All stories by Gordon Cox on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

‘A Strange Loop’ Review: Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer-Winning Broadway Musical Is an Unflinching Riot by Gordon Cox

Subjectivity is conditional. We can only understand our own points of view in relation to the differences that separate us. If art often intends to complete the circle (“look at how these …

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Monday, April 25, 2022

‘The Skin of Our Teeth’ Review: Thornton Wilder’s Beautifully Decorated Disaster on Broadway by Gordon Cox

Thornton Wilder’s allegorical play “The Skin of Our Teeth” is bizarre, abstract and convoluted; it’s not to be taken seriously. Or so Sabina (Gabby Beans) tells the audience at Linco…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Sunday, April 24, 2022

‘Funny Girl’ Review: An Underpowered Revival Brings Fanny Brice Back to Broadway by Gordon Cox

“You ever feel like there’s someone watching from the shadows?” asks Beanie Feldstein’s Fanny Brice, as haunting apparitions from the Ziegfeld star’s past waft in and out in a kind…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Friday, April 22, 2022

‘Hangmen’ Review: A Killer Broadway Production of Martin McDonagh’s Lethal Black Comedy by Gordon Cox

In the theatrical annals of wild and wicked stage plays, there are black comedies, blacker comedies, and blacker-than-the-dead-of-night comedies like “Hangmen.“  Prolific playwright Mar…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:54AM
Wednesday, April 20, 2022

‘For Colored Girls…’ Review: Broadway Revival of Ntozake Shange’s Riveting Work Reminds Black Women They Are Enough by Gordon Cox

Ntozake Shange’s iridescent choreopoem “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf” is the story of Black women and their often-disregarded human experienc…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM

‘How I Learned to Drive’ Review: Mary-Louise Parker, David Morse Star in Sterling Revival of Paula Vogel’s Shocker by Gordon Cox

Mommas, don’t give your daughters the kind of nicknames that would appeal to their pedophile uncles. Cursed with a cutesy moniker like “Li’l Bit,“ what do you think might happen to a…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:04AM
Sunday, April 17, 2022

‘The Minutes’ Review: New Broadway Comedy is a Cunning, Sensational Indictment of American Democracy by Gordon Cox

Some stories creep up in disguise, hiding a ghastly scowl. “The Minutes” is an astonishing feat from playwright and star Tracy Letts, not least for its brilliant finesse in orchestrating…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Wednesday, April 13, 2022

‘Harmony’ Review: Barry Manilow Musical Tells Sensational True Story With Pop Prowess by Gordon Cox

Since 1997, composer-singer Barry Manilow and lyricist-librettist Bruce Sussman — the team behind iconic ’70s pop classics such as “Copacabana” — have been looking to get their wis…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM

‘The 47th’ Review: Bertie Carvel’s Transformation Into Shakespearean Trump Is Hypnotic by Gordon Cox

Mike Bartlett’s latest play is monstrous. In a good way. Shapeshifting actor Bertie Carvel, having shot to fame creating the marvelously alarming Miss Trunchbull in “Matilda,” is back …

SOURCE: Variety at 05:46PM
Monday, April 11, 2022

‘The Little Prince’ Review: An Uneven Broadway Spectacle Based on the French Children’s Book by Gordon Cox

When is a timeless children’s tale not quite right for children’s theater? When it is Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved and ever-so-slightly surreal 1942 novella, “The Little Princ…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Sunday, April 10, 2022

‘Birthday Candles’ Review: Debra Messing Stars in a Scrumptious Broadway Production by Gordon Cox

One minute you’re a teenager ready to “rebel against the universe,” then in the blink of an eye you’re a senior making peace with the life that was handed to you. That’s the short …

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Wednesday, April 6, 2022

‘Suffs’ Review: Epic New Musical Portrays the Blood, Sweat and Tears Behind the Fight for Women’s Suffrage by Gordon Cox

Oh, what mean and nasty things men said about women who dared to fight for the right to vote in America. Here are some of those choice insults, taken from the very first song (“Watch Out f…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:30PM
Tuesday, April 5, 2022

‘Suffs’ Stars Phillipa Soo and Jenn Colella on Why the New American History Musical Is More Than Just ‘Hermilton’ by Gordon Cox

On a superficial level, the new musical “Suffs” looks a lot like “Hamilton” — so much so that “some people are calling it ‘Hermilton,'” said one of the show’s stars, Jenn C…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:57PM
Monday, April 4, 2022

‘Take Me Out’ Review: Jesse Williams’ Broadway Revival of Baseball Play Is a Solid Hit Despite a Few Errors by Gordon Cox

Public and personal identities are constantly being examined, teased and tested in Richard Greenberg’s “Take Me Out,” his grand paean to baseball and ontological quandaries, which is r…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Sunday, April 3, 2022

‘Paradise Square’ Review: A Belabored History Lesson of a Broadway Musical by Gordon Cox

The body can sometimes say more than words, but even the most expressive moves cannot make a coherent case for “Paradise Square.” The blunt and belabored history lesson of a new musical …

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Friday, March 25, 2022

‘Straight Line Crazy’ Review: Ralph Fiennes Plays Robert Moses in David Hare’s Talky New Play by Gordon Cox

