All stories by Gordon Cox on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

‘The Third Man’ Review: Theatrical Hitmakers Can’t Make This Misbegotten Thriller Sing by Gordon Cox

“What was I thinking when I made this deal?” So sings Holly Martins (Sam Underwood) towards the end of the new musical adaptation of “The Third Man.” Indeed. As it turns out, the mys…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:25PM
Saturday, June 17, 2023

How One Striking TV Writer Has Kept Busy in Theater by Gordon Cox

With TV series like “Citadel,” “Hunters” and “Solos” under her belt, Tori Sampson is one of TV’s busiest young writers — and right now, that means she’s busy striking in so…

SOURCE: Variety at 12:26PM
Thursday, June 15, 2023

‘Romeo and Juliet’ Review: ‘Ted Lasso’ Star Toheeb Jimoh Is the Expressive Heart of Rebecca Frecknall’s Passionate Production by Gordon Cox

Having the audacity to harness stabs and slashes of Prokofiev’s celebrated ballet score for “Romeo and Juliet” for a production of Shakespeare’s play suggests remarkable confidence o…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:10PM
Sunday, June 11, 2023

Tony Awards 2023: All the Snubs, Surprises and Standouts From Broadway’s Biggest Night by Gordon Cox

In a Broadway awards ceremony without a script, there were bound to be unexpected twists, turns and upsets. Here are the biggest snubs, surprises and standouts from the 2023 Tony Awards. SNU…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:51PM
Friday, June 9, 2023

‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ Review: Good-Hearted Musical Is Long on Incident but Short on Drama by Gordon Cox

Smartly refusing to be doggedly faithful, bookwriter and director Jethro Compton retains the arc of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s (very) short, fable-like story “The Curious Case of Benjamin But…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:08AM
Thursday, June 1, 2023

‘Grey House’ Review: Laurie Metcalf Stars in a Spooky but Oblique Broadway Thriller by Gordon Cox

Playwright Levi Holloway’s “Grey House” arrives on Broadway with the vibe of a spooky cinematic thriller. Pulses do rise, and the mind races forward with every blackout and bang. But s…

SOURCE: Variety at 08:00PM
Wednesday, May 31, 2023

A Tight-Rope Walk to the Tony Awards: How ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ Creators Struck a Delicate Balance of Humor and Heartache by Gordon Cox

The writers of “Kimberly Akimbo” tell a story about the musical’s creation that feels as if it could be a scene in the show itself. Like the Tony-nominated production, now up for eight…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00AM
Tuesday, May 30, 2023

How Tony Nominee Jessica Chastain Crafted Her Signature Moments in Broadway’s ‘A Doll’s House’ by Gordon Cox

When Jessica Chastain explains how she and her collaborators created the standout moments in her Tony-nominated Broadway performance in “A Doll’s House,” one wouldn’t expect to hear …

SOURCE: Variety at 05:08PM
Friday, May 26, 2023

‘Aspects of Love’ Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Torpid, Semi-Forgotten Musical Gets an Unconvincing West End Revival by Gordon Cox

“Will someone kindly tell me what on Earth has happened?” Well, quite. That’s the that line Michael Ball’s George sings when surveying the absurdity before him, including the body of…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:33PM
Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Why Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond Love Sharing the Tony Nominations Spotlight by Gordon Cox

Thanks to her acclaimed performance in “Parade,” Micaela Diamond has found herself nominated for a Tony Award at just 23 years old. The attention could be overwhelming for any young acto…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:01PM
Friday, May 19, 2023

‘Brokeback Mountain’ Review: Well-Acted and Well-Meaning Play Version Doesn’t Make for Compelling Theater by Gordon Cox

Canny casting of Mike Faist (“West Side Story”) and Lucas Hedges (“Manchester by the Sea”) and abundant efforts to honor Annie Proulx’s short story “Brokeback Mountain,” immort…

SOURCE: Variety at 04:56PM
Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Why Tony Nominee Corey Hawkins Embraced Fearlessness in ‘Topdog/Underdog’ by Gordon Cox

The recent Broadway revival of “Topdog/Underdog” may have ended its run, but for Corey Hawkins, the actor now nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the play, the experience left him…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:22PM
Friday, May 5, 2023

‘The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window’ Review: Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan Lead a Thrilling Broadway Revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s Fina by Gordon Cox

The playwright Lorraine Hansberry was near death at age 34 when “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” premiered on Broadway, for a three-month run that ended with her passing in 1965.…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00AM
Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Tony Nominations 2023: The 5 Biggest Snubs and Surprises — and One Huge Question Mark by Gordon Cox

The nominations for the 2023 Tony Awards are out — and for every pleasant surprise on the list, there were a few disappointments. Here are the biggest snubs and surprises from this morning…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:29AM
Friday, April 28, 2023

Tony Predictions: Best Musical — Four Stand Poised to Give ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ Some Competition  by Gordon Cox

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Gr…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:05PM
Wednesday, April 26, 2023

‘New York, New York’ Review: New Kander and Ebb Musical Is a Love Letter to Big City Gusto by Gordon Cox

If there is a megawatt star in “New York, New York,” the new musical from Broadway titans John Kander and the late Fred Ebb (with additional lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda), it’s right t…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Tuesday, April 25, 2023

