All stories by Barry Gordin on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Operation Mincemeat ****, Buena Vista Social Club **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward March 25, 2025. Two disparate musicals originating away from Broadway, one in London and the other Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Club, recently opened with a day of …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 04:46PM[SHARE]

Operation Mincemeat ***** by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter March 25, 2025. Despite its somewhat comedic title, Operation Mincemeat, the spectacularly clever British musical spoof ("spoofsical"?) at the John Golden Theatre, is in…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:30AM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 23, 2025

Interview: Orchestrator Doug Besterman's B'way Triple Play by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward March 23, 2025. After 31 Broadway shows, three Tony and two Drama Desk Awards, orchestrator Doug Besterman is achieving a rare feat: three shows running simultaneously in o…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 04:17PM[SHARE]

Operation Mincemeat*** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons March 23, 2025. Satires on war are perhaps as old as war itself. Consider Lysistrata, M*A*S*H, Catch-22 and now, Operation Mincemeat, the very energetic and occasionally…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 03:02PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 22, 2025

Purpose ****1/2 by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter March 22, 2025. Family dramas are theatrical staples, especially the kind where relatives gather from far and wide for some unifying function, like a holiday, death, or …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:02AM[SHARE]

We Had A World **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward March 22, 2025. "There is no straight line to tell this story," says Joshua, the character standing in for the playwright Joshua Harmon in his touching autobiographical wor…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:47AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 20, 2025

A Streetcar Named Desire ****, Ghosts ***, and Vanya **** by Barry Gordin

By David Sheward March 20, 2025. Sex plays a vital role in three classics works, now in revival Off-Broadway: Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts and, surpri…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:35PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 19, 2025

We Had A World *** by Barry Gordin

By Samuel L. Leiter March 19, 2025. We Had a World, the new, three-character, autobiographical dramedy by Joshua Harmon, Off Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club's City Center Stage II, is …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:00PM[SHARE]

Five Reasons Why Redwood Reaches Soaring Heights by Barry Gordin

By Iris Wiener March 19, 2025. Tony-Award winner Idina Menzel (Wicked) sure knows how to make a much-anticipated return to Broadway. She currently stars in Redwood, a musical that she co-…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:37PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 17, 2025

Music City *** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons March 17, 2025. If you're a fan of country music, and especially the music of songwriter JT Harding, you'll definitely like Bedlam's Music City. The show is directed …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:14PM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 16, 2025

The White Room Gallery by Barry Gordin

Sara Blue and Dan O'Shea from Maureen's Haven Homeless Outreach with The White Room Gallery Co-Owners Andrea McCaffery and Kat O'Neill at the opening reception this week for TRUE COLORS, in …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:58PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 14, 2025

The White Room Gallery by Barry Gordin

March 14, 2025. The White Room Gallery, 2 Railroad Avenue in East Hampton, will present, TRUE COLORS, featuring Patrick Schmidt, Diego Velez, Seek One, Fringe, Stephan Gubert, Punk Me Ten…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:41AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 10, 2025

Sumo ***1/2 by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward March 10, 2025. At first Lisa Sanaye Dring's Sumo, at the Public Theater in a co-production with Ma-Yi Theater Company and La Jolla Playhouse, seems to be plotted like …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:17PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 1, 2025

Curse of the Starving Class ****, Dakar 2000 **** by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward February 28, 2025. Sam Shepard's darkly funny and tragic family drama Curse of the Starving Class premiered in London in 1977 and then Off-Broadway at the Public Theater i…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 11:19AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 25, 2025

CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS *** by Barry Gordin

By: Samuel L. Leiter February 25, 2025. It's been only six years since the 2019 revival of Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class (London, 1977; New York 1978) at the Pershing Square Sig…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 07:01PM[SHARE]

Garside's Career**** by Barry Gordin

By: Paulanne Simmons February 24, 2025. Having grown up in the industrial north of England, the son of a manager for a cotton-spinning business and a school headmistress, Harold Brighouse c…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 07:00PM[SHARE]

Redwood *** by Barry Gordin

By: Paulanne Simmons February 24, 2025. According to Finn (Michael Park), the environmental scientist in Redwood, the roots of the redwood tree don't go down very far. They form relatio…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 06:52PM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 22, 2025

Liberation **** The Antiquities **** by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward January 21, 2025. The trouble with most "issue" plays is the characters seem more like animated talking points, rather than complex, flesh-and-blood human beings. Fortunat…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, February 21, 2025

Redwood **1/2 by Barry Gordin

By: Patrick Christiano February 21, 2025: Redwood, a visually stunning new musical about healing, directed by Tina Landau, and starring Idina Menzel in her highly anticipated return to Broa…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:00PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 20, 2025

GARSIDE'S CAREER**** by Barry Gordin

By: Samuel L. Leiter February 20, 2025. The Mint Theatre, whose mission is to find forgotten modern plays deserving revivals, sometimes swings and misses; with British playwright Harold Bri…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:01PM[SHARE]

Amy Beth Williams: In Reverse**** by Barry Gordin

By Paulanne Simmons February 19, 2025. Amy Beth Williams' Valentine's Day show at Don't Tell Mama, Amy Beth Williams: In Reverse, was about time and how it cycles through the seasons of o…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:16AM[SHARE]

My Man Kono ***1/2 by Barry Gordin

By: Alix Cohen February 19, 2025. When playwright Philip W. Chung noticed an Asian man in the cast of Charlie Chaplin's 1917 short, The Adventurer, he was sufficiently intrigued to do some…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 08:15AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 17, 2025

Kowalski**, Cellino v. Barnes*** by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward February 17, 2025: The potential is there for a gripping and informative play in Gregg Ostrin's Kowalski, but sadly all we get is forced conflict and sitcom-level humor. T…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 09:47AM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 13, 2025

Redwood ** by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward February 13, 2025. There's an awful lot of talk about trees in Redwood, the uneven new musical at the Nederlander after a run at the La Jolla Playhouse. During one of the…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 10:30PM[SHARE]

BroadwayCon 2025 by Barry Gordin

By: Paulanne Simmons Broadway Con Celebrating their 10th Consecutive Year February 12, 2025. Whether you want to make your friends jealous with a selfie taken with your favorite celebri…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 01:27PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

How Sondheim Can Change Your Life " From Philosophy to Analysis by Barry Gordin

By: Alix Cohen February 12, 2025: There will probably never be a last word on masterful composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021). As I write, I'm sure students are researching theses…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:00PM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 8, 2025

A Knock on the Roof **** by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward February 8, 2025. The most striking image in Khawla Ibraheem's disturbing and moving solo play A Knock on the Roof at New York Theater Workshop is not the one you'd expec…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 12:03PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 7, 2025

Mrs. Loman *1/2 by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward February 7, 2025. Sequels of classic plays have a mixed history. Some are total bombs such as the famous flop musical A Doll's Life which follows Ibsen's Nora after she …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 05:45PM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 2, 2025

Eureka Day**** by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward January 29, 2025: When Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day opened Off-Broadway in 2019, the dark comedy about the vaccination debate at a high-toned private school in Berkeley…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 02:53PM[SHARE]

English***1/2 by Barry Gordin

By: Samuel L. Leiter January 31, 2025: Anyone who's ever struggled to master a foreign language in private classes will find something to appreciate in English, Sanaz Toossi's fitfully …

SOURCE: theaterlife at 02:49PM[SHARE]

All In: Comedy About Love**** by Barry Gordin

By: David Sheward January 24, 2025: If you're looking for the perfect date night show"or just want a massive injection of laughs"then head over to the Hudson Theater for All In: Comedy Abo…

SOURCE: theaterlife at 02:47PM[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