All stories by Robert Shuman on BroadwayStars

Monday, January 8, 2024

THE PLAYWRIGHT HAS A FEW MORE CHANGES (BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS) by Robert Shuman

(Julian Lucas’s article appeared in the New Yorker, 1/9; Jacobs-Jenkins, whose drama “Appropriate” is now on Broadway, has a gift for matching ugly feelings with sophisticated forms.Ph…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:58PM
Saturday, January 6, 2024

SEEKING MICHAEL HASTINGS, THE MISSING MAN OF BRITISH THEATRE by Robert Shuman

(Michael Billington’s article appeared in the Guarian, 1/5;  Photo: Michael Hastings, aged 18, working at his mother’s council flat in Brixton, London, in February 1957. Photograph: We…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 07:04PM
Friday, January 5, 2024

GLYNIS JOHNS, WHO PLAYED IN SONDHEIM AND MRS BANKS IN MARY POPPINS, DIES AGED 100 by Robert Shuman

(Maya Yang’s article appeared in the Guardian, 1/4; Photo: Glynis Johns in A Little Night Music.) British actor and star of 1964 film died at an assisted living home in Los Angeles of natu…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:54AM
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (156) by Robert Shuman

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski: On the stage you must always be enacting something; action, motion, is the basis of the art, followed by the actor. On the stage it is necess…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 01:52PM
Monday, January 1, 2024

AT CARNEGIE HALL: HANDEL’S MESSIAH BY THE ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK by Robert Shuman

(Edward Kiszus’s article appeared on Opening Night Online, 12/19/2023; Photo: Handel’s Messiah performed by the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall.. Photo by Edward Kliszus.) …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 08:11PM
Sunday, December 31, 2023

BBC RADIO 4, “IN OUR TIME” ON ‘TWELFTH NIGHT, OR WHAT YOU WILL’ (DISCUSSION PROGRAM, LINK BELOW) by Robert Shuman

Twelfth Night, or What You Will Listen In Our Time Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of Shakespeare’s great comedies, which plays in the space between marriage, love and desire. By conve…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:32PM
Saturday, December 30, 2023

UKRAINE WARTIME MEMOIR AND PLAY NAVIGATES LOSS AND PRESERVING MEMORY OF FALLEN SOLDIERS (VIDEO) by Robert Shuman

(Kate Tsurkan’s article appeared in the Lyiv Independent, 12/30; Photo:  LVIV, UKRAINE – NOVEMBER 1: Graves of Ukrainian soldiers during the memorial day at the Lychakiv military cemete…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 05:46PM
Monday, December 25, 2023

BLACKLISTED LYRICIST YIP HARBURG: THE MAN WHO PUT THE RAINBOW IN THE WIZARD OF OZ by Robert Shuman

(from Democracy Now!, Dec 25, 2023 Latest Shows .) Support our work: https://democracynow.org/give His name might not be familiar to many, but his songs are sung by millions around the world…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:52AM
Saturday, December 16, 2023

***** ‘MACBETH’ REVIEW – DAVID TENNANT THRILLS IN THIS HIGH-CONCEPT PRODUCTION by Robert Shuman

(Arifa Akbar’s article appeared in the Guardin, 12/15; Photo: Coolly creepy … David Tennant and Cush Jumbo in Macbeth. Photograph: Marc Brenner.) Donmar Warehouse, London The staging is …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 02:02PM
Friday, December 15, 2023

ISRAEL RAIDS FREEDOM THEATRE IN JENIN REFUGEE CAMP; DIRECTOR SPEAKS OUT AFTER BEING JAILED & BEATEN by Robert Shuman

(Report from Democracy Now!; Photo: Middle East Institute.) The Israeli military this week raided the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, a renowned cultural institution whose mission is to fight for …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:07PM
Wednesday, December 6, 2023

LES KURBAS, THE MAN WHO FORMED UKRAINIAN THEATER by Robert Shuman

(Andriy Bondar’s article appeared in the Kiv Post, 12/3; Photo:  Les Kurbas, c. 1908.) The seeds sown by Les Kurbas on the Ukrainian stage sprouted in the following generations of artists…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 08:22PM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

‘PACIFIC OVERTURES’ REVIEW – SMALL SONDHEIM IS BEAUTIFULLY DONE by Robert Shuman

(Arifa Akbar’s article appeared in the Guardian, 12/5; Photo: Sparkling with knowing humour … Pacific Overtures at Menier Chocolate Factory. Photograph: The Stage.)  Menier Chocolate Fa…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:38PM
Sunday, December 3, 2023

CARY GRANT: THE MAN WE THOUGHT WE KNEW by Robert Shuman

Cary Grant was considered one of the world’s best-known movie stars, but it turns out there was plenty that audiences did not know about the debonair actor. In fact, he was born in England…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:15PM
Friday, December 1, 2023

‘IS MY PLAY STILL RELEVANT? I DON’T CARE!’ TOM STOPPARD ON HIS GAZA QUANDARY AND REVIVING ROCK ’N’ ROLL by Robert Shuman

(Claire Armitstead’s article appeared in the Guardian, 11/29 Photo:  Power couple … Stoppard and Vaclav Havel attending Rock ’n’ Roll at the Royal Court in 2006. Photograph: David M…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 06:14PM
Thursday, November 30, 2023

APPEALS BY RUSSIAN DIRECTOR, PLAYWRIGHT AGAINST EXTENSION OF PRETRIAL DETENTION REJECTED by Robert Shuman

(from Radio Free Europe, 11/20; Photo: Russian stage director Yevgenia Berkovich; Creator: Anton Novoderjozhkin|Credit: Sipa USA via AP Copyright: Sipa USA.) The Moscow city court on Novembe…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 06:42PM
Wednesday, November 29, 2023

