All stories by Zachary Woolfe on BroadwayStars

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Opera Greets the Morning at the Prototype Festival by Zachary Woolfe

The offerings at this annual presentation of new opera and music theater tend to be politically charged, scrappy and stirring.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:48PM
Monday, January 1, 2024
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Best Classical Music Performances of 2023 by Zachary Woolfe and Joshua Barone

Feats, farewells and musical treasures in a year of post-pandemic financial pressures.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:01AM
Tuesday, March 28, 2023

An ‘Obsession’ With Philip Glass Inspires a Director’s Memory Play by Zachary Woolfe

In “Tao of Glass,” Phelim McDermott, who has directed three Glass operas, turns to his personal history with the composer’s work.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:36AM
Monday, February 20, 2023

Review: A New Opera Puts Real Emotions in a Fantasy Garden by Zachary Woolfe

Kate Soper’s “The Romance of the Rose,” which had its long-delayed premiere at Long Beach Opera, showcases her signature quick-shifting eclecticism.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:27PM
Sunday, May 24, 2020

The Fall of Autumn: Live Performance Producers Are Giving Up on 2020 by Michael Paulson, Joshua Barone, Ben Sisario and Zachary Woolfe

Uncertainty about the coronavirus and the challenge of protecting audiences and artists is prompting many prominent presenters to wait till next year.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:32PM
Wednesday, July 10, 2019

An Operatic Star Spotter Announces Its 2020 Festival by Zachary Woolfe

Prototype: Opera/Theatre/Now will include the one-act “Ellen West” among six works in its January season.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:54PM
Thursday, June 27, 2019

Kate Soper’s New Opera Opens Next Year by Zachary Woolfe

“The Romance of the Rose” is a highlight of the coming season of Peak Performances at Montclair State University.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:18AM

Discovering Maurice Sendak, the Opera Designer by Zachary Woolfe

The Morgan Library & Museum explores a dense, underappreciated period in the artist’s career in an exhibition of sketches, dioramas and more.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:48AM
Thursday, March 28, 2019

Hudson Yards: How the Shed Can Live Up to Its Hype: Focus on the Artists by Zachary Woolfe

As the arts center rolls out its inaugural season, we offer our hopes not only for its future, but also for New York’s broader cultural landscape.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:00AM
Monday, January 7, 2019

Critic’s Notebook: Cataclysmic Suffering Sprawls Through the Prototype Festival by Zachary Woolfe

Even by operatic standards, the marquee productions of this year’s festival of new music-theater are extreme in their depiction of trauma.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:18PM
Thursday, August 2, 2018

‘The Boys in the Band’ and a Generational Divide by Stuart Emmrich, Wesley Morris, Matthew Schneier and Zachary Woolfe

Four gay men who recently attended the Broadway revival of this 50-year-old play — three seeing it for the first time — debate its significance and relevance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:13AM
Friday, June 9, 2017

Don’t Talk Too Much: Tony Kushner on an Operatic ‘Angels in America’ by Zachary Woolfe

The playwright describes his reaction to Peter Eotvos’s 2004 opera, which will have its New York premiere on Saturday at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:06PM
Tuesday, October 11, 2016

How Taylor Mac Trained His Vocal Cords for a Marathon by Zachary Woolfe

Five years of preparation, water with electrolyte drops, green tea and vitamin B shots helped this performance artist get through a 24-hour show.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:39PM
Sunday, September 25, 2016

Review: ‘Breaking the Waves’ Lends Musical Heft to a von Trier Tale by Zachary Woolfe

Opera Philadelphia staged the premiere of this Missy Mazzoli work, adapted from a 1996 film about a woman whose marriage changes after an accident.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:33PM
Monday, July 25, 2016

Critic's Notebook: ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘The Crucible’: Not New, but Darkly Up-to-Date by Zachary Woolfe

Operatic performances of these works highlight the Glimmerglass Festival, while “Iris” serves as a kind of preview of the Bard Music Festival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:50PM
Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Toward a More Perfect Lincoln Center Union by Zachary Woolfe

Lincoln Center Festival. Mostly Mozart. Midsummer Night Swing. Lincoln Center Out of Doors. One critic argues that less could be more.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:27PM
Tuesday, March 22, 2016

English National Opera’s Music Director Resigns by Zachary Woolfe

Mark Wigglesworth will leave his position just months after starting.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:38PM
Thursday, February 11, 2016

The Director Sofia Coppola to Make Opera Debut in Rome by Zachary Woolfe

Her staging of Verdi's "La Traviata," a collaboration with the fashion designer Valentino, will open on May 24.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:37AM
Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Jonas Kaufmann Cancels Met Opera Production by Zachary Woolfe

Roberto Alagna, another well-loved tenor, will replace him, singing the role of des Grieux in Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" for the first time.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:02PM
Thursday, December 31, 2015

‘Dog Days’ Is Centerpiece of Prototype Festival by Zachary Woolfe

This opera based on a short story by Judy Budnitz will be performed at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts Jan. 9-11.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:38PM
Friday, June 19, 2015

Berlin Opera to Bring in a New Young Director by Zachary Woolfe

Matthias Schulz will take over from Jurgen Flimm at the Berlin Staatsoper. At 37, he's a young choice.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:13PM
Monday, May 25, 2015

‘A Quiet Place’ Of Dysfunction And Dystopia by ZACHARY WOOLFE

AS the motorcade carrying the body of Leonard Bernstein passed through Brooklyn on its way to Green-Wood Cemetery 20 years ago, construction workers removed their yellow hard hats and called…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

Nuanced Comfort Music That Channels Kate Smith by ZACHARY WOOLFE

From “God Bless America” to “The White Cliffs of Dover,” Kate Smith rallied generations. Stephanie Blythe, in a tribute, threatens to outdo her.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM

All Cried Out, 'Lucia' Cedes Emotion to Men by ZACHARY WOOLFE

In this revival of Mary Zimmerman's grayly atmospheric production, there is an empty space where Lucia ought to be.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM
Friday, May 15, 2015

ArtsBeat: Manhattan School of Music to Offer Musical Theater Degree by Zachary Woolfe

The program will be directed by Luis Perez, an actor and choreographer who has led the musical theater program at Roosevelt University since 2008.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:25PM
Friday, December 26, 2014

Susan Stroman Brings a Broadway Heart to the Met for ‘The Merry Widow’ by Zachary Woolfe

For a new production of “The Merry Widow,” to be uncorked on New Year’s Eve, the Met has turned to Ms. Stroman, the winner of five Tony Awards.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:05AM
Thursday, July 3, 2014

After All the Arias, Opera Singers Look to the Stage and Screen by Zachary Woolfe

It’s not unusual in the history of opera for a singer to gaze longingly at the wider world of performance, especially movies.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:14AM
Sunday, June 22, 2014

Music Review: ‘I Was Here I Was I,’ a Kate Soper Work by Zachary Woolfe

The Kate Soper musical-theater work “I Was Here I Was I” centers on the history of the Temple of Dendur.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:06PM
Wednesday, March 26, 2014

‘Barber’ and ‘Figaro’ Stick to the Period at McCarter by Zachary Woolfe

Stephen Wadsworth presents two Beaumarchais plays in Princeton, N.J., set solidly in the late 18th century but adapted to help contemporary audiences understand the times.   &…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:11PM

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 15, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic