All stories by JONATHAN MANDELL on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

10 Theater Stories of 2023: From Theater in Crisis to Sondheim as Savior….to The Year of George Santos by Jonathan Mandell

Here are the ten biggest stories about New York theater in 2023, some of them major recurring issues, some of them events, most of them serious, one of them silly, some glimpsing the sublime…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:39PM
Tuesday, December 26, 2023

New Year’s Eve in NYC Last Minute Guide: Greeting 2024 by Jonathan Mandell

My last-minute guide to New Year’s Eve in New York City, when 2023 turns into 2024, features information on: Times Square.Dining OutTheater: Plays as parties, Broadway show schedule, famil…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:15PM

Memorable Theater in 2023. Best and Worst Movies This Week. #Stageworthy News by Jonathan Mandell

The last week of the year is, if not time of reckoning, at least summing up: Top 10 Lists of Top 10 NY Theater in 2023: Merrily, Sweeney, Purlie “Merrily We Roll Along” is the most accla…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:00AM
Monday, December 25, 2023

10 Movies in Cinemas Today, Ranked from Best to Worst by Jonathan Mandell

In this traditional day of moviegoing, here are ten new feature films, most of them only available in cinemas, ranked from those I most enjoyed to those I most regret seeing. American Fictio…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:31PM
Sunday, December 24, 2023

The Color Purple, a movie adaptation of the Broadway musical by Jonathan Mandell

When, near the end of the new movie musical “The Color Purple,”  Fantasia Barrino as Celie sings “I don’t need you to love me….I’m beautiful, yes I’m beautiful, and I’m h…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:50AM
Saturday, December 23, 2023

In Memoriam: Theater Community Members Who Died in 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

Below are some of the people from the theater community who died in 2023, listed alphabetically. Click on any photograph (and click the ⌽ button) to read the caption, most of which link to…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:37PM
Friday, December 22, 2023

Top 10 Lists of Top 10 NY Theater in 2023: Merrily, Sweeney, Purlie by Jonathan Mandell

“Merrily We Roll Along” is the most acclaimed show among theater critics whose lists of top 10 New York theater for 2023 are featured below, and in a poll I took of some 250 theatergoer…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 07:57AM
Thursday, December 21, 2023

Memorable Moments on Stage in 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

From the Ukrainian infant-actress breastfed on stage at the beginning of the year, to the four old bums who collapse on top of one another at the end, 2023 has been full of memorable moments…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:14PM
Wednesday, December 20, 2023

20 Favorite New York Stage Performances in 2023, + 6 puppets, 4 ensembles. by Jonathan Mandell

Below are my favorite stage performances from 2023, listed (more or less) alphabetically — first by 20 outstanding individual human beings (some of them in pairs or trios), then four ensem…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 05:38PM
Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Good Theater Closing Soon On and Off Broadway by Jonathan Mandell

Below is a list of worthwhile shows I saw in 2023 that are still running, but closing within the next month. Some I liked better than others; a few I loved. I list them according to their s…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:40AM
Monday, December 18, 2023

Appropriate Broadway Review by Jonathan Mandell

“Appropriate,” the last play to open on Broadway in 2023 and one of the best-acted productions of the year,  tells the story of a dysfunctional family who reunite after the death of th…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:29PM

Charles Dickens on the power of theater in the digital age. #Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

I asked Charles Dickens yesterday why  “A Christmas Carol” has been adapted for the stage more often, and on more stages, than any other novella in history. “I believe it is because …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:48PM
Sunday, December 17, 2023

Buena Vista Social Club Off Broadway Review by Jonathan Mandell

“Buena Vista Social Club” is electrifying as a concert of fifteen classic Cuban songs performed in Spanish by multitalented singers, dancers and musicians who are easily as vibrant as th…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:34PM
Saturday, December 16, 2023

American Fiction movie review by Jonathan Mandell

American Fiction” is both a smart, funny satire of the way the white establishment pigeonholes Black artists, and a warmhearted if cool-eyed family drama.  No small reason for its appeal …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 06:35PM
Friday, December 15, 2023

Broadway Christmas Week Schedule 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

Below is the schedule of Broadway shows for Christmas Week. Only three shows have performances on Christmas Day, which falls on a Monday this year, the traditional day off for most of Broadw…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 04:10PM
Thursday, December 14, 2023

