All stories by James Barron on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

His ‘Dracula’ Project: Creating a Funny Vampire by James Barron

The great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker has written a comic version of “Dracula” that is appearing Off Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:36AM
Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Why a Boston Tea Party Patriot Is Being Honored in Brooklyn by James Barron

Ebenezer Stevens was among those who boarded three British ships in a symbolic act that helped jump-start the American Revolution.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:24AM
Thursday, August 31, 2023

When You’re 16 and Playing Miranda in ‘The Tempest’ by James Barron

Naomi Pierre will appear in Shakespeare in the Park this weekend and thinks of the character she plays as a teenager like herself.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:33AM
Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Ike on a Bike: The Devoted Cyclist Playing Eisenhower Onstage by James Barron

John Rubinstein rides his bike to the theater where he plays the president he met years ago. And, an unwitting homeowner at an epic toxic waste site.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:55PM
Wednesday, July 27, 2022

‘Into the Woods’ and a Missing Giant’s Boot by James Barron

When the Stephen Sondheim musical opened in 1987, a huge boot hung over the theater’s facade. The producers of the current revival would love to get it back.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:24AM
Saturday, May 8, 2021

Martin Bookspan, Cultured Voice of Lincoln Center Telecasts, Dies at 94 by James Barron

The longtime announcer for “Live From Lincoln Center,” he said he wanted his audience “to become involved, to love what they’re hearing.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:18PM
Sunday, February 24, 2019

Grace Notes: He Knows Broadway, Year by Year. Offstage, 2018 Was a Personal Worst. by James Barron

Scott Siegel, who stages the “Broadway by the Year” series at Town Hall, was hurt in a bicycle accident last year. But the show must go on.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:00AM
Sunday, January 13, 2019

Did ‘Hamilton’ Get the Story Wrong? One Playwright Thinks So by James Barron

Ishmael Reed, who became a MacArthur fellow 17 years before Lin-Manuel Miranda, questions why Native Americans were left out of the show, for one thing.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:18PM
Sunday, March 11, 2018

Grace Notes: A Broadway Footnote: The American in ‘My Fair Lady’ by James Barron

For more than 270 performances in 1961 and 1962, the face that Henry Higgins grew accustomed to was Margot Moser’s. She was the first American to play Eliza Doolittle regularly on Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:07PM
Sunday, July 23, 2017

Newspeak on the Stage, but Real Glassware at a Theater’s Bar by James Barron

The Hudson Theater, home to a stage adaptation of “1984,” serves drinks in real glasses, not the plastic ones used by most other Broadway theaters.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:24PM
Sunday, May 7, 2017

Grace Notes: The Coda to a Career: Barbara Cook Has Retired by James Barron

At 89, after a lifetime of soaring high notes and a few low ones, it was time for her to leave the stage, her son says.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:12PM
Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Vintage ‘Glass Menagerie’ Performance Will Return to Air by James Barron

A museum researcher has unearthed a performance of “The Glass Menagerie” starring Shirley Booth, that will be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:48PM
Sunday, July 17, 2016

Grace Notes: Remembering James Cagney, a Tough Guy With a Green Thumb by James Barron

At the Players club in Manhattan, a producer of the musical “Cagney” and the show’s star swap stories about the pugnacious actor and his surprising hobbies.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:34PM
Saturday, October 31, 2015

Actor Christopher Sieber Lands a Role on ‘Law & Order’ (Finally) by James Barron

Mr. Sieber, a veteran of the Broadway stage, had never done what many New York actors do, namely appear on the show ‘Law & Order’ or one of its spinoffs. Until now.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:50AM
Sunday, August 23, 2015

Grace Notes: A Basketball Life, Shown From a High School Locker Room by James Barron

Ed Schmidt, a playwright and performer known for staging productions inside his home, is using the former site of La Salle Academy in the East Village for his latest one-man show.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:39PM
Thursday, August 13, 2015

Biff Liff, Broadway Manager and Powerhouse Agent, Dies at 96 by James Barron

After making his mark backstage on shows like “My Fair Lady,” Mr. Liff became an agent whose clients included Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury and Chita Rivera.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:32PM
Sunday, July 12, 2015

Actresses in ‘Hamilton’ Take a Trip to a Family Home for a History Lesson by James Barron

At the Schuyler-Hamilton House in New Jersey, the docent turns a historic site into a current treasure, highlighting three sisters whom she called the Kardashians of 1780.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:19PM
Monday, May 25, 2015

City Room: Tony Curtis's New York, on Film and in Reality by JAMES BARRON

The death of Tony Curtis, Bernie Schwartz of the Bronx, brings to made a cascade of as-ifs.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

About New York: Unusual Work, Even in World Of the Theater by James Barron

Tom Santopietro has made a near-career filling in for other people on Broadway, not as an understudy, but as a substitute for house managers and company managers.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

City Room: Flame Jugglers and Firefighters, Now Actors by James Barron

For a fire safety video, the Flying Karamazov Brothers juggled torches inches from the face of the city's fire chief.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM
Saturday, July 19, 2014

Elaine Stritch Didn't Have Outbursts, She Said in an Outburst (Get the Joke? She Didn't) - NYTimes.com by James Barron

Usually when someone dies, there are encomiums about how kind, generous and loving the person was. This is not going to be like that.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:04PM
Friday, April 5, 2013

A New York Without Elaine Stritch by James Barron

The Broadway star Elaine Stritch is irascible and indomitable and, to theatergoers of a certain age or mind-set, irresistible. And now, at 88, she is leaving the city she loves.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:25PM
Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Rainbow Room, Shut by a Feud, Has a Fading Wish by James Barron

The restaurant moved closer to interior landmark designation when the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission agreed to schedule a review hearing.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:58PM
Thursday, December 8, 2011

In a Dusty Drawer, a Trove of Theatrical Voices by James Barron

Something got twisted about a minute after Seth Cotterman turned on a machine that was no longer new when he was born in 1989.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:40PM
Wednesday, October 5, 2011

At the Museum, Hunting Treasure and the Man Who Hid It by James Barron

The composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim was enlisted to devise a treasure hunt at the American Museum of Natural History for a charity. Later, he managed to hide himself, too.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:16AM
Friday, June 10, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor on 'Someone' Similarly Named by JAMES BARRON

Elizabeth Taylor (no, not that one) talks about sharing the same name with a Hollywood giant.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:09AM
Monday, February 28, 2011

City Room: Flame Jugglers and Firefighters, Now Actors by James Barron

For a fire safety video, the Flying Karamazov Brothers juggled torches inches from the face of the city's fire chief.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:00AM
Tuesday, January 25, 2011

About New York: Unusual Work, Even for the Theater by James Barron

Tom Santopietro has made a near-career filling in for other people on Broadway, not as an understudy, but as a substitute for house managers and company managers.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:51AM

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
TBA: Ragtime