All stories by Gordon Cox on BroadwayStars

Monday, June 13, 2016

Tony Awards: ‘Hamilton,’ Diversity Are Big Winners as Broadway Mourns Orlando Victims by Gordon Cox

“Hamilton” ascended to the awards throne to which the Broadway smash has been headed all season, taking home eleven trophies at the 2016 Tony Awards, including the top prize for new musi…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:31AM
Sunday, June 12, 2016

How Will the Tony Awards Acknowledge the Orlando Shooting? by Gordon Cox

The dress rehearsal for the 2016 Tony Awards answered a lot of questions — from what song the cast of “Hamilton” will perform to which award Barbra Streisand will present &…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:11PM
Friday, June 10, 2016

Tony Awards Predictions: Which Ones Won’t ‘Hamilton’ Win? by Gordon Cox

Even way back in the spring of last year, before the 2015-16 season had even started, the question about the Tony Awards was never whether “Hamilton” would win big at the ceremon…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:30PM

How John Doyle Made ‘The Color Purple’ Feel Like a Different Show by Gordon Cox

The Broadway revival of “The Color Purple,” nominated for four Tony Awards and probably on its way to winning at least one of them, is an impressive achievement by any measure. B…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:31AM

Jeff Daniels on Returning to ‘Blackbird’ on Broadway, Tony Nomination by Gordon Cox

In 2007, Jeff Daniels starred as Ray in the first American production of David Harrower’s profoundly unsettling drama “Blackbird,” about an older man confronted by a woman over the rel…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:31AM

Road to the Tonys: ‘Shuffle Along’ and Broadway’s Season of Diversity by Gordon Cox

The 2015-16 Broadway season couldn’t have found a more fitting end than “Shuffle Along.” Following a year of work that seemed a celebration of contemporary Broadway diver…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:31AM

‘Hamilton’ Raises Ticket Prices: Premium Seats Hit $849 by Gordon Cox

In anticipation of an imminent win at the Tony Awards, producers of “Hamilton” have jacked up the ticket prices of the Broadway smash, raising the top non-premium ticket price to…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:31AM
Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Road to the Tonys: The Life of a Kid Actor at ‘School of Rock’ by Gordon Cox

It’s tough being a Broadway actor around Tony time. You’ve got eight shows a week, of course, but you’ve also got rehearsals for the Tony Awards ceremony to slot into your …

SOURCE: Variety at 09:38PM

Meet the Women at the Heart of Broadway Hit ‘Hamilton’ by Gordon Cox

If you haven’t seen “Hamilton” yet, it’s easy to believe that the blockbuster musical is all about the men. Actors easily outnumber actresses among its leads and featured players, an…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:42PM
Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Laura Linney, Cynthia Nixon to Trade Roles in Broadway’s ‘The Little Foxes’ by Gordon Cox

Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon will star on Broadway in a spring 2017 revival of “The Little Foxes” — and alternate in the play’s two major female roles. In the Manha…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:06PM

Broadway Shows Skip Out-Of-Town Tryouts for the Great White Way by Gordon Cox

In the old days, there was one road to Broadway, and it was usually on the road. Producers took a new musical out of town, worked out the kinks in the relative privacy of the regions and the…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:06PM

Intersection of Broadway and Non-Profits Boost Creative and Commercial Growth by Gordon Cox

Casual viewers of the June 12 Tony Awards might be forgiven for wondering if the Broadway-centric telecast represents the bastion of commercial theater in America, then why is one of the nig…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:06PM

Road to the Tonys: How ‘Bright Star’ Crafts a Sound That’s Not Bluegrass, Not Broadway by Gordon Cox

“Bright Star” doesn’t sound like most Broadway musicals. There’s that banjo, for one thing, not to mention the autoharp and the mandolin. If you’re trying to describe the productio…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:06PM

Off Broadway Review: ‘War’ by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins by Gordon Cox

Coming after “Gloria” and “An Octoroon,” both brimming with ideas, playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ new work, “War,” is a bit of a buzz-kill.  Th…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:29AM
Monday, June 6, 2016

Broadway Box Office: A Final Killing for ‘American Psycho,’ and a ‘King and I’ Slide by Gordon Cox

“American Psycho,” one of the musicals mostly left out of this year’s Tony Awards race, got a nice boost at the Broadway box office in its final week on the boards —…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:35PM

Scott Rudin Exits ‘Groundhog Day’ Musical by Gordon Cox

Scott Rudin’s very full Broadway plate has gotten a little bit lighter, with the producer deciding to step away from the brewing musical version of “Groundhog Day,” which …

SOURCE: Variety at 05:09PM
Sunday, June 5, 2016

2016 Drama Desk Awards: ‘Shuffle Along,’ ‘The Humans’ Come Out on Top (FULL LIST) by Gordon Cox

“Shuffle Along” and “The Humans” won the top honors at the 2016 Drama Desk Awards, scoring trophies for outstanding musical and outstanding play, respectively. As the…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:30PM
Friday, June 3, 2016

Disney’s ‘Frozen’ Musical To Get A New Choreographer by Gordon Cox

Disney’s brewing Broadway musical adaptation of “Frozen” has lost a choreographer, with the previously announced Peter Darling exiting the production because of a prior commitment …

SOURCE: Variety at 07:59PM

Road to the Tonys: Women Make Their Mark on Broadway With ‘Waitress’ by Gordon Cox

It was mostly by accident that “Waitress” became the first Broadway musical with an all-female creative team. But in the middle of a season that was all about diversity, the show, nomina…

SOURCE: Variety at 07:59PM
Thursday, June 2, 2016

Tonys: Inside the $200,000 Kickstarter Campaign for a ‘Spring Awakening’ Performance by Gordon Cox

If viewers of this year’s Tony Awards get to see a performance from “Spring Awakening,” they’ll have fans to thank for footing the bill. Deaf West Theater’s nom…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:41PM

London Theater Review: Alexi Kaye Campbell’s ‘Sunset at the Villa Thalia’ by Gordon Cox

A Greek holiday home becomes a symbol of a diplomatic powerplay in Alexi Kaye Campbell’s two-act time-hop, “Sunset at the Villa Thalia,” at the National Theater. The playwright of tran…

SOURCE: Variety at 06:45PM

‘Hamilton’ Director Thomas Kail Talks ‘Grease Live’ by Gordon Cox

One man unites the live musical smash and Broadway sensation.

SOURCE: Variety at 05:34PM

Road to the Tonys: When ‘Hamilton’ Costs Just $10 a Ticket by Gordon Cox

Want a $10 ticket to “Hamilton”? Try enrolling in a New York City public school. Tickets to the Broadway sensation — and presumptive Tony Awards champion — may be goi…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:30PM
Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Broadway Box Office: ‘Waitress’ Joins The Upper Crust by Gordon Cox

The Broadway musical “Waitress” is shaping up to be one of the spring season’s success stories. The latest indication? The show’s become the newest member of the mill…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:26PM

Connecticut Theater Review: Broadway-Bound Musical ‘Anastasia’ by Gordon Cox

DNA may have ended the romantic mystery of the Anastasia legend, but fairytale princesses are forever. Making a story of a little girl lost more than child’s play is a challenge largel…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:01PM

Broadway’s Key Brand Entertainment Gets a New Name by Gordon Cox

Key Brand Entertainment, the company that owns a portfolio of live-entertainment players including Broadway Across America, has rebranded itself the John Gore Organization, named after the e…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:01PM
Sunday, May 29, 2016

London Theater Review: ‘The Threepenny Opera’ with Rory Kinnear by Gordon Cox

Born out of Germany’s economic meltdown in the 1920s, “The Threepenny Opera” puts the destitute and desperate onstage — a remarkable thing at the time. Rather than refresh its re…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:22PM
Thursday, May 26, 2016

West End Review: Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with Richard Madden, Lily James by Gordon Cox

Neither love nor hate make this “Romeo and Juliet” — the best so far of Kenneth Branagh’s ongoing season of West End plays — but haste. The actor-manager and his co-directo…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:55PM

Theater Director Ivo van Hove on ‘Crucible,’ Coming From Amsterdam to Broadway by Gordon Cox

Last fall, Amsterdam-based director Ivo van Hove had zero Broadway credits to his name. Six months later, he’s got two: “A View From the Bridge,” the critics-darling revival starring M…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:24PM

Off Broadway Review: ‘Incognito’ Starring Charlie Cox by Gordon Cox

At the end of “Incognito,” a new play by Nick Payne (“Constellations”) at Manhattan Theater Club, one line of dialogue jumps out: “There is nothing whatsoever remarkable about …

SOURCE: Variety at 03:24PM
Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Broadway Review: Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Paramour’ by Gordon Cox

Somebody should have warned Cirque du Soleil Theatrical that it would be an iffy business trying to bring Broadway to Broadway. “Paramour” is an ambitious departure from the comp…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:46PM

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