All stories by David Buchanan on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Mary-Louise Parker ('How I Learned to Drive') could win her third Tony for 'extraordinary' performance more than two decades after first victo by David Buchanan

"Thank you for this work that's just so magic and so worth it," expressed Mary-Louise Parker when she accepted the Tony Award from presenter Gwyneth Paltrow in 2001 for her unforgettable per…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 03:00PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Tony Shalhoub ('The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel') on the 'luxury' of Abe's 'exciting' new direction as a cape-clad theatre critic [Exclusive V by David Buchanan

"It's what any actor would dream of," shares Tony Shalhoub of his ever-evolving character Abe Weissman on Amazon Prime's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." In the fourth season, the former Colu…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 11:30AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 16, 2022

2022 Tony Awards predictions: Who will win on June 12? by David Buchanan

The 2022 Tony Award nominations have been unveiled and, per usual, we have opinions!  Susan Haskins joined us in a lively discussion to dissect this crop of nominees. We reveal what we th…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 12:00PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Mary-Louise Parker ('How I Learned to Drive') poised to make Tony Awards history by David Buchanan

Fresh off of her second Tony Award victory last year for "The Sound Inside," Mary-Louise Parker has earned a follow-up nomination in the same category for her work in the revival of Paula Vo…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 06:00PM[SHARE]

The curious case of 'Company' at the Tony Awards: Never any love for the star by David Buchanan

Bobby, bubi, we need to talk about the Tony Awards! This season's revival of the late Stephen Sondheim's landmark musical "Company" earned nine nominations, the highest for any musical reviv…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 04:00PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 9, 2022

2022 Tony Awards nominations snubs: Daniel Craig, 'Flying Over Sunset,' Katrina Lenk … by David Buchanan

With 34 productions eligible for this year's Tony Awards, there were plenty of names missing when nominations were announced on Monday morning. Among the most surprising 2022 Tony Awards nom…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 11:15AM[SHARE]

2022 Tony Awards nominations surprises: Supersized Best Actor category, Jesse Williams, 'Paradise Square' … by David Buchanan

In a Broadway season so crowded with exceptional productions " 34 musicals, plays, and revivals opened during the 2021-2022 eligibility window " it is no surprise that the 29 Tony Awards nom…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 10:45AM[SHARE]

2022 Tony Awards nominations: 'A Strange Loop' leads with 11, 'The Lehman Trilogy' at 8 by David Buchanan

With the announcement of the Tony Awards nominations on May 9, we now know the shows and performers in contention for the 75th annual ceremony. The 29 members of the Tony nominating committe…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 8, 2022

2022 Tony Awards: Read our review recaps, analyses for all 34 eligible productions of the 2021-2022 season by David Buchanan

Ever since the current Tony Awards season kicked off on August 22, 2021 with the opening of new play "Pass Over," Gold Derby has been recapping the critical response to each of the 34 eligib…

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Saturday, May 7, 2022

'Macbeth' reviews: Sam Gold's 'overthought' production led by Daniel Craig, Ruth Negga by David Buchanan

The final production of the historic 2021-2022 Broadway season reaches back to the early modern era for inspiration with a remounting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Tony-winner Sam Gold…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 6, 2022

'POTUS' reviews: New Broadway farce a 'whizbang' comedy with impressive cast by David Buchanan

In politics " and Broadway's Tony Awards season " timing is everything. New play "POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive," knows that extraordinarily …

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 07:00PM[SHARE]

'The Skin of Our Teeth' reviews: Revival of Thornton Wilder play is 'profound' and 'exuberant' but 'dated' by David Buchanan

Eighty years after Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Skin of Our Teeth" debuted on Broadway, the sprawling work has returned to the New York stage in a lavish production at Linco…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 03:00PM[SHARE]

2022 Tony predictions by show: 'Company,' 'The Music Man,' 'The Lehman Trilogy' will lead by David Buchanan

Two musical revivals will dominate the 2022 Tony Awards nominations, according to our official odds in 17 of the 25 categories. "Company" and "The Music Man" will each earn at least seven bi…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 09:30AM[SHARE]

2022 Tonys predictions: Complete odds for 75th annual Tony Awards nominations by David Buchanan

Broadway came roaring back from its long winter of coronavirus closures with 34 musicals, plays, and revivals opening in the 2021-2022 season. If that whopping number of eligible productions…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 4, 2022

'Mr. Saturday Night' stage adaptation spotlights Billy Crystal's 'charm' in a 'diverting' musical by David Buchanan

Time has finally caught up with Billy Crystal, at least in terms of his age and the age of his character in "Mr. Saturday Night." The 1992 film found the young Crystal playing decades older …

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Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Pulitzer-winning musical 'A Strange Loop' bows on Broadway: An 'amazing feat' with a 'remarkable' Jaquel Spivey by David Buchanan

Every so often, a musical arrives on Broadway that fundamentally changes the art form. Just as rarely, a musical will take home the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which has only happened 10 times…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

'Hangmen' reviews: 'Whirlwind' dark comedy from Martin McDonagh boasts killer performances by David Buchanan

Two years after its premature pandemic closure, Martin McDonagh's play "Hangmen" has slipped the proverbial noose and returned to Broadway in a plot twist you might think McDonagh wrote hims…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 12:00PM[SHARE]

'Funny Girl' reviews: Critics went 'mild' not wild over the musical's long-awaited return to Broadway by David Buchanan

For all those people who have been dying to hear the music that makes me you dance once again on a Broadway stage, "Funny Girl" has finally returned after a 58-year absence. Beanie Feldstein…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 26, 2022

'for colored girls' reviews celebrate 'riveting' Broadway revival and 'resplendent' Kenita R. Miller by David Buchanan

Forty-six years after the original production of Ntozake Shange's legendary choreopoem "for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf," a sterling revival has retur…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 03:00PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 20, 2022

'How I Learned to Drive': First Broadway production showcases a 'crushing' Mary-Louise Parker by David Buchanan

Twenty five years after the Off-Broadway debut of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "How I Learned to Drive," the contemporary American classic has at long last made its bow on Broad…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 06:00PM[SHARE]

'The Minutes' reviews: 'Astonishing' Tracy Letts play features shocking satire and starry ensemble by David Buchanan

In a Broadway season teeming with exciting plays, musicals, and revivals, a dramatization of a small city council meeting may sound dull. Perhaps in the hands of a lesser playwright than Pul…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 18, 2022

'American Buffalo' reviews: 'Beautifully' acted revival overshadowed by David Mamet controversy by David Buchanan

Over two years after its slated pre-pandemic bow, the fourth production of David Mamet's "American Buffalo" has arrived on Broadway. The nearly 50-year-old play takes place in a junk shop ow…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 12:00PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 12, 2022

'Birthday Candles' reviews: Under-baked play features an 'exceptionally moving' Debra Messing by David Buchanan

Almost a decade after her Broadway debut, Emmy-winner Debra Messing has returned to the New York stage in new play "Birthday Candles," which taps into her gifts of comedy and sentimentality.…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 6, 2022

'Take Me Out' reviews: 'Provocative' revival poised to hit home run at Tony Awards by David Buchanan

The ensemble of Second Stage Theatre's revival of "Take Me Out" has waited over two years for the first pitch of this baseball drama on Broadway, but after the lengthy pandemic delay the rem…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 5, 2022

'Paradise Square' reviews: 'Overwrought' new historical musical stars an 'amazing' Joaquina Kalukango by David Buchanan

Broadway's mad dash to the Tony Award nominations began on April 3 with the opening of original musical "Paradise Square," the first of 17 new productions set to bow this month. Set during t…

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Tuesday, March 29, 2022

'Plaza Suite' returns to Broadway with an 'exuberant' Sarah Jessica Parker in an otherwise 'overlong' production by David Buchanan

Twenty-five years after her last appearance on Broadway, Sarah Jessica Parker has returned to the stage in the first revival of Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite." For her long-awaited bow, Parker h…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 06:00PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 21, 2022

2022 Tony Awards slugfest: 20 productions vie for places in Play races [WATCH] by David Buchanan

"It's been a great season for Black playwrights," Sam Eckmann says as he introduces Gold Derby's first slugfest of the 2022 Tony Awards season. A whopping 20 new plays and play revivals are …

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Monday, February 14, 2022

'The Music Man' reviews: Critics find trouble in Hugh Jackman's River City in 'cautious' revival by David Buchanan

It has been eight years since Hugh Jackman notoriously hopped his way into Radio City Music Hall to host the 68th Tony Awards and even longer since he won a Tony himself. But at long last, J…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 09:30AM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 3, 2022

'MJ The Musical' reviews: Myles Frost 'mesmerizing' as Michael Jackson, but musical is 'surface-skimming' by David Buchanan

Two weeks after the closing of her play "Clyde's," Lynn Nottage has opened a new jukebox musical about a star who needs no introduction. Penned by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, "MJ The…

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 28, 2022

'Skeleton Crew' reviews: 'Commanding' Phylicia Rashad leads this 'moving' Dominique Morisseau play by David Buchanan

Ten days after her first Broadway show ended an acclaimed run, playwright Dominique Morisseau has just opened another. The Tony-nominee penned the libretto for musical "Ain't Too Proud: The …

SOURCE: Gold Derby at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, January 17, 2022

'Flying Over Sunset' closes on Broadway: Will Tony voters remember this 'delectable' but 'bewildering' new musical? by David Buchanan

Cary Grant back on Broadway? For five weeks this winter, the debonaire actor treaded the boards again in spirit in the form of Tony Yazbeck, who portrayed the Golden Age movie star in the mu…

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All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off