“We’ve discussed this. We’ve discussed this many times.” That wearied line, which appears in the final scene of David Hare’s new play “Straight Line Crazy,” is spoken by Ariel …

SOURCE: Variety at 09:40AM
Tuesday, March 22, 2022

How Gaelynn Lea Is Breaking Broadway Barriers as ‘Macbeth’ Composer by Gordon Cox

Expanding accessibility is an ongoing concern for Broadway — and this spring, the musician Gaelynn Lea arrives with lessons she learned from advocating for the cause in the music industry.…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:35PM
Wednesday, March 16, 2022

‘Cock’ Review: Taron Egerton, Jonathan Bailey Lead a Blistering West End Production by Gordon Cox

John is desperate: “It’s not a competition. Please, please it mustn’t be that.” Cue his girlfriend’s snapped retort: “Then what is it really?” Good question. As revealed by the…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:39PM
Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Broadway Plots a Comeback: How the Theater Business is Digging Out From COVID Disruptions by Gordon Cox

Now that omicron is in decline, Broadway optimism is on the rise. After a bumpy holiday season rife with performance disruptions, show closures and hiatuses due to the highly contagious COVI…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:25PM
Tuesday, March 8, 2022

How New Research Can Help Keep Broadway Voices Healthy by Gordon Cox

Just how vocally demanding are roles in Broadway musicals like “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen” — and how much singing is too much? If two professors at New York University had th…

SOURCE: Variety at 03:37PM
Friday, February 25, 2022

‘The Collaboration’ Review: Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope Can’t Make Drama Out of This Bio by Gordon Cox

At the start of the second half of Anthony McCarten’s art-world bio-drama “The Collaboration,” the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s agent finds himself alone on the scrappy sofa of Basq…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:04PM
Tuesday, February 22, 2022

How Being an Understudy Prepared ‘Wicked’ Star Brittney Johnson for Her History-Making Role by Gordon Cox

Brittney Johnson is currently making history as the first Black actor to play Glinda in “Wicked,” but she’s also had a lot of Broadway experience in jobs that are in many ways even mor…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:51PM
Tuesday, February 15, 2022

‘The Forest’ Review: Oscar Winner Florian Zeller’s New Play Gets Lost in Itself by Gordon Cox

The gap between what you see and what you get has long proved fertile territory for playwrights. At his considerable best, not least his Oscar-winning adapted screenplay of his play “The F…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:29PM
Friday, February 11, 2022

‘The Music Man’ Review: Hugh Jackman Shines in Smashing Broadway Revival by Gordon Cox

Hugh Jackman dazzles as Professor Harold Hill, the charismatic con man who fires up an entire Midwestern town, in this abso-tootin’-lutely smashing revival of Meredith Willson’s adorably…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:16PM
Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Lynn Nottage Talks Opera, ‘MJ’ and How Lockdown Changed Her by Gordon Cox

Lynn Nottage has had a hat-trick of shows on New York stages this season: the new opera “Intimate Apparel,” the Michael Jackson musical “MJ” and the play “Clyde’s.” How does sh…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:28PM
Tuesday, February 1, 2022

‘MJ’ Review: Flashy Michael Jackson Musical Packs in the Hits, but Struggles to Get Behind the Music by Gordon Cox

In answer to the question of whether it’s possible to separate the art from the artist, “MJ” performs a slick, crotch-grabbing sidestep. Packed with nearly 40 hits from Michael Jackson…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Monday, January 31, 2022

‘Intimate Apparel’ Review: Opera of Lynn Nottage’s Play Sets Free Soaring Emotions by Gordon Cox

Passions were never in short supply in Lynn Nottage’s 2003 play “Intimate Apparel,” where loneliness, longing and hope hover in every scene. In the latest, long-in-the-making collabora…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Wednesday, January 26, 2022

‘Skeleton Crew’ Review: Phylicia Rashad, Chanté Adams Shine in Vibrant, Profoundly Layered Play by Gordon Cox

The playwright Dominique Morisseau knows what she is doing. That’s clear not only because she says it so convincingly in her Playbill note for Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of “S…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Broadway Playwright Dominique Morisseau Reveals the Advice Chadwick Boseman Gave Her by Gordon Cox

Playwright Dominique Morisseau has a lot going on right now — but then, she’s just following the advice that the late Chadwick Boseman once gave her. Listen to this week’s “Stagecra…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:39PM
Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Inside the Brutal Economics of Broadway’s Omicron Shutdowns by Gordon Cox

“It just turned into triage.” That’s how Anne Quart describes the past few weeks on Broadway. As senior VP of production and co-producer at Disney Theatrical, Quart saw first-hand the …

SOURCE: Variety at 01:15PM
Tuesday, January 11, 2022

How ‘Tick, Tick … Boom!’ Star Robin de Jesús Played the Long Game, Even Through the Setbacks by Gordon Cox

Robin de Jesús is a three-time Tony Award nominee who’s currently co-starring in “Tick, Tick… Boom!,” one of this year’s film awards season contenders. But de Jesús will be the f…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:06PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 15, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
TBA: Titanic