5,774 stories by "JONATHAN MANDELL"
“Film Chinois,” a new play by Damon Chua presented by the Pan Asian Repertory Theater that takes place in Beijing in 1947, follows many of the basic rules of film noir, translate…
“Into The Woods,” Stephen Sondheim has told us, was in part inspired by his desire to create  “a quest musical along the lines of The Wizard of Oz,” and although t…
James Franco sent out an Instagram of a bloodied Taylor Mac in an evening dress, urging his followers to see “‘A 24 decade history of popular music’ any chance you get! But…
Here’s a surprise — recent research indicates that theatergoers don’t mind spoilers at all; they WANT to know what the play is about before they see it. That may prove a…
"Constellations" is a kind of stage version of the film "Groundhog Day" except instead of Bill Murray endlessly repeating a single day, Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson " both making their Br…
James Earl Jones, currently appearing in “You Can’t Take It With You,” his 19th Broadway production, was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi on January 17, 1931 – 84 years…
“Putting together an evening of Sondheim material has become almost impossible,” explained David Loud, who just put together an evening of Sondheim songs — some of the most…
These images flash across the marquee of Broadway’s Music Box Theater where a revival of The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein, starring Elisabeth Moss, Jason Biggs and Bryce Pinkh…
When mid-way through "Honeymoon in Vegas," Tony Danza is handed a ukulele and serenades Brynn O'Malley, there's something so charming about him, in a low-key way — although he plays a …
Birdman, the film about Broadway (sort of), received nine Oscars nominations, the most of any film, matched only by The Grand Budapest Hotel. A couple of new Oscar nominees are currently in …
The terrorist killing of French cartoonists was so shocking that it might seem offensive, at least initially, to pair that story with two happening in North Carolina. Tonight was the culmina…
The Good Wife is getting a theater award, which seems to raise the question yet again: What does “theater” mean in an age of screens? (See link in January 9th below) In this case…
Chita Rivera, who turns 82 on January 23, will star on Broadway once again as the richest woman in the world who returns to her hometown set on revenge in "The Visit," the last Kander-Ebb co…
The Oscar-winning song by Bobby Lopez and Kristin Anderson-Lopez gets a new workout in the premiere episode of the sixth and final season of Glee. Here is the original version from the anima…
At a time when the most talked about "theater" is happening on screens " Peter Pan Live, Into The Woods, and now Galavant — has the definition of theater changed? Can you call it theat…
The world continues to respond to the murder Wednesday of 12 people in the offices of the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo by masked terrorists – especially the world’s c…
Another publication for which I write has decided after several years to switch from spelling theater the standard American way — “theater” — to the British “th…
Win a script signed by the playwright or a Playbill signed by the entire cast of Disgraced, the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Ayad Akhtar that just announced it will close on Broadway on Ma…
This week, six shows closed on Broadway and three more announced they would be closing, in the theater's brutal version of ringing out the old. But it was also a week to ring in the new. I p…
If January is traditionally considered a kind of theatrical time out after the theatergoing intensity of the holidays — a time to take stock of the year ahead (here’s my Broadway…
Live theater is supposed to exist only for the moment, but some of the biggest hits Off-Broadway are returning for the Spring 2015 season. Two of them, “Fun Home” and “Hand…
January is the month for theater festivals in New York – more than at any time other than the summer - The reason these festivals have blossomed over the past decade is the pr…
Choose the show that you are most looking forward to. The list below is for shows that have opening dates on Broadway in Spring 2015 as of this writing, and they are listed chronologically b…
Below are the shows scheduled to open in Broadway theaters between January and April, 2015, listed chronologically by opening date. This is a work in progress. I don’t mean I have stuf…
Tony Danza, Richard Pryor Jr., Christine Pedi and cabaret legend Marilyn Maye are among the at least TWO HUNDRED SIXTY FIVE people planning to perform at The Metropolitan Room starting this …
