All articles from Ken Levine
Under the radar of Broadway from the '50s-'80s were extravagant Industrial Musicals. Â Major corporations would hold sales conventions highlighted by these razzle-dazzle salutes to cars, c…
Like everybody, I was devastated to learn yesterday of Stephen Sondheim's death. He was 91 and active until the end but still! I've read numerous testimonials that list his many acco…
A surprise to everyone but me.The current show at Circle in the Square is CHICKEN & BISCUITS. And it's a big success. Here's what so surprising about it to the Broadway community…
In no order of importance except for the first item.I loved Ed Asner and had the pleasure of working with him three times. I directed him twice and he graciously did a play reading of mi…
Here's a list of what was playing on Broadway one week in 1948. Thanks to reader Douglas McEwan for sharing it. As he said, and I couldn't agree more, I'd go see any one of those sho…
In the weekend the Tony Awards were given out (did you even KNOW that the Tony Awards were yesterday?), word comes that the motion picture release of Broadway musical smash, DEAR EVAN HANSEN…
More with author, Mark Harris who wrote the book MIKE NICHOLS: A LIFE. In this episode we delve into Nichols' directing career " his approach, process, hits and misses, theatre and films, an…
Ken talks with Mark Harris, author of the best-seller, "Mike Nichols: A Life" " a fascinating look into this complex giant of the entertainment industry. This week: His early life, influence…
More with ESPN/NBC/Chicago White Sox announcer, Jason Benetti. Topics this week include working with partners (like Bill Walton), social media criticism, and not letting Cerebral Palsy preve…
Hollywood is scratching its head. All indications were that IN THE HEIGHTS was supposed to be a blockbuster hit. Surveys showed it was the one movie that would actually get people ba…
Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be a controversial post. But in today's woke world it is. So be it.  Like many other industries legitimate theatre has really been thrown …
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times by theatre critic Charles McNulty proposed that it was time to eliminate intermissions in theatre productions. He feels it's an outdated practic…
I had another Zoom reading of one of my plays as a benefit for the Actors Fund. This is OUR TIME, and it's loosely autobiographical. For many reasons it's one of my favorite plays an…
Chip Zien has been in 13 Broadway shows, has over 65 TV and movie credits, and was the voice of Howard the Duck. This week he talks about being HOWARD THE DUCK, acting in LES MISERABLES,…
Chip Zien has been in 13 Broadway shows, has over 65 TV and movie credits, and was the voice of Howard the Duck. He starred in INTO THE WOODS and discusses working with Stephen Sondheim …
This is an audience participation post. You'll see how. A recent discussion led to this:Often times actors on long-running television shows will go behind the camera and direct an episod…
 In 1953 a new sitcom premiered called TOPPER. It was based on the movie TOPPER (which was based on a book) about a stuffy buttoned-down banker haunted by two carefree ghosts. Car…
It say something about The Tony Awards that the nominations were announced a week ago today and I'm just addressing them now. Other than a five block radius in Manhattan I can't imagine th…
Thanks to loyal reader, Wendy Grossman for alerting me to this article in the Guardian about a study on laughter. Scientific studies on why we laugh are always dicey, but some nuggets in th…
Talk about chutzpah!One way for playwrights to get their plays produced is to enter festivals. Numerous theatres around the world stage festivals and invite playwrights to enter their work…
After writing Oscar reviews for over 20 years, this year's might have been my last. Nothing's written in stone and a lot will depend on how many people log on to the podcast. But the…
There are readers who are hearing impaired or just don't want to be bothered listening to a podcast (even mine) so I am posting the text of my Oscar review " although it's much better hearin…
Scene from my ten-minute play, THE FUGITIVE with Penny Peyser & Andy GoldbergIt's probably half urban legend, but the concept of Top 40 radio supposedly began when radio station owner To…
When I was in New York I saw the recent revival of MY FAIR LADY. It's my all-time favorite musical. I just think the music is spectacular beyond belief. If a musical has one song that ul…
Hello, this is Abraham Lincoln. Ken is letting me guest blog today. I asked if I could just lob in some random thoughts and he said sure. The difference between my White House and the c…
