5,849 stories by "JONATHAN MANDELL"
"Hands on a Hardbody," an odd but tuneful new musical based on a 1997 documentary film about a sadistic endurance contest to win a pickup truck in Texas, might as well be called "American Id…
When Holly Golightly sits on the fire escape strumming a guitar and singing, those watching  "Breakfast at Tiffany's" at the Cort Theater may temporarily feel in familiar territory, even …
Defying the long-held superstition about the dangers of saying the name “Macbeth” inside a theater, Alan Cumming replied to my inquiry: “I am going to say Macbeth everywher…
The community of ex-cons, junkies and crackheads crowding into the Bank Street Theater are surrounded by love, laughter and wild applause. They are the characters peopling  Stephen Adly G…
“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” has opened on Broadway, a move nearly universally applauded. See my review below. Other shows opened this week that I reviewed: Lanford Wils…
"A person isn't happy unless they're building something," says Dr. Dan Loggins, junior archaeologist, trying to explain why the people of a lost ancient Native American civilization buil…
Here are photographs from some of the shows opening on Broadway in Spring 2013: Ann, Cinderella, Kinky Boots, Pippin, Â Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. (More will be added as they bec…
Raina is a teenager kicked out of the Middle East, forced to live with her relatives in Brooklyn, for reasons that nobody will tell her cousin Tariq " so he hacks into her computer to find o…
"If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about," Sonia tells her brother Vanya in Christopher Durang's hilarious yet improbably moving play, now bumped up t…
Those who have seen the previous gently-paced, meticulous, near miraculous collaborations between playwright Annie Baker and director Sam Gold — "Circle Mirror Transformation," "The Al…
Theater producer Alia Jones-Harvey is the only woman of color currently a lead producer on Broadway. Her company Front Row productions began with the revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof�…
Two plays opened this past week that both could be considered political, in very different ways. "Ann" written by and starring Holland Taylor, offers a look at the improbable political caree…
Is it possible for “Hit The Wall,” a new play, to say something fresh about the Stonewall riots that sparked the modern gay rights movement, now that the president of the United …
Ann Richards, who has come remarkably back to life thanks to Holland Taylor's impressive impersonation of her at Lincoln Center, became a national celebrity and the governor of Texas after s…
Which shows are you most looking forward to seeing? Choose below among the 18 that are set to open between now and the cut-off deadline for eligibility for a Tony Award at the end of April. …
Matilda, the hit musical from London  had its first preview on Broadway Monday night, March 4th. Matilda The Musical is written by playwright Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by the…
Rodgers and Hammerstein's “Cinderella” opened this week for the first time on Broadway, marking the end of fallow February and the start of March and April madness. Over the next…
"To be an actress you have to love to suffer, and I only like to suffer," Abby says near the beginning of Amy Herzog's "Belleville," now opened at the New York Theatre Workshop, which is why…
In the first-ever Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," there is a big clock in the ballroom that speeds from 8 to midnight as Cinderella dances with Prince Charming…
This month’s theater quiz is a special TV edition (Half the 10 questions have something to do with both television and theater.) See how well you were paying attention.
At the beginning of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's "Passion," the first musical staged by the Classic Stage Company in its 46-year history, two of the three lovers of the story, Giorgio…
Is Jesse Eisenberg not just a movie star ("The Social Network") but his generation's Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams or Alfred Uhry or Wallace Shawn? That is what Vanessa Redgrave implie…
Kelli O'Hara first learned about Carousel when she performed in it in high school. "I fell madly in love with it. It remains a very favorite." John Cullum had heard songs from Rodgers and Ha…
Humor is the greatest weapon the powerless have against the powerful. When the powerful use it against the powerless, it’s evil. This was my thought the day after Oscar host Seth MacFa…
In a tale told in David Henry Hwang's graceful and gorgeous early play, a father literally explodes when his son tells him he has become an actor. "Little bits of his skin are found hanging …
