5,902 stories by "JONATHAN MANDELL"
Lin-Manuel Miranda, eating a banana, posed in front of a succinct summary of the 2014-2015 season at the Public Theater – including (fifth from the top) “Hamilton,” an orig…
Here’s what you missed if you went away all summer
In "And I And Silence," a challenging play by Naomi Wallace, two women, Dee and Jamie, one white, the other black, meet in prison when they are teenagers, and after they are released …
Winners of the Fringe Excellence Awards, 2014: Overall Play: Absolutely Filthy The Three Faces of Dr. Crippen This is Where We Live Overall Musical: Jump Man: A Mario Musical King of Kong Ur…
These are supposed to be the dog days of August, but too much is going on — maybe because so many theater people are pouring ice water on their heads, or because we’re looking at…
It wasn’t supposed to be on Broadway at all. Then it was only going to run for five months. But “Newsies” lasted more than 1,000 performances over two and a half years. And…
Sixteen of the most popular shows from the 2014 New York International Fringe Festival will be presented at the 10th annual Fringe Encore series,September 4 to October 5, which (lik…
Listed below, chronologically by opening dates, are the shows officially scheduled so far on Broadway in the 2014-2015 season, with basic information and my two cents for the Fall shows. Bot…
There are 16 shows scheduled to open on Broadway between September and December, 2014 (as of this writing). Take this poll: Which one are you most looking forward to? The shows are organized…
Newsies (half-naked) The Lion King The Book of Mormon Once Tagged: Newsies, Once, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King
In "Kunstler," a fascinating play at the New York Fringe Festival about radical lawyer William Kunstler's most significant cases, playwright Jeffrey Sweet strives to present a balanced portr…
Andrew Rannells replaces Neil Patrick Harris in the lead role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch tonight (August 20th) through October 12th. Harris won a Tony for his portrait of the “girlyb…
Eugene O'Neill wrote "Abortion" exactly a century ago, shortly after he had decided to become a playwright. Director Heather Lanza and producer Taryn A Wisky have chosen to "adapt" O'Neill's…
Death was an unfortunate theme this week, with the passing of two performers , Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall, as comfortable on stage as on screen. We are midway through the 18th annua…
"Poor Behavior," Theresa Rebeck's comedy at Primary Stages, revolves around a basic question: "What is goodness?" The play begins in the middle of a debate on the subject by two characters w…
In the first-ever revival of "I'll Say She Is," the Marx Brothers' first-ever Broadway musical, Harpo honks once again; Chico puns, Zeppo courts; and Groucho, cigar in hand, says things like…
"Sex With Strangers," a comedy about a coupling with complications, stars two performers " Anna Gunn, Bryan Cranston's wife Skyler in "Breaking Bad," and Billy Magnussen, the boy-toy Spike i…
Mamma Mia opened on Broadway in 2001, just a few months after the first Broadway in Bryant Park, a weekly summer series of free lunch-time concerts featuring current Broadway casts. Cast mem…
Tagged: Shakespeare
Cast members from the new revival of the musical “On The Town” presented three songs in the last Broadway in Bryant Park lunch-time concert of this summer. Tony Yazbeck and two u…
It is easy to feel bewildered by a title that sounds as if it is translated from the Icelandic. But as it turns out, the dialogue and the lyrics sound that way as well. "Revolution in the El…
Actress Lauren Bacall has died at age 89. Best known as a sultry siren of the silver screen, having made more than 40 films,  Bacall was also a six-time Broadway veteran, winning Tony …
Robin Williams is reported to have died today at age 63. He was such a strong performer that his brilliance shines through even when he was just voicing a cartoon character, as in this scene…
A hundred years ago, our tour guide was saying, New Yorkers were such idiots that they stopped throwing away their garbage, and the city disappeared under a pile of rubbish, mostly coffee cu…
Making art, and sport, out of Taylor Swift's love life is far from original; the popular singer-songwriter has done so herself many times; it's easy to argue that her career is largely built…
