N.Y.C. don’t have enough shows on and off Broadway to keep them entertained, there’s a theater in nearby Millburn, New Jersey that has been a popular audience destination since 1938. The Paper Mill Playhouse can always be counted on to present top-shelf productions of beloved musicals and plays in its Broadway-size venue. Currently, Paper Mill is fielding an excellent revival of the beloved musical Damn Yankees (and I promise to stop right there with the baseball puns). ...more...

Role Reversal at “Broadway Backwards”

Musical theater guys have sometimes been heard to complain that their female counterparts get the best parts and the best songs in shows such as Mame, Hello, Dolly!, Funny Girl, and Wicked. But that’s okay, because female musical theater performers have been known to covet the great male roles and songs: Harold Hill in The Music Man, Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, et al. ...more...

Driver Education

Like any other award, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama is not always a 100 percent accurate indicator of superior quality or the “best” of a particular year. I won’t name any of the winners that I consider questionable, but if you’ll peruse the list of plays (and, occasionally, musicals) that have received the award over the years, I’m sure you’ll find some head scratchers. However, the Pulitzer committee sure got it right in 1998, when the honor went to Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive. ...more...

Attention Must Be Paid

Each season, there’s a stampede of  Broadway openings in the months prior to the Tony Awards. With so many shows arriving at once, journalists and theatergoers pretty much tend to focus their attention on one production at a time, in the order in which they open. Maybe that’s why I’ve yet to hear any buzz on what sounds like it’s going to be one of this spring’s most newsworthy theatrical …more…

How to Pick a Hit

“Few experiences are more shattering than to write away for tickets weeks before a new show is scheduled to open, read in the Times one morning that it’s closed out of town and then be spotted that afternoon in the refund line by your smart-aleck next door neighbor who always manages to see the big hits of every season during the first week of their run.”

Thus began one of the …more…

The Broadway Musicals of 1946

If you’re disappointed in the most recent crop of new Broadway musicals — and who isn’t? — you might want to consider time traveling with the help of the “Broadway by the Year” concert series. Created, written, and hosted by Scott Siegel for The Town Hall, these invaluable concerts each transport present-day audiences back in time with songs from Broadway shows that opened during a particular calendar year, all performed by top talent from the Broadway, concert, and cabaret worlds. ...more...

What’s Happening in January?

Traditionally, January is a slow month for theater in New York (and elsewhere) in terms of ticket sales and openings, for several reasons including the facts that (1) people are recovering from the holidays, both emotionally and financially; and (2) the weather isn’t always conducive to a Big Night Out. But there are three openings set for 01/12, so here’s a little bit of background on them. ...more...

Good Newsical

Back in the day, there were lots of revues that used then-current events and politics as fodder for sharp humor. Now, such commodities are rare. But it happens that one of the best examples of the genre — if not THE best — is playing at the Kirk Theatre at Theatre Row. It’s called Newsical the Musical, and the fact that this production has been running for more than a year should give you an idea of what a crowd-pleaser the show is. ...more...

Stars in Your Eyes

Hugh Jackman (Photo by Michael Portantiere)

The stars are shining. Although the recent crop of  New York theater openings has proved to be pretty lackluster overall, audiences are being compensated in that lots of big names from the worlds of film, television, and theater are now appearing on our stages.

The presence of these stars is thrilling to their fans, even if some of their vehicles leave much to be desired …more…

Holiday Theater Treats

‘Tis the season, folks! If you’re in the market for holiday entertainment options other than such world-famous mainstays as the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the New York City Ballet’s legendary production of The Nutcracker, you have several theatrical options this year. ...more...

A Broadway Thanksgiving

GODSPELL on Broadway

Here’s my own personal list of 10 theatrical things to be thankful for at this festive time of the year:

1. Nina Arianda: How often does anyone or anything truly live up to tremendous hype? This is one of those rare cases. Last season, the virtually unknown Arianda garnered rave reviews and award nominations for her electrifying Off-Broadway turn in Venus in Fur, in which she shone as …more…

The Battle of the Matinee Idols

Harry Connick, Jr. (Photo: Palma Kolansky)

There aren’t many “matinee idols” left in the theater, so it’s quite a happy coincidence that two of the few performers who undeniably fit that description — Hugh Jackman and Harry Connick, Jr. — have come back to Broadway at the same time, in two different shows. Let the Battle of the Box Office begin!

Actually, that battle may already have been won: Tickets sales …more…