All stories by Robert Shuman on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

THE ANCIENT KYRGYZ PUPPET THEATER WHERE DANCING MOUNTAIN GOATS ARE STARS by Robert Shuman

(from Radio Liberty, 7/2.) A Kyrgyz artist is keeping alive a puppet theater tradition that dates back centuries. Esenbek Mairykov, 71, learned to carve his dancing mountain goats from his g…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:20AM[SHARE]
Monday, July 3, 2023

IBSEN'S 'EMPEROR AND GALILEAN', PART 1: YOUNG JULIAN (NOW ON BBC RADIO 3"LINK BELOW) by Robert Shuman

Listen  Henrik Ibsen's epic two-part stage play was versioned by Ben Power for the National Theatre in 2011. Set in the 4th century AD, it tells the story of Julian the Apostate and his f…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:26PM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 1, 2023

DID THIS WRITER ACTUALLY KNOW TENNESSEE WILLIAMS? by Robert Shuman

(Helen Shaw's article appeared in the New Yorker, June 5, 2023; Photo: Grissom says that the playwright gave him a life-changing mission. Illustration by Valentin Tkach.) James Grissom says …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 01:29PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 30, 2023

ALAN ARKIN, OSCAR-WINNING ACTOR FOR 'LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE,' DIES AT 89 by Robert Shuman

(Harrison Smith's article appeared in the Washington Post, 6/30; Photo: Stage and screen actor Alan Arkin in 2018. His recent work included an Emmy-nominated starring role in "The Kominsky M…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:33AM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 29, 2023

TOP SHOTS: IRANIAN ACTOR MONA SOUFI by Robert Shuman

(via Radio Liberty. ) Iranian actor Mona Soufi gets her makeup done backstage before performing in the Haft-Khan Esfandiar musical theater production at the Vahdat Hall in Tehran. Go to Radi…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 08:53PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 27, 2023

'IT WAS SHOCKING': THE AUTHOR UNDER ATTACK FOR DOUBTING SHAKESPEARE by Robert Shuman

(David Smith's article appeared in the Guardian, 6/27; Photo: The Guardian.) Elizabeth Winkler's controversial new book, Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, investigates highly fraug…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 05:40PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 26, 2023

FRANK GAGLIANO REMEMBERS SHELDON HARNICK by Robert Shuman

(Gagliano's remembrance appeared 6/26.) I met lyricist Sheldon Harnick (died Friday, 23 June, 2023: age 99) once, at the Eugene O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference. Composer Claibe Richardson…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 08:17PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 23, 2023

SHELDON HARNICK, 'FIDDLER ON THE ROOF' LYRICIST, DIES AT 99 by Robert Shuman

(Robert Berkvist's article appeared in The New York Times, 6/23; Photo:  The lyricist Sheldon Harnick in 2015; via Ben Vereen/twitter.  He gave voice to a broad range of characters, in…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 06:46PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 21, 2023

HOW THE MUSICAL 'THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW' BECAME A CULT HIT by Robert Shuman

(Silke Wünsch's article appeared on DW, 6/19; Photo: The show was a trailblazer in how it portrayed sexual identity; Image: Imago/ZUMA Press) It was 50 years ago that "The Rocky Horror S…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 02:46PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 20, 2023

ROME TO OPEN ANCIENT SQUARE WHERE JULIUS CAESAR WAS KILLED by Robert Shuman

(Keith Weir's article appeared on Reuters, 6/19; Editing by Andrew Heavens; Photos: Reuters; via: msn; Drudge Report.) The archaeological area of Largo Argentina reopens to the public after …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:15PM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 18, 2023

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (152) by Robert Shuman

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski: Sheer imitation . . . has nothing to do with creativeness. . . . [Instead] assimilate the model. . . . You study it from the point of view of…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:52PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 16, 2023

BELARUSIAN SINGER WHO REFUSED LUKASHENKA SCHOLARSHIP IN 2020 FACES CRIMINAL CHARGES by Robert Shuman

(By RFE/RL's Belarus Service; Photo: Radio Free Europe.) Belarusian singer Patrytsia Svitsina, who in 2020 refused to accept a scholarship from authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka, …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 08:56PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 15, 2023

GLENDA JACKSON OBITUARY by Robert Shuman

(Michael Coveney's and Julia Langdon's article appeared in the Guardian, 6/15; Photo: Glenda Jackson in 1984. At the height of her fame in the 1980s, she continued to appear in London stage …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 06:53PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 14, 2023

'OEDIPUS REX' ON 'IN OUR TIME' (BBC RADIO 4  DISCUSSION PROGRAM) by Robert Shuman

OEDIPUS REX Listen In Our Time Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex begins with a warning: the murderer of the old king of Thebes, Laius, has never been identified or caught, and he's still at large …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 08:18PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 13, 2023

EUROPE IS IN A DANGEROUS PLACE': THEATRE OLYMPICS STAGED AGAINST A BACKDROP OF WAR by Robert Shuman

(Arifa Akbar's article appeared in the Guardian, 6/7; Photo: Theodoros Terzopoulos said he would like the festival 'to reflect the social and political reality around us'. Photograph: Mar…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 07:19PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 12, 2023

TONY AWARD WINNERS 2023: THE FULL LIST, 2023 by Robert Shuman

(Rachel Sherman's article appeared in the New York Times, 6/12; The producer David Stone, center, accepting the Tony Award for best musical for "Kimberly Akimbo."Credit…Sara Krulwich/The N…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 09:29AM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 10, 2023

'I WAS LIVING IN A FOOL'S PARADISE': ADRIENNE KENNEDY ON MEETING THE BEATLES AND LOSING CONTROL OF HER PLAY by Robert Shuman

(Chris Wiegand's interview appeared in the Guardian, 6/6/2023; Photo:  Adrienne Kennedy with her son Adam in 1969. Photograph: Jack Robinson/Getty Images.) The great American playwrigh…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:24PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 8, 2023

THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA CULTURE WAR by Robert Shuman

(Yuriy Goodnichenko's and Ilona Sologoub's article appeared in the  Kyiv Independent, 6/7; Photo: Famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko is seen in front of a destroyed building in the Uk…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:45PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 7, 2023

JODIE COMER LEAVES 'PRIMA FACIE' BROADWAY PERFORMANCE AFTER 10 MINUTES, SAYS SHE 'CAN'T BREATHE' DUE TO NYC AIR CRISIS by Robert Shuman

(William Earl's and Brent Lang's article appeared on Variety, 6/7; Photo: Helen Murray.) Jodie Comer is getting rave reviews for her performance in the one-woman Broadway play "Prima Faci…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 07:02PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 5, 2023

WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCASTER: WHY DID WINSTON CHURCHILL TRY TO SEIZE THE BBC? by Robert Shuman

(Charlotte Higgins's article appeared in the Guardian, 6/5; Photo: 'What would you have done?' … Stephen Campbell Moore as John Reith in When Winston Went to War with the Wireless. Phot…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:29PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 31, 2023

DRAMA DESK AWARD WINNERS 2023 (FULL LIST) by Robert Shuman

DRAMA DESK 2023 WINNERS ANNOUNCED   Awards will be presented Tuesday, June 6 at Sardi's Restaurant   MANDY PATINKIN AND KATHRYN GRODY TO HOST THE CEREMONY   www.DramaDesk.org   (…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 04:35PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

TINA TURNER, 'QUEEN OF ROCK N ROLL', DIES AGED 83 IN SWITZERLAND by Robert Shuman

(from Sky News, 5/24; Photo: AP.)   Tina Turner " one of rock's great vocalists and most charismatic performers " has died aged 83, her spokesperson has confirmed. In a statement, they sa…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:01PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 18, 2023

OF MICE, AND MEN: NEW 'AN AMERICAN TAIL' BRINGS FIEVEL TO THE STAGE by Robert Shuman

(Colette Davidson's article appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, 5/17; Glen Stubbe Photography/Courtesy of Children's Theatre Company.) May 17, 2023|MINNEAPOLIS Fievel Mousekewitz's im…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 05:05PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 16, 2023

MEDEA IN MID-AIR: HOW SYRACUSE'S GREEK THEATRE KEEPS THE CLASSICS ALIVE by Robert Shuman

  (Michael Billington's article appeared in the Guardian, 5/16, 2023; Photo: The Greek theatre in Syracuse. Photograph: Gaspare Urso' ) Playing in the vast ancient amphitheatre, imaginati…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 07:38PM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 13, 2023

DAVID TENNANT TO PLAY MACBETH AT DONMAR WAREHOUSE by Robert Shuman

(Chis Wiegand's article appeaed in the Guardian, 5/5; via Pam Green; Photo: On tomorrow and tomorrow … David Tennant in a publicity shot for the Donmar's forthcoming Macbeth. Photograph…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 05:58PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 11, 2023

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (151) by Robert Shuman

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski: You must be very careful in the use of a mirror (when trying to make sure that feelings are externally reflected). It teaches an actor to wat…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 08:09PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 10, 2023

RUSSIAN POET GETS FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR RECITING VERSES AGAINST UKRAINE WAR by Robert Shuman

(from Radio Free Europe, 5/10; Photo: Nikolai Daineko.) Visit Radio Free Europe  A Moscow court has sentenced a poet to four years in prison for publicly reciting verses condemning Russia…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 07:11PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 9, 2023

SHELTER UNDER THE BIG TOP: A MUSICAL ABOUT THE NAZI ERA by Robert Shuman

(Philipp Jedicke's article appeared on DW, 5/5; Photo: DW.) "Waldo's Circus of Magic and Terror" is about a fictional circus troupe during the Third Reich. This tale of humanity in inhumane …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:32PM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 7, 2023

THE GREAT WHITE BARD BY FARAH KARIM-COOPER REVIEW " RECLAIMING SHAKESPEARE by Robert Shuman

(Arifa Akbar's article appeared in the Guardian, 5/6; via Pam Green; Photo: Adjoa Andoh as Shakepeare's Richard III. Photograph: Manuel Harlan.) An inspiring analysis of Shakespeare and r…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 03:48PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 4, 2023

***** 'CYMBELINE' REVIEW " SHAKESPEARE'S KNOTTY ROMANCE IS A FABULOUS FAREWELL FOR DORAN by Robert Shuman

(Mark Lawson's article appeared in the guardian, 5/4;Photo:  Peter De Jersey as Cymbeline. Photograph: Ellie Kurttz.) Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Departing artistic …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 06:29PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 3, 2023

TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS 2023: 'SOME LIKE IT HOT' DOMINATES, FOLLOWED BY '& JULIET,' 'SHUCKED,' 'NEW YORK, NEW YORK' by Robert Shuman

(From Variety, 5/3/2023; writing and compilation by Rebecca Rubin, Brent Lang, and Marc J. Franklin.) "Some Like It Hot," a jazzy re-imagining of the classic comedy film about two musicians …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 08:53PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off