All stories by Roger Friedman on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

“Tootsie” Comes to Broadway and Brings the A List Including Carol Burnett, Debra Messing, Kristen Chenoweth, Harvey Fierstein, Clive Davis and Mor by Roger Friedman

“Tootsie” has arrived on Broadway to great reviews and lots of laughs in the airport terminal like Marriott Marquis Theater last night.

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 11:22AM
Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Broadway Triumph: Annette Bening, Tracey Letts, Benjamin Walker On Fire in Sensational New Production of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” by Roger Friedman

What a relief to see a real play. Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” is back, directed with new insights by Jack O’Brien,

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 12:07AM
Monday, April 22, 2019

It’s Good to Be King! Mel Brooks is Coming to Broadway for Two Nights in June, And I’m Kvelling by Roger Friedman

Mel Brooks is coming to Broadway. Two nights– June 17th and 18th at the Lunt Fontanne Theater. Mel is 92 years young.

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 01:11PM
Sunday, April 21, 2019

Nathan Lane, Other Actors Tortured in Simply Awful, Torturous “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus” by Roger Friedman

I don’t blame Nathan Lane. He’s a comic giant, along with Kristine Nielsen and Julie White. They are the best actors Broadway

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 11:04PM
Wednesday, April 17, 2019

New York Theater: Annette Bening Isn’t Only Member of Her Family on Stage This Spring As Son Stephen Ira Makes Debut Downtown by Roger Friedman

Everyone’s very excited about Annette Bening on Broadway this spring in Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons.” She opens next Monday. The should-have-an

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 03:59PM
Saturday, April 13, 2019

Broadway: If Laurie Metcalf Doesn’t Win Another Tony Award This Season She’s Already Signed Up to Try Again Next Spring with “Virginia Woolf” by Roger Friedman

Last year, Laurie Metcalf won her second Tony Award in a row for “Three Tall Women.” OK, it was for a supporting

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 01:25PM
Friday, April 12, 2019

Musical Revivals: Joel Grey’s Yiddish “Fiddler” Should Be on Broadway, Stripped Down “Oklahoma” Should Not by Roger Friedman

If I could reverse things, Joel Grey’s Yiddish “Fiddler on the Roof,” off Broadway at Theater 42 next to Playwrights Horizons, would

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 05:31PM
Thursday, April 4, 2019

Broadway: Can Glenda Jackson Repeat as Best Actress in a Play for “King Lear”? Donald Sutherland Came to See Her Last Night by Roger Friedman

On the night before Glenda Jackson opened in “King Lear” on Broadway, no less an eminence than Donald Sutherland came to see

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 01:39AM
Friday, March 29, 2019

Tony Awards Race Tightens Up as Musical “Beetlejuice” Plays First Crazy Good Preview, Sells Out the Winter Garden by Roger Friedman

The Tony Awards race is upon us. On Thursday night we got to see a major contender for Best Musical as “Beetlejuice,”

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 12:04AM
Monday, March 25, 2019

Broadway Blockbuster Coming in 18 Months as Tony Winner Sutton Foster Tapped to Star with Hugh Jackman in “The Music Man” Revival by Roger Friedman

Doesn’t September 2020 seem a long time from now? By then, we’ll have a presidential race. But that’s another story. To alleviate

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 10:07AM
Friday, March 22, 2019

Review: Temptations Musical “Ain’t Too Proud” Sizzles with Infectious Motown Hits Even if the Facts are Sometimes “Alternative” by Roger Friedman

I told you about the Broadway show “Ain’t Too Proud” a month ago after its first performance. The story of the Motown

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 11:31AM
Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Sting Wraps a Seven Week Sold Out Run of “The Last Ship” in Toronto This Week, A Gorgeous Labor of Love by Roger Friedman

I got a chance to see Sting on Tuesday night in Toronto, where he’s wrapping up a sold out 7 week run

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 04:27PM
Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Elton John Collaborating with New Lyricist Shaina Taub on “Devil Wears Prada” Musical for Broadway by Roger Friedman

Sir Elton John rarely writes with lyricists other than Bernie Taupin. The exceptions have been Broadway musicals like “Aida” and “The Lion

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 03:56PM
Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Broadway: Better News is That Hugh Jackman’s Preparing a Revival of “The Music Man” (See Video), There’s Trouble in River City by Roger Friedman

We communicate by Twitter. Hugh Jackman has just Tweeted a picture of Harold Hill’s suitcase. Who is Harold Hill? Why he’s the

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 05:25PM

Broadway Braces for a New Musical Mixing Trite Britney Spears Hits with Betty Friedan’s Landmark “The Feminine Mystique” by Roger Friedman

It’s Mercury in retrograde, right? On the same day that Felicity Huffman was arrested– ah-rested–something else equally unthinkable has happened. The songs

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 04:53PM
Monday, March 4, 2019

Broadway: Christie Brinkley Coming Back to “Chicago,” Andrea Martin Drops Out of Nathan Lane Comedy After Breaking Ribs by Roger Friedman

Broadway is buzzing with news this day… CHRISTIE BRINKLEY is coming back to “Chicago” from April 18th to May 12th. She’s warming

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 02:33PM
Sunday, March 3, 2019

Oscar Winner Faye Dunaway Finally Aiming for Broadway with Boston Production of One-Woman Katharine Hepburn Play by Roger Friedman

Faye Dunaway has tried to return to Broadway ever since her last stint in 1982. She tried and tried to mount a

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 08:34PM
Friday, March 1, 2019

Motown’s The Temptations “Ain’t Too Proud” To Begin Broadway Run with Rosie O’Donnell, Other Pals by Roger Friedman

There was a line from the Imperial Theater last night straight down to the corner of 8th Avenue. The people were ticket

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 01:47AM
Thursday, February 14, 2019

Michael Jackson Broadway Musical Postponed From This Fall to Summer 2020 to Avoid Association with Documentary by Roger Friedman

The Michael Jackson Broadway musical “Don’t Stop til You Get Enough” has been postponed from its Fall 2019 opening to Summer 2020. Categories: Featured Theater(Read more…

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 07:42PM
Monday, February 4, 2019

Day O! The Life of Harry Belafonte Is Coming to Broadway, Role of a Lifetime for Whoever Gets to Play Him by Roger Friedman

Day O! The life of the legendary Harry Belafonte is coming to Broadway. Ken Davenport, who produced “Once on this Island” and Categories: Featured Music Theater(Read more...)

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 09:24PM
Friday, February 1, 2019
Friday, January 25, 2019

Broadway’s Mid Winter Gift: Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano Nail Sam Shepard’s Classic Play, “True West” by Roger Friedman

I feel at this point I’ve seen a lot of people in Sam Shepard‘s great play, “True West.” John Malkovich, Randy Quaid, Categories: Featured Theater(Read more...)

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 04:36AM
Wednesday, January 23, 2019

NOT For the Tony Awards: 6 Time Tony Winner Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon Will Hit Broadway in May 2019 by Roger Friedman

With all the star power that piles up for the Tony Awards, here’s an announcement apart from the big show. Audra McDonald Categories: Featured Theater(Read more...)

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 10:04PM
Tuesday, January 15, 2019

RIP: The Original Dolly Levi, Sparkling Broadway Legend Carol Channing, Dies at Age 97 by Roger Friedman

Long before Bette Midler charged thousands of dollars to see her on Broadway, there was an original Dolly Levi. Carol Channing, who Categories: Featured Theater(Read more...)

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 11:06AM
Thursday, January 3, 2019

Broadway Record: “Hamilton” Grosses Grow to Fever Pitch $4 Mil After Kennedy Center Honors, Takes in $1 Mil More Than It Technically Can by Roger Friedman

Today I received dueling press releases for Broadway plays. Either “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the biggest grossing play of all time, Categories: Featured Theater(Read more...)

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 12:12AM
Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Broadway Review: A New, Re-worked “To Kill a Mockingbird” Has Characters Speaking Up, Drawing Conclusions, Taking Swings by Roger Friedman

This is not your momma’s Harper Lee. Aaron Sorkin has famously re-worked “To Kill a Mockingbird,” drawing on minute parts of the Categories: Featured Theater(Read more..…

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 08:48PM
Friday, December 7, 2018

Bryan Cranston Gives a Once-in-a-Lifetime Performance in “Network,” A Play That Predicted Fox News 20 Years Before it Happened by Roger Friedman

Sidney Aaron “Paddy” Chayefsky’s greatest work was “Network,” a screenplay for a movie that predicted Fox News twenty years before it happened. Categories: Fe…

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 06:36AM
Thursday, December 6, 2018

Broadway Audiences At “Network” Cheer Bush, Obama, Clinton, Boo Donald Trump at End of Each Show by Roger Friedman

There’s a lot going on in Ivo van Hove’s “Network,” which opens tonight on Broadway after a hit run in London’s West Categories: Featured Theater(Read more..…

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 06:12AM
Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Broadway Actors in Opening Night of “The Cher Show” Admonish Kanye West for Using Phone Throughout Show by Roger Friedman

Opening night of “The Cher Show” on Broadway brought unusual guests: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. They sat a couple of rows Categories: Featured Theater(Read more...)

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 05:24AM
Monday, November 19, 2018

Broadway: “Moulin Rouge,” Based on the Baz Luhrmann Movie, Is Coming Next Summer by Roger Friedman

It was inevitable. “Moulin Rouge” is on its way. The hit production from Boston, directed by Alex Timbers, will arrive next July Categories: Featured Theater(Read more...)

SOURCE: ShowBiz 411 at 12:06PM

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