All stories by Ben Brantley on BroadwayStars

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Onstage, Michael Gambon’s Depth Transcended the Unspoken by Ben Brantley

The actor conveyed the gravitational force of mortality, tugging the men he played so commandingly toward a void beyond meaning, our critic writes.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:33PM
Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez Star in ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ on Broadway by Ben Brantley

Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe are the heart of the tear-streaked “Merrily We Roll Along” Broadway revival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:33AM
Thursday, September 7, 2023

Charles Busch, Drag Legend, Tells All in His New Memoir by Ben Brantley

“Leading Lady,” a mosaic of reminiscence and self-analysis, explores the ascent of a man who’s really good at playing women.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:33PM
Thursday, June 15, 2023

Glenda Jackson, an Unnervingly Energizing Presence at Every Age by Ben Brantley

“I had been prepared to be awed, intimidated, even terrified,” Ben Brantley writes of meeting the actress in person five years ago.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:13PM
Monday, April 24, 2023

The Cathartic Value of Dame Edna’s Extravaganzas of Ego by Ben Brantley

Audiences were eager to humbly suffer the stinging quips tossed out by the towering figure that was Barry Humphries’s creation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:06AM
Thursday, December 8, 2022

‘Merrily We Roll Along’ Was Sondheim’s Big Flop. Can She Save It? by Ben Brantley

Maria Friedman’s productions of the show in London and Boston were hits. Now a starry cast is preparing to open her latest staging Off Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:24AM
Monday, December 6, 2021

No Matter the Role, Antony Sher Made Soaring Seem Possible by Ben Brantley

The actor, who died at the age of 72, was known for his commanding performances of Shakespeare’s Richard III and the Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:33AM
Saturday, April 17, 2021

How Helen McCrory Shone, Even in a Haze of Mystery by Ben Brantley

She was unforgettable onstage playing seemingly serene women who rippled with restlessness.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:12PM
Wednesday, March 31, 2021

‘Follies’ Was My First Broadway Show. 50 Years Later, I Remember It All. by Ben Brantley

On a thrilling trip to New York, a 16-year-old budding critic learned that the insistent optimism of musical theater was a beautiful lie.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:42AM
Tuesday, November 3, 2020

A ‘Wicked’ Challenge and Other Tough Questions for Ben Brantley by Ben Brantley

The New York Times theater critic, who stepped down after 27 years, recently responded to readers, including one hungry for a do-over on his review of a blockbuster musical.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:42PM
Saturday, October 17, 2020

Why I’ll Never Stop Being a Theater Critic by Ben Brantley

After 27 years on the job, the writer Ben Brantley bids farewell with one last recommendation: Watch a show as if you were a reviewer.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48AM
Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Ben Brantley on Shutting the Stage Door Behind Him by Jesse Green and Ben Brantley

After 27 years and more than 2,500 reviews, The Times’s co-chief theater critic reviews his own tenure and talks about why he’s (quietly) making an exit.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:03AM
Wednesday, October 7, 2020

10 Monologues That Make Solo Music by Ben Brantley, Laura Collins-Hughes, Jesse Green and Alexis Soloski

In a few minutes or a full show, these performers capture heartbreak, fury and laughs. For the words of Samuel Beckett, a disembodied mouth did the trick.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:24AM

It Takes One: How the Monologue Speaks Loudest in Lockdown by Ben Brantley

Self-aware, self-conscious or self-deluding, it’s a form as old as theater itself. And it’s flourishing in a time of social isolation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:24AM
Sunday, September 20, 2020

‘Faith Healer’ Review: Michael Sheen Stirs the Embers in the Ashes by Ben Brantley

In this enthralling streaming production of Brian Friel’s 1979 play, an itinerant miracle worker is grounded in a gritty reality.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:48PM
Friday, September 11, 2020

Review: A Family Gropes for Words in ‘Incidental Moments’ by Ben Brantley

Richard Nelson’s profound conclusion to his Zoom-format trilogy about the Apple siblings examines the perils of conversation in 2020.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:12PM
Friday, August 28, 2020

Review: Chloroform, Lies and Racism Fire Up ‘The Jacksonian’ by Ben Brantley

This streamed reading of Beth Henley’s slice of Southern noir offers scorching portraits of bad faith from Ed Harris, Amy Madigan and Bill Pullman.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:48PM
Wednesday, August 26, 2020

A Beginner’s Guide to the Golden Age of Live Theater on TV by Ben Brantley

Today we stream what shows we can find. Back then: James Dean, “Twelve Angry Men” and conclusive proof that Kim Stanley was one of the all-time greats.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:42AM
Monday, August 17, 2020

‘The Keep Going Song’ Review: The Music of Faith Under Quarantine by Ben Brantley

This streaming piece by Abigail and Shaun Bengson translates the agonies and ecstasies of lockdown into a cosmic hootenanny at his folks’ house.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:36PM
Saturday, August 8, 2020

‘Godspell’ Review: Musical Theater Rises From the Dead by Ben Brantley

The Berkshire Theater Group put on the first professional musical in the U.S. since the pandemic lockdown, and it’s a revival in every sense.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:02PM
Wednesday, July 8, 2020

This Is Theater in 2020. Will It Last? Should It? by Ben Brantley, Jesse Green and Maya Phillips

Our critics discuss the last four months, which thanks to Zoom (and Meryl Streep) have been full of experimentation and playfulness.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54AM
Sunday, June 28, 2020

‘Lungs’ Review: Claire Foy and Matt Smith Chase Love in the Dark by Ben Brantley

In Duncan Macmillan’s play, streaming live from the Old Vic, the stars of “The Crown” play a contradictory couple in an age of isolation.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:03PM
Monday, June 22, 2020

‘The Whole Audience Was Vibrating’: Your Memorable Performances by Ben Brantley

They’re never gone: Star turns from Ralph Fiennes, Meryl Streep, Gregory Hines and Christopher Plummer still live in the mind’s eye of readers.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:54PM
Friday, June 12, 2020

12 Streamable Plays That Depict Black Lives Pierced by Racism by Ben Brantley, Jesse Green and Maya Phillips

From the documentary works of Anna Deavere Smith to brief monologues written in this moment of unrest, dramatists are sounding an alarm.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:03PM
Thursday, June 4, 2020

No Tony Awards Show? Make Your Own With These Great Moments. by Ben Brantley, Jesse Green, Michael Paulson, Alexis Soloski, Elisabeth Vincentelli, Laura Collins-Hughes, Scott Heller and Eric Grode

Miranda’s rap. Rylance’s poems. Jackman’s pelvis. And a brassy reunion for Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury. Now set your clock for “Turkey Lurkey Time.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Review: Streaming Consciousness Floods ‘A School for Fools’ by Ben Brantley

The Belarus Free Theater’s livestreaming, mind-bending adaptation of Sasha Sokolov’s poetic novel assumes the bifocal eye-view of a divided self.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:54PM
Sunday, May 31, 2020

Finding the Sweet, Stinging Salt in Plays of Confinement by Ben Brantley

For stuck-at-homes feeling like submerging into the existential depths of no-exit theater, here’s a list of works to read and to watch.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:36PM
Thursday, May 28, 2020

The Mythic Performances That Are Keeping Me Company by Ben Brantley

Unforgettable moments lost to time, from Christopher Plummer to Jennifer Holliday, now more than ever remind us of theater’s special resonance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:18AM
Sunday, May 24, 2020

College Students Colonize the Divided Romania of ‘Mad Forest’ by Ben Brantley

In a livestream production of Caryl Churchill’s 1990 tale of riot-torn Bucharest, quarantined Bard acting students grapple with revolution.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:03PM
Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Race, Schooling and Inequality: Let’s Watch ‘Pipeline’ by Ben Brantley

Then ask questions of its playwright, Dominique Morisseau, and The New York Times critic who reviewed the first production.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:18PM
Thursday, April 30, 2020

Review: Same Apple Family, New Kind of Theater by Ben Brantley

In Richard Nelson’s “What Do We Need to Talk About?,” a familiar clan poses resonant questions about how we connect in the age of social distancing.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:42PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards