All stories by Charles McNulty on BroadwayStars

Monday, June 10, 2013

Tonys 2013: Incomparable host Neil Patrick Harris sells Broadway by Charles McNulty

A jubilant show marked by another stellar night from Neil Patrick Harris flaunts the Great White Way's unconventional spirit.Few may be popping Champagne corks for a Broadway season in which…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 8, 2013

How TV, movie stars fared on Broadway by Charles McNulty

How TV, movie stars fared on Broadway

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:05PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 7, 2013

Tony Awards 2013: Broadway's starry eyes by Charles McNulty

Critic's Notebook: The season's cavalcade of TV and movie stars teaches fresh lessons about when such casting works (Tom Hanks) and when it doesn't (Emilia Clarke).Another Broadway season, a…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:49PM[SHARE]

Nathan Lane Varies HIs Pace by Charles McNulty

Nathan Lane announces that he's through with musicals

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:34PM[SHARE]

Nathan Lane varies his pace by Charles McNulty

With 'The Producers,' the actor inscribed himself in theatrical memory. He's grateful, but he keeps redefining himself, now with a Tony nomination for 'The Nance.'NEW YORK — If you wer…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Review: 'Sleepless in Seattle,' but not for the old reasons by Charles McNulty

The stage musical version of the 1993 movie, at Pasadena Playhouse, is so wrongheaded that it might keep musical theater lovers awake with worry.Awash in music, "Sleepless in Seattle," Nora …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 30, 2013

Review: 'Scottsboro Boys' a dazzling show about a travesty by Charles McNulty

The tale of the unjustly accused Scottsboro Nine is reenacted as an irreverent carnival show with stinging and stunning effect at the Ahmanson Theatre."The Scottsboro Boys" has finally arriv…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:30PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 13, 2013

Spotlight: Glynn Turman in 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' by Charles McNulty

Sometimes a performance is so finely adept that you forget the actor and see only the character. The dancer is inseparable from the dance, to borrow Yeats’ timeless formulation.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:15AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 9, 2013

Review: A shattered land tries to pull back together in 'Joe Turner' by Charles McNulty

At the Mark Taper Forum, August Wilson's play towers once again as it tells of a man, and a nation, seeking wholeness again after dark, dehumanizing days.The setting for August Wilson's magn…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:45PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 2, 2013

Theater review: Neil LaBute's take on 'Miss Julie' is uneasy hybrid by Charles McNulty

August Strindberg's landmark drama at Geffen Playhouse is set in Jazz Age Long Island. Awkward dialogue and mismatched actors make for a misguided play.August Strindberg's "Miss Julie," a ke…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:00PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Tony Awards nominations find some class amid the crass by Charles McNulty

Despite Broadway's commercial direction, there are nods to work that deserves a salute. Tom Hanks' deserved nomination underscores the wealth of acting talent.The Tony nominations were annou…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 30, 2013

10 plot twists in the Tony nominations by Charles McNulty

Ten noteworthy plot turns in the 2013 Tony nominations

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:11AM[SHARE]
Saturday, April 27, 2013

A rich season for playwright Richard Greenberg by Charles McNulty

The writer reflects on a hectic, heady time with recent work that includes 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' 'The Assembled Parties' and 'Far From Heaven.'NEW YORK — "I'm too tired to be anxio…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Review: Bette Midler makes 'I'll Eat You Last' fun by Charles McNulty

The actress' talent buoys the monologue, but the script doesn't delve into what made Sue Mengers capable of becoming the successful Hollywood agent she was.NEW YORK — Enthroned on her …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Review: Cicely Tyson's acting in 'Trip to Bountiful' is plentiful by Charles McNulty

The actress' turn in the Broadway revival of the Horton Foote work is graceful and memorable. But Cuba Gooding Jr. and Vanessa Williams don't measure up. — Broadway for Cicely Tyson is…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:34PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 22, 2013

Review: Fiona Shaw fleshes out 'The Testament of Mary' by Charles McNulty

The actress humanizes the iconic mother of Jesus in the Broadway staging of the one-woman play by Colm Toibin, directed by Deborah Warner. NEW YORK — Sucking on a cigarette and swiggin…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:55PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Review: 'Slipping' a powerful study of bigotry at Lillian Theatre by Charles McNulty

Seth Numrich is a marvel of adolescent illumination as a struggling gay teen in a play by Daniel Talbott that is at once rich and unwieldy.Eli (played by rising theater star Seth Numrich) is…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 11, 2013

Review: 'American Buffalo' at Geffen a refreshing dose of Mamet by Charles McNulty

No-nonsense direction by Randall Arney and compelling acting by Bill Smitrovich, Freddy Rodriguez and Ron Eldard make this work a pleasure to revisit.David Mamet's "American Buffalo" is set …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:45PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Theater Review: 'Heart of Darkness' illuminates Joseph Conrad's words by Charles McNulty

The language, though a lot to process, drives this stage adaptation of the author's novel set in the African Congo.Actors' Gang stalwart Brian T. Finney invites us to once again venture deep…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:30PM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 4, 2013

Review: 'Kinky Boots' is unsteady in its Broadway walk by Charles McNulty

The musical about a drag queen and a shoe factory owner has songs by theater newcomer Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein, who makes rookie mistakes.NEW YORK — Let the record s…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Vanessa Redgrave shows Jesse Eisenberg the way in 'The Revisionist' by Charles McNulty

Critic's Notebook: The theatrical legend majestically illuminates the gaps in budding playwright Jesse Eisenberg's 'The Revisionist,' a precious gift to an emerging talent.NEW YORK — O…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00PM[SHARE]

"Lucky Guy" Brings Good News by Charles McNulty

LA Times review of "Lucky Guy"

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:44AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 1, 2013

Review: Nora Ephron's 'Lucky Guy' is great news by Charles McNulty

The late author magnificently conjures the era of tabloid news wars, with a winning ensemble led by Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut.NEW YORK — In the program for "Lucky Guy," the play …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:40PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 30, 2013

An Appreciation: Richard Griffiths' outstretched hand by Charles McNulty

In his Tony-winning 'History Boys' turn, the late actor spoke an eternal truth about the meeting of minds. His companionable spirit will be missed.Richard Griffiths was an actor of enormous …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, March 29, 2013

The problem with David Mamet by Charles McNulty

Critic's Notebook: The dramatist who used to regularly scorch the stage with complex stories has let his anti-P.C. rage blunt his work.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:10PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Theater Review: Ethical quandaries buzz in 'The Nether' by Charles McNulty

Jennifer Haley's new drama, at the Douglas, surfs a part of the Web where fantasy threatens to bleed into reality. It's a gripping piece, terrifically performed. In the musical "Avenue Q," t…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Theater review: 'On the Spectrum' a love story with a difference by Charles McNulty

Ken LaZebnik's drama at the Fountain Theatre presents a couple with autism, and the value of the play's advocacy shouldn't be underestimated. Cormac is a law-school-bound young man living in…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:15PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 18, 2013

Review: 'The Whale' explores deep waters at South Coast Repertory by Charles McNulty

Matthew Arkin makes the audience feel for the morbidly obese, grieving and suicidal Charlie in Samuel D. Hunter's funny, angry and moving play.The spectacle of Charlie digging into a family-…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:10PM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 16, 2013

Tracie Bennett becomes Judy Garland as a dynamo at rainbow's end by Charles McNulty

The English actress visits L.A. in her Tony-nominated role in 'End of the Rainbow.' Playing the star is draining, but, the actress says, 'I've always had stamina.'For movie musical lovers in…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, March 15, 2013

Review: Dying enlivens 'A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder' by Charles McNulty

This faux-Edwardian musical has its charms, but its animating force is Jefferson Mays as a series of doomed, oblivious aristocrats.SAN DIEGO— All the buzz about "A Gentleman's Guide to…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:55PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 11, 2013

Review: 'Tribes' will be heard — and felt by Charles McNulty

Nina Raine's play, in a David Cromer-directed production at Mark Taper Forum, is noisy but has quiet emotion from Susan Pourfar and Russell Harvard.In the intellectually raucous British hous…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:30PM[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