All stories by Barbara Hoffman on BroadwayStars

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Why Sonny and Cher were nixed from the ‘Groundhog Day’ Broadway musical by Barbara Hoffman

Any doubts Danny Rubin had about his dream project were vanquished by Stephen Sondheim, who said “Groundhog Day” would make a good musical. That was in 2003. By then, Rubin and Harold Ra…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:24PM
Friday, March 24, 2017

Your favorite movies are now Broadway musicals by Barbara Hoffman

Loved the movie? See the show! Broadway hopes you’ll do just that this spring, when the curtains rise on “Groundhog Day,” “Anastasia,” “Amélie” and “Charlie and the Chocolat…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 12:30PM
Friday, March 10, 2017

This Tony-winner walks his pet lizard in Central Park by Barbara Hoffman

In 1974, Reed Birney dropped out of Boston University and came to New York at 19, to become an actor. “I was ambitious and I wanted to get going,” he tells BARBARA HOFFMAN. “I’ve bee…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:27PM
Friday, February 10, 2017

Where ‘American Idol’ Justin Guarini likes to skate and get his hair done by Barbara Hoffman

He was born in Georgia and lives in Pennsylvania, but Justin Guarini’s spiritual home is Broadway. “I was probably 11 when I saw ‘Les Miz,’ ” the first “American Idol” runner…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 10:03PM

The gallery show with the sexiest back story in NYC by Barbara Hoffman

Nazis, adultery, betrayal. The story behind Solomon Guggenheim’s first museum touches on all three — and the paintings are pretty good, too. You’ll find the art at Chelsea’s Leila He…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:47PM
Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Jake Gyllenhaal is sharing a bathroom on Broadway by Barbara Hoffman

No matter how big you are in Hollywood, you don’t get a trailer when you play Broadway. Heck, you’re lucky if you have your own bathroom. Ask Jake Gyllenhaal. He and his “Sunday in the…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:12PM
Thursday, February 2, 2017

Grappling with a 30-year-old murder, and a mentor’s dirty secret by Barbara Hoffman

Whether stealing the show from under Richard Burton’s nose or entertaining at home with his pet mountain lion, George Rose always seemed bigger than life. Perhaps the only thing more sensa…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:36PM
Friday, January 13, 2017

These are the ‘Bronx Tale’ creator’s favorite neighborhood spots by Barbara Hoffman

Chazz Palminteri is living proof that you can take the boy outta The Bronx, but you can’t take The Bronx outta the boy. His autobiographical play “A Bronx Tale” morphed into a movie an…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 03:03PM
Thursday, January 5, 2017

The kids of Broadway are hanging out with ‘Bob’ De Niro by Barbara Hoffman

Oh, to be young, on Broadway and getting notes from Robert De Niro. In other words, how nice to be Hudson Loverro, who plays the kid in “A Bronx Tale,” the hit musical directed by De Nir…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 10:06PM
Thursday, December 29, 2016

‘Cats’ leads Broadway’s 2016 clunkers by Barbara Hoffman

This was the year “Hamilton” and “The Humans” got what they deserved — multiple Tonys, including those for, respectively, Best Musical and Best Play. So let’s put them aside for …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 09:41PM
Saturday, December 24, 2016

How the Rockettes celebrate Christmas in between shows by Barbara Hoffman

Yes, Virginia, there are people who work Christmas Day without kicking up a fuss. Like the Rockettes — who kick, period. Since Radio City Music Hall’s “Christmas Spectacular” began i…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 10:21PM
Friday, December 16, 2016

Meet Josh Groban’s hot co-stars in ‘Comet of 1812’ by Barbara Hoffman

She’s a slut, he’s a cad — and you can’t take your eyes off them. They’re Hélène and Anatole, the hot couple of “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.” Those who…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:48AM
Thursday, December 15, 2016

This dress made of MetroCards is a real showstopper by Barbara Hoffman

What has more than 700 MetroCards but can’t get you on the subway? That would be the dress Moya Angela wears in Broadway’s “In Transit,” opening Sunday night. When she sashays onstag…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 11:29PM
Tuesday, December 13, 2016

How these Rockette sisters stay in high-kicking shape by Barbara Hoffman

Three hundred kicks per show, four shows a day, six days a week. You don’t need a calculator to imagine the toll that might take on anyone, even someone as athletic as a Rockette. But that…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:42AM
Friday, December 9, 2016

Michael Urie wants an ‘Ugly Betty’ reunion by Barbara Hoffman

It started as a sketch. But Michael Urie believed Drew Droege’s riff on gay weddings was more than stand-up shtick. “I thought, ‘This is a full play with an idea, and it’s hilarious!…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 03:33AM

‘Seinfeld’ star John O’Hurley is friends with the real J. Peterman by Barbara Hoffman

Decades before he made J. Peterman an urban-sombrero legend on “Seinfeld,” John O’Hurley starred in “The Fantasticks.” The year was 1974, and O’Hurley, a junior at Rhode Island�…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 03:33AM
Monday, December 5, 2016

Where John Leguizamo likes to box and binge on ramen by Barbara Hoffman

Most of us know him as an actor, stand-up comedian and playwright, but off-Broadway’s new “Othello: The Remix” boasts the talents of John Leguizamo, producer. Born in Colombia, raised …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 12:12PM
Saturday, December 3, 2016

See what these ‘Hamilton’ actresses look like out of hoop skirts by Barbara Hoffman

They were the It girls of their day: fabulous, famous, well-educated and wealthy. No wonder the Schuyler sisters turn heads in “Hamilton” — they’re as revolutionary as their male cou…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:12PM

Meet New York’s 4 ‘Nutcracker’ princesses by Barbara Hoffman

She’s sometimes called Clara, other times Marie. But by any name, she’s still the sweetheart of that great holiday classic “The Nutcracker.” No matter what form it’s taken over…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:31AM
Friday, December 2, 2016

The reindeer whisperer’s secrets to getting Rudolph to fly right by Barbara Hoffman

Call him “the reindeer whisperer.” That pretty much sums up Jimmy Smagula’s work on the Theater at Madison Square Garden’s “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Based on the 1964 an…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:24AM
Monday, November 21, 2016

Where you can see old ‘Lion King’ masks and a pre- ‘Hamilton’ Miranda by Barbara Hoffman

In the heart of Lincoln Center, “A Chorus Line” is still kicking, its sequined top hats just a stone’s throw from Rafiki, “The Lion King” sage, and clips of a pre-“Hamilton” Li…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:00AM
Saturday, November 19, 2016

‘Pippin’ star Ben Vereen, a ‘grits-and-oatmeal guy,’ hits NYC by Barbara Hoffman

He was born in Miami, raised in Brooklyn and says he currently lives “in a suitcase” — but Ben Vereen seems most at home on Broadway. The Tony-winning star of “Pippin” is back in t…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 09:56AM
Friday, November 18, 2016

‘Front Page’ star Robert Morse still misses ‘Mad Men’ by Barbara Hoffman

“That’s me,” says Robert Morse, smiling at his caricature in Sardi’s. “It’s like I’m looking in a mirror!” Well, not quite. Sketched some 55 years ago, when “How To…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:56AM

How Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote a song for The Rock by Barbara Hoffman

After giving Alexander Hamilton the gift of rap, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s written a song for The Rock. Disney’s “Moana,” out Wednesday, features original music by Miranda and the vocal s…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:48AM
Tuesday, November 1, 2016

For David Hyde Pierce, finding an Alzheimer’s cure is personal by Barbara Hoffman

In off-Broadway’s “A Life,” David Hyde Pierce’s 54-year-old character realizes he’s forgotten what he was talking about. That’s no big deal, says Pierce, 57: “It’s the kind o…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 03:11AM
Monday, October 31, 2016

American actors should give up ridiculous British accents by Barbara Hoffman

Kurt Vonnegut once wrote about a dystopian world that mandated mediocrity, so that beautiful people had to mask themselves, while brilliant ones donned headsets to scatter their thoughts. I …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 11:06AM
Friday, October 28, 2016

How one musical changed my life — and gave me a child by Barbara Hoffman

Some musicals leave you wanting to sing and dance. One musical helped me leave my husband. And yes, that was a good thing. The show was “March of the Falsettos,” William Finn’s 1981, s…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 01:54PM
Friday, October 21, 2016

‘House of Cards’ actor Corey Stoll bares all onstage in ‘Plenty’ by Barbara Hoffman

He played Hemingway in “Midnight in Paris,” a doomed congressman in “House of Cards,” and a gay heartbreaker in “Girls.” And while he’s got one more season to fight zombies on …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:06AM
Saturday, October 8, 2016

John Mulaney and Nick Kroll’s Gil and George are banned from these NYC hot spots by Barbara Hoffman

Nick Kroll and John Mulaney lead double lives: Their 70-something alta-kocker alter egos — Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland, respectively — say they met during the Columbia University …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 03:53AM
Friday, September 30, 2016

This Broadway show will make you feel like you’re in the Amazon by Barbara Hoffman

Put on your headset — Simon McBurney wants to take you into the Amazon. His one-man show, “The Encounter,” which opened Thursday night, is the most immersive show Broadway’s ever hea…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:06AM
Friday, September 16, 2016

The next best thing to seeing ‘Hamilton’ by Barbara Hoffman

Dan Rosales was waiting tables at Isabella’s three years ago when a man and a pregnant woman sat down in his section. It didn’t take long for the Boston Conservatory grad to recognize th…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:49AM

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