RUSSIA ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR UKRAINIAN EUROVISION WINNER by Robert Shuman

(from RadioFree Europe, 11/29; photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (left) poses with Jamala in Kyiv on November 29, 2022. ) The Moscow prosecutor’s office said on November 29 th…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:33AM
Tuesday, November 28, 2023

EDDIE IZZARD RETURNS TO NEW YORK WITH ONE-PERSON ‘HAMLET’-FROM JANUARY 25– MARCH 3 by Robert Shuman

Eddie Izzard Returns to New York with One-Person Hamlet by William Shakespeare From January 25 – March 3 At Off-Broadway’s Greenwich House Theater Opening Night February 11 Adapted by M…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 01:06PM
Wednesday, November 22, 2023

BARBRA STREISAND’S MOTHER OF ALL MEMOIRS by Robert Shuman

(Rachel Syme’s article appeaed in The New Yorker, 11/14/2023. Photo: Trust is a big theme in the book, and perhaps its reason for existing. Photograph by Irving Penn / © Condé Nast)   …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:59PM
Monday, November 20, 2023

***** ‘HELL’S KITCHEN’ REVIEW – ALICIA KEYS JUKEBOX MUSICAL IS A MARVEL by Robert Shuman

(Lauren Mechling’s article appeared in the Guardian, 11/19; Photo: Maleah Joi Moon in Hell’s Kitchen. Photograph: Photo Credit: Joan Marcus.)   The Public Theater, New York The star he…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:28PM
Sunday, November 19, 2023

‘THE SPANISH TRAGEDY’ BY THOMAS KYD (LISTEN NOW ON BBC RADIO 3—LINK BELOW) by Robert Shuman

The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd Abridged and adapted by Pauline Harris and Emma Smith Listen Spain is in the middle of a peace treaty with Portugal, when Marshall Hieronimo is forced down …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 09:41AM
Thursday, November 16, 2023

LOVE. FAMILY. MEMORY. “FLAWLESS”: ROBIN GOLDFIN’S NEW PLAY AT TNC (11/9-26) by Robert Shuman

Theater for the New City Presents   Flawless, a tale of enchantment Written by Robin Goldfin  Directed by Ed Chemaly   November 9-26, 2023 (12 performances) Thursdays, Fridays and Sat…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 07:25PM
Friday, November 10, 2023

FATHER OF SELF-EXILED BELARUSIAN WRITER JAILED FOR REPOSTING ARTICLE by Robert Shuman

(From Radio Free Europe, 11/10; Photo of Sasha Filipenka, from Radio Free Europe.) Self-exiled Belarusian writer Sasha Filipenka told RFE/RL on November 10 that a Minsk court sentenced his f…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:00AM
Friday, November 3, 2023

THESE UKRAINIAN ARTISTS, WRITERS WERE KILLED BY RUSSIA’S WAR by Robert Shuman

(Dinara Khalilova’s article appeared in the Kyiv Independent, 10/25/23; Photo:  Ukrainian ballet dancer Oleksandr Shapoval (top left), artist and researcher of Ukrainian cuisine Olha Pavl…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:36AM
Thursday, November 2, 2023

A HOTBED OF ENGLISH RADICALISM? AUDEN, BRITTEN AND THE UNSUNG GLORY OF THE GROUP THEATRE by Robert Shuman

(Sam Kinshin-Smith’s article appeared in the Guardian, 11/1; Photo: Gifted generation … Auden and Britten. Photograph: Britten Pears Arts.) When they weren’t having screaming rows, th…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 06:49PM
Wednesday, November 1, 2023

JAMES RADO CELEBRATION OF LIFE by Robert Shuman

(Photo: hairtribes.com.)

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:12PM
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

***** ‘THE CONFESSIONS’ REVIEW – DAZZLING DRAMA DRAWN FROM A MOTHER’S MEMORIES by Robert Shuman

(Arifa Akbar’s article appeared in the Guardian, 10/24; Photo:  Pamela Rabe (left) and Eryn Jean Norvill in The Confessions. Photograph: Christophe Raynaud de Lage.)  National Theatre, …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 01:54PM
Sunday, October 22, 2023

SHAKESPEARE/PATRICK PAGE: ‘ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE’ (REVIEW FROM NEW YORK) by Robert Shuman

Bob Shuman I can add colours to the chameleon, Change shapes with Proteus for advantages, and set the murderous Machiavel to school.  Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?  Tut, were it f…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 12:14PM
Saturday, October 14, 2023

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (155) by Robert Shuman

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski: There is far more bad taste in the world than good. In the place of nobility a sort of showiness has been created, prettiness in place of bea…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 02:17PM
Tuesday, October 10, 2023

IN CASE YOU CAN’T WAIT FOR HALLOWEEN–‘ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE’ by Robert Shuman

Dubbed “The villain of Broadway” by Playbill, Tony Award® Nominee and Grammy Award® Winner Patrick Page has never shied away from exploring his dark side. Now, with this tour de for…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:12PM

BRITISH PLAYWRIGHT ALEXANDER ZELDIN ON USING THEATRE TO BRING US CLOSER TO LIFE by Robert Shuman

(Jennifer Ben Brahimim’s, Marion Chavali’s,  Aline Bottin’s,  Alison Sargent’s Loic Chalavoni’s, and Sonia Patricelli’s article appeared on France24, 10/10/2023.) “A simple c…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 01:13PM
Saturday, October 7, 2023

GOETHE’S ‘FAUST’ COMMEMORATED ON A GERMAN €100 COIN by Robert Shuman

(Veronika Fors’s article appeared on DW, 10/6;  Photo: The tragic play is still regularly restaged today. Shown here is a 2015 staging by Robert Wilson at the Berliner EnsembleImage: Maur…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 07:17PM

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