All stories by Tony Frankel on BroadwayStars

Saturday, October 1, 2022

Recommended Cabaret: JASON GRAAE: GRAAETEST HITS – THE SEQUEL! (Jason Graae at El Portal Theatre, Oct. 21 only) by Tony Frankel

THIS GUY REALLY DOES DESERVE AN EXCLAMATION POINT What can I say about musical comedy actor and funny man Jason Graae? Well, first, his last name is pronounced “Grah” but his latest one-…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:09PM
Friday, September 30, 2022

Theater Review: SCENE WITH CRANES (REDCAT in DTLA) by Tony Frankel

CRANES HAS A CLIPPED WING Last night at REDCAT in downtown Los Angeles, CalArts presented a new play by Octavio Solis, and the story is magnificent. In East L.A., a teenager named Nico has b…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:09PM
Thursday, September 29, 2022

Theater Review: HAMILTON (North American Tour) by Tony Frankel

OUR FUNKY FOUNDING FATHERS A hip-hop Alexander Hamilton? A beat-box Father of His Country? A jumping James Madison and a jiveass Jefferson who disses bigtime in a poetry slam? The ten-dollar…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 10:38PM
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

New York Theater: I PUT A SPELL ON YOU: ALIVE (Sony Hall) by Tony Frankel

SPILL YOUR MAGIC BEANS NOW; THIS SPELL ONLY LASTS ONE NIGHT Get all dead-dolled up and get your spook on for Broadway’s biggest Halloween event of the year: Jay Armstrong Johnson’s annua…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:18PM
Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Theater Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (La Mirada Theatre) by Tony Frankel

A BRAINDEAD MUSICAL REANIMATED TO GLORIOUS LIFE In 2007, the Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein opened on Broadway to largely dismissive reviews. Some say it opened too close on the heels…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 04:32PM

Theater Review: ANIMAL FARM (A Noise Within in Pasadena) by Tony Frankel

THE FARM-TO-FABLE REVOLUTION IS HERE In what is Los Angeles’s best season since well before the pandemic, comes along the best show of the season. Only in New York would one expect the cal…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:59AM
Tuesday, September 20, 2022

National Tour Review: JAGGED LITTLE PILL (Hollywood Pantages) by Tony Frankel

JAGGED LITTLE SHOW You’re going to need more than a pill to relieve your aches after seeing this dreck. From what I’d heard, the Broadway success of Jagged Little Pill, a hyper-woke juke…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:35PM

Theater Review: SILENT SKY (Sierra Madre Playhouse) by Tony Frankel

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT IN THIS LOVELY PRODUCTION Unless you are an astronomer or an astronomy buff, you likely have never heard of Henrietta Swan Leavitt. She was an American woman who made d…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 05:59PM
Monday, September 19, 2022

Theater Review: OEDIPUS (Deaf West Theatre at The Getty Outdoor Theatre in Malibu) by Tony Frankel

A BLINDINGLY BRILLIANT PRODUCTION Since its premiere in c. 429 BC, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King has been considered the Mount Olympus of Greek Tragedies, largely because it humanizes the th…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 05:38AM
Saturday, September 17, 2022

Theater Review: TROUBLE THE WATER (Theatricum Botanicum) by Tony Frankel

SMALLS MAKES A HUGE STORY In January 2017, President Barack Obama issued an executive order establishing Reconstruction Era National Monument in Beaufort County, noting the significance of R…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:57PM

Theater Review: OKLAHOMA! (National Tour) by Tony Frankel

OKLAHOMA! AS WOKELAHOMA NOT SO OK ON TOUR This ain’t your mama’s Oklahoma! While Daniel Fish’s completely rethought and stripped-down production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 wat…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 07:14PM
Monday, August 15, 2022

Theater Review: MACBETH (Independent Shakespeare Co. at Griffith Park in Los Angeles) by Tony Frankel

THE HEAVEN’S BREATH SMELLS WOOINGLY HERE It seems odd to say that I was enchanted and beguiled with Independent Shakespeare Co.’s (ISC’s) production of Macbeth, which opened this past …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:54AM
Friday, August 12, 2022

Concert Recommendation & Interview: A SALUTE TO SONDHEIM (GMCLA, Music Director & Conductor Ernest H. Harrison) by Tony Frankel

A SALUTE TO STORYTELLERS Stage and Cinema is grateful to GMCLA Music Director & Conductor Ernest H. Harrison for taking time out of rehearsing to chat a bit about A Salute to Sondheim, …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 01:51AM
Thursday, August 11, 2022

Theater Review: THE PROM (North American Tour) by Tony Frankel

PROM-COM Dust off the Mylar balloons and wrist corsages and head over to The Ahmanson Theatre, where The Prom just landed as part of its national tour. Forget smelly gymnasiums or dated the…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:55PM
Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Theater Review: HADESTOWN (North American Tour) by Tony Frankel

GO TO TOWN I am convinced that me colleague Marc Wheeler nailed the many reasons in his review of Hadestown why you must see this national tour. One of the most original musicals to come out…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:00PM
Monday, August 1, 2022

