All stories by Jonathan Mandell on BroadwayStars

Thursday, January 26, 2023

George Santos: 6 Memorable Articles by Jonathan Mandell

Ever since newly-elected New York Congressman George Santos was revealed as a liar, and worse, not a day has gone by without something new. It’s embarrassing, of course; much of it is infu…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:24PM
Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Without You Review. Anthony Rapp looks back at Rent and grief by Jonathan Mandell

“525,600 minutes 525,000 moments so dear 525,600 minutesHow do you measure… half a lifetime?  That’s how long it’s been” This is how Anthony Rapp begins  “Without You,” h…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:04PM
Tuesday, January 24, 2023

2023 Oscar Nominees Who Are Broadway Veterans! NEA chief on changes since the pandemic. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Nine of the 20 Oscar nominees for performance announced this morning are veterans of Broadway. (Full list of nominations) They are: Actor in a Leading RoleAustin Butler (Elvis) made his Broa…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:53AM

Oscar Nominations 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

The full list of nominations for the 95th annual Academy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC. …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:05AM
Monday, January 23, 2023

Small Talk Review. Colin Quinn’s 7th solo show by Jonathan Mandell

“Throughout history weather was the only important subject; everything else was small talk,” Colin Quinn explains; now weather’s the go-to subject for small talk, except for members of…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:00PM
Sunday, January 22, 2023

Memorial Review. Maya Lin fights for her Vietnam Veteran design amid anti-Asian attitudes. by Jonathan Mandell

Maya Lin was still a college student when her design was selected out of more than 1,400 entries for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., which resulted in criticism, conflict, …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:27PM
Saturday, January 21, 2023

Broadway at the Oscars Quiz by Jonathan Mandell

Nominations for the 95th annual Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday January 24th, so it seems a good time to test your knowledge of the interplay between Broadway and Hollywood, with…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:14PM
Friday, January 20, 2023

Theater Blog Roundup: Assessing 2022. Rebuilding. Reminiscing. Retiring? by Jonathan Mandell

Many of the dozen or so theater bloggers below offered end of year assessments for 2022, a less evidently emotional year than the previous two — but that’s just on the surface. “This y…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:26PM
Thursday, January 19, 2023

8 Things to Understand About Digital Theater Now, According to Jared Mezzocchi by Jonathan Mandell

Jared Mezzocchi is a pioneer in digital theater, and probably its most quoted evangelist, an Obie winning theater artist who works as a multimedia designer, director, playwright, performer…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:58AM
Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Under the Radar Review: Otto Frank by Jonathan Mandell

An 88-year-old white supremacist who claimed “The Diary of Anne Frank” was a hoax shot and killed a 39-year-old African American security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in W…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:21AM
Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Broadway Week Begins. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Broadway Week 2-for-1 tickets launches today through February 12, a traditional fallow period in New York theater, but one full of hope this year, judging from the announcements this past we…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:41PM
Monday, January 16, 2023

Martin Luther King Jr: “I am proud to be maladjusted” by Jonathan Mandell

Today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day — which has been an official federal holiday since 1986 — many people read or listen once again to his most famous speech, delivered August 28, 1963,…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:11PM
Saturday, January 14, 2023

‘Reconnecting people to their joy’: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Senator Schumer et al at APAP conference by Jonathan Mandell

Brian Stokes Mitchell, Wynton Marsalis, Senators Chuck Schumer and Amy Klobuchar, and Broadway League President  Charlotte St. Martin were among those who took to the stage on the first da…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:40PM
Friday, January 13, 2023

Under the Radar Review: KLII. King Leopold’s atrocities revisited. by Jonathan Mandell

In 1905, Mark Twain wrote a caustic satire, “King Leopold’s Soliloquy,” in which the Belgian king tries to justify the unspeakable atrocities he committed for his personal enrichment …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:53AM
Thursday, January 12, 2023

Mothermotherland. A Play with Four Ukrainians and a Scene-Stealing Baby by Jonathan Mandell

What was most jaw-dropping about “Mothermotherland,” which is being presented for free through January 15 at A.R.T./New York Theatres,  was not that Audrey Rose Dégez breastfed her …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:38PM
Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Prototype Reviews: Trade and Mary Motorhead by Jonathan Mandell

