All stories by David Rooney on BroadwayStars

Monday, March 26, 2018

'Lobby Hero': Theater Review by David Rooney

Chris Evans makes his Broadway debut alongside Michael Cera, Brian Tyree Henry and Bel Powley in Oscar winner Kenneth Lonergan's examination of moral conflict built around a murder investiga…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 09:03PM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 25, 2018

'Angels in Americas': Theater Review by David Rooney

Andrew Garfield stars as 20th-century prophet Prior Walter with Nathan Lane as closeted political fixer Roy M. Cohn in Tony Kushner's masterwork, transferring to Broadway after garnering wil…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 11:29PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 22, 2018

'Frozen': Theater Review by David Rooney

The top-grossing animated film of all time comes to Broadway as a new Disney musical fairy tale about a queen in icy self-exile and the loving sister who sets out to melt her heart and thaw …

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 11:11PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 12, 2018

'Admissions': Theater Review by David Rooney

Jessica Hecht plays an administrator intent on diversifying the student body at a New England prep school until progressive values conspire to derail her son's Ivy League path in Joshua Harm…

SOURCE: edit.hollywoodreporter.com at 09:43PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 26, 2018

Tatiana Maslany to Appear in Tracy Letts' 'Mary Page Marlowe' by David Rooney

The Emmy-winning 'Orphan Black' lead will make her New York stage debut in the off-Broadway production this summer.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 01:23PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 12, 2018

First Broadway Revival of Musical Favorite 'The Secret Garden' to Bloom Next Season by David Rooney

Based on the Victorian children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the show premiered on Broadway in 1991 and ran for more than 700 performances, winning three Tony Awards.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 02:25PM[SHARE]

Five-Time Tony Nominee Jan Maxwell Dies at 61 by David Rooney

The versatile stage trouper was one of only a handful of performers to have been nominated in all four possible acting categories " lead and featured " for plays and musicals.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 12:13PM[SHARE]

Betty Buckley Will Take Tony-Winning 'Hello, Dolly!' Revival on the Road by David Rooney

The revered Broadway musical theater veteran will step into the iconic role of Dolly Gallagher Levi, kicking off the blockbuster production's first national tour in Cleveland in the fall.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 12:11PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 9, 2018

Jez Butterworth's 'The Ferryman' Charts Course for Broadway by David Rooney

An award-winning hit in London, Sam Mendes' production will wrap its West End run in May before a fall transfer to New York's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 04:15PM[SHARE]

Huey Lewis and The News Musical Sets Fall World Premiere by David Rooney

'Heart of Rock and Roll' builds an original story around the hits of the band that helped define the MTV era of the 1980s and early '90s, generating 19 Billboard top 10 singles.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 04:14PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 8, 2018

Huey Lewis and the News Musical in Development by David Rooney

'Heart of Rock and Roll' will build an original story around the hits of the band that helped define the MTV era of the 1980s and early '90s, generating 19 Billboard top 10 singles.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 04:08PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Stacy Keach to Return to Hemingway Bio-Drama 'Pamplona' by David Rooney

The single-character play's initial run at Chicago's Goodman Theatre was cut short on opening night last year when the actor suffered a mild heart attack.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 04:35PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 5, 2018

'Hangmen': Theater Review by David Rooney

Martin McDonagh finds cruel imbalance in the scales of justice in this savage black comedy starring Mark Addy as a British executioner who keeps a noose handy even after capital punishment i…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 09:04PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 3, 2018

22 of the Most Eagerly Anticipated New York Stage Shows of Winter-Spring 2018 by David Rooney

Major revivals, surefire blockbusters, new musicals from the co-creators of 'In the Heights' and 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch,' and star turns from Glenda Jackson, Denzel Washington, Andrew Ga…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 06:53PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Broadway Pulverizes Annual Box-Office Record, Hurdling $1.6 Billion by David Rooney

Lin-Manuel Miranda's unstoppable smash led the charge, with newer hits like 'Hello, Dolly!,' 'Dear Evan Hansen,' 'Come From Away' and 'Springsteen on Broadway' joining perennials to pump gro…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 06:44PM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 23, 2017

13 Broadway Breakout Stars of 2017 by David Rooney and Ashley Lee

THR spotlights some of the fresh faces who turned heads on the Great White Way this year.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 12:38PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 18, 2017

'A Christmas Story Live!': TV Review by David Rooney

Newcomer Andy Walken plays 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in Fox's latest live musical, based on the 1983 MGM holiday favorite and also featuring Maya Rudolph, Matthew Broderick and Jane Krakowsk…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 06:19AM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 17, 2017

'Farinelli and the King': Theater Review by David Rooney

Mark Rylance stars in his wife Claire van Kampen's play with music as the 18th-century Spanish monarch whose chronic melancholia could be soothed only by the heavenly singing of the celebrat…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 07:52PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 13, 2017

David Rooney: The Best New York Theater of 2017 by David Rooney

THR's chief theater critic glances back over a year of stage highlights including bold new American plays, stellar productions of vintage musicals, and Bruce Springsteen, up close and person…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 12:56PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 4, 2017

'SpongeBob SquarePants': Theater Review by David Rooney

Nickelodeon brings its long-running underwater toon franchise to Broadway with this eye-popping, psychotropic (geddit?) musical fantasia about friendship and community, directed by Tina Land…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 07:50PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 3, 2017

'Once on This Island': Theater Review by David Rooney

The plight of real-world communities struck by natural disasters adds a powerful emotional charge to Michael Arden's immersive revival of this captivating 1990 musical fairy tale by Lynn Ahr…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 08:12PM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 30, 2017

'The Parisian Woman': Theater Review by David Rooney

Uma Thurman plays a seductive liberal socialite in Trump's Washington, using her wiles to bolster her marriage and her husband's career in this updated play by 'House of Cards' creator Beau …

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 11:20PM[SHARE]

'Meteor Shower': Theater Review by David Rooney

Amy Schumer, Keegan-Michael Key, Laura Benanti and Jeremy Shamos square off in Steve Martin's absurdist comedy about the collision of the id and the super-ego in the treacherous marital cosm…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 06:30AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Bette Midler's Final 'Hello, Dolly! Bow to Benefit Actors Fund by David Rooney

The star's Jan. 14 farewell performance caps a historic run that has shattered house records at the Shubert Theatre eight times, most recently nudging $2.5 million during Thanksgiving week.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 01:00PM[SHARE]
Monday, November 20, 2017

'The Wolves': Theater Review by David Rooney

A high school girls' soccer team warms up to face the large and small challenges of adult life in Sarah DeLappe's debut play, a 2017 Pulitzer finalist.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 09:11PM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 9, 2017

'The Band's Visit': Theater Review by David Rooney

Katrina Lenk and Tony Shalhoub share a quasi-romantic connection in the desert in this Middle Eastern musical by David Yazbek and Itamar Moses, based on the 2007 Israeli film.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 09:12PM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 2, 2017

'Junk': Theater Review by David Rooney

Steven Pasquale plays a Junk Bond King in Pulitzer-winning 'Disgraced' author Ayad Akhtar's drama about the white-collar crimes behind the high-yield bonds and leveraged buyouts of the 1980s.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 09:19PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 27, 2017

'The Red Shoes': Theater Review by David Rooney

Director-choreographer Matthew Bourne reimagines the classic Powell and Pressburger dance drama as a sumptuous full-length ballet, set to the music of Bernard Herrmann.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 09:22PM[SHARE]

'M. Butterfly': Theater Review by David Rooney

Julie Taymor directs Clive Owen and newcomer Jin Ha in David Henry Hwang's 1988 drama about a French diplomat embroiled in a romantic web of espionage and betrayal with a Beijing Opera perfo…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 06:07AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 25, 2017

'People, Places & Things': Theater Review by David Rooney

Denise Gough reprises the role that won her an Olivier Award in London, that of a drug- and alcohol-addicted actress spinning out of control before seeking help in Duncan Macmillan's raw dra…

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 09:43PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 10, 2017

Donna Murphy in 'Hello, Dolly!': Theater Review by David Rooney

In a savvy stroke of alternate casting, two-time Tony winner Donna Murphy breathes her own distinctive brand of joy and generosity into the blockbuster Broadway revival.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter at 04:00PM[SHARE]

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