All stories by Jan Simpson on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

"Harvey's Whimsy Didn't Totally Work on Me by Jan Simpson

Summertime is tourist time in New York and one of the main things people want to do when they get here is see a Broadway show.  But not just any show.  Most want to take in a big B…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 08:59AM
Saturday, July 7, 2012

"The Best Man" is Still a Winning Ticket by Jan Simpson

In keeping with this week’s red-white-and-blue theme, I’m going to recommend The Best Man (or Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, as it is officially billed) which is turning into a staple of e…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 06:59AM
Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The Best Way to Celebrate Independence Day by Jan Simpson

  No post today. Instead I’m kicking back and will be celebrating the birth of our country with my annual viewing of the pretty good movie version of the really great Tony-…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 08:49AM
Saturday, June 30, 2012

Theater Books for Summer Reading 2012 by Jan Simpson

Despite what the calendar says, the beginning of summer is a personal choice. Traditionalists probably opted for June 20th, the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. But some folk…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:59AM
Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Why "3C" Barely Rates a Grade of D from Me by Jan Simpson

Judging by all the honors he’s already racked up, the playwright David Adjmi has plenty of fans and doesn’t need me.  His bio boasts that he’s won a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Whi…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 10:03AM
Saturday, June 23, 2012

"Love Goes to Press" isn't Front-Page Material by Jan Simpson

At some point, almost every frequent theatergoer has probably thought “I should write a play.”  Unlike most of us, journalists Martha Gellhorn and Virginia Cowles went ahead and wro…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 08:46AM
Wednesday, June 20, 2012

"Slowgirl" is a Smart Choice for Theater Lovers by Jan Simpson

For people obsessed with theater, talking about how the theater is dying is like talking about the weather for regular people: you know you can always get a conversation going.  And yet…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:28AM
Saturday, June 16, 2012

"Medieval Play" Isn't One for the History Books by Jan Simpson

It’s usually not a good thing when your favorite part of a show is its scenery. That’s the way I felt after I saw Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and that’s the way I felt when I walked …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 08:01AM
Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Did the Tony Broadcast Do Its Job? by Jan Simpson

Lots of people are upset because Sunday night’s Tony Awards drew only 6 million viewers, a big drop from the 6.9 million who tuned in last year. I could try to put a positive on that by po…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 10:09AM
Saturday, June 9, 2012

Putting a Wrap-Up Spotlight on Awards Season by Jan Simpson

Tomorrow is Tony Day, which will mark the end of the 2011-2012 awards season. And it’s been a good one because there’s been no monster hit to suck all the oxygen—  and the suspen…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 08:14AM
Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Are the Brits Really All That Funny? by Jan Simpson

To be fair, I should admit that I’m not really into comedy. And I'm completely mystified by British humor. I like a witty joke as much as the next bloke but the low-brow, drop-the-drawers …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 02:59PM
Saturday, June 2, 2012

"Feburary House" is, Alas, a Real Flophouse by Jan Simpson

The true story that inspired February House, the new musical at the Public Theater, is so cool that I couldn’t wait to see the show. Here it is: in the early ‘40s, a group of artists tha…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:10AM
Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Why the Money Keeps Rolling in for "Evita" by Jan Simpson

Anyone who still questions the value of star power on Broadway should take a look at the current revival of Evita in which the pop star Ricky Martin plays Che, the narrator of Andrew Lloyd W…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:59AM
Saturday, May 26, 2012

A Hard Look at Stage Diversity Dos and Don'ts by Jan Simpson

Another impossibly busy weekend is staring me in the face so I don’t have time to tell you about any of the recent shows I’ve seen. But I have managed to steal a few minutes to put toget…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:59AM
Wednesday, May 23, 2012

"The Columnist" Is All Tell, Too Little Show by Jan Simpson

Maybe we should blame Joseph Alsop.  When the KGB tried to blackmail the powerful Washington columnist with a threat to reveal his homosexuality, Alsop marched straight to the U.S. emba…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:00AM
Saturday, May 19, 2012

"Cock" is Titillating—And in Just the Right Way by Jan Simpson

Some people are going to be drawn to the terrific new play that just opened at The Duke on 42nd Street because of its titillating title: Cock. Others may want to see it because of the refres…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:59AM
Wednesday, May 16, 2012

"Newsies" Dances Its Way Into Your Heart by Jan Simpson

To borrow a phrase from Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign, it’s the dancing, stupid.   The floor-shaking production numbers in which a supercharged ensemble of male d…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 08:02AM
Monday, May 14, 2012

Special Edition: The Ticket Giveaway Winner by Jan Simpson

Maybe the question was simple but my guess is that readers of B&Me are just a theater savvy bunch cause everyone who wrote in got the right answer (the Carnegie Deli) to the question:&nb…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 10:05AM
Saturday, May 12, 2012

Another Look at the Season's Biggest Transfers by Jan Simpson

So many shows opened in the final weeks of the theater season that officially ended on April 26 that I’ve had to scramble to catch up with all of them. There were 14 new shows on Broadway …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:55AM
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Why "Death of a Salesman" Will Never Die by Jan Simpson

My friend Doug came to New York last month to celebrate his birthday with some fellow theater lovers, including my buddy Bill and me.  Sometime during the evening, well into our cups, w…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:22AM
Saturday, May 5, 2012

The First-Ever Broadway & Me Ticket Giveaway by Jan Simpson

Ethnic humor can be a tricky thing.  But anyone who's gone to the website Old Jews Telling Jokes will tell you that it can also be a very funny thing.  Now, some of those classic c…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:30AM
Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Tony Love...But Not for Magic/Bird by Jan Simpson

The Tony nominators spread around their love this year.  When the nominations were announced yesterday, 30 of the 37 eligible shows were named in at least one category. And some of the …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 05:10PM
Saturday, April 28, 2012

The Latest Revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" Takes a Ride on the Darker Side by Jan Simpson

Is any American play better known or more beloved than Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire?  Even the most casual theatergoers have heard of Stanley's “Stella” cri de cou…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 04:45PM
Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Why I'm Saying Boo, Boo, Boo to "Ghost" by Jan Simpson

A lot of hard work goes into bringing a Broadway show to the stage. So every time I write about one, I try to remember all the years of study, the hours of rehearsal, the dreams of glory and…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:48AM
Wednesday, April 18, 2012

"Regrets" is Stuck in the Past by Jan Simpson

The main image on the cover of the Playbill for Regrets, the new drama playing at the Manhattan Theatre Club through the end of the month, is of a smiling All-American family, circa 1954.&nb…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:50AM
Saturday, April 14, 2012

Is "End of the Rainbow" the End for Judy? by Jan Simpson

Movies and plays in which actors impersonate more famous celebrities aren’t my favorite form of entertainment. And yet I had really looked forward to seeing End of the Rainbow, the new mus…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 11:39AM
Wednesday, April 11, 2012

“The Big Meal” is a Savory Treat by Jan Simpson

It’s becoming Sam Gold’s world. And we theater lovers will just have to content ourselves with living in it.  Which is fine with me. For over the last three years, Gold has surfaced…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:28AM
Saturday, April 7, 2012

The Latter-Day Resurrections of "Godspell" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" by Jan Simpson

Here’s a question for the Baby Boomers among you:  was the substance you abused in your youth more likely to be speed or hashish? I ask because the answer could determine which of t…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:59AM
Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Tribulations of a Bloodless "Carrie" by Jan Simpson

It’s been a big season for remixed musicals. But while newcomers did the controversial nipping and tucking on Porgy and Bess and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, it’s the original tea…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:16PM
Saturday, March 31, 2012

Why "Now. Here. This." is Not for Me by Jan Simpson

“What do you do,” a friend once asked me.  “If you don’t like something that everyone else likes?”  Well, we’re about to find out right now.  Because I really didn…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 07:59AM
Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Real Shame of "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" by Jan Simpson

There’s no one who enjoys clever stagecraft more than I do.  But I’m old-school enough to believe that everything that appears on a stage—the acting, the set, any coup de theatre�…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 08:21AM

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