All stories by Robert Simonson on BroadwayStars

Monday, March 24, 2014

James Rebhorn, Character Actor of Film and Stage, Dies by Robert Simonson

James Rebhorn, a character actor who was busy on both stage and screen, died March 21. He had been battling melanoma for many years. He was 65. 

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:02AM
Sunday, March 23, 2014

"One Day More": A History of Les Misérables by Robert Simonson

Playbill.com offers a look at the history behind the award-winning blockbuster musical Les Misérables.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM

Steinbeck Country: James Franco and Chris O'Dowd Share the Story Behind Bringing Of Mice and Men Back to Broadway by Robert Simonson

Playbill.com talks with James Franco, Chris O'Dowd and Anna D. Shapiro about the Broadway revival of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Saturday, March 22, 2014

Second Act for "Act One": Moss Hart's Beloved Show Business Memoir Comes to Life by Robert Simonson

James Lapine, Matthew Schechter, Chuck Cooper and Andrea Martin talk with Playbill.com about the new Broadway play Act One.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, March 21, 2014

PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, March 15-21: Aladdin Flies Onto Broadway and Vampires Will Dance Again by Robert Simonson

Disney turned its luck on Broadway around with Newsies, its most recent Times Square opening, collecting the reviews needed to give long-running The Lion King a fellow hit to keep it company.

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:30PM
Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Gene Feist, Founder of Roundabout Theatre Company, Dies at 91 by Robert Simonson

Gene Feist, who in 1965 founded the theatre troupe that would grow into the multi-theatre Broadway behemoth, the Roundabout Theatre Company, died March 17 at the Lillian Booth Actor's Ho…

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:54AM
Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, March 10-16: Spring Season Kicks Off Strong by Robert Simonson

Playbill's newest weekly feature examines the box-office trends of the past week.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:30PM
Monday, March 17, 2014

Kathleen Raitt, Nederlander Executive, Dies by Robert Simonson

Kathleen Raitt, a producer and executive with the theatre-owning Nederlander Organization, died March 15.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:00PM

TAP New Audiences: A Look at Theatre Accessibility for the Disabled Through 35 Years of TAP by Robert Simonson

Playbill.com offers a look at 35 years of TDF's Accessibility Programs, aiming to reach new audiences.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, March 14, 2014

PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, March 8-14: Rocky Opens on Broadway, Will Eno Has Two Plays in NYC and MTC Season Take Shape by Robert Simonson

That blast of trumpets you heard at the Winter Garden Theatre March 13 was the opening of Rocky, the new musical based on the Academy Award-winning 1976 Sylvester Stallone film of the same n…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00PM
Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, March 3-9: New Shows Get Box-Office Boosts by Robert Simonson

Playbill's newest weekly feature examines the box-office trends of the past week.

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:31PM

Sheila MacRae, "Honeymooners" and Stage Actress, Dies at 93 by Robert Simonson

Sheila MacRae, a U.K.-born actress best known for playing Alice Kramden in the late 1960s iteration of the sitcom "The Honeymooners," titled "The Jackie Gleason Show," di…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:56AM
Friday, March 7, 2014

PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, March 1-7: Bryan Cranston Goes All The Way and Adele Dazeem Takes the Stage by Robert Simonson

Bryan Cranston followed up his small-screen triumph as the everyday, all-American drug lord Walter White in "Breaking Bad" with a starring turn in playwright Robert Schenkkan&…

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:00PM

Martin Gottfried, Drama Critic and Author, Dies at 80 by Robert Simonson

Martin Gottfried, an award-winning drama critic and author who wrote biographies on Arthur Miller, Jed Harris and Bob Fosse, died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Cent…

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:15AM
Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, Feb. 24-March 2: Les Miz Revival is Master of the House by Robert Simonson

Playbill's newest weekly feature examines the box-office trends of the past week.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:30PM
Monday, March 3, 2014

PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER With Anna D. Shapiro, Bringing Of Mice and Men Back to Broadway by Robert Simonson

Tony Award-winning director Anna D. Shapiro chats with Playbill.com about helming the upcoming Broadway revival of Of Mice and Men.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Sunday, March 2, 2014

A Friend Like Me — Aladdin's Alan Menken On the Legacy of Howard Ashman by Robert Simonson

Alan Menken, longtime collaborator of the late Howard Ashman, discusses bringing Ashman's work to Broadway 25 years after his death.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM

3D Printers Revolutionize Work of Broadway Scenic Designers by Robert Simonson

Scenic designers Kacie Hultgren and John Lee Beatty share with Playbill.com how the new technology of 3D printers has changed their work. 

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, February 28, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, Feb. 17-23, 2014: Long-Running Hits Regain Momentum by Robert Simonson

Playbill's newest weekly feature examines the box-office trends of the past week.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:00PM
Tuesday, February 25, 2014

TEDxBroadway Spreads Message Through Talk, Music and Exercise by Robert Simonson

If you were in the mood for a light workout, accompanied by ukelele and accordion music, peppered with inspirational speeches and capped with a cocktail hour, there was really only one place…

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:00PM
Friday, February 21, 2014

PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, Feb. 15-21: Bridges Opens on Broadway and Elaine Stritch Hits the Big Screen by Robert Simonson

Following a quiet couple of months, Broadway enjoyed a good, old-fashioned, big musical opening Feb. 20, when Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale opened in The Bridges of Madison County.

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:30PM
Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, Feb. 10-16, 2014: Shakespeare Double-Bill Breaks Box-Office Records Before Bidding Broadway Farewell by Robert Simonson

Playbill's newest weekly feature examines the box-office trends of the past week.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:30PM
Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Theatre Community Gathers to Remember Christopher Evan Welch by Robert Simonson

A theatre full of stage character actors came together to remember a fellow character actor at a Feb. 17 memorial held for Christopher Evan Welch at the the Irene Diamond Stage of The Pershi…

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:00PM
Saturday, February 15, 2014

Statues of Leading Ladies Ethel Barrymore, Marilyn Miller, Mary Pickford and Rosa Ponselle Restored in Times Square by Robert Simonson

For decades, a crossroads for architectural geeks, New York history buffs and theatre devotees stood at the dusty intersection of Broadway and 46th Street where, on the northeast corner, a T…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, February 14, 2014

PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, Feb. 8-14: Hugh Jackman to Host the Tonys and Two Off-Broadway Shows Open by Robert Simonson

Neil Patrick Harris did a knockout job hosting the Tony Awards ceremony the last three years. But for the 2014 show, Broadway favorite Hugh Jackman will return to host the annual broadcast l…

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:30PM

Ralph Waite, Patriarch on "The Waltons," Dies at 85 by Robert Simonson

Ralph Waite, who to millions of television viewers became the voice and face of rough-hewn, kind-hearted wisdom as the father of a large, rural, Depression-era family in the popular 1970s se…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:20AM
Thursday, February 13, 2014

PLAYBILL PICKS: Timeless Love Affairs on Stage by Robert Simonson

It's almost Valentine's Day and love is in the air. It's also on the stage, if you know where to look. Playbill.com sifted through centuries of scripts and came up with a collect…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Sid Caesar, Master of Early Television Comedy, Dies at 91 by Robert Simonson

Sid Caesar, who, as the star of the 1950s live comedy show "Your Show of Shows," became one of the first television celebrities and set a bar for sketch comedy that would remain fo…

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:31PM
Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, Feb. 3-9, 2014: Shakespeare Double Bill Still Standing Strong by Robert Simonson

Playbill's newest weekly feature examines the box-office trends of the past week.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:00PM
Friday, February 7, 2014

PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, Feb. 1-7: Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman and Broadway’s Latest Opening by Robert Simonson

The theatre and film worlds received a unexpected shock this week when actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, a titanic creative force on stage and screen for more than a decade, was found dead in hi…

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:00PM

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
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime