355 stories by "Barbara Hoffman"
Broadway will dim its lights Wednesday night for Carole Shelley, the Tony-winning actress who " despite playing dozens of roles in her storied career " will probably be remembered best as a …
The forecast for Broadway this fall: Al Roker with a sprinkling of pie. The venerable "Today" weatherman is the latest to join the cast of Sara Bareilles' "Waitress." From Oct. 5 through Nov…
It’s not every woman who could pull on Julia Roberts' thigh-high, vinyl boots night after night (and some afternoons), but Samantha Barks is doing just that in Broadway's "Pretty Woman…
Opera great Renée Fleming has four Grammys and the distinction of inspiring a dessert: a chocolate confection Daniel Boulud dubbed La Diva Renée. These days, the 59-year-old soprano's been…
It's a legend that even now, 20 years after Jerome Robbins' death, threatens to define him: While berating his actors, he stepped farther and farther back on stage until he toppled into the …
Hard to believe that it's been two years since Daveed Diggs pulled off his "Hamilton" boots and headed for Hollywood. Now, several commercials, albums, voice-overs and TV series later " incl…
Imagine doing a big, beloved Broadway musical … in Yiddish. Sounds crazy, no? Not when that show is "Fiddler on the Roof." Since its 1964 debut, the story of Tevye and his daughters an…
For as long as she can remember, Renée Taylor has been on a diet. We're talking seven decades, because Taylor " who among other things played Fran Drescher's mom on "The Nanny" " is 85. "I …
Off-Broadway's long been the place to discover fresh faces. Now and then, along comes something cheekier: a dashing derrière. That last belongs to Trey, the young hottie of the Roundabout T…
Since 1972, when Mummenschanz began, the troupe's been making masks and costumes from just about anything: plastic, toilet paper, foam rubber, Slinkys … pastry dough! That last figured…
At the Tony Awards this month, when Nathan Lane collected his third statuette, he gave an emotional shoutout to Andrew Garfield, his "Angels in America" co-star, to Devlin Elliott, his husba…
If you missed her as a woman, you can catch her as a man: Glenda Jackson, hot off a Tony Award for "Three Tall Women," will return to Broadway next spring as the title character of a gender-…
They met in 1999 at a musical-theater workshop and haven't let go of each other since. Now the Oscar-winning "Let It Go" songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are up for a Tony…
She played a bouncy Czech in "Once: The Musical" and a Polish lesbian in "Indecent." Now Katrina Lenk is up for a Tony as a world-weary Israeli in "The Band's Visit." And to think: This woma…
How much does Vivian Carlson love "Come From Away"? Let's just say she's seen it more than 25 times. The office manager/photographer, who goes by the name Viv Jean, buys $25 to $50 rush and …
"There are some days I feel 102 years old, and other days, like I'm 14," says Gina Gershon, who falls somewhere in between. "I just think we'd be a much happier society if there weren't any …
“Dancers do eat!" says Justin Peck, and he should know: He's been dancing with the New York City Ballet since 2006. He started with tap lessons at 9 before switching to ballet and work…
Most theatergoers come for Harry, Hermione and Ron, only to end up cheering for … Scorpius Malfoy? That's what happens at "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." Set 19 years after the en…
You never forget your first time " or your first show, especially if you wind up writing, choreographing or starring in one later. Nearly a dozen of this year's Tony Award nominees told us a…
Two weeks after being cast in "Escape to Margaritaville," Paul Alexander Nolan found himself singing in a bar in the Florida Keys. And although he'd already played in five other Broadway sho…
And the Tony goes to . . . Ernest Winzer Cleaners? Spot on! On June 10, the Bronx dry cleaner that's kept Broadway freshly pressed for 110 years, will receive an award for Excellence in the …
Not even a wizard can best Tina Fey " or triumph over a not-so-simple sponge. Fey's first Broadway musical, "Mean Girls," and "SpongeBob SquarePants" squeezed out 12 Tony Award nominations a…
Matthew Broderick is having a hell of a spring. Not only is the former Ferris Bueller playing the devil in off-Broadway's "The Seafarer," but you'll find him suffocating a pig in the black c…
Never mind the theater awards, honorary degrees, motherhood and even Dame-hood: Diana Rigg claims her "greatest achievement" so far was landing a 24½-pound salmon. True, that was a few de…
"I came to New York in 1981 on Valentine's Day for a love affair " and I fell in love with New York!" says Susanne Bartsch, the Swiss-born fashion icon and party hostess often hailed as the …
