All stories by Richard Seff on BroadwayStars

Monday, January 25, 2016

Review: ‘Our Mother’s Brief Affair’ at Manhattan Theatre Club at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in NYC by Richard Seff

Richard Greenberg’s new play is of the school from which the story “The Lady or the Tiger?” sprang. It has enigmatic hints of Harold Pinter in it as well, though Mr. Greenb…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:27PM
Sunday, January 17, 2016

Review: ‘Noises Off’ at in NYC at The Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre by Richard Seff

When you arrive at the American Airlines Theatre for a performance of Michael Frayn’s farce Noises Off, along with your Playbill, you will also be given a program for Nothing On, which…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:45PM
Monday, January 11, 2016

Review: ‘A View From the Bridge’ at Lincoln Center in NYC by Richard Seff

Arthur Miller, in this, the celebratory season  of his 100th birthday, is having a banner year, with productions of his major and minor works popping up all over the place. From the first g…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:16PM

Review: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at The Broadway Theatre in NYC by Richard Seff

I am so glad that Sheldon Harnick, the last surviving member of the creative team of the original production of Fiddler on the Roof, has been able to participate in this glorious revisical.…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:02AM
Friday, January 1, 2016

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #11: New York’s Ten Best of 2015 by Richard Seff by Richard Seff

It was an active year, heavily marked by new and revisited musicals. The attendance and box office numbers were good, both on and off Broadway. I, as the only writer covering New York theate…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:16AM
Saturday, December 26, 2015

Richard Seff’s London Week: ‘Guys and Dolls,’ ‘Kinky Boots,’ ‘Twice Nightly’ and ‘Mr. Foote’s Other Leg’ by Richard Seff

RICHARD SEFF’S LONDON WEEK Richard Seff recently flew over to London to see some shows and here’s what he thought: Guys And Dolls at the Savoy Theatre Guys and Dolls is or should…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:00AM
Saturday, December 12, 2015

‘School of Rock-The Musical’ at The Winter Garden Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

Full disclosure: I am not a rock ‘n roller, and think its music has little to offer what we’ve come to know as “musical theater.” Before you start cursing me out as …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:25AM
Friday, December 11, 2015

‘Andréa Burns is On Her Feet!’: A Chat at The Marquis Theatre With Richard Seff by Richard Seff

Andréa Burns. Note the accent over the e in the lady’s name. That puts  the emphasis on its second syllable and indicates something latina in her background. And sure enough her moth…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:16AM

‘China Doll’ at The Gerald Schoenfeld Theater in New York City by Richard Seff

In 1955, Johnny Mercer published these opening lines to a hit song of his: “When an irresistible force such as you meets an immovable object like me,  something’s gotta give.…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:29AM
Sunday, December 6, 2015

‘Clever Little Lies’ at The Westside Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

Author Joe DiPietro has delivered a cozy little play that sits comfortably somewhere between situation comedy and family drama. It starts in a tennis club locker room as a brisk and brittle …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:19PM
Friday, November 20, 2015

‘Dada Woof Papa Hot’ at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater by Richard Seff

Peter Parnell has been writing plays, television scripts, books to musicals, and winning two Emmy Awards citations for his work as co–producer of The West Wing. I remember admiring his…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:38PM

‘Misery’ at The Broadhurst Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

The title is misleading. It leads one to think the play is going to be one long groan of sadness, and that’s not what unfolds for us in its ninety minutes of playing time. “Miser…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:20AM
Saturday, November 14, 2015

‘On Your Feet’ at The Marquis Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

On Your Feet joins its fellow juke box musicals Jersey Boys and Beautiful in the growing list of this new genre that delivers a full evening’s entertainment using pop hits of another e…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:45PM
Thursday, November 12, 2015

‘King Charles III’ at The Music Box Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

If you haven’t heard of Charles III of Britain, don’t berate yourself. He hasn’t happened yet, but  playwright Mike Bartlett has conjured up what might happen if and when …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:01PM
Monday, November 9, 2015

A Talk with Michael Riedel on His Book ‘Razzle Dazzle’ by Richard Seff by Richard Seff

Michael Riedel, the theatre columnist for the New York Post and the co-host of the long running PBS show Theater Talk, sat with me for an hour on November 2nd, to discuss his valuable and re…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:27AM
Saturday, November 7, 2015

‘Thérèse Raquin’ at Roundabout Theatre at Studio 54 in New York City by Richard Seff

Young Therese Raquin is in terrible trouble. We realize this the moment the curtain rises revealing a small and desolate village on the Seine in the year 1868.  The entrance of Therese, (Ke…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:43PM
Sunday, November 1, 2015

‘Sylvia’ at The Cort Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

AR Gurney is the rolling stone playwright that is certainly gathering no moss. As recently as August of this year I reviewed a new Gurney offering, Love and Money which deftly dealt with a m…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:43PM
Friday, October 30, 2015

‘Dames at Sea’ at The Helen Hayes Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

Way back in the dark ages (circa early 1930s) when musicals were musical comedies (if you don’t know what I mean, listen to “Musicals,” the showstopper in the light-hearted…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:17PM
Thursday, October 29, 2015

‘Hamilton’ at The Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

I was away in August when the musical Hamilton opened on Broadway so yesterday I caught up with it as it was about to enter its third month of sellout business at The Richard Rodgers Theatre…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:50PM
Saturday, October 24, 2015

‘Ripcord’ at Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City by Richard Seff

David Lindsay-Abaire has an enviable record of success with a solid list of plays, and in many of them he has written rewarding roles for the actress Marylouise Burke. He’s done so aga…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:04PM
Saturday, October 17, 2015

‘The Gin Game’ at The John Golden Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

Donald L. Coburn was born in 1938 in Baltimore to parents who were divorced two years later. His early life was unexceptional; he graduated from high school in 1957, then served in the U.S. …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:55PM

‘Rothschild & Sons’ at The York Theatre Company by Richard Seff

Who doesn’t have great respect and admiration for the musical team of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick? Certainly no one who has seen and heard the great body of their work which include…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:44AM
Thursday, October 15, 2015

‘Travels with My Aunt’ at The Clurman Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

In 1969 Graham Greene published a light novel with this title, which was in the vein of earlier romps such as The Egg and I, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and most particularly – Aunt…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:00AM
Monday, October 12, 2015

‘Fool For Love’ at Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City by Richard Seff

This play by Sam Shepard was first presented by Circle Rep in 1983; it was a great success for them with Ed Harris and Kathy Baker playing Eddie and May. It transferred from their home base …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:43PM
Friday, October 9, 2015

‘Old Times’ at Roundabout Theatre at the American Airlines Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

Harold Pinter must be smiling down on 42nd Street where the Roundabout is currently presenting his Old Times at the American Airlines Theatre. For starters, that street would hardly seem an…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:02PM
Sunday, September 27, 2015

‘Spring Awakening’ at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre in NYC by Richard Seff

Some time between 1890 and 1891 Frank Wedekind managed to complete a play in his native German, which contained all sorts of forbidden fruits. It dealt with adolescence, puberty, sexuality, …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:40PM
Monday, September 21, 2015

‘The New Mortality’ at The Mint Theater Company in New York City by Richard Seff

The Mint Theater, in a 100 seat space on the 3rd floor of an office building on West 43rd Street, has been fulfilling its mission of re-discovering forgotten gems from the past, and offerin…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:15PM
Sunday, September 13, 2015

‘Conversations With Chita Rivera’ Interviewed by Richard Ridge at The New School in NYC by Richard Seff

I think we can safely call her the last Broadway Diva of the golden age. For she’s been putting together a career that is unique in this day and age in that it has been lived almost …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:00AM
Wednesday, August 26, 2015

‘Love and Money’ at Signature Theatre in NYC by Richard Seff

Master Playwright A.R.Gurney has used his own life as background material for some 50 plays, 4 musicals, plus 3 novels. Born in 1930 in Buffalo, New York, he decided early on to “write…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:39PM
Thursday, August 20, 2015

‘John’ at Signature Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

There are many plays that are known for their sparkling dialogue, others for their rapid fire words that require actors who can deliver them in machine gun manner. Now we have the prolific�…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:17AM
Friday, July 24, 2015

Review: ‘Amazing Grace’ at The Nederlander Theatre in New York City by Richard Seff

It’s miraculous that this musical managed to cross the finish line, to land at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. We all know how difficult it is to mount a musical these days, not o…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:45PM

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