All stories by Barry Gordin on BroadwayStars

Monday, September 8, 2025

Exorcistic: The Rock Musical **** by Barry Gordin

By Isa Goldberg September 8, 2025: A scream alert bursts your ears -- stabbing the subconscious, evoking fear, and demons that become real -- more than mere apparitions. Exorcistic: The Ro…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:38PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 4, 2025

Bryce Edwards & Mike Davis' "Hot Combination- the Cliff Edwards/ Red Nichols Project" by Barry Gordin

By Alix Cohen September 4, 2025: An instrumental "After You've Gone" (Turner Layton/Henry Creamer) sashays in. Trombone surges, cornet and clarinet shimmy, sax kicks up. Tonight's band is …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:45AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Jaime Lozano & The Familia- Extraordinario! by Barry Gordin

Jaime Lozano and performers. Photo Credit: Rebecca J. Michaelson

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:03PM[SHARE]
Sunday, August 31, 2025

JAMIE ALLAN'S AMAZE **** 1/2 by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter August 31, 2025: Magic, as Jamie Allan, the appealing British magician now holding forth at one of the venues in Off-Broadway's New World Stages, explains, goes back…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:50AM[SHARE]

Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward August 31, 2025: You might expect a lot more snark from comedian Jeff Ross in his one-man show Take a Banana for the Ride at the Nederlander. After all, he is nicknamed th…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:42AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Hirschfeld's Sondheim- A Poster Book by Barry Gordin

By Alix Cohen August 27, 2025: With this 11" x 17" book, you too can put a Hirschfeld on your wall or gift an uber-fan. There are 58 pages, 50 drawings and 25 glossy, thick, ready to frame…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:13PM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 21, 2025

TWELFTH NIGHT ** by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter August 21, 2025: At last! The Delacorte Theatre, home of Free Shakespeare in Central Park has reopened, after a two-year renovation costing a reported $85 million, with…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:00PM[SHARE]
Monday, August 18, 2025

JEFF ROSS: TAKE A BANANA FOR A RIDE **** by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter August 18, 2025: In our currently niche-dominated entertainment world, including the infinitesimal number of choices on cable, streaming, and broadcast TV, it's easy…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:00PM[SHARE]
Saturday, August 16, 2025

Ava: The Secret Conversations *** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons August 16, 2025: Late in her life, Ava Gardner decided to write an autobiography. She didn't so much want to tell her story as raise money. She was low on funds and as …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 01:10PM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 14, 2025

Jamie Allan's Amaze **** by Barry Gordin

CHARMING AND ENTERTAINING By Alix Cohen August 14, 2025: "Every story begins with a spark of imagination…" Jamie Allan was eight when his parents bought him a Fisher Price magic set. Dad…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:22PM[SHARE]

Stages ***** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons August 14, 2025: When theater star and Nashville recording artist Rachel Potter turned forty, she was living in Nashville doing corporate real estate. After many yea…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:03AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Well, I'll Let You Go **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward August 12, 2025: Bubba Weiler's new play Well, I'll Let You Go at the Space at Irondale in Brooklyn breaks a few rules and doesn't seem to have much going for it at first.…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 02:01PM[SHARE]
Monday, August 11, 2025

Well, I'll Let You Go **** by Barry Gordin

By Isa Goldberg August 11, 2025: Oddly, Bubba Weiler's new play at the Irondale Brooklyn, Well, I'll Let You Go, begins where the story ends …after Marv's death. Being iconoclastic of st…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 06:04AM[SHARE]
Friday, August 8, 2025

Ava: The Secret Conversations *** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward August 7, 2025: "The story you are about to see is true…except for the parts that aren't." So reads a disclaimer flashed on the curtain before the start of Ava: The Secr…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:53AM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 7, 2025

AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS *** by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter August 7, 2025: In 1988, former screen star Ava Gardner, famed much more for her sultry glamor ("the world's most beautiful animal") than her thespian artistry (althoug…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:30PM[SHARE]
Saturday, August 2, 2025

Joy: A New True Musical ** 1/2, Rolling Thunder ** 1/2 by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward August 1, 2025: Joy, subtitled a New True Musical, Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels, is a serviceable enough product to entertain intermittently for two hours, but it's basi…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 01:16PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, July 29, 2025

WHITE ROOM GALLERY by Barry Gordin

The White Room Gallery hosted an opening reception for RED CARPET, which will be on view through August 17, 2025. July 28, 2025: The White Room Gallery, 2 Railroad Avenue in East Hampton, …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 02:44PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 28, 2025

Gene & Gilda *** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons July 28, 2025: Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner were only married five years. Even though he was thirteen years older, she was married to SNL guitarist and bandleader G.…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:11PM[SHARE]

Joy: A New True Musical **1/2 by Barry Gordin

Uplifting! By Alix Cohen July 27, 2025: We live in an Instagram, Tick-Tock driven society that makes successes of Influencers. Had Joy Mangano come up with her product a little later, she…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 06:42AM[SHARE]
Friday, July 25, 2025

Just Me: Sean Harkness- Solo by Barry Gordin

By Alix Cohen July 25, 2025: Having noticed "a couple of blank squares" on his calendar, Sean Harkness shares his inner troubadour with an evening of instrumentals, songs and stories. The m…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:08PM[SHARE]

Rolling Thunder **1/2 by Barry Gordin

By Samuel Leiter July 25, 2025: The Vietnam war and the theatre have not exactly been strangers, although nowhere near as many shows, especially good ones, have taken their cue from it as …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:59PM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 24, 2025

Rolling Thunder ***** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons July 24, 2025: Rolling Thunder was the name of a Bob Dylan concert tour that also featured performers such as Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Ramblin' Jack Elliott. And it…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:00PM[SHARE]

The House on Mango Street ****, The Rake's Progress **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward July 24, 2025: The Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, NY celebrates its 50th anniversary season with departures from traditional operatic fare. In addition to Stephen S…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 03:48PM[SHARE]

Five Reasons Why Angry Alan Should Transfer to Broadway by Barry Gordin

By Iris Wiener July 24, 2025: John Krasinski is not Angry Alan, despite what one might believe from the title of this (mostly) solo play; instead, Krasinski is Roger, a suburban, disillusi…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 03:31PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 21, 2025

The Gospel at Colonus ****, Sunday in the Park with George **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward July 21, 2025: Musical styles are mixed to maximum emotional effect in unusual productions in one new outdoor venue in Manhattan and at the 50th anniversary season of a lo…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:21PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 16, 2025

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance **** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons July 16, 2025: It has been said, with a good deal of truth, that short stories make the best screenplays. This is certainly the case with the film, The Man Who Shot Lib…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:40PM[SHARE]

Angry Alan ****, Viola's Room **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward July 16, 2025: Unconventional storytelling methods are on display in two Off-Broadway productions, offering brave theatergoers unusual and exciting experiences. John Krasi…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:23AM[SHARE]
Sunday, July 13, 2025

Thank You, Don Ameche **1/2 by Barry Gordin

A 1938 Radio Writers Room, as much refuge as employment By Alix Cohen July 13, 2025: Howard Edison (Dylan Smith) is new to a radio writers' room where personnel have been confederates for…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:32PM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 12, 2025

Heathers The Musical *** by Barry Gordin

The Price of Popularity By Alix Cohen July 12, 2025: A splashy satire that bakes bullying, teenage suicide, and sexual assault in dark, subversive humor. Heathers has been around since th…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:50PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 11, 2025

Heathers The Musical *** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward July 11, 2025: Heathers the Musical (Off-Broadway at New World Stages) is one of many recent teen-angst tuners. Others of this new genre include Tony-winning Best Musicals …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:27AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 10, 2025

Heathers The Musical *** by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter  July 10, 2025: Eleven years ago, in 2014, I reviewed a show called Heathers: The Musical at New World Stages. So it wasn't very fresh in my mind when I visited its …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:00PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off