Crisis: The Theater Responds by Jonathan Mandell

It’s refreshing to come across a theater book entitled “Crisis” that’s not about the crisis in theater, but about every other crisis in the world – a book that makes the case that …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:43PM

Watch “Old Friends” from Merrily We Roll Along by Jonathan Mandell

In the videos below, Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez record the song “Old Friends” and the title song from “Merrily We Roll Along,” the Stephen Sondheim/ George …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:00PM
Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Death, Let Me Do My Show Review. Rachel Bloom’s Crazy Existential Riff by Jonathan Mandell

In a glitzy silver pantsuit, Rachel Bloom enters on stage and at once introduces us to her dog, who is sitting in the lap of a handler (or is it Bloom’s husband?) in the front row of the O…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 10:56PM
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Is It Thursday Yet? Autism, Danced and Defined by Jonathan Mandell

It wasn’t until Jenn Freeman was thirty-three years old and a well-established dancer and choreographer that her therapist diagnosed her as having Autism Spectrum Disorder. “To arrive at…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:49PM
Monday, December 11, 2023

A Year of Sondheim and Struggle. Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Theater in 2023 was barely surviving but also thriving, depending on which end-of-year assessment you read (see below), but everybody agrees on Stephen Sondheim as the bright spot of the yea…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 12:46PM
Sunday, December 10, 2023

How To Dance in Ohio Broadway Review by Jonathan Mandell

“How To Dance in Ohio” is a musical adaptation of a 2015 documentary film of the same name about a group of autistic young adults at a counseling center in Columbus, Ohio, who, as part o…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:00PM
Saturday, December 9, 2023

Poll: Best and Worst Broadway Show of 2023? by Jonathan Mandell

What did you think was the best of the thirty-five shows opened on Broadway in 2023? Which was the worst? Take the two polls below. Judge the quality of the show as you see it, not how it di…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:01PM
Friday, December 8, 2023

Happy Hanukkah via Harmony by Jonathan Mandell

Watch the video below of the cast of the Broadway musical Harmony celebrating the first night of Hanukkah with a special post-matinee menorah lighting outside the Barrymore Theater. �…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:49PM
Thursday, December 7, 2023

10 Most Watched Broadway Videos in 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

The ten videos below were the most viewed in 2023 of those that I’ve posted either on this blog or on my YouTube channel, @NewYorkTheaterme, arranged in order of popularity. I’m not sur…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:18PM
Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Poll: Best Broadway Cast Recording of 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

Choose your favorite Broadway cast recording released in 2023* from among the 12 in the poll below, ordered alphabetically. If I’ve somehow missed your favorite, fill in the “Other” sl…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 02:05PM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Manahatta Review by Jonathan Mandell

“Manahatta” dramatizes two pivotal, and shameful, moments in New York City history, occurring four centuries apart — the Dutch West India Company’s “purchase” of the island of Ma…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 08:50PM
Monday, December 4, 2023

Life & Times of Michael K Review by Jonathan Mandell

There is a stunning kind of poetry in the puppetry employed to dramatize Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee’s forty-year-old novel about a simple man who makes an epic journey through the physica…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:55PM

Jews and Theater: Jesse Green’s Straight Talk Hanukkah Gift. Stageworthy News of the Week by Jonathan Mandell

Jewish theater artists in the three alternate magazine covers: Clockwise from left: Jesse Eisenberg, Matthew Broderick, Sam Gold, Amy Herzog, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer and Joel Grey.Ha…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 11:12AM
Sunday, December 3, 2023

Holiday Shows in NYC 2023 by Jonathan Mandell

While there are always new shows in December (see December 2023 New York Theater Openings), the heart of theater during the month is in many ways the annual holiday shows — plays, ballets,…

SOURCE: New York Theater at 03:22PM
Saturday, December 2, 2023

Broadway Spring 2024 Preview Guide by Jonathan Mandell

Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Lange, Kelli O’Hara with Brian d’Arcy James, Tyne Daly with Liev Schreiber, Jeremy Strong with Michael Imperioli are all performing in shows on Broadway — and …

SOURCE: New York Theater at 09:18AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre