Thursday, March 7, 2024
On March 4th, 2024, I witnessed the best major-club debut I've seen in years. And I kept thinking, as I watched David Marino sing, "The good old days are now…"
The post appeared first o…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:22PM[SHARE]Friday, February 23, 2024
I don't think I've ever been as disappointed by a Paper Mill Playhouse presentation as I have been by their production of After Midnight. This adaptation of the original Broadway production…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:32PM[SHARE]Thursday, November 9, 2023
This fall, I saw two of the most rewarding tribute-type concerts I've seen in recent years"one a glittering (if overlong), star-filled salute to "the Voice of Broadway," Betty Buckley; the…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:47PM[SHARE]Sunday, August 20, 2023
Brice"as a pioneering Jewish female Broadway star who took charge of her own fabulous career in an era when few women did"became a source of inspiration for many aspiring young Jewish perfor…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:01PM[SHARE]Tuesday, July 25, 2023
He sang all his life. When New York's Triborough Bridge (known today as the RFK Bridge) opened in May of 1936, Tony Bennett--then a boy singer from Astoria who loved the work of Al Jolson a…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 06:03PM[SHARE]Wednesday, June 28, 2023
As a lover of the performing arts, I'll remember this month as when I witnesseed Matthew Broderick give one of the finest, subtlest performances of his career. I'll remember, too, the uplif…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:54AM[SHARE]Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Oliver! is darker than most so-called family musicals"mixing elation and heartbreak as casually as life itself does"but it touches us more than most family musicals. And Encores' production…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:53PM[SHARE]Sunday, May 14, 2023
In the last few weeks I feel like I've been stepping back in time"in a nice way.  I've enjoyed seeing the new Broadway musicals "New York, New York" (set in 1946-47) and (with some de…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 06:41PM[SHARE]Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Each was an individual; I liked hearing all of the different voices and accents and inflections. Each one brought his or her own personality to the work.  But"and this is a compliment…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:43PM[SHARE]Monday, April 24, 2023
He was perhaps best-known for his play "Kennedy's Children"--produced successfully on Broadway and on the West End, and in many cities, internationally. He also gave us some 60 ot…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:18AM[SHARE]Friday, April 21, 2023
Roundabout, under Haimes' leadership, was noted both for new works and for revivals of older shows with strikingly new elements (like this season's gender-bending revival of "1776.") …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:10AM[SHARE]Saturday, February 11, 2023
Rapp's show"directed by Steve Maler, with musical direction/orchestrations by Daniel A. Weiss (who was the associate conductor/second keyboards player of the original Broadway production of …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:40PM[SHARE]Sunday, January 1, 2023
"Fiddler"--brilliantly directed by Joel Grey"is an unusually impactful production. It's emotionally rich, moving, and timeless. And wholly believable. They had me from the first words of…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:34PM[SHARE]Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Everyone who loves theater owes a debt of gratitude to Julie Boardman and Diane Nicoletti. About five years ago, they got the idea of creating a museum in the theater district, dedicated…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:25PM[SHARE]Monday, December 5, 2022
The new production of "The Sound of Music" at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse is such an utter delight, you shouldn't be wasting time reading this review, you  should be ordering ticket…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 05:18PM[SHARE]Boy! This is going to be a tough review to write. The York Theatre Company, which has such a strong track record when it comes to honoring important songwriters, is currently presenting …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:12AM[SHARE]Sunday, November 27, 2022
Clary scored a great success on Broadway in "Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952."Â My father, who enjoyed that show, recalled Eartha Kitt and Robert Clary as the standouts in the cast of…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 04:47PM[SHARE]Wednesday, November 23, 2022
He saw seemingly everything, and championed plays and productions he found meaningful, even if they were at the smallest of theaters. He chose what he wished to cover, and would sometime…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 02:26PM[SHARE]Wednesday, November 16, 2022
I think this is great news. I'm happy the show will finally be getting a full theatrical production in New York. I saw the original festival-production tryout of "Without You" about a do…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:58PM[SHARE]Monday, November 14, 2022
He had his first album out by age nine, the same year he began opening for the Backstreet Boys. (His older brother, Nick Carter, was of course one of the Backstreet Boys.)Â And he enjoyed…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 11:00AM[SHARE]Saturday, November 12, 2022
Jay Rogers, who's lost his battle with cancer, was a wonderfully impish cabaret star, with impeccable comic timing. Totally likeable fellow, on stage and off stage. I was so happy to be able…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:58PM[SHARE]In October, he opened in an autobiographical Off-Broadway play that he wrote, 'Everything's Fine""a good-natured remembrance of his youth, and of a school teacher who fell for him. Â He pe…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 09:38PM[SHARE]Monday, June 6, 2022
I've often told friends what an impact "Funny Girl" had on me. That was the show that made me fall completely, utterly, and permanently in love with Broadway. I was a teenager when I saw…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:58PM[SHARE]Friday, April 22, 2022
He won a Tony Award starring in the Broadway masterwork "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."Â And fortunately his performance was captured well in the film adaptation of th…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:36PM[SHARE]Thursday, April 7, 2022
This production was an ensemble success"which is what Jonathan Larson was hoping to achieve"so I'd like to mention every member of the company.  Not just the leads, whom I very much e…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:08AM[SHARE]Tuesday, April 5, 2022
In the past 20 years, I've produced a total of 34 different albums; 16 of them have dealt with Irving Berlin (1888-1989). The newest album in this ongoing Berlin series, "Chip Deffaa's Irvi…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 01:02PM[SHARE]Monday, February 21, 2022
I want to be clear. "The Music Man" is such a masterfully written musical that making some changes here and there can't really ruin it; but changes are not needed in this show and they c…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 08:59PM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 15, 2022
De Niro's goal is to lure more film and television production from Hollywood to New York, and that can only be a plus for New York-based actors. A brand new studio, created for the needs of …
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 10:08PM[SHARE]Friday, January 7, 2022
The show's pre-Broadway, out-of-town tryout was very successful financially, suggesting that there's an audience for the show. (The show broke box-office records in Seattle, during its tryou…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 07:22PM[SHARE]Friday, October 29, 2021
So how is Broadway doing right now, in terms of ticket sales and attendance? Not bad at all, all things considered.... There are currently 24 shows running on Broadway. Last week…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 12:27AM[SHARE]Wednesday, September 15, 2021
George Wein, who died peacefully at his New York apartment at the age of 95, was the founder of the modern music festival. His contributions to pop culture were enormous.  I liked…
SOURCE: www.theaterscene.net at 03:06PM[SHARE] 
