All stories by Ben Brantley on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 25, 2015

Theater Review | ‘Frankenstein’: It’s (Gasp!) Alive, Not to Mention Peeved by Ben Brantley

Mary Shelley’s monster is birthed onstage in London by the Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, who has a keen sense of the trappings of life in this world.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

London Theater Journal: Punished By Fame by Ben Brantley

At the closet-sized Finborough Theater, a novelist with a double life discovers that a knighthood comes with blackmail attached in "Accolade."

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

All Over London, Love Hurts by Ben Brantley

Keira Knightley, Elisabeth Moss and Rebecca Hall have taken to the London stage and audiences are lining up.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

ArtsBeat: London Theater Journal: Punished By Fame by Ben Brantley

The wages of celebrity are being assessed all over London in productions that should give weighty pause to those who would be stars.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Been Back to the Old Neighborhood? by BEN BRANTLEY

David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Good People,” a very fine new play starring Frances McDormand and Tate Donovan, is one of the more subtly surprising treats of this theater season.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Theater Review | 'That Championship Season': The Champs Reunite, Bearing the Nation’s Scars by Ben Brantley

A revival of “That Championship Season” has Kiefer Sutherland making his Broadway debut.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Theater Review | 'Peter and the Starcatcher': Peter Pan (the Early Years), With Bounding Main and All by Ben Brantley

“Peter and the Starcatcher” brings to the stage Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s popular prequel to “Peter Pan.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Theater Talkback: The Urge to Fly by Ben Brantley

How do you feel about the art of flying as part of the art of theater?

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Reasonable Discourse After a Child Is Murdered. Is That Reasonable? by BEN BRANTLEY

Author: Bryony Lavery
Producers: MCC Theater, Robert Lupone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, John G. Schultz, Hal Newman, Zollo/Paleologos and Jeffrey Sine, Roy Gabay, Lorie Cowen Levy and Beth Smith, Peggy Hill, Thompson H. Rogers, Swinsky/Filerman/Hendel, Sirkin/Mills/Baldassare, Darren Bagert

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Here Lies the Ruin of a Love by BEN BRANTLEY

Author: William Nicholson
Producers: Susan Quint Gallin, Stuart Thompson, Ron Kastner, True Love Productions, Mary Lu Roffe, Jam Theatricals

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Flash of 70’s Sequins by BEN BRANTLEY

Producers: Ben Gannon, Robert Fox

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

A Tough, Sad Maid Comes to Broadway by BEN BRANTLEY

Producers: Carole Shorenstein Hays, HBO Films, Jujamcyn Theaters, Freddy DeMann, Scott Rudin, Hendel/Morten/Wiesenfeld, Berg�re/Fox Theatricals/Manocherian, Roger Berlind, Clear Channel Ente…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

There’s Trouble in Emerald City by BEN BRANTLEY

Producers: Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt, David Stone

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Odd Brits A-Leaping With Bodies or Brains by BEN BRANTLEY

Producers: Boyett Ostar Productions, Nederlander Presentations Inc., Freddy DeMann, Jean Doumanian, Stephanie McClelland, Arielle Tepper, The National Theatre of Great Britain

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Twain's Tale, With Music for the Ear and Eye by BEN BRANTLEY

Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Ellen Richard, Julia C. Levy, Deaf West Theatre, Ed Waterstreet, Bill O'Brien, Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

A Cozy Little McShtetl by BEN BRANTLEY

Producers: James L. Nederlander, Stewart F. Lane/Bonnie Comley, Harbor Entertainment, Terry Allen Kramer, Bob Boyett/Lawrence Horowitz, Clear Channel Entertainment

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Sis, Today the Village, Tomorrow the World by BEN BRANTLEY

Producers: Roger Berlind, Barry and Fran Weissler, Edwin W. Schloss, Allen Spivak, Clear Channel Entertainment, Harvey Weinstein

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Festivals in Review: Warring Relatives and Joking Rabbis by Ben Brantley, Charles Isherwood, Eric Grode and Jason Zinoman

Four plays at two New York festivals, Under the Radar and Coil, offer a range of themes, styles and even language.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Onstage, the Irreverent (and Maybe Irresistible) by BEN BRANTLEY, CHARLES ISHERWOOD, ERIK PIEPENBURG and SCOTT HELLER

Critics and writers for The New York Times write about shows and performances they are looking forward to seeing on New York stages in 2011.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Onstage, the Irreverent (and Maybe Irresistible) by BEN BRANTLEY, CHARLES ISHERWOOD, ERIK PIEPENBURG and SCOTT HELLER

Critics and writers for The New York Times write about shows and performances they are looking forward to seeing on New York stages in 2011.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM
Friday, May 22, 2015

Review: ‘I’m Not the Stranger You Think I Am,’ Where Theater Meets Confessional by Ben Brantley

The responsibilities of being an audience member rarely weigh as heavily as in “I’m Not the Stranger You Think I Am,” where short plays are performed in a 4 feet by 8 feet mobile struc…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:37PM
Thursday, May 21, 2015

Review: ‘The Sound and the Fury,’ Elevator Repair Service’s Take on Faulkner by Ben Brantley

After staging versions of “The Great Gatsby” and “The Sun Also Rises,” a company tackles part of a notoriously difficult American classic.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00PM
Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Review: ‘Tuesday’s at Tesco’s,’ With Simon Callow, on a Transgender Woman’s Travail by Ben Brantley

Mr. Callow, the popular British character actor, portrays Pauline, who is trying to find a connection with her father who still thinks of her as his son.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00PM

Review: ‘The Way We Get By’ After a One-Night Stand by Ben Brantley

Neil LaBute offers shocks as well as comforting pats on the arm in this play about the morning after a one-night stand, at Second Stage Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00PM
Sunday, May 17, 2015

Theater Review: Review: ‘What I Did Last Summer,’ a Letter of Apology From an Ex-Teenager by Ben Brantley

This play about adolescent growing pains is a guilty memoir of a work by A. R. Gurney, revived at the Pershing Square Signature Center by the Signature Theater and Jim Simpson.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00PM
Thursday, May 7, 2015

Review: ‘Zorba!’ Starring John Turturro by Ben Brantley

The Kander and Ebb musical, part of the Encores! series at New York City Center, also stars Zoë Wanamaker.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:23PM
Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The Tony Award Nominations Should Be ... by Ben Brantley

The chief theater critic of The New York Times makes his Tony Award choices.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:03PM

‘Fun Home’ and Other Quests for Self by Ben Brantley

From “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” to “An American in Paris,” the Broadway season was filled with identity crises.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:45PM
Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Theater Review: Review: ‘ToasT’ Where Words Are a Cellblock’s Weapon of Choice by Ben Brantley

In Lemon Andersen’s play about versifying behind bars, a convict can secure his status by being able to chant and riff in the form that gives the show its title.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00PM
Thursday, April 30, 2015

Review: Mating-Season Mood Swings in ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ by Ben Brantley

Fiasco Theater’s frolicking production makes a case for a little-loved comedy as a testament to the charms of vacillating youth.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00PM
Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Review: Belarus Free Theater’s ‘Trash Cuisine’ Serves Politics With Teeth by Ben Brantley

With this show at La MaMa, an attack on institutionalized killing, Belarus Free Theater displays its customary razor-sharp commentary.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00PM

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