All stories by Robert Simonson on BroadwayStars

Friday, November 20, 2015

The Secret Behind New York Theatre Workshop’s Fastest-Selling Production Ever, David Bowie’s Lazarus by Robert Simonson

With a million-dollar budget, the David Bowie/Enda Walsh co-creation Lazarus began performances Wednesday night and has already extended its run due to successful ticket sal…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Thursday, November 19, 2015

A New View Taking Bridge Star Mark Strong to the Bleak Streets of Brooklyn by Robert Simonson

Film star Mark Strong returns to the stage after a 12-year hiatus. We take him to the setting of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in Red Hook, where we learn …

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Monday, November 16, 2015

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, Nov. 9-15: Two Musicals Draw Crowds in First Week by Robert Simonson

The new revival of The Color Purple commanded crowds right out of the gate, and School of Rock — The Musical wasn't far behind.

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:23PM
Friday, November 13, 2015

In Case You Missed It: Will Tony Rulings Lead to Internal Battles at Hamilton? by Robert Simonson

This week, two Broadway productions opened, one got pushed back, and the Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the first time. What were the rulings on the hit musical Hamilton, and w…

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:00PM
Thursday, November 12, 2015

Michael Leonard, Broadway Composer, Dead at 84 by Robert Simonson

Michael Leonard, who composed the music for a number of short-lived Broadway musicals, died Oct. 31 at his home in Manhattan. He was 84.

SOURCE: Playbill at 08:20AM
Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Don Gregory, Who Produced Solo Shows, Dies at 80 by Robert Simonson

Don Gregory, a theatre producer whose métier was solo shows starring famous actors, died Nov. 5 in his home in Boca Raton, FL. He was 80.

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:42AM
Monday, November 9, 2015

Broadway Box-Office Analysis: Good Reviews Fill On Your Feet’s Seats by Robert Simonson

Broadway bounced back last week. After a week that saw declines in box office and attendance at most shows, much of the news was sunny this last seven-day period, with all but a few show…

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:30PM
Friday, November 6, 2015

In Case You Missed It: Seth Rudetsky Has a Broadway Disaster! and Did Critics Get Hot for On Your Fe by Robert Simonson

King Charles III, Mike Bartlett’s new British play that imagines what would happen if Prince Charles became King of England—something Charles himself has probably been mu…

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:17PM
Monday, November 2, 2015

Broadway Box-Office Analysis:  Even the World Series Can’t Stop Al Pacino on Broadway by Robert Simonson

It was a time of losses on Broadway last week. Overall box office fell from $27,391,967 to $22,819,827, a big drop, perhaps to be blamed on New Yorkers being occupied with watching the New Y…

SOURCE: Playbill at 05:18PM

Learn Why the Star of King Charles III Was Worried About the Play — For Exactly 10 Minutes by Robert Simonson

Tim Pigott-Smith had watched Prince Charles grow up before his very eyes, so he felt prepared to embody the man onstage. Learn the one thing he forgot — and that emiss…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, October 30, 2015

In Case You Missed It: Why Is Off-Broadway’s The Humans Transferring to Broadway? by Robert Simonson

The Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Stephen Karam's new comedy-drama The Humans, about a fraught family gathering during Thanksgiving, opened Oct. 25 at the Laur…

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:15PM

In Case You Missed It: Why Off-Broadway’s The Humans Is Transferring to Broadway by Robert Simonson

The Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Stephen Karam's new comedy-drama The Humans, about a fraught family gathering during Thanksgiving, opened Oct. 25 at the Laur…

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:15PM

Barbara Vann, Early Off Off-Broadway Figure, Dies at 77 by Robert Simonson

Barbara Vann, an early figure in the burgeoning Off Off-Broadway scene in the early 1960s, who helped found two important avant-garde troupes, died Aug. 26 following a brief illness.…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:57AM
Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Leon Bibb, Broadway Performer, Folksinger and Activist, Dies at 93 by Robert Simonson

Leon Bibb, an actor and folksinger who performed on Broadway and was a prominent performer during the Civil Rights era, died Oct. 23 in Vancouver, Canada. He was 93.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:04AM

Broadway Box-Office Analysis: Hollywood Stars Bring in the Big Bucks by Robert Simonson

Two starry new shows began previews on Broadway last week, and they did what starry shows often do: sell well. Given how the combination of actor Al Pacino and playwright David Mamet did whe…

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:00AM
Sunday, October 25, 2015

A Look at the Partnership of David Mamet and Al Pacino Four Plays, Three Decades and One World Prem by Robert Simonson

"Best friends" or "bromance" may not be the first word that comes to mind when pondering the artists Al Pacino and David Mamet. But that's exactly what seems to have …

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, October 23, 2015

In Case You Missed It: Steve Martin Is Coming to Broadway and Harold Prince Is Going to Japan by Robert Simonson

The Public Theater has got its next Broadway show. The New York premiere of Eclipsed, starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave") is moving to Broadway.&…

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:00PM
Monday, October 19, 2015

Broadway Box-Office Analysis: The Gin Game’s a Winner, While The King and I Has Some Open Seats by Robert Simonson

The new James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson revival of The Gin Game opened last week to good reviews and that arguably shows in the play’s attendance numbers. The show was nearly sol…

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:15PM
Friday, October 16, 2015

In Case You Missed It: Did The Gin Game Win Big With Critics? by Robert Simonson

Veterans James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson returned to Broadway this week, playing two residents at a retirement home in a new Broadway revival of D.L. Coburn's Pulitzer Prize-winnin…

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:17PM

“Get Me a Carole King Type”: How Casting Directors Find Stand-Ins For the Famous by Robert Simonson

The Broadway season presents famous people gracing the stage, both in person and in character. How do casting directors find the actors who can portray living, breathing legends? Playbill.co…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Thursday, October 15, 2015

The Hamilton Effect: How Shows Graduate from Smash Hit to Revolutionary Phenomenon by Robert Simonson

Many Broadway shows have recouped their monetary investments and been billed as a hit… But, what makes productions like Hamilton graduate to the standard of "cultural phenome…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, Oct. 5-11: Three New Shows Open But Which Ones Are Filling the Houses by Robert Simonson

Broadway added three new shows to the boards last week, the British import King Charles III, the Gloria Estefan jukebox musical On Your Feet!, and the George Takei-inspired musical about…

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:37PM

Robert de Michiell, Designer of Theatre Posters, Dies by Robert Simonson

Robert de Michiell, an illustrator who created many posters familiar to theatregoers, died Oct. 12. The cause was cancer. He was 57.

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:10PM

Hal Hackady, Broadway Lyricist of Minnie’s Boys, Goodtime Charley, Dies at 93 by Robert Simonson

Hal Hackady, who wrote the lyrics for several Broadway musicals, as well as the theme song for the New York Mets, died Oct. 12 at Atria Riverdale, an assisted living facility in The Bronx. H…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:21AM
Friday, October 9, 2015

In Case You Missed It: What Did Critics Think of the Two Plays that Bowed on Broadway? by Robert Simonson

Broadway had two big openings this past week. First, the Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's Old Times officially opened at the American Airlines Theatre…

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:00PM
Monday, October 5, 2015

Broadway Box-Office Analysis, Sept. 28-Oct. 4: As Two Shows Begin Previews, Three Sell Out by Robert Simonson

Two more shows began previews on Broadway this past week, moving the total of shows lighting up the marquees to 28.

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:22PM
Friday, October 2, 2015

In Case You Missed It: The Tony Awards Hunt for a New Home and Keira Knightley’s Broadway Debut Gets by Robert Simonson

John Doyle, the Scottish theatre director who directed several acclaimed production in New York over the past 15 years, will now have a home here. This week, he was named the next artistic d…

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:00PM

Brian Friel, Leading Irish Playwright, Dies at 86 by Robert Simonson

Brian Friel, the Irish playwright who was for decades a leading voice on stages on both sides of the Atlantic, died Oct. 2 in Greencastle, County Donegal, Ireland. He was 86.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:04AM

Brian Friel, Leading Irish Playwright, Is Dead at 86 by Robert Simonson

Brian Friel, the Irish playwright who was for decades a leading voice on stages on both sides of the Atlantic, died Oct. 2 in Greencastle, County Donegal, Ireland. He was 86.

SOURCE: Playbill at 08:50AM

A “Visceral” Reaction from Lea Salonga’s Grandmother-in-Law Was Why She Couldn’t Say No to Allegianc by Robert Simonson

Lea Salonga became a theatre phenomenon when she landed the role of Kim in the hit musical Miss Saigon in 1991. More than 20 years later, she's returning to the stage creating another ne…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM

Lea Salonga’s Leaving Disney Princesses Behind And Her New Job Couldn’t Be More Different by Robert Simonson

Lea Salonga became a theatre phenomenon when she landed the role of Kim in the hit musical Miss Saigon in 1991. More than 20 years later, she's returning to the stage creating another ne…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM

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