All stories by Eric Grode on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Revisits His ‘Illusion of Suffering’ on Broadway by Eric Grode

The “Appropriate” playwright has teamed up with the actors Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll and the director Lila Neugebauer for the play’s Broadway debut. “Everybody onstage is a polit…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:32AM
Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Rochester Fringe Festival Returns With a Program of Free Spectacles by Eric Grode

With its commitment to presenting free spectacles, the event has become one of the country’s more prominent multidisciplinary events.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:43PM
Wednesday, August 23, 2023

After 122 Years, a Lost Edith Wharton Play Gets Its Debut by Eric Grode

The Shaw Festival in Canada is staging the novelist’s 1901 script, discovered only a few years ago. But how to get its mix of satire and melodrama just right?

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:13PM
Monday, December 19, 2022

Getting Close to Sondheim: New Books Try to Capture His Essence by Eric Grode

Memoirs by his collaborators are among the works available now, and several others are on the horizon.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:06PM
Wednesday, July 20, 2022

In a New Take on ‘Gaslight,’ a Heroine Finds Her Own Way by Eric Grode

At this year’s Shaw Festival in Ontario, a favorite melodrama is reimagined, and other plays grapple with femininity and gender fluidity.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48AM
Wednesday, May 11, 2022

The Smart Set Sneered, but the Play Won the Day by Eric Grode

One hundred years ago this month, the interfaith marriage comedy “Abie’s Irish Rose” kicked off a five-year Broadway run — critics be damned.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54AM
Sunday, November 28, 2021

Listen to Stephen Sondheim’s 20 Essential Songs by Eric Grode

The lyricist and composer, who died on Friday, wrote dozens of piercing tunes for Broadway. Here is a selection of them, as lean as a Sondheim couplet.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:54PM
Thursday, October 21, 2021

‘Thoughts of a Colored Man,’ From University to Broadway by Eric Grode

The playwright Keenan Scott II, the director Steve H. Broadnax III and others discuss how “a timeless piece” for Black actors has evolved over 15 years.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:24PM
Friday, August 27, 2021

Micki Grant: ‘I Wanted to Open Eyes’ by Eric Grode

The composer and lyricist, who died at 92, was a trailblazer in virtually every field she touched.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:32PM
Friday, April 16, 2021

Head of New York Theater Workshop to Depart in 2022 by Eric Grode

James C. Nicola, who balanced provocative programming with shows aimed at Broadway, will have served 34 years as artistic director.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:03PM
Thursday, February 25, 2021

The Birth of ‘Rent,’ Its Creator’s Death and the 25 Years Since by Eric Grode

With a virtual performance marking the Broadway musical’s anniversary, original cast and creative team members talk about losing Jonathan Larson and carrying on his legacy.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:24PM
Wednesday, August 19, 2020

The Tour Is Off, but That Won’t Keep ‘Romantics’ Apart by Eric Grode

The musical comedy will be livestreamed from England, with a quarantined cast and tickets aiding more than 30 global venues.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:32AM
Thursday, June 4, 2020

‘Not Just for Gays’: The Year the Tonys Dared to Go There by Eric Grode

How Adam Schlesinger and his writing partner created what may be the most outrageous opening number the broadcast has ever seen.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:42PM

No Tony Awards Show? Make Your Own With These Great Moments. by Ben Brantley, Jesse Green, Michael Paulson, Alexis Soloski, Elisabeth Vincentelli, Laura Collins-Hughes, Scott Heller and Eric Grode

Miranda’s rap. Rylance’s poems. Jackman’s pelvis. And a brassy reunion for Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury. Now set your clock for “Turkey Lurkey Time.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Wednesday, September 11, 2019

From ‘Sex’ to ‘Superstar,’ 10 Plays That Caused a Stir by Eric Grode

It often seems like safety first on Broadway, but the commercial stage has historically been home to shows that push buttons — and ring alarms.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54AM
Monday, August 19, 2019

George Bernard Shaw’s 6-Hour ‘Beast’? She’s All In by Eric Grode

Kimberley Rampersad will present “Man and Superman” at the Shaw Festival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:18AM
Thursday, June 6, 2019

The 1969 Tonys Was a Night to Remember. Just Ask James Earl Jones. by Eric Grode

It was the season of “Hair” vs. “1776” and the arrival of a young actor named Al Pacino.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:54PM
Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Behind the Play: a Tragedy, a Gift, a Wish to Forgive by Eric Grode

Underwriting the heart-rending “Everything Is Wonderful” has prompted a Baltimore couple to learn more about the car crash that killed their son.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:48AM
Friday, December 21, 2018

‘The Cool Guy’: Pop and Theater Stars Celebrate the Composer of ‘Hair’ by Eric Grode

Galt MacDermot helped welcome rock musicians to Broadway. Then hip-hop artists like Run-DMC welcomed him.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:04PM
Friday, November 23, 2018

Theater’s Latest Prompt: Don’t Act Your Age! by Eric Grode

In “Usual Girls,” “Dance Nation” and other plays, actors are playing characters that are sometimes decades younger than they are. Here’s how it works.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18AM
Thursday, October 18, 2018

Pull Up a Seat. Two Plays, Dinner and Western History Are Served. by Eric Grode

A downtown theater has cleared the house to make room for Samuel D. Hunter’s pairing “Lewiston/Clarkston.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:48AM
Monday, September 10, 2018

‘She Should Be Revered, and She Is Not’ by Eric Grode

With two more high-profile plays opening in New York this season — and a huge movie deal in the works — Theresa Rebeck’s time may have come.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:48AM
Friday, July 27, 2018

Brushing Up Your Shakespeare, By the Book or Not by Eric Grode

Shakespeare finds his way into many a musical, from faithful adaptations to breakthrough works like “Hair.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:18AM
Friday, July 20, 2018

A Buoyant ’70s Musical About Black Lives Lands in 2018 by Eric Grode

The creators of “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope” took their bighearted revue all the way to Broadway. A concert production will show how it plays today.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:18AM
Sunday, April 29, 2018

‘Hair’ 50 Years Later: Readers Tell Us When They Let the Sunshine In by Eric Grode

The rock musical moved to Broadway in April 1968, and it quickly became an inescapable part of American culture. Readers share what the show means to them.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:06AM
Monday, September 4, 2017

Stodgy No More? The Shaw Festival is Full of Surprises by Eric Grode

Under a new artistic director, one of the biggest stage festivals in North America is experimenting with pop-up shows and audience interaction. Of course, “Saint Joan” is on the bill, to…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:36PM
Wednesday, August 2, 2017

So Many Shows, So Many Hits: For ‘Prince of Broadway,’ the Challenge Is What to Leave Out by Eric Grode

Hal Prince, who helped bring “Cabaret,” “Evita” and “Sweeney Todd” to Broadway, talks with Jason Robert Brown about the musical revue “Prince of Broadway.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:06PM
Thursday, July 6, 2017

Whiteboard? Check. Lab Rats? They’re the Actors. by Eric Grode

How a theater troupe called Improbable dramatizes psychological experiments described in a controversial 2004 book.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:54PM
Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Well, Hello, Dollys! by Eric Grode

Carol Channing originated the musical role of Dolly Levi and was considered irreplaceable. Now Bette Midler steps into a long line of her successors.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:18PM
Thursday, March 2, 2017

In Ken Ludwig’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express,’ a Dead Man and a Writer on the Rails by Eric Grode

Mr. Ludwig is bringing a famous Agatha Christie mystery to the stage at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, N.J.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:54PM
Wednesday, January 11, 2017

From Nosebleed Seats to the Stage, Actors Discuss August Wilson by Eric Grode

As “Jitney” prepares to open on Broadway, stars like Phylicia Rashad and Laurence Fishburne talk about the playwright.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:18AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards