My Take: Broadway's "McNeal" Starring Robert Downey Jr. by Frank Rizzo

The show: “McNeal by Ayad Akhtar at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre. What makes it special?: It’s a new play by the Pulitzer Prize winner of “Disgraced,” as well as the Br…

Oedipus, Wyndham's Theatre review – careful what you wish for by Demetrios Matheou

Mark Strong and Lesley Manville are the powerhouse heart of Robert Icke's adaptation How many times does a politician survive wave after wave of attack from rivals, surf the waves of fickle …

Playwright Ayad Akhtar on Blending Literature, Technology and the Star Power of Robert Downey Jr. in McNEAL by Kathy Henderson

What do you get when you toss Hedda Gabler, King Lear, Madame Bovary and many other works of world literature into a chatbot? Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar imagines the resul…

McNeal by Victor Gluck, Editor-In-Chief

As in Ayad Akhtar’s plays "Disgraced," "JUNK" and "The Who and the What," all of which have been produced by the Lincoln Center Theater, "McNeal" is always interesting, always arresting. U…

McNEAL at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre of Lincoln Center by Richard Seff

The management at New York’s Lincoln Center has brought into its spacious Beaumont Theatre a flashy new production called McNeal  by the highly regarded Ayad Aktar whose plays Disgraced a…

‘McNeal’ Review: Robert Downey Jr.’s Broadway Debut Is Stale and Confounding  by Aramide Tinubu

As technology continues to evolve, the arts and humanities are having a reckoning, and it’s not pretty. In his newest play, “McNeal,” Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar (“Disgraced”…

NIXON QUITS! by Ron Fassler

August 9, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler Richard Nixon address the nation on August 8, 1974, the night he resigned the presidency.“So it’s really happening,” smiled…

Harvey Weinstein Files $500K Lawsuit Over Unpaid FINDING NEVERLAND Fees

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has filed a lawsuit seeking alleged unpaid fees for the national tour of the musical “Finding Neverland”. 

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 …

NTI Changed My Life - Josh Radnor by BroadwayWorld

From BroadwayWorld's Archive: The National Theater Institute includes a vibrant community of over 3,500 alumni. The many talents of these actors, writers, directors, and designers can be see…

New Trailer for DISGRACED on Broadway! by BroadwayWorld

From BroadwayWorld's Archive: The Pulitzer Prize winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar had its Broadway premiere last week, on October 23, 2014, starring Hari Dhillon (star of the acclaimed …

Highlights of Harvey Fierstein in BELLA BELLA! by BroadwayWorld

From BroadwayWorld's Archive: Manhattan Theatre Club's World premiere of Bella Bella, written and performed by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (Casa Valentina, Torch Song, Hairspray) and …

Highlights from DISGRACED on Broadway; Opens This Thursday! by BroadwayWorld

From BroadwayWorld's Archive: The Pulitzer Prize winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar will have its Broadway premiere this fall starring Hari Dhillon (star of the acclaimed London's Bush Th…

Meet the Company of Pulitzer Prize-Winning DISGRACED; Begins Broadway Previews on 9/27 by BroadwayWorld

From BroadwayWorld's Archive: The Pulitzer Prize winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar just began rehearsals tomorrow for its Broadway production this fall. Previews begin on September 27 an…

Academy Award Winner Robert Downey Jr. to Make Broadway Debut in New Play by Ayad Akhtar by Darryn King

Academy Award winner Robert Downey Jr. will make his Broadway debut in McNeal, a new play by Tony nominee and Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar (Junk, Disgraced), directed by Tony winner Bar…

Robert Downey Jr. To Make Broadway Debut This Fall In Ayad Akhtar’s New Play ‘McNeal’ by Greg Evans

Robert Downey Jr. will make his his Broadway debut in the lead role of McNeal, the new play by Ayad Akhtar, author of the Tony-nominated Junk and the Pulitzer-winner Disgraced. Downey will p…

Janey review – behind-the-scenes doc shows standup at her hilarious and heartfelt best by Cath Clarke

On tour with her daughter after her cancer diagnosis the Scottish national treasure opens up about her life and finds big laughs in the face of death Here’s a documentary following the Gla…

Five Opens @ Theater 555 by Barry Gordin

FIVE: The Musical Parody, a WICKEDLY FUNNY tale, inspired by the former President opened at Theater 555 on 42nd Street. February 20, 2024:  FIVE: The Musical Parody, which opened last …

"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…

How working with Weinstein haunted playwright Jez Butterworth and inspired his work by Nadia Khomami Arts and Culture Correspondent

Highly anticipated new play is a post-#MeToo story about trials women endure to realise their dreams He has built a reputation as one of Britain’s most revered modern playwrights, but Jez …

Disgraced

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…

People You Should Know . . . Ahsan Ali by Zack Calhoon

Ahsan Ali is a writer, actor, and filmmaker who grew up in Pakistan, and then immigrated to NYC where he currently resides. Select theater credits: Amir in Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar (Americ…

August Blue by Brian Dillon

Wherever you go, there you are: in Deborah Levy’s new novel, a disgraced concert pianist drifting around Europe repeatedly runs into a doppelgänger. August Blue, by Deborah Levy, Farrar…

CYMBELINE Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon by Libby Purves and Friends

GATHER ROUND AND HEAR AN OLD, OLD STORY…   Deep breath, concentrate at the back:  there’s this Ancient Briton King, who once banished a chap who vengefully stole his baby sons, leaving…

A Doll’s House review – Jessica Chastain captivates in minimalist revival by Gloria Oladipo

Hudson Theatre, New York The Oscar winner makes for an exceptional Nora in a visually muted yet emotionally effective remount of Ibsen’s classic drama Gone is the elaborate 19th-century ho…

Goldie Hawn Opens Up About CHICAGO Movie Audition With Madonna

Before Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger starred in the Oscar-winning 2003 film adaptation of Chicago, Goldie Hawn and Madonna had been developing a verison with disgraced producer…

Krysta Rodriguez & Erik Jensen Complete Cast of The Collaboration on Broadway by Caitlin Moynihan

The complete cast for the upcoming Broadway bow of Anthony McCarten's The Collaboration has been announced. The production, which had its world premiere at London’s Young Vic Theatre e…

Louis CK review – sordid, cynical and queasy comedy by Brian Logan

Wembley Arena, LondonThe standup returns to the UK with a set on morality, sex and religion that often excels but also stalls with casual misanthropy The last time Louis CK performed major U…

John Gabriel Borkman, Bridge Theatre review – amusing tale of awful people by Demetrios Matheou

Simon Russell Beale is the unapologetically corrupt banker, in Ibsen's chilly tragicomedy It always feels special when a play speaks so directly to an audience that you feel and hear the rip…

‘Only broken people do that’: play explores dark heart of Ghislaine Maxwell by Rachel Hall

Ghislaine/Gabler looks at choices made by power-hungry women in a world built for men “Trash”, “disposable” and “pretty little fools” are the phrases a poised Ghislaine Maxwell u…