All stories by Ben Brantley on BroadwayStars

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Review: In ‘Once Upon a Mattress,’ Jackie Hoffman as Paradoxical Charmer by Ben Brantley

Ms. Hoffman, in the role Carol Burnett originated in 1959, is a vocal slapstick artist of both speech and song, shifting registers and styles with madcap virtuosity.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:45PM
Thursday, December 10, 2015

Review: In ‘Oh Hello,’ Sour and Crotchety Old Men at Their Best by Ben Brantley

Nick Kroll and John Mulaney don’t so much portray their characters Gil and George as allow themselves to be taken over by them.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:28PM

Review: ‘The Color Purple’ on Broadway, Stripped to Its Essence by Ben Brantley

Under John Doyle’s direction, this revival of the musical based on Alice Walker’s novel forgoes sumptuousness in favor of vivid character development.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:28PM

The Week Ahead: Lois Smith Returns to the Stage With ‘Marjorie Prime’ by Ben Brantley

The actress, who made her Broadway debut in 1952, will star in the play at Playwrights Horizons.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:57PM
Tuesday, December 8, 2015

The Best Theater of 2015 by Ben Brantley and Charles Isherwood

“Hamilton,” “An American in Paris” and “Eclipsed” are among the highlights.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:52PM
Monday, December 7, 2015

Review: David Bowie Songs and a Familiar Alien in ‘Lazarus’ by Ben Brantley

Michael C. Hall stars in Ivo van Hove’s New York Theater Workshop production of this sequel to “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:26PM
Sunday, December 6, 2015

Review: ‘School of Rock’ Teaches the ABCs of Power Chords by Ben Brantley

Starring a bouncing Super Ball of energy named Alex Brightman, this is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s friskiest musical in decades.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:28PM
Friday, December 4, 2015

Review: In David Mamet’s ‘China Doll,’ Al Pacino as an Urban Warrior in Winter by Ben Brantley

No play opening on Broadway this fall has had a more fraught back story, though star power always guaranteed a commercial slam dunk.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:09AM
Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Review: Exploring the Edge of Soap Opera in ‘Shadowland’ at La MaMa by Ben Brantley

John Jesurun’s multimedia production at at La MaMa, a work in progress since the late ’90s, views soap-opera conventions through a hallucinatory lens.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:22PM
Monday, November 30, 2015

Critic's Notebook: In ‘Hamilton,’ Javier Muñoz Puts a Different Spin on the Title Role by Ben Brantley

Mr. Muñoz brings a sexiness to his portrayal of Alexander Hamilton in this musical.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:20PM

Review: ‘New York Animals,’ a Musical About Intersecting Lives by Ben Brantley

Eric Tucker’s Bedlam theater troupe performs this show from Steven Sater and Burt Bacharach at the New Ohio Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:21PM
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Review: In ‘Steve,’ Contemplating Middle Age and Monogamy by Ben Brantley

This New Group production, directed by Cynthia Nixon, portrays a group of gay New Yorkers for whom life was once truly a cabaret.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:37PM
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Review: ‘Abyss’ Follows Characters Named ‘He,’ ‘She’ and ‘I’ in Love and War by Ben Brantley

The German playwright Maria Milisavljevic considers topical questions of European national identities in this play, at Theaterlab.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:34PM
Sunday, November 15, 2015

Review: In ‘Misery,’ With Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf, the Ghost of Productions Past by Ben Brantley

In this Broadway adaptation of Stephen King’s thriller, Bruce Willis infuses his captive bedridden character with a wisecracking stoicism.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:40PM
Thursday, November 12, 2015

Review: ‘A View From the Bridge’ Bears Witness to the Pain of Fate by Ben Brantley

From its opening scene, Ivo van Hove’s revival of Arthur Miller’s play evokes an acute sense of dread and a relentless aura of grim predestination.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54PM
Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Review: ‘Henry IV,’ Donmar Warehouse’s All-Female Version by Ben Brantley

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd and starring Harriet Walter, this production of two condensed Shakespeare plays reveals the desperation behind the bravado.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:36PM

The Week Ahead: ‘Incident at Vichy,’ a Revival of Arthur Miller’s Harrowing Wartime Drama by Ben Brantley

This play at the Signature Theater centers on a group of mostly Jewish detainees in Vichy France who struggle with denial, choices and fundamental questions of identity.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:46AM
Monday, November 9, 2015

Review: In ‘Lost Girls,’ Derailed Blue-Collar Lives, With Zingers by Ben Brantley

The playwright John Pollono is a deft practitioner of the sort of twist-in-the-tale narratives that are mostly associated with O. Henry and W. Somerset Maugham.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:28PM
Friday, November 6, 2015

Review: A ‘Comedy of Errors’ That Never Stands Still by Ben Brantley

The Mobile Shakespeare Unit’s streamlined tale of two sets of separated twins comes to the Public Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:04PM
Monday, November 2, 2015

Review: ‘Rear Window,’ the Perils of Voyeurism, With Kevin Bacon by Ben Brantley

Mr. Bacon stars in Keith Reddin’s adaptation of Cornell Woolrich’s crime story that also became a Hitchcock classic.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:38PM
Sunday, November 1, 2015

Review: In ‘King Charles III,’ Glimpsing the Near Future of Monarchy by Ben Brantley

Mike Bartlett’s prize-winning play comes to Broadway from London with its cast, Shakespearean stylings and free verse intact.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:37PM
Thursday, October 29, 2015

Review: In ‘Thérèse Raquin,’ Keira Knightley as a Baleful Adulteress by Ben Brantley

Destiny never releases its grim stranglehold on the characters in this play, based on Émile Zola’s novel, which represents Ms. Knightley’s Broadway debut.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:51PM
Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Review: Visiting ‘Houseworld,’ and the Perils and Pleasures of Immersive Theater by Ben Brantley

Stiff drinks and sexy demons in a mazelike setting aren’t necessarily our critic’s cup of tea. But his attitude is: If you go to immersive theater, you may as well immerse.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:28PM

Review: Children Growing Very Old in ‘Before Your Very Eyes’ by Ben Brantley

Gob Squad’s production at the Public Theater stars a group of 9-to-14-year-olds who age into their 70s and beyond onstage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:25AM
Friday, October 23, 2015

Review: ‘texts&beheadings/ElizabethR,’ the English Queen in Her Multifaceted Majesty by Ben Brantley

Four actresses, each taking a turn in the spotlight, portray Elizabeth I, using the queen’s own letters, prayers and speeches.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:26PM
Thursday, October 22, 2015

Review: In ‘First Daughter Suite’: Unelected but Still Under a Microscope by Ben Brantley

This musical, at the Public Theater, looks at the younger inhabitants of the White House.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:25AM
Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Review: ‘Ripcord,’ a Comic Tale of Adversaries by Ben Brantley

Two women of opposing temperaments share a room in a retirement home, in David Lindsay-Abaire’s play, from the Manhattan Theater Club.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:33PM
Sunday, October 18, 2015

Review: ‘Underneath,’ an Embrace of Irish Ghosts by Ben Brantley

This solo performance piece by Pat Kinevane at the Irish Arts Center has a freshly risen corpse as its narrator, and she has a story to tell.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:25PM
Thursday, October 15, 2015

Review: ‘Travels With My Aunt’ Taps Into a Hidden Sense of Adventure by Ben Brantley

The Keen Company’s revival, a stage adaptation of Graham Greene’s frolicsome 1969 novel, is on Theater Row.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:37PM
Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Banned in Belarus, but the Shows Go On by Ben Brantley

A critic’s journey into the politically charged world and productions of the Belarus Free Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:49PM

‘First Daughter Suite,’ at the Public Theater, Shows Young Girls in a Fishbowl by Ben Brantley

The show explores life in the White House for the likes of Amy Carter, Tricia and Julie Nixon, and Susan Ford.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:49PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic