All stories by JONATHAN MANDELL on BroadwayStars

Monday, September 12, 2022

Broadway Begins! Lea Michele debuts then departs Funny Girl. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

The first four new Broadway shows of the Fall season begin performances this week, although they won’t officially open until next month.  Two more shows were added to the Broadway 2022-2…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:36AM
Sunday, September 11, 2022

Machine Dazzle, a costume designer treated like an artist. by Jonathan Mandell

Machine Dazzle walks with me through some 80 of his fabulously intricate costumes on display at the opening day of his solo exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design, to one of some two doz…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:47PM
Saturday, September 10, 2022

Burbank Review. Walt Disney vs. Goofy’s Dad in 1941 Animators Strike by Jonathan Mandell

Walt Disney is pissed. “Why the hell would anybody need to unionize at a place like this? We got volleyball!“ “Burbank,” a play by  Cameron Darwin Bossert at The Wild Project throug…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:41PM
Friday, September 9, 2022

Queen Elizabeth II on Stage by Jonathan Mandell

Queen Elizabeth II, who died yesterday at the age of 96, commanded the world stage during her 70-year reign. She was also a character on theatrical stages — in Great Britain of course, but…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:28PM
Thursday, September 8, 2022

Strings Attached Review. Physics 101 plus a love triangle, stereotypes, lightbulb jokes by Jonathan Mandell

In 1999, three physicists took a train from Cambridge to London, and in their discussion on that hour-long trip came up with a new theory about the origin of the universe, an alternate view…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:00PM
Wednesday, September 7, 2022

My Onliness Review: A Mad King, ASL, and Sensory Assault by Jonathan Mandell

“My Onliness” is billed as “a fable/cabaret/circus entertainment about a mad king’s desperate attempt to impress a mysterious petitioner” – a description that doesn’t completel…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:00PM
Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Sweeney Todd, Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne Back on Broadway. Adele, Paul McCartney: Broadway Awaits! #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Adele and Paul McCartney were among the winners of the Creative Arts Emmys announced over the weekend, which means, for an EGOT (Emmy Grammy Oscar Tony), they only now need…a Tony. McCa…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:28AM
Monday, September 5, 2022

Labor Day and the Labor Play by Jonathan Mandell

Where are the American plays about labor? About unions, or workers, or workplaces?  I’ve been asking that question every Labor Day,  a legal holiday created by Congress in 1884 to celeb…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:26AM
Sunday, September 4, 2022

End of Summer Theater Quiz by Jonathan Mandell

A theater quiz that marks the end of summer, a relatively fallow period that gives theatergoers time to look back at the season just passed, and forward to the season ahead. Half of the ten …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:33PM
Friday, September 2, 2022

September 2022 New York Theater Openings by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a selection of theater opening in New York in September, when Elmo won’t just be on the streets of Times Square, but on an Off-Broadway stage, while the twelve-foot tall puppet L…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:36PM
Thursday, September 1, 2022

“Equality and Democracy are Under Assault” President Biden’s Sept 1 Soul of the Nation speech video and transcript by Jonathan Mandell

“Too much of what is happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Presiden…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:50PM
Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Once Upon a (Korean) Time Review. Grim Korean folk tales and history from Daniel K Isaac by Jonathan Mandell

In the Korean version of Cinderella, the evil stepmother kills Cinderella and throws her into the river. But that’s not the end: Cinderella magically comes back to life and, with the help …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:00PM
Tuesday, August 30, 2022

As You Like It Review. 5 Reasons to Love Shaina Taub’s Version of Shakespeare’s Comedy About Love by Jonathan Mandell

“All the world’s a stage, and everybody’s in the show, nobody’s a pro,” Shaina Taub, dressed in patch-quilt overalls, sings in the first moments of her spirited and enchanting musi…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:10PM
Monday, August 29, 2022

New Season Wows. Robert LuPone (1946-2022) #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

The news of a new Kander and Ebb musical with Lin-Manuel Miranda added to a thrilling Broadway 2022-2023 still in formation. But equally tantalizing were the full season announcements last …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:25AM
Sunday, August 28, 2022

Robot Infidèle. Hat Tricks at Little Island by a French Canadian Circus Troupe by Jonathan Mandell

” Robot Infidèle”  is a nearly-wordless, hour-long show that’s being presented for just three nights (ending tonight), at Little Island, the odd new pier and public park with two…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:30AM
Saturday, August 27, 2022

Watch Six, Beetlejuice and Moulin Rouge at Broadway in Bryant Park by Jonathan Mandell

Below are videos of some of the performances in the last Broadway in Bryant Park lunchtime concert of Summer 2022. The hour-long concert began with an acrobatic and musical “pre-show” pe…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:27PM
Friday, August 26, 2022

Watch A Strange Loop at Bryant Park by Jonathan Mandell

The cast of “A Strange Loop” performed four songs from the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical at the final Broadway in Bryant Park lunchtime concert of Summer 2022. Below are …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:50PM
Thursday, August 25, 2022

Kinky Boots Off-Broadway Review by Jonathan Mandell

The Off-Broadway revival of “Kinky Boots,” which opens tonight  at Stage 42, comes just 40 months after the end of the show’s run on Broadway, and is so little changed from the origi…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:01PM
Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Theater Blog Roundup: Theater as Class Struggle by Jonathan Mandell

In the dog days of summer, those few bloggers not on vacation are depicting the theater as dog eat dog – an arena for classic class struggle, workers vs. owners. Or at least that might be …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:05PM
Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Beyond the Back Row: The Breakthrough Potential Of Digital Live Entertainment and Arts by Jonathan Mandell

Jim McCarthy was as charmed and cheered as everybody else by the online shows in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many, he soon tired of the spontaneous, slapdash productions, m…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:26AM
Monday, August 22, 2022

Broadway Half Empty. Funny Girl Past Present and Future. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Broadway Week will return September 6-25 after a three-year hiatus, offering 2-for-1 tickets. Such efforts to return to 2019 normal have not yet succeeded, as the New York Times reports: �…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:10AM
Sunday, August 21, 2022

On Her 101st Birthday, My Mother Visits the Whitney Biennial by Jonathan Mandell

For her 101st birthday, Muriel Mandell visited the Whitney Museum of American Art to catch the Whitney Biennial before it closes September 5th. “The Whitney Biennial,” we read, “is the…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:08AM
Friday, August 19, 2022

Watch 1776, A Beautiful Noise Sneak Previews at Broadway in Bryant Park by Jonathan Mandell

Below are videos from musical numbers sung by casts of two shows opening on Broadway in the fall, as part of the Broadway in Bryant Park lunchtime concert on August 18: “1776” and “A B…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:39AM
Thursday, August 18, 2022

Watch Funny Girl Julie Benko: “I’m The Greatest Star” by Jonathan Mandell

Julie Benko, who went from standby to star of the first-ever Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” sang “I’m The Greatest Star” at the Broadway in Bryant Park lunchtime concert August …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:10PM
Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers by Jonathan Mandell

Sondheim enthusiasts might know Mary Rodgers primarily as the married friend he consulted to learn about marriage so that he could write the musical “Company.” Knowledgeable fans of Rodg…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:07PM
Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Patience Review: Solitaire as Metaphor for Black Achievement and Isolation by Jonathan Mandell

Daniel is the world professional champion of Solitaire, which feels apt, because “I only feel like myself when I’m alone,” as he admits to Jordan, his fiancé. Daniel wants to end his …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:00PM
Monday, August 15, 2022

The Changing Face of Broadway. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

At age 91, Adrienne Kennedy will be making her Broadway debut, when Audra McDonald stars in “Ohio Murders,” directed by Kenny Leon, opening December 8th at the newly renamed James Earl…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:14AM
Friday, August 12, 2022

Watch Chicago, Dear Evan Hansen, Phantom Etc at Broadway in Bryant Park by Jonathan Mandell

Watch video excerpts of performances from the casts of four Broadway shows, and one Off-Broadway, presented at the Broadway in Bryant Park lunchtime concert this week. “Chicago.” Lana Go…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:39AM
Thursday, August 11, 2022

Watch Hadestown in Bryant Park by Jonathan Mandell

Principal cast members of “Hadestown” escaped from the dark Underworld to the bright midday sun of a Broadway in Bryant Park lunchtime concert to perform four of the numbers from the 201…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:44PM
Wednesday, August 10, 2022

G is for Gavin Creel, on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Gavin Creel, currently portraying both a big bad wolf and Cinderella’s charming Prince in the Broadway revival of “Into The Woods,” has played just such varied roles from his Broadway …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:50PM

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