All stories by D on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 8, 2023

Flamenco and Fervor: Inside Spain’s El Rocío Pilgrimage by Kevin Faingnaert and Anna Hart

The annual spectacle, featuring fanciful caravans and riders on horseback, and is arguably the most potent visual representation of Andalusian culture.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:00AM
Thursday, May 4, 2023

THE VORTEX Chichester Festival Theatre by Libby Purves and Friends

THE ROARING TWENTIES, ROLLING OVER THE EDGE When Noel Coward shocked and enthralled the 1920s with this most bitter and intense of his plays, he was meanwhile hastily finishing the farcical …

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 05:15PM

As the world awaits a coronation, we honor the many kings of St. Louis by Valerie Schremp Hahn, Ian Froeb and Jane Henderson St. Louis Post-Dispatch

From Kingshighway to King Louis to the King Burger to the King of Beers to a visit in 1977 from the future king himself, we bow down to our own royalty.

SOURCE: St. Louis Today at 12:00PM

CYMBELINE Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon by Libby Purves and Friends

GATHER ROUND AND HEAR AN OLD, OLD STORY…   Deep breath, concentrate at the back:  there’s this Ancient Briton King, who once banished a chap who vengefully stole his baby sons, leaving…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 04:22AM
Tuesday, May 2, 2023

THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE Lyttelton, SE1 by Libby Purves and Friends

A THEATRICAL ECHO, SEVENTY YEARS AGO    A theatrical tease opens both halves: the voice of Noel Coward singing “There’s a right way and a wrong way, an old way and a new way” for the…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 07:34PM

Tony Nomination Snubs and Surprises: Rachel Brosnahan, ‘Ain’t No Mo’’ and ‘& Juliet’ by Scott Heller and Alexis Soloski

Tony nominators singled out new faces and set up fascinating face-offs, but missed the chance to recognize a Native American breakthrough.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:03PM

Tony Awards Nominations 2023: Updating List by Rachel Sherman and Gabe Cohn

Nominations for the 76th Tony Awards will be announced Tuesday morning. Follow below for a live list of nominees.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:06AM
Sunday, April 30, 2023

TONY! the rock opera Leicester Square theatre & Touring by Libby Purves and Friends

HARRY HILL TAKES ON TONY BLAIR. FIIIIIIIGHHHT!!!!   I couldn’t be more delighted that it’s touring, this splendidly rude show.  We need this kind of merrily offensive burlesque,  in t…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 02:15PM
Friday, April 28, 2023

The Theatre We Want In 2040? We Used “Strategic Foresight” To Plan On The Prairies by Christine Brubaker, Taiwo Afolabi, Yvette Nolan, Jessica Thornton, and Heather Russek

Does it seem far-fetched to imagine a future where the government subsidizes theatres and theatre artists at a living wage, and land-based art hubs rely heavily on new technologies while nur…

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 05:12PM
Thursday, April 27, 2023

RETROGRADE Kiln, NW6 by Libby Purves and Friends

THE POWER OF NO, IN 1950S AMERICA   If we think we suffer from  a paranoid cancel-culture ,  we should  note this reminder of  mid-1950s America – notably Hollywood – in the McCarth…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 08:09AM
Wednesday, April 26, 2023

FOR BLACK BOYS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE HUE GETS TOO HEAVY. Apollo, W1 by Libby Purves and Friends

BLACK, BOYISH, BEAUTIFUL       It’s not all musicals and movie-spinoffs that put bill-paying bums on seats.  The best producers trust their nerve and instinct ,rake through the fringe …

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 08:30AM

Bristol Old Vic opens new season with celebration of culture and community by Nadia Khomami Arts and Culture Correspondent

New artistic director Nancy Medina picks works about the power of belonging such as a queer coming-of-age story from Tarell Alvin McCraney and a musical version of David Nicholls’ Starter …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM

JULES AND JIM Jermyn St Theatre by Libby Purves and Friends

    REDEFINING FEELINGS IN AN AGE OF ANGRY ANGST “We are three people trying to redefine feeling” they say.  They do this between Paris, Munich, Salzburg and Greek islands, and either…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 05:58AM
Monday, April 24, 2023

Edinburgh international festival draws on MLK with themes of hope and community by Severin Carrell and Imogen Tilden

Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater and Budapest Festival Orchestra among performers named in lineup This year’s Edinburgh international festival will focus on themes of hope, community…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36AM
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Friday, April 21, 2023

A Question of Diversity: In Conversation with Paulien Geerlings by Rhiannon Ling and Kasia Lech