I understand tickets were going for $2000 a pop. And people were saying it was a bargain. Bruce Springsteen was on Broadway. In a theatre that sat 975, which is somewhat more intimate th…
On January 1st I posted my New Year's Resolutions. Let's see how well I did. Throw out my Miramax DVD's.They're gone. Sorry Harvey.Finally watch THIS IS US.Next year for sure.Get ALMO…
This is the week in LA and New York when movies that hope to be contenders for the Oscars must run in theaters. Being a member of the WGA and DGA, I've received a lot of screeners of the ho…
Take a break from Christmas shopping to check out some Friday Questions.MikeKPa starts us off.A lot of William Goldman's work was adaption. Have you ever done adaptations and did you find it…
It seems like every twenty years or so someone remakes A STAR IS BORN. There was the original with Janet Gaynor in 1937, Judy Garland took the stage in 1954, and then Barbra Streisand in 1…
Mike Nichol's & Elaine May were two improv performers in Chicago who really clicked. So much so that they became a comedy team. And a sensation! This was in the late '50…
Ricky Jay passed away last weekend. He was... too young. I loved Ricky Jay but never knew him. My good friend Tracy Newman did and graciously offered to write her own perso…
In honor of Turkey Day, Ken spins one audio trainwreck after another. You'll laugh till you cringe.Listen to the Hollywood & Levine podcast!HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY. S…
And not just because I want him to direct one of my movies... or even say hello to me.Got a missive from reader "Laura" who asked:Ken, can you please give your opinion on what Steven Spielbe…
For me, if there's a Mount Rushmore of screenwriters it's Billy Wilder, Larry Gelbart, Neil Simon, and William Goldman. And now all four have passed. William Goldman died yesterday. He w…
I haven't done this in awhile, so what the hell? Again, thanks to everyone who answered the call last week and gave me your feedback. I got a very interesting suggestion from reader Janet Y…
It's typical for a movie to take years to get made. Ken takes you through the saga of VOLUNTEERS, from the initial idea to all the studios, ups and downs, production, release, and how …
Tourism is always big in Los Angeles. Local residents on the Westside are used to seeing kids stand out on Sunset Blvd. selling maps to the stars' homes. Hollywood locals take it for …
Since a number of people who read my post yesterday asked about my brush with Jacqueline Onassis, I thought I would reprise a post I wrote on this a few years ago.Yes, I went to the theatre …
As a playwright, one of my main objectives is to see my plays produced. I have full-length, half-hour, and ten-minute plays. All comedies, some award winners. So in an attempt to make my …
I've posted this before, years ago, but it's one of my all-time favorites. Do you remember a comedian named Gallagher? His basic act was smashing watermelons. When …
Oh, the humanity! The heartbreak! Imagine if she had slept with a roadie. Or worse -- a writer.Let this be a cautionary tale. Never sleep with a celebrity until you'…
TCM in tribute to Neil Simon played a number of his movies last night. A few years ago I hosted a month-long Neil Simon film festival on TCM. Although they didn't use my intros a…
Lost in all the horrors of 9-11 is that I lost another dear friend who died on that date. Larry Gelbart in 2009. Were it not for 9-11 I might have saluted him every year on…
Having a show on network televisionBeing on televisionRadioHaving a hit songBeing an NFL team in Los AngelesThe Rose BowlThe Polo LoungeAirline travelLibrary cardThe Universal TourMovie prem…
This is another crazy story that happened along the way in our career. This was on a pilot rewrite.In 1976 there was a somewhat popular movie called MOTHER, JUGS, & SPEED about ambula…
scene from GOING GOING GONEI love writing plays. It's liberating to write whatever I want, characters of any age, and no network executive insisting I make my antagonist more "likeable." …
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG does pretty much everything right. It started in England and continues on Broadway. For all the heavy "important" plays that have come and gone over the past yea…
Friday Questions everybody. Come and get 'em.Dsull leads off with a question about the five sitcoms I listed as my all-time favorites. With the exception Seinfeld, all your favorite sitcoms…
I was going to do a post about Kathleen Turner's JEWEL OF THE NILE comments but with the Motion Picture Academy drastically changing Oscar rules I thought I would address that today and save…
