5,774 stories by "JONATHAN MANDELL"
Many of the most magical moments on stage are purely visual, such as the breathtaking sunsets in “The Oldest Boy” this year at Lincoln Center, or the astonishing effects that the…
How well were you paying attention to the theater news in the month, and the year? Answer these 13 questions and find out.
Continuing a tradition I started when I began this blog " here are the most-read stories of 2013Â and of 2012Â –Â here are the most-read reviews and essays that I wrote in 2014. …
The Broadway show schedule for New Year’s week, and a list of other shows, parties, concerts, intimate dinners, cruises and outdoor events you can still do on New Year's Eve 2015 (when…
What if Into The Woods had been directed by Vincente Minnelli for MGM around, say, 1949. “The theater is one of the few places left in the bright and noisy world where we sit in the qu…
Sarah Ruhl is the only playwright who’s an author of one of the 100 Notable Books of 2014 selected by the New York Times – and the book they selected is not a play. Â It is …
The year 2014 in theater was one of protest, and of cult obsessions " theater people trying to engage in the wider world, and retreating from it. It was the year of critic bashing, and the y…
The long-awaited, visually sumptuous film version of "Into The Woods" is likely to please theatergoers who are already fans of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's clever 1987 musical mashup …
The shows this season that have touched on religion offer different approaches, as I point out in an article in Howlround entitled "Does God Exist on Stage? Theater and Religion"Â Some ri…
The following is the text of letter protesting the dismissal of Ari Roth as the artistic director of Theater J in Washington D.C. "We, the undersigned Artistic Directors, are outraged by the…
New Broadway shows announced this week include: School of Rock, Something Rotten, Bombshell (about Marilyn Monroe) and Sherlock Holmes " the last two have a catch to them (scroll to 18) Much…
They begin with a blanket " manipulated like a puppet by the actor it cloaks, it comes alive, undulating in a fierce wind. They end with blankets, formed to ask the question: Is this land mi…
"As an actor, you're often the most visible part of a project while having the least amount of say over its final form,” James Franco said recently. Â Although at the time he was mak…
Last year, there were so many more bad shows on Broadway from which to choose. This year, I couldn’t bring myself to add some clear-cut flops that I considered well-intentioned efforts…
In looking over my top 10 New York theater list for 2014, and top 10 lists by other critics, I realized that most of the shows we favored have ended their runs. So here is another top 10 lis…
"There are plenty of unhappy people in the world, why should we be the ones who get to be happy?" says one of the ten characters in "Pocatello," the new play at Playwrights Horizons b…
All but three of the 35 Broadway shows currently playing are offering Monday night performances on Christmas week, and many have scheduled matinees on the Friday after Christmas Day. (Scroll…
"Every Brilliant Thing," a funny, fun and moving show about a boy who begins writing a list of "everything worth living for" to cheer up his suicidal mother, comes from Great Britain, where …
“I believe in the healing power of the theater,” actress Jane Summerhays has said, “that it is a place where we all come together, where we take refuge, where inexplicable …
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” is on most critics lists of the top 10 theater in 2014 so far, including mine. The second-most listed New York stage show: …
Sting, the composer of “The Last Ship” who took over the role of Jackie White in the musical on December 9th, will now stay through January 24th. Click on any photograph t…
An American in Paris, the musical based on the 1951 movie by Vincente Minnelli that starred Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly, opened yesterday at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in Paris. This st…
My ten favorite shows on New York stages in 2014 were all plays, although one felt like a musical. They were mostly presented Off-Broadway, although one took place in a hospital.  Onl…
Almost every one of the performers pictured here was in the news this past week — this is not just a naked scheme for ratings, as some might accuse Peter Pan Live of having been. Below…
With scenes that recall hair-raising episodes from both "Homeland" and "Breaking Bad," Ayad Akhtar's latest play, which continues the winning streak begun with his Pulitzer-winning Disgraced…