A middle aged man hires a teenager for sex in a cheap Dublin hotel, but both the older man (Marc Kudisch) and the younger man (Kyle Bielfield) actually want something else.  A woman  (Na…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:59AM
Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Broadway Week 2-for-1 Tickets. Plus Discounts at Restaurants, Museums, Hotels! by Jonathan Mandell

Tickets are now on sale for Broadway Week, where you can buy two tickets for the price of one for performances from January 17 through February 12 of 22 Broadway shows, from “& Juliet�…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:14PM
Monday, January 9, 2023

Theater in Politics. Broadway Backwards and Forwards. #Stageworthy News of the Week. by Jonathan Mandell

The longest battle for Speaker of the House since 1859 was filled with drama last week, but also with theater, enough to inspire observations by at least two theater critics — about Hakeem…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:49PM
Sunday, January 8, 2023

Merrily We Roll Along Pre Broadway Review by Jonathan Mandell

“That’s the sound of a hit,” Jonathan Groff as Franklin Shepard sings about halfway through the current Off-Broadway production of the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical “Merrily…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:56PM

Under the Radar Review: The Indigo Room by Jonathan Mandell

I had a whale of a time for much of “The Indigo Room,” which is part of this year’s Under the Radar theater festival, and can certainly count as theater. But it is more than that – m…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:30AM
Saturday, January 7, 2023

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ ABC of American Values: “The Constitution over the cult …Freedom over fascism… Maturity over Mar-a-Lago…” by Jonathan Mandell

Near the end of his inspiring 15-minute address to the 118th Congress before the formal handing-over of the gavel to the newly elected Speaker of the House early Saturday morning, Minority L…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:08AM
Friday, January 6, 2023

Under the Radar Review: Are we not drawn onward to new erA by Jonathan Mandell

The title is a palindrome: it reads the same backwards and forwards. The show too goes backward and forward — or actually, forward and then backward. The first entry in the annual Under …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:00AM
Thursday, January 5, 2023

Exponential Festival Review: The Complaint Society by Jonathan Mandell

In this first play of the new year, the four statuesque performers are dressed in what at first look like classic robes, but on closer inspection are made up of regular street clothes. This …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:13PM
Wednesday, January 4, 2023

January 2023 New York Theater Openings. A Month of Theater Festivals! by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a calendar of selected theater opening* this month in New York, including Off-Broadway shows written and performed by Anthony Rapp and Colin Quinn, a new play about the architect Ma…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:29PM
Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Broadway Poll: Spring 2023 Show You Most Want to See by Jonathan Mandell

Choose the show that you are most looking forward to, among the 13 that have firm opening dates on Broadway between now and April 27, 2023, when the 2022-2023 season ends. They are listed ch…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:41PM
Monday, January 2, 2023

Broadway 2023 is a Question. 2022 in Review. #Stageworthy News by Jonathan Mandell

Will 2023 be a year of innovation or retrenchment for theater in New York, especially on Broadway? That’s the first of several questions for the year ahead. 7 Major Questions for Theater i…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:50AM
Sunday, January 1, 2023

7 Major Questions for Theater in 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

On January 1, 2020, I explored seven possible major theater trends  of the new decade, asking: What will the future of theater turn out to be? I entitled the post “Seeing 2020,” but …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:35PM
Saturday, December 31, 2022

Ring IN The Old in 2023: Broadway Veterans in their 90s by Jonathan Mandell

Let us celebrate surviving to a new and hopefully better year, by honoring these dozen Broadway veterans in their nineties . Click on any photograph to see it enlarged and read the caption. …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:47PM
Thursday, December 29, 2022

Year End Theater Quiz: A Look Back at 2022 by Jonathan Mandell

How much do you remember of this unusual year in theater? Answer these 20 questions to find out. Loading…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:14PM
Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Top 10 Posts and 10 Good Reads of 2022: Broadway is Dear! by Jonathan Mandell

An 88-year-old producer complaining about Broadway ticket prices was the most popular post by far on this blog in 2022 — and that in an odd way speaks to the enthusiasm of New York Theater…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:37PM
Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Theater Books to Read in 2023. Everything’s Coming Up Sondheim by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a list of theater books to read in 2023, most of which were published in 2022.‡ Click on the titles to find more information and to purchase these books, grouped under five categ…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:06PM