Thursday, February 13, 2025
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . Idina Menzel’s career in musical theatre was launched nearly thirty years ago as Maureen in the original company of Rent. A few years after that, she t…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:26PMWednesday, February 12, 2025
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . I only got to Ken Ludwig’s 2019 play Dear Jack, Dear Louise last night and since it closes this weekend please take my word that it’s well worth rus…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 06:44PMTuesday, February 11, 2025
Actress Kim Stanley (1925–2001).February 11, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
The actress Kim Stanley (born Patricia Reid) was born 100 years ago today. On Broadway in 19…
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 12:07PMMonday, February 10, 2025
TINKLE, TINKLE . . . “URINETOWN” IS BACK IN TOWN
Stephanie Styles (center) surrounded by member of the “Urinetown” company (photo by Joan Marcus).February 10, 2025: Theatre Yest…
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 03:08PMThursday, February 6, 2025
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . When the curtain goes up on Lia Romeo’s new play Still, we join two extremely attractive people, Helen and Mark, in mid-conversation at a hotel bar. He…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 08:03PMTuesday, February 4, 2025
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . Starting and ending with the question “What makes a person?,” the new American opera Blind Injustice deals head on with weighty matters of existenti…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:49AMMonday, January 27, 2025
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . Gregg Ostrin’s new comedy-drama Kowalski, which opened Monday at the Duke on 42nd Street, falls into a category of plays I call, “The Day Something …
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 09:23PMSunday, January 26, 2025
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . Attending showcases in New York of new works is almost always a mixed bag. Sometimes you see some lovely acting in a not very good play, or sometimes it�…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 02:07PMCabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . Lee Roy Reams has been a sparkling personality in the world of show biz for more than sixty years. A musical theatre wunderkind, a cabaret performer, and…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 01:40PMThursday, January 23, 2025
George S. Kaufman, as photographed by Edward Steichen (1930).January 23, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
It’s a pity that today, for the most part, George S. Kaufman is…
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 11:04AMSaturday, January 18, 2025
Cary Grant, actor ((1904–1986).Born 121 years ago today, Cary Grant is far from a forgotten figure. His excellent work as an actor could easily have faded from popular culture like many fi…
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 10:14AMWednesday, January 15, 2025
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . According to the U.S. copyright office, “All works first published or released in the United States before January 1, 1930, have lost their copyright pr…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 09:39PMTuesday, January 7, 2025
Mildred Natwick (on the moon) with the cast of “70, Girls, 70” (1971). Photo by Martha Swope.January 7, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
Between the years 1965 and 19…
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 12:44PMSaturday, January 4, 2025
Keith Andes and Lucille Ball in a playful moment in “Wildcat” (1960). Photo by Friedman-Abeles.January 4, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
When an actor is involved in …
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 01:39PMSunday, December 29, 2024
Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . Hot on the heels of Norm Lewis’s Christmas show at 54 Below, and just before 2024 reaches its end, comes “Melissa Errico: ‘Twas the Night After C…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 01:52PMSaturday, December 28, 2024
December 28, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
It was after a Wednesday matinee fifty-five years ago that I headed home to Great Neck on the 5:40 train. I had just seen wha…
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 12:00PMFriday, December 27, 2024
Theater Review by Ron Fassler . . . In 1977, while I was still in college, I can recall reading an announcement that a musical based on the popular 1920s comic strip “Little Orphan Annie�…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 05:00PMWednesday, December 25, 2024
Artist Linda Fennimore’s poster design for “Tru,” starring Robert Morse (1989).December 25, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
It’s odd that I hold one Christmas me…
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 09:01AMSaturday, December 21, 2024
Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . Norm Lewis has been a New York theatre fixture since 1993 when he made his debut as part of the ensemble in The Who’s Tommy. Since then, he has appear…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:41AMFriday, December 20, 2024
Review by Ron Fassler... American Musical Theatre lovers absolutely need to see Audra McDonald as Rose in the new revival of "Gypsy."
The post Everything’s Coming Up Audra: “Gypsy” is…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 12:03AMThursday, December 19, 2024
Preston as Harold Hill selling a bill of goods to Barbara Cook as Marian in “The Music Man” (1957).Same age as me, Meredith Willson’s The Music Man is sixty-seven. My birthday is in M…
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 01:31PMTuesday, December 17, 2024
By Ron Fassler… The world premiere of The Jonathan Larson Project is set to open at the Orpheum Theatre for a limited 16-week engagement beginning Valentine’s Day February 14, 2025. C…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:57AMMonday, December 2, 2024
Theater Pizzazz’s own Ron Fassler’s new book The Show Goes On: Broadway Hirings, Firings and Replacements is available now from STCK Books. A must-have for every theatre lover’s libra…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 09:37PMThe timing of Sunday being World AIDS Day made for a welcome excuse to bring Ann Talman’s one-person cabaret show “Elizabeth Taylor and The Shadow of Her Smile” to Don’t Tell Ma…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:28AMWednesday, November 27, 2024
Music Review by Ron Fassler . . . Having seen many solo concerts at the 92NY, I was somewhat taken aback when Heather Headley confidently strolled out to start her show Sunday afternoon wit…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 09:40AMTuesday, November 26, 2024
Review by Ron Fassler . . . Three-time Tony Award nominee Kevin Chamberlin, veteran of ten Broadway shows and numerous off-Broadway and regional productions, made his New York City cabaret …
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 03:47PMSaturday, November 23, 2024
Joy Behar is taking the plunge as a playwright with MY FIRST EX-HUSBAND, a new Off-Broadway comedy that will begin previews on January 29, 2025 and open February 6 at the newly renovated MMA…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 06:25PMWednesday, November 20, 2024
Interview with Ron Fassler Jennifer Ashley Tepper is not only a knowledgeable theatre historian, Broadway producer, and director of programming at the 54 Below supper club, but also one of t…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 05:51PMLiza Minnelli and Chita Rivera in “The Rink” (1984). Photo by Martha Swope.November 20, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
In 1984, Liza Minnelli co-starred with Chita …
SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 12:15PMMonday, November 18, 2024
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . The delightful Elf is a 2010 Broadway musical based faithfully on the 2003 film comedy of the same name. A perfect Will Farrell vehicle, Elf tells the…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:38AMSunday, November 17, 2024
Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . If you haven’t heard by now, Maybe Happy Ending, a new meet-cute musical with two robots as its leading characters has just opened to excellent reviews…
SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:37AM 