Paulien Geerlings is the head dramaturg at Amsterdam’s The Toneelmakerij, a theatre company devoted to children and teens. Currently, she serves as the artistic lead of Young Europe IV.  …

SOURCE: thetheatretimes.com at 06:19AM

An Artist-Run Dance Space That’s ‘All Presentation, Baby’ by Gia Kourlas and Ok McCausland

A new generation of choreographers, obsessed with composition and costumes, experiments at Pageant in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:00AM

Musical about ‘first working-class model’ Twiggy to open in London by Harriet Sherwood Arts and Culture Correspondent

Writer and director Ben Elton tells story of woman who was ‘most famous teenager in the world’ in the 1960s She was a teenager from Neasden when a photograph of her newly cropped hair ca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AM
Thursday, April 20, 2023

London museum to use AI to let visitors walk on Shakespeare’s early stage by Nadia Khomami Arts and Culture Correspondent

Museum of Shakespeare in Shoreditch to open in 2024 on site of playhouse that staged earliest performances A London museum installation that uses the latest AI technology will allow theatre …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES Almeida, N1 by Libby Purves and Friends

BLAZING MUSIC HOLDS THE HOUSE TOGETHER        After 1930’s Donegal at the NT the day before,  Dancing at Lughnasa portraying a group of women meeting  stress and poverty with danci…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 11:26AM
Wednesday, April 19, 2023

DANCING AT LUGHNASA Olivier, SE1 by Libby Purves and Friends

A SAD LOST WORLD . A HUMAN BEAUTY There is particular genius in creating a play which doesn’t build to a showy debacle but grips you with the possibility of an unnamed crisis,  and  so f…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 03:11AM
Tuesday, April 18, 2023

THE WAY OLD FRIENDS DO Touring by Libby Purves and Friends

​ABBASOLUTELY A DELIGHT   ​​    ​​      If there is a formula for a cheerful touring play in our frazzled and disputatious times, it would go like this:  warm but a bit rude…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 06:09AM
Monday, April 17, 2023

Letters: Keith Johnstone obituary by Martyn Taylor and Léonie Scott-Matthews

The book Impro by Keith Johnstone made a great impression on me as a history teacher in a Hull comprehensive school in the 1980s. The opening chapter was the best description of fostering cr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM

Why are British audiences suddenly so out of control? – podcast by Nosheen Iqbal With Alice Saville; Produced By George McDonagh and Solomon King; Executive Producer Homa Khaleeli

From fights at the Bodyguard musical to wild drunken antics at comedy clubs and even heckling at the opera, performers and theatre staff say crowds are getting out of hand. What’s going o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM
Sunday, April 16, 2023

‘Our identity is being stolen’: survivors plead for halt to dramas about Grenfell by Mark Townsend and Vanessa Thorpe

Residents and members of bereaved families call on BBC and National Theatre to scrap productions The BBC and the National Theatre are facing rising hostility over two high-profile production…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM
Friday, April 14, 2023

‘The Phantom of the Opera’: Thinking of a Spectacle Fondly by Joshua Barone, Alexis Soloski and Elisabeth Vincentelli

As the longest-running musical in Broadway history closes, Times critics with a lasting affection for the show take stock of its legacy.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:24PM

Broadway’s Longest-Running Musical Turns Out the Lights by Michael Barbaro and Michael Paulson

We went backstage during one of the final performances before the show’s famous chandelier crashes down one last time. “The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest running show in the histo…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:20AM

Livestreaming ‘Made All the Difference’ for Some Disabled Art Lovers by Neelam Bohra and Wendy Lu

When shuttered venues embraced streaming during the pandemic, the arts became more accessible. With live performance back, and streams dwindling, many feel forgotten.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:12AM

PRIVATE LIVES Donmar, WC2 by Libby Purves and Friends

NEVER FLAT, COWARD There ’s always a slight frisson when Noel Coward’s rueful, dark-streaked romantic comedy  is revived in our censorious age.  We are nine decades on from the night i…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 02:06AM
Thursday, April 13, 2023

HAMNET Swan, Stratford upon Avon by Libby Purves and Friends

LOVE, DEATH, GRIEF       It’s  a joy to have the intimate Swan auditorium open again, refurbished after going dark in the first sudden Covid closure, and to see once again a strong, ni…

SOURCE: theatrecat.com at 03:32AM
Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Grenfell fire: National Theatre play to tell survivors’ stories by Harriet Sherwood Arts and Culture Correspondent

Production is at centre of collaboration with west London community affected by 2017 disaster The National Theatre is to stage a verbatim play based on accounts by survivors and those bereav…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24AM

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