All stories by Andrew Kendall on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

The Song Is Barbara by Andrew Kendall

The first thing I thought about when I heard that Barbara Cook had died was her appearance at the 34th Kennedy Center Honors. To be fair, I think about (and listen to) that Barbara Cook trib…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 03:41PM
Thursday, June 15, 2017

Album Review: Celebrating Key Moments in 2017’s Tony-Winning Musicals by Andrew Kendall

Rachel Bay Jones and Gavin Creel picked up Featured Performer Tony Awards last Sunday for their supporting work in Dear Evan Hansen (Best Musical winner) and Hello, Dolly! (Best Musical Revi…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 02:49PM
Friday, June 10, 2016

Review: She Loves Me (2016 Broadway Cast Recording) by Andrew Kendall

“Thank you, madam. Please call again. Do call again, madam,” is the rejoinder the staff at Maraczek’s Parfumerie sings each time a customer exits the shop. The line charmingly, simply,…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 09:06AM
Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Album Review: “Altitude”, Jose Llana by Andrew Kendall

In 1996 Jose Llana performed one of the most beautiful renditions of “We Kissed in a Shadown” on the revival of The King and I. It was his Broadway debut. In 2015 he returned to the show…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 11:26PM
Friday, March 18, 2016

Review: Fiddler on the Roof: 2016 Cast Recording by Andrew Kendall

The 2015-2016 theatre season saw us witnessing the fifth Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. This means it is now proceeded by Show Boat, The Threepenny Opera and Porgy & Bess as th…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:00AM
Thursday, February 25, 2016

Album Review: The Essential Stephen Sondheim by Andrew Kendall

The latest Stephen Sondheim compilation album immediately courts scrutiny when it announces itself as The Essential Stephen Sondheim. For, as even the most cursory of musical theatre fans kn…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 02:43PM
Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Review: The Color Purple (New Broadway Cast Recording) by Andrew Kendall

Polished. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of the New Broadway Recording of The Color Purple, which opened in theatres a few weeks ago. This revival holds an interesti…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:18PM
Monday, October 26, 2015

Review: “Applause” Original Broadway Cast Recording (Rerelease) by Andrew Kendall

The 1970 Tony Award season was a real curio for the musicals in good ways and bad ways. It was a year of limited options: there were only three musicals nominated for Best Musical – the sa…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:31PM
Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Review: ‘Doctor Zhivago’ (Original Broadway Cast Recording) by Andrew Kendall

Doctor Zhivago had the inauspicious title of being the first show to close on Broadway when the Tony nominations were announced in May. It had received no nominations and after poor notices,…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:52PM
Friday, July 24, 2015

50 Songs for 50 Years of Kander and Ebb by Andrew Kendall

In May 1965 the first Kander and Ebb musical premiered on Broadway. Flora the Red Menace, despite a lovely score, was not too long for the Great White Way. It scored a Tony for Liza Minnelli…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 12:15PM
Thursday, July 9, 2015

Review: The Visit Original Broadway Cast Recording by Andrew Kendall

The storied journey of The Visit to Broadway has been recounted many times,  in 2015, fourteen years after its first planned tryout, The Visit finally made it to Broadway. It was a short tw…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 12:18PM
Thursday, June 25, 2015

Review: On the Twentieth Century – New Broadway Cast Recording by Andrew Kendall

From the opening of the New Broadway Cast Recording of On the Twentieth Century it’s clear to lovers of the show that they have little to worry about. Among many things On the Twentiet…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 03:22PM

Review: John and Jen – 2015 Off-Broadway Cast Recording by Andrew Kendall

In the face of multiple two person theatre shows I’ll admit a bit of a penchant for the mid nineties John & Jen, for no reason other than my own sibling relationships making me thrille…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 01:38PM
Thursday, June 11, 2015

A Tony Awards Post Mortem by Andrew Kendall

It’s been a few days since the Tony Awards. From where I sit, it was a generally impressive show with a historic slate of winners. Before we turn over to the new Broadway seasons I wan…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:50PM
Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Review: ‘Something Rotten!’ (Original Broadway Cast Recording) by Andrew Kendall

What makes for a good musical comedy score? I feel like too often musical comedies work on a funny book and lyrics, and miss the possibility of using musical arrangement to augment humour. S…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 09:00AM
Thursday, May 28, 2015

Review: ‘Tokio Confidential’ – A New Musical (Original Studio Cast Recording) by Andrew Kendall

With a cast of six and a small orchestra, Tokio Confidential probably never intends to be more than a simple chamber musical; albeit, a chamber musical with a dense plot. The musical premier…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:00AM
Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Review: Marin Mazzie: Make Your Own Kind of Music by Andrew Kendall

Marin Mazzie fans are fortunate that Broadway’s wonderful soprano has finally released a solo album after more than two decades of charming us on the stage. Following in the line of previo…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 12:36PM
Monday, March 9, 2015

Review: ‘Side Show’ (Original 2014 Broadway Cast Recording) by Andrew Kendall

Bill Condon, the director of the recent revival of Side Show, understands the purpose of cast recordings for theatre fans. In the digital booklet which comes with the recording (released Feb…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:00AM
Sunday, March 8, 2015

Ten Essential Lea Salonga Performances by Andrew Kendall

In 1978 Lea Salonga made her stage debut in a Philippines Repertory production of The King & I at age seven. 1989 she made her London debut as Kim in Miss Saigon winning an Olivier Award…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:17PM
Thursday, February 12, 2015

The Last Five Years: Moving Just Right by Andrew Kendall

The newly released soundtrack for the film adaptation of The Last Five Years is an important album. Important for me because the Original Cast Recording of the musical on which it is based w…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 12:52PM
Wednesday, January 21, 2015

We Already Love the ‘She Loves Me’ Revival! by Andrew Kendall

Can you love a revival just from the casting announcement of the leading lady? The news that Roundabout Theatre Company is producing a revival of She Loves Me in the Spring of 2016 as part o…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 10:00AM
Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Our Broadway Unplugged 2015 Wishlist by Andrew Kendall

One of the annual Broadway traditions will have its 2015 run when Broadway Unplugged happens on January 26, at The Town Hall. The yearly show is a great chance to hear Broadway stars show of…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 08:00PM
Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Year in Review: Top Ten 2014 Cast Albums by Andrew Kendall

Next to actually seeing shows, the memories that come with a great cast recording are the next best thing. We were fortunate to have some excellent recordings of new scores, jukebox musicals…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 01:12AM
Tuesday, December 23, 2014

The Best Christmas Songs from Musicals by Andrew Kendall

We want to wish you a Merry Christmas with the help of musical theatre. For such a popular holiday there are unusually few Christmas songs in the musical theatre canon. Of the sixteen, or th…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:42PM
Monday, November 24, 2014

Things We Learned from the ‘Beautiful’ Audio Commentary by Andrew Kendall

A few weeks ago we took a listen of the audio commentary for The Bridges of Madison County and now we give a listen to the Beautiful cast recording with Jessie Mueller. The Beautiful cast re…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 04:58PM
Wednesday, October 29, 2014

8 Things We Learned from ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ Audio Commentary by Andrew Kendall

Ghostlight Records, has released commentary for the Tony winning score of The Bridges of Madison County with composer Jason Robert Brown and star Kelli O’Hara adding commentary to each…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 07:00AM
Tuesday, October 7, 2014

We Need A Revival! Ten Musicals That Should Be Heading Back to Broadway by Andrew Kendall

It doesn’t begin previews until next February but we’re already counting down the days until the On The Twentieth Century revival makes it way to Broadway (its first revival since its 19…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 04:07PM
Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Review: A Second Chance (Original Cast Recording) by Andrew Kendall

Ted Shen, the librettist, lyricist and composer of A Second Chance which had its world premiere in 2011 is a notable theatre enthusiast who left his job on Wall Street in the late nineties t…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 05:11PM
Thursday, July 24, 2014

Happy Birthday Kristin Chenoweth! by Andrew Kendall

Today, Tony and Emmy winner Kristin Chenoweth celebrates her 46th birthday. The 4’11 songstress is easily one of the most easily identifiable stars of the Broadway stage both for her heigh…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 04:38PM
Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Ten Best Opening Numbers from Aughts’ Musicals by Andrew Kendall

Openings are always important. You’ve got the audience in the seat, now how to make them excited about staying there? It seems like every other week someone will mention that contempor…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 03:38PM
Friday, July 4, 2014

Celebrating Fourth of July Through Musical Theatre by Andrew Kendall

Happy Fourth of July! There’s nothing more American than a good stage musical. Literature, books, music but no other art-form is as ensconced in American tradition as the stage musical. It…

SOURCE: stagebuddy.com at 02:30PM

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