‘Summer, 1976’ Review: Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht Give Stellar Performances in an Affecting Broadway Two-Hander on Friendship by Gordon Cox

Friends come and go. Some stay throughout our lives while others, however significant for a time, fade into the haze of memory yet always linger within us. In “Summer, 1976,” the new Bro…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Monday, April 24, 2023

‘Good Night, Oscar’ Review: Sean Hayes Gives a Bravura Performance as Late-Night TV Virtuoso  by Gordon Cox

Today’s audiences are unlikely to know the name Oscar Levant, the once-famed pianist, composer, comedian and actor at the center of Doug Wright’s new Broadway play “Good Night, Oscar.�…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Sunday, April 23, 2023

‘Prima Facie’ Review: Jodie Comer Commands the Stage in Broadway Drama by Gordon Cox

Here is my favorite thing about Suzie Miller’s Olivier Award-winning one-woman play “Prima Facie,” opening at Broadway’s Golden Theater tonight: About halfway through, it begins to r…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:23PM
Thursday, April 20, 2023

‘The Thanksgiving Play’ Review: Larissa FastHorse’s Broadway Satire of Wokeness Is Outpaced by History by Gordon Cox

Roasting nice white liberals is a time-honored theatrical pastime. Trim away the artifice of their smug posturing and they’re predictably stuffed with a medley of ignorance, hypocrisy and …

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Wednesday, April 19, 2023

‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ Review: British Comedy Troupe Teams With Neil Patrick Harris for Expertly Executed Broadway Mayhem by Gordon Cox

The only thing America loves more than watching work imported from Great Britain is when that same British work goes wildly off the rails. What is “The Great British Bake Off” without to…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Tuesday, April 18, 2023

How ‘The Thanksgiving Play’ Launched Its Trailblazing Playwright’s Very Busy Year by Gordon Cox

With the new production of her comedy “The Thanksgiving Play,” Larissa FastHorse has become the first known Native American female playwright on Broadway. Now she can cross it off her to…

SOURCE: Variety at 05:37PM
Monday, April 17, 2023

Inside Broadway’s Emotional Closing Night of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ by Gordon Cox

After 35 years — and a string of $3 million weeks at the box office fueled by the last-minute frenzy of “phans” — the 13,981th and final Broadway performance of “The Phantom of the…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:12AM
Thursday, April 13, 2023

‘Camelot’ Review: Aaron Sorkin’s Rethink of a Beloved Broadway Musical Loses the Magic, in Every Sense of the Word by Gordon Cox

In Aaron Sorkin’s revised script for Lincoln Center Theater’s new Broadway production of “Camelot,” the magic is missing — in more ways than one. The declared aim of the stage, TV …

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM

Why ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is Closing on Broadway — And How It Will Rise Again by Gordon Cox

Ask Cameron Mackintosh if “The Phantom of the Opera” will be back, and he doesn’t play coy. “Of course it will return,” he says. “All the great musicals do.” But the British me…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:00AM
Wednesday, April 12, 2023

‘Fat Ham’ Review: James Ijames’ Pulitzer-Winning ‘Hamlet’ Riff Is a Broadway Feast by Gordon Cox

New York stages are rarely without some version of Shakespeare’s mopey Danish prince, tormented by fatal family drama. But none has ever been quite like the protagonist of “Fat Ham,” J…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Tuesday, April 4, 2023

The Secrets, Tricks and Cheats That Make a Puppet Scary in Broadway’s ‘Life of Pi’ by Gordon Cox

Here are two wildlife facts you won’t learn in “Life of Pi”: Orangutans are quiet, and zebras stay silent when they’re attacked. Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast be…

SOURCE: Variety at 01:00PM
Sunday, March 26, 2023

‘Sweeney Todd’ Review: Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford Lead a Soaring but Remote Sondheim Revival on Broadway by Gordon Cox

The cannibalist startup in “Sweeney Todd” kills two birds: For Sweeney, the ruined barber who holds a grudge as steadily as he does a blade, it means turning enemies into actual mincemea…

SOURCE: Variety at 09:00PM
Thursday, March 23, 2023

‘Bad Cinderella’ Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Muddled, Sexed-Up, Broadway Spin on the Fairy Tale Is True to Its Name by Gordon Cox

The addition of “bad” to the title of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest maximalist spectacle, formerly known simply as “Cinderella” when it premiered for a short-lived run on the West E…

SOURCE: Variety at 10:00PM
Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Why Tom Stoppard Is Driving Himself ‘Daft and Furious’ During the Hit Broadway Run of ‘Leopoldstadt’ by Gordon Cox

Celebrated playwright Tom Stoppard has a Broadway success on his hands with “Leopoldstadt,” his (very) loosely autobiographical play now in the sixth month of a long run currently set to…

SOURCE: Variety at 02:08PM
Sunday, March 19, 2023

‘Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ ” Review: A Rapturous Broadway Homage to a Great Choreographer by Gordon Cox

It’s hard to believe, but Bob Fosse’s definitive signature musical “Dancin’” has never been revived on Broadway since its Tony Award-winning debut in 1978. Huge kudos, then, to dir…

SOURCE: Variety at 11:29PM

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