All stories by JONATHAN MANDELL on BroadwayStars

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Occupy Broadway: Man and Boy Review by Jonathan Mandell

Occupy Wall Street has spread around the world. Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Times Square this weekend, passing by the American Airlines Theater, home to “Man and Boy,” a play…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 10:26PM
Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Mountaintop Review: Martin Luther King, Not Just Humanized by Jonathan Mandell

There is a shocking moment halfway through “The Mountaintop,” the play starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett that imagines the last night that Martin Luther King Jr. is alive. It…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 07:14PM
Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Milk and Honey (In Concert) by Jonathan Mandell

Jerry Herman's first Broadway musical,  with a surprisingly varied score and a dated story about Americans finding love in Israel, is given a competent barebones revival by Musicals T…

SOURCE: Backstage at 05:57AM
Monday, October 10, 2011

Billy Elliot Closing, ‘Steve Jobs’ Continuing, Charles Isherwood Exploding. New York Theater Tweets 78 by Jonathan Mandell

This week in New York theater began with the promise of Jesus and Martin Luther King, Jr. coming to Broadway, and ended with the possibility of two of each. Another possibility: Michael C. H…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 01:31PM
Friday, October 7, 2011

The Threepenny Opera at BAM by Jonathan Mandell

Everybody from Louis Armstrong to Bobby Darin to Sting has recorded its music; Bob Dylan has said he was “aroused straightaway by the raw intensity of the songs.” It’s been on Broadway…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 05:09PM
Monday, October 3, 2011

Phantom at 25: Why. Jane Austen Sings. Spider-Man Sued. Follies Performs. New York Theater Tweets 77 by Jonathan Mandell

Only one show opened on Broadway in September. In October, there will be four: Man and Boy with Frank Langella, October 9; The Mountaintop, with Samuel Jackson and Angela Bassett, October 13…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 12:50PM
Sunday, October 2, 2011

Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice, A Musical by Jonathan Mandell

A terrific cast and a respect for Jane Austen's language help make this latest staging of the beloved novel a worthy entertainment, even while the score is not ideal.

SOURCE: Backstage at 08:35AM
Friday, September 30, 2011

Kissless by Jonathan Mandell

Featuring actual teenagers playing fake ones, "Kissless" seems clueless, but thanks to some strong-voiced songs and choreography it's not worthless.

SOURCE: Backstage at 02:47AM
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Submission Review: Gay Vs. Black by Jonathan Mandell

With a cast that includes Jonathan Groff (“Spring Awakening,” “Glee”) and Rutina Wesley, who as Tara was just killed (perhaps permanently?) in the “True Blood” season finale, “…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 07:48PM
Monday, September 26, 2011

Tweets 76 by Jonathan Mandell

The action this week in New York Theater has been largely off Broadway and even Off-Off Broadway. Off-Broadway Week begins today, two-for-one tickets until October 9th. The winners of the Ne…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 04:21AM
Tuesday, September 20, 2011

New York Theater Innovative Awards 2011 Winners by Jonathan Mandell

“These awards celebrate our incredulity that things ever go right,” said playwright John Patrick Shanley Robert, one of the presenters for the seventh annual New York Innovative …

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 05:52AM
Monday, September 19, 2011

The Season Begins. Follies, Facebook Me, Hugh Jackman! New York Theater Tweets 75 by Jonathan Mandell

The marquees are going up, the new Broadway season has begun — with the opening of the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies”. (Technically, the new season began in …

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 10:20AM

Facebook Me Review: Gloria Steinem Trumps Justin Bieber by Jonathan Mandell

A theater full of girls ages 13 to 15 are enthralled by the speaker on the stage, Gloria Steinem, who is speaking at the Talkback after “Facebook Me,” a fascinating theater piece written…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 01:43AM
Sunday, September 18, 2011

Freud Leaves The Upper West Side by Jonathan Mandell

The announcement that “Freud’s Last Session” was leaving the Upper West Side for Midtown gave me a guilty conscience. I thought I should see the show before it departs its natural habi…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 02:32PM
Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Wood Review: Abner Louima’s Police Torture As Scoop by Jonathan Mandell

In 1997, a Haitian immigrant named Abner Louima was arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub, taken to the 70th police precinct, and sodomized with a wooden handle, which was then used to bash …

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 07:55PM
Monday, September 12, 2011

Follies Review by Jonathan Mandell

When the sequined ghosts of showgirls past appear at the beginning of “Follies,” a revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical opening tonight whose delights edge out its disappointments, th…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 09:26PM
Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Select Review: Hemingway’s Sun Also Rises, Almost Verbatim by Jonathan Mandell

When the Elevator Repair Service theater company staged “Gatz” last year, one critic gushed that it represented a new genre in theater, a hybrid of book (Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gats…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 07:46PM
Friday, September 9, 2011

Barriers by Jonathan Mandell

Sept. 11 affects a New Jersey Muslim family in this play by Rehana Lew Mirza, which, originally mounted on the first anniversary of that event, doesn't compel in revival.

SOURCE: Backstage at 07:00AM
Thursday, September 8, 2011

Cymbeline Review: Not A Fiasco by Jonathan Mandell

From the moment the six members of the Fiasco Theater tell us to turn off our cell phones by singing a polished melody, it is clear these entertainers could spin magic from a bologna sandwic…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 05:48PM
Monday, August 29, 2011

2011 New York International Fringe Festival Winners, Fringe Encores by Jonathan Mandell

The Fringe Festival ended two days earlier than planned because of Hurricane Irene, which knocked out the closing night party, and the last-second chance to see shows with big buzz. Eighteen…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 01:41PM

Lea Michele Turns 25 by Jonathan Mandell

Lea Michele Sarfati was born a quarter-century ago today, August 29, 1986. As Lea Michele, she debuted on Broadway at age eight as Young Cosette in Les Miserables, and subsequently had roles…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 12:03PM
Saturday, August 20, 2011

The Day the Sky Turned Black by Jonathan Mandell

Writer and performer Ali Kennedy Scott portrays five survivors of a natural catastrophe in Australia, but her delineation of character needs to be deeper and more distinct.

SOURCE: Backstage at 09:19AM
Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Legend of Julie Taymor Review: Spider-Man Spoof A Real Musical by Jonathan Mandell

OK, yes, we first see the creator of the Spider-Man musical Julie Taymor – renamed Julie Paymore (get it?) – in a straitjacket and mask a la Hannibal the Cannibal in “Silence of the La…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 05:31PM
Monday, August 15, 2011

Victor and Victoria's Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things by Jonathan Mandell

In Nathan Cuckow and Beth Graham's new play, two twins read and act out a macabre tale that is better written than it is performed and funnier than it is terrifying.

SOURCE: Backstage at 01:07AM
Sunday, August 14, 2011

HotelMotel Review: On-Site Sex and Violence by Jonathan Mandell

The two site-specific plays that make up “HotelMotel” take place around a bed in a back parlor of The Gershwin Hotel, which is right next door to the Museum of Sex, and that seems an esp…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 02:38PM

Traces Review: Circus Sexy by Jonathan Mandell

Three shows in New York explicitly describe themselves as both theater pieces and as circus acts: “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,” Cirque de Soleil’s “Zarkana,” and, now, “Traces…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 09:32AM

Greenland by Jonathan Mandell

Nicholas Billon's subtle, unsentimental play is inspired by the recent discovery of an island off the coast of Greenland and imagines the story of the man who discovered it and his family.

SOURCE: Backstage at 01:07AM
Thursday, August 11, 2011

Bohemian Forever? Rent Review by Jonathan Mandell

Like the motorcyclists who tattoo Harley-Davidson onto their arms, some theatergoers treat “Rent” as an indelible part of their lives, something that has become almost sacred. This may h…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 09:48PM
Friday, August 5, 2011

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman by Jonathan Mandell

The first official photograph of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in “The Dark Knight Rises” comes with a question: Is Catwoman some kind of rite of passage for good actresses (Halle Be…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 10:12AM

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman by Jonathan Mandell

The first official photograph of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in “The Dark Knight Rises” comes with a question: Is Catwoman some kind of rite of passage for good actresses (Halle Be…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 10:12AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2011

New York Innovative Theater Award 2011 Nominees by Jonathan Mandell

The 2011 New York Innovative Theater Award nominees, announced August 1st, include 166 individual artists, 55 different productions and 45 Off-Off-Broadway theater companies. Winners will be…

SOURCE: The Faster Times at 12:09AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic