All stories by JONATHAN MANDELL on BroadwayStars

Monday, March 24, 2014

The Book of Mormon, Three Years Old by Jonathan Mandell

The Book of Mormon opened three years ago today. It won 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Costing about $9.1 million to mount, it has earned nearly $250 million on Broadway alone (with…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:40PM
Sunday, March 23, 2014

Les Miserables Review: Darkened Stages, Brilliant Broadway Cast by Jonathan Mandell

When the grim-faced actors in the revival of “Les Miserables” man the barricades and wave the red flag at the Imperial, to my surprise, I didn’t just see red. For this third pr…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:59PM
Saturday, March 22, 2014

Aladdin Video by Jonathan Mandell

New teaser for Aladdin

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:03PM

Poll: Which is Your Favorite Stephen Sondheim Show on Broadway? by Jonathan Mandell

Stephen Sondheim turns 84 today, and in honor of his birthday, a poll that shows the extraordinary range of Broadway plays and musicals, world-famous and completely obscure, with which he ha…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:32AM
Friday, March 21, 2014

Idina Menzel on the Cover of Billboard by Jonathan Mandell

Idina Menzel, who is starring on Broadway in the new musical “If/Then,” which opens on Sunday,  is on the cover of Billboard next week. It says: “It’s taken her 18 y…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:08PM
Thursday, March 20, 2014

Aladdin Review: A Genie Works His Magic on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

In Aladdin, the new Disney musical on Broadway, the genie grants theatergoers the first of their wishes – to be entertained. The genie is James Monroe Iglehart, and he is the one who provi…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:03PM
Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Desperate Theater With Blondie and Madonna: Q and A with Peter Michael Marino by Jonathan Mandell

Peter Michael Marino once got hit in the face with a garbage can in Stomp — but that was nothing compared to the damage caused by his first musical. The musical he wrote based on the …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:47PM
Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Beautiful Cast Recording: Hear Jessie Mueller sing Will You Love Me Tomorrow by Jonathan Mandell

  The cast recording of the Broadway musical Beautiful will be released digitally by Ghostlight Records (Sh-K-Boom) April 1, 2014 and in stores May 13.  Beautiful - The Carole King M…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:40AM
Monday, March 17, 2014

Mike Albo On His Scandalous Junket and the Swag That Runs New York by Jonathan Mandell

“I wish I could transmute my middle aged gay pain into some zombie vampire Lena Dunham comedy superhero reboot movie but I can’t,” Mike Albo says in his one-man show “The…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:52PM
Sunday, March 16, 2014

Rocky Rocks. Aladdin Awaits. RIP Man of La Mancha. Week in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

Has an actor ever actually chewed the scenery? Is there a company that makes edible backdrops? Something tells me we’re going to find out in the next six weeks, where a new play opens …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:28PM
Saturday, March 15, 2014

Aladdin Sitzprobe by Jonathan Mandell

The cast and orchestra of Aladdin perform the songs together for the first time during the rehearsal period. That’s called Sitzprobe, a Broadway word adopted from the German; it litera…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:21PM
Thursday, March 13, 2014

Rocky Review: The Italian Stallion on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Halfway through Rocky, a crowd-pleasing musical that’s a faithful stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning 1976 movie, the lights flicker to show Rocky Balboa, his face shrouded in a grey hoo…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:18PM
Sunday, March 9, 2014

Bryan Cranston debuts. Daniel Radcliffe returns. King Kong retreats. Week in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

Bryan Cranston made his Broadway debut in All The Way, about LBJ, one of five shows I reviewed this week in a season that’s heating up.  Fiddler on the Roof will play once more on Broadwa…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:34PM

The Bridges of Madison County Broadway Review: Lush and Lovely by Jonathan Mandell

“If you went away for a week and I spent the whole time in bed with a photographer, would you be mad?” nosy neighbor Marge asks her husband Charlie in “The Bridges of Madison County,�…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:50AM
Thursday, March 6, 2014

All The Way Review: Bryan Cranston as LBJ. Breaking Bad Meets Broadway. by Jonathan Mandell

“Everybody wants power; and if they say they don’t, they’re lying,” Bryan Cranston snarls in “All The Way,” Robert Schenkkan’s play about President …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:49PM
Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Antony and Cleopatra Review: Shakespeare’s Tragedy in Haiti and Miami by Jonathan Mandell

“Antony and Cleopatra,”which is being given a colorful and ambitiously reworked production at the Public Theater, has a tragic/romantic ending reminiscent of “Romeo and Jul…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:27PM

Satchmo at the Waldorf Review: Louis Armstrong Breathless and Blunt by Jonathan Mandell

“Hello, Dolly is a piece of shit.” This is the voice of Louis Armstrong, after the final concert of his life, as depicted in Terry Teachout’s first play, “Satchmo at the Wald…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:13AM
Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Top 10 Ways To Mispronounce Idina Menzel: David Letterman by Jonathan Mandell

David Letterman joined the chorus of those making fun of John Travolta’s mispronunciation of Idina Menzel’s name on the Academy Awards. You too can Travoltify your name, via Slat…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:47AM
Monday, March 3, 2014

See Daniel Radcliffe For Free in The Cripple of Inishmaan on Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Ticket Giveaway: Win two tickets to see Daniel Radcliffe in his third show on Broadway: The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh, opening at the Cort Theater on April 20, 2014. (Previews…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:16PM

Stage Kiss Review: Sarah Ruhl’s Slapstick Smooching by Jonathan Mandell

By the end of Stage Kiss, the man and the woman have kissed 288 times. This is according to the woman’s husband, who is a banker and loves numbers, and has not been in on the kissing. In S…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:06PM
Sunday, March 2, 2014

Bobby Lopez Gets His EGOT! Broadway at the Oscars. TedxBroadway 2014. Week in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

Broadway was one of the winners of the 86th Academy Awards. Bobby Lopez won the EGOT — only the 12th person in history to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competitive categories …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:17PM

Michael J McKean, as J Edgar, 30 years after Spinal Tap by Jonathan Mandell

On this, the 30th anniversary of This is Spinal Tap, I profile Michael McKean in New York Theatre Magazine. McKean is now playing the villainous J. Edgar Hoover in the Broadway play All T…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:31AM
Saturday, March 1, 2014

Broadway, Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway Openings in March, 2014 by Jonathan Mandell

In March, it’s possible to attend a Broadway,  Off-Broadway or Off-Off Broadway opening nearly every single day; many days, there are two; occasionally three! Below is a list, organized c…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:23AM

Oscar Meet Tony: Academy Award Nominees’ Broadway Connections by Jonathan Mandell

Did you know 2014 Oscar nominated director Martin Scorsese directed a musical on Broadway? It was called The Act, it featured music by Kander and Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago) and it starred Liza M…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:20AM
Friday, February 28, 2014

New York Theater February 2014 Quiz by Jonathan Mandell

How well were you paying attention to the theater news in February? Answer these 11 questions and see.

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:21AM
Thursday, February 27, 2014

James Franco Celebrates John Steinbeck’s Birthday With a Selfie by Jonathan Mandell

  John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902. He wrote Of Mice and Men, both the story and the play, which is being revived on Broadway starring James Franco, making his Broadway debu…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 01:24PM
Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Audra McDonald Back on Broadway as Billie Holliday by Jonathan Mandell

Here is the poster for a newly announced show on Broadway. Five-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald will play Billie Holiday, for a 10-week limited engagement, in Lanie Robertson’s Lady …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:56PM
Monday, February 24, 2014

Kung Fu Review: Bruce Lee’s Story Retold as a Fusical by Jonathan Mandell

Fans of Bruce Lee, the martial artist and actor who died four decades ago at age 32, are likely to be delighted at the sheer physical excitement of  ”Kung Fu,” which has opened …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:22PM
Sunday, February 23, 2014

Love and Bridges. In The Heights With Lin-Manuel and Rita Moreno. The Week in New York Theater by Jonathan Mandell

Call it the Upper West Side Story:  Lin-Manuel Miranda interviewed Rita Moreno about her Oscar-winning role in the 1961 film “West Side Story” before a screening of the film at …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:15PM
Friday, February 21, 2014

Michael McKean Gets Serious by Jonathan Mandell

Celebrated Comedian Takes on Villainous Role as J. Edgar in All the Way Wherever he goes, Michael McKean—actor, writer, comedian, … Read More →

SOURCE: nytheatremag.com at 12:46AM
Thursday, February 20, 2014

The Bridges of Madison County Broadway Reviews by Jonathan Mandell

“The Bridges of Madison County,” the new Broadway musical based on Robert James Waller’s bestselling novel about the brief affair between Francesa,  an Italian-born Iowa f…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:20PM

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