Saturday, November 16, 2024

"A Wonderful World" isn't Wonderful Enough by Jan Simpson

People have been trying to put Louis Armstrong’s life onstage ever since that master jazzman died in 1971. My BFF Phil took me to a backers’ audition for one attempt to build a musical a…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 01:54PM
Saturday, November 9, 2024

"In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot" and "Walden" Wrestle With Climate Change by Jan Simpson

Hurricanes have wiped out entire communities along the west coast of Florida. Wildfires are burning up over 400,000 acres in northern California. Drought has pushed water levels in the Missi…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 11:31AM
Saturday, November 2, 2024

"Sunset Blvd." Glows in All the Wrong Ways by Jan Simpson

You're unlikely to find anyone who doesn't have a strong opinion about Sunset Blvd., the latest revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Christopher Hampton’s musical adaptation of Bi…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 02:31PM
Saturday, October 26, 2024

Gay Hijinks and Lots of Good Fun in "Drag: the Musical" and "The Big Gay Jamboree" by Jan Simpson

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” is now in its 16th season and its Emmy-winning celebration of gay and trans culture has spawned a half dozen spin-offs and scores of international versions. And no…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 11:42AM
Sunday, October 20, 2024

An Insanely Busy Fall Season for Broadway & Me—and For Other Theater Fanatics Too by Jan Simpson

This October has turned out to be a crazy time for those of us trying to keep up with all the fall show openings. I’m currently scheduled to see more than a dozen of them over just the nex…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 03:24AM
Sunday, October 6, 2024

The Splendors of "The Hills of California" by Jan Simpson

It kind of makes sense that so many people are drawing comparisons betweenThe Hills of California, the new Jez Butterworth play that opened this week at the Broadhurst Theatre; and Gypsy, th…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:48AM
Saturday, September 21, 2024

"Our Class" is Still Teaching Valuable Lessons by Jan Simpson

It somehow slipped my mind that Tuesday night was the opening night for CSC’s presentation of Our Class, the searing saga of a group of Poles and Jews who grew up together in a rural Polis…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 10:12AM
Saturday, August 31, 2024

A Labor Day Salute to Set Designers by Jan Simpson

It’s been a lazy summer.  Only a few shows have opened. I took no trips. No out-of-town guests came to visit. My husband K and I just spent most of our time lolling around on our terrace …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 02:32PM
Saturday, August 10, 2024

Introducing Broadway & Me Quickies by Jan Simpson

Nearly a month has gone by since I’ve posted here. Summer has a lot to do with that. There are fewer shows opening. And to be honest, the warmer weather makes me lazy.  But that doesn’t…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:47AM
Sunday, July 14, 2024

Happy Fourth of July by Jan Simpson

 Wishing you a thoroughly festive holiday

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 03:12AM

Why "Empire" Failed to Win My Allegiance by Jan Simpson

Those of us who love musicals root hard for each new one that comes along. And we root extra hard when we know that a new creative team is getting its first big break or that the show is bas…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 03:12AM
Saturday, June 29, 2024

Theater Books for Summer Reading 2024 by Jan Simpson

Summer has come roaring in this year. Temperatures seem to be setting records everywhere, making many of us (O.K., me) want to kick back and chill out with a cold drink and a cool book. The …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:42AM
Saturday, June 22, 2024

In Concert with "Titanic" and "Follies" by Jan Simpson

As the most devoted fans of musicals will tell you, the best way to appreciate a musical is probably to listen to its cast album (click here to check out my BroadwayRadio colleague Michael …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 01:06PM
Saturday, June 15, 2024

My Nostalgic Trip Back to "Home" by Jan Simpson

It can be hard to recapture the magic of the first time you saw a show.  And the first times I saw Samm-Art Williams’ Home were nearly perfect. The Negro Ensemble Company was in its heyda…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 10:24AM
Sunday, June 9, 2024

Following a Paper Trail to this Year's Tonys by Jan Simpson

We’re in the homestretch now, with just a week to go before next Sunday’s Tony Awards. And it's a particularly exciting time because there are virtually no sure winners this year and eve…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 02:12AM
Sunday, June 2, 2024

Bar Hopping with "The Keep Going Songs," "The Lonely Few" and "Three Houses" by Jan Simpson

All of a sudden everybody doing a musical in this brand new 2024-25 season seems to be bellying up to a bar. Already this month, I’ve seen three shows—The Keep Going Songs, The Lonely Fe…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 05:42AM
Saturday, May 4, 2024

A Few Thoughts on an Awards Season Full of News-Worthy and Prize-Worthy Nominations by Jan Simpson

We’re officially in awards season.  The Outer Critics Circle, on whose nominating committee I sit, announced its choices for the best in the 2023-2024 season last week (click here to see …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 06:18PM
Saturday, April 27, 2024

"Mother Play" is a Work of True Compassion by Jan Simpson

After seeing Mother Play, Paula Vogel’s semi-autobiographical three-hander which opened at the Hayes Theater on the very last day of the 2023-2024 theater season, my friends and I went nex…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 09:32AM
Tuesday, April 23, 2024

HAPPY SHAKESPEARE DAY by Jan Simpson

The Bard was born 460 years ago today—and died exactly 52 years later in 1616. But of course his works live on even though debates about whether or not he actually wrote them do too (click…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 02:12PM
Saturday, April 20, 2024

Their Wobbly Books Cause "Lempicka" and "Suffs" to Stumble More Than They Should by Jan Simpson

What’s the hardest job in show business?  There are obviously lots of contenders but right now as one musical after another is opening on Broadway, I’ve been thinking that the answer to…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 01:06PM
Saturday, April 13, 2024

An Uplifting Visit to "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Jan Simpson

It’s being an unusually busy theater season this spring with a baker’s dozen of Broadway shows still scheduled to open between now and the end of the month. So it’s no surprise that sm…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 10:24AM
Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Happy World Theatre Day 2024 by Jan Simpson

Wishing you all the joy and drama and empathy that good theater always brings  

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 04:36PM
Saturday, March 23, 2024

Old Stories—and Old Guys—Get the Spotlight in "The Notebook" and "Water for Elephants" by Jan Simpson

In the journalism business we say that three occurrences of a thing make it a trend and so right now the hottest trend in theater seems to be musicals centered around the memories of old guy…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 03:12PM
Saturday, March 16, 2024

"Dead Outlaw" is the Liveliest Show in Town by Jan Simpson

You can usually tell within the first 10 minutes or so of seeing a show whether you’re in good hands. And I knew right away that I was in very good hands when I saw Dead Outlaw, the first …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:42PM
Saturday, March 2, 2024

"The Hunt" Kind of Misses the Mark by Jan Simpson

  We’re now used to getting musicals based on movies but it’s rarer for a straight play to be adapted from a film. However that’s the case with The Hunt, which opened this week at S…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:42PM
Saturday, February 24, 2024

Hailing the High-Camp Virtues of "Oh, Mary!" by Jan Simpson

If I had access to a time machine one stop I’d make would be sometime around 1960 at Caffe Cino in Greenwich Village where young playwrights like John Guare, Sam Shepard and Lanford Wilson…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 10:02AM
Saturday, February 17, 2024

"I Love You So Much I Could Die" is Too Intimate for Its Own Good—Or Anyone's by Jan Simpson

Valentine’s Day was celebrated this past week and the new show I Love You So Much I Could Die, which opened at New York Theatre Workshop on Feb. 14, struck me as an ultimate gesture of lov…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 01:36PM
Saturday, February 10, 2024

"The Connector" Fails to Connect With Me by Jan Simpson

Journalists love stories about journalism. We even love the stories that cast us in a bad light. And I'll admit that’s part of the reason that The Connector, which was inspired by the stor…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 11:12AM
Saturday, February 3, 2024

Why "Jonah" Isn't the One For Me by Jan Simpson

Sometimes you just don’t get a show. Maybe its subject triggers you or fails to grab you at all. Maybe the playwright was trying to do too much or the director didn’t do enough. Or maybe…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 03:02PM
Saturday, January 27, 2024

Good and Bad Reminders of the Holocaust Are on Show in "Our Class" and "White Rose" by Jan Simpson

Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day, which was created to commemorate the six million Jews and others who were systematically slaughtered by the Nazis. But New York theater makers …

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 12:24PM
Saturday, January 20, 2024

A Belated—But Upbeat—Spring Preview by Jan Simpson

Previews are all about the promise of what’s to come so I suppose it’s no surprise that the last time I posted a preview list of the shows I was excited about seeing in an upcoming seaso…

SOURCE: Broadway & Me at 04:02PM

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