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 10:26PMTheatre 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 06:44PMActress 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 12:07PMTINKLE, 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 03:08PMTheatre 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 08:03PMTheatre 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 11:49AMTheatre 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 09:23PMTheatre 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 01:40PMGeorge 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 11:04AMCary 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 10:14AMTheatre 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 09:39PMMildred 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 12:44PMKeith 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 01:39PMCabaret 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 01:52PMDecember 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 12:00PMTheater 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 05:00PMArtist 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 09:01AMCabaret 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 11:41AMReview 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 12:03AMPreston 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 01:31PMBy 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 11:57AMTheater 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 11:28AMMusic 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 09:40AMReview 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 03:47PMJoy 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 06:25PMInterview 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 12:15PMTheatre 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 10:38AMTheatre 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