Theater Review: AMERICAN IDIOT (Chance Theater, Anaheim) by Tony Frankel

IDIOT IS AS IDIOT DOES Inspired by a 2004 rock album by the American pop-punk rock band Green Day, American Idiot has received its share of positive reviews since its premiere in Berkeley, C…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 07:41PM
Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Theater Review: KING LIZ (Geffen Playhouse) by Tony Frankel

A PLAY OFF A rich, black, ball-busting pro-sports super-agent who has worked her way up from poverty to making partner at a major firm. The white male head of that agency who wants his prot�…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:47PM
Friday, July 1, 2022

Broadway Opening: KIMBERLY AKIMBO (Booth Theatre) by Tony Frankel

YES, IT’S THAT GREAT One of my favorite musicals of the year is moving its Off-Broadway production to Broadway, which is right where it belongs. Beginning previews on October 12 and offici…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:01AM
Tuesday, June 21, 2022

New York Theater Event: RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN: A BROADWAY CELEBRATION (Transport Group at Merkin Hall) by Tony Frankel

A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING Transport Group has announced that Rodgers & Hammerstein: A Broadway Celebration will be the next installment in its Anne L. Bernstein Concert Series on Monda…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:01AM
Saturday, June 18, 2022

Theater Event: ROE (by Lisa Loomer; a “hyper-staging” at The Fountain Theatre in Hollywood) by Tony Frankel

The Fountain Theatre jumps into action with a “hyper-staged” reading of Roe, a powerful, poignant and often humorous play by Lisa Loomer that cuts through the headlines to reveal the …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:08AM
Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Theater Review: INTERSTATE (East West Players) by Tony Frankel

INTERPLAY In the age of A Strange Loop, the hit Broadway musical about a “Big Black Queer” it seems the time is ripe for more musicals about the gay experience, but one with transgender …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 04:08AM
Thursday, June 9, 2022

Theater Review: KING JAMES (Mark Taper Forum) by Tony Frankel

BASKETBALL BROMANCE Center Theatre Group’s winning new dramady King James — a co-production with Chicago’s Steppenwolf Company — is a must see for more than just rabid sports fans. N…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 07:53AM

Theater Review: STOMP (National Tour) by Tony Frankel

STILL BANGING FOR THE BUCKS The incredibly basic concept behind Stomp, a phenom now in its third decade, remains: “Make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 07:00AM

Recommended Theater: NEXT TO NORMAL (World Premiere Interactive Experience at Festival Grec de Barcelona) by Tony Frankel

ALICE RIPLEYTO REPRISE HER TONY-WINNING ROLELIVE IN PERSON JULY 1-31, 2022 Tickets are now on sale for the new, live, 60-minute immersive adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award wi…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 05:43AM

London Theatre: THE SOUTHBURY CHILD (Chichester Festival Theatre and The Bridge Theatre) by Tony Frankel

A new play by Stephen Beresford Directed by Nicholas Hytner A co-production with The Bridge Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre, 13 – 25 June, 2022 Bridge Theatre: 1 July – 27 August, 20…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:24AM
Wednesday, June 8, 2022

New York Theater: 2022 DRAMA DESK AWARD WINNERS by Tony Frankel

AWARD WINNERS THAT STAGE AND CINEMA AGREES WITH ACROSS THE BOARD Well, well, well. Bless the 2021-2022 Drama Desk Nominating Committee. Not only were their nominations truly for achievement …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:57PM
Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Off-Broadway Live & Streaming: CIRCLE JERK (Connelly Theater) by Tony Frankel

IT’S A LOT TO TAKE IN, BUT TAKE IT IN YOU MUST Fake Friends, which co-created the zany streaming event This American Wife (review), are very very bright and insightful, au courant abou…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 01:18PM
Monday, June 6, 2022

Theater Review: GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica) by Tony Frankel

GUESS WHAT PLAY WORKS Based on the screenplay of the same name, writer Todd Kreidler has updated for the stage Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Stanley Kramer’s smash-hit 1967 movie by Will…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 05:45PM

Theater Review: BELOVED (Road Theatre in NoHo) by Tony Frankel

BELOVED THEATER At first, we think that Beloved is about the tragic state of the internet, that a high school boy at the prestigious St. Albans in Montreal, Canada, would never be in the mes…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 01:53AM
Sunday, June 5, 2022

Broadway Closing: HANGMEN (Golden Theater) by Tony Frankel

DON’T GET HUNG OUT BY MISSING THIS MASTERPIECE Blimey, friends, you only have two more weeks to see my favorite play on Broadway. And not only my favorite, but the best. Martin McDonough�…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:19AM
Friday, June 3, 2022

Theater Review: MAN OF GOD (Geffen Playhouse) by Tony Frankel

GODDAMNED MEN Four Korean teen missionaries from Los Angeles — Kyung-Hwa (Ji-Young Yoo), Samantha (Shirley Chen), Jen (Emma Galbraith), and Mimi (Erin Rae Li) — have arrived in Bangkok w…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 01:27AM

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
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime