5,771 stories by "JONATHAN MANDELL"
There are more than 100 shows produced by the six annual theater festivals listed below, all of which begin in January. On offer are Beckett and Kabuki; a campy Princess Diana and an outrage…
The affordability crisis, fascism, Artificial Intelligence, America's 250th birthday: As 2026 begins, the theater is not immune to the large questions about what is happening in the count…
Let us celebrate the new year by honoring Broadway veterans like Dick Van Dyke, who just wrote a book 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life He turned 100 in Dec…
How much do you remember of this year in New York theater? Answer these 10 questions to find out. Loading…
How DO you measure a year? New York theater lovers do so in shows, sure (Top 10 Critics' Lists (+ 6) of Top 10 NYC Theater),but not in shows alone. Clockwise from top left: a moment from Mas…
Below is a list of theater books that were published in 2025, most of which I read and enjoyed (sometimes immensely, sometimes with caveats), several I hope to get to in the new year. Beneat…
The 20 moments I select below happened in an instant " an image, an action, a remark, a sudden realization, in one case a touch. All were far shorter than a scene or a song or even a monolog…
My last-minute guide to New Year's Eve in New York City, when 2025 turns into 2026, features information on: Times Square.Dining Out,Theater (Plays as parties, Broadway show schedule, family…
Several movies are opening today, a traditional day of moviegoing, including "Marty Supreme," "Song Sung Blue," "The Testament of Ann Lee,"Â Â The Choral" and 'No Other Choice." I'm roll…
Below are some of the people from the theater community who died in 2025, listed alphabetically. Click on any photograph (and click the ⌽ button) to read the caption. Most of these were…
Here are ten of the biggest stories involving theater this year 1. The Federal War on Culture and the Arts Near the beginning of 2025, President Donald Trump took over the Kennedy Center for…
The last Broadway show of 2025, "All Out," has provoked complaints anew about high ticket prices, at the same time that a new study concludes "affordability challenges for artists have…
The day after I saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for the first time in decades, I attended the New York Nutcracker for the first time ever. Both were holiday shows, though one cost u…
Here are a dozen of my favorite Broadway performances of 2025, listed (more or less) alphabetically, with a dozen more below, who performed on or beyond Broadway and are just as worthy. Some…
Below is the Broadway scheduled from Monday, December 22 to Sunday, December 28, with links to my reviews of the shows. (The reviews have links to each show's website). Twelve shows will be …
Two of the best plays I saw this year are closing on Sunday " way too soon, if you ask me. They are reason enough to post this list of shows (seven of them on Broadway) that are closing with…
"All Out," much like last year's "All In," has generated accusations of a "cynical cash grab," in the words of a poster in a theater chatroom outraged by ticket prices as high as $320 for a …
Liberation" is by far the most critically acclaimed theater of 2025, featured in nine of the ten Top 10 lists below. Bess Wohl's play about a woman's liberation group in the 1970s is followe…
The Broadway theatergoer liked "Ragtime," disliked "Queen of Versailles," and wished "Boop" had been better. That's the results so far of my annual poll. But who is "the Broadway theaterg…
Michelle Williams portrays a former prostitute in a play that was so bold when Eugene O'Neill wrote it that critics objected on moral grounds when it won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, b…
Which did you think was the best of the thirty-four shows that opened on Broadway (+ three that had no official opening) in 2025? Which was the worst? Which did you most want to like, and mi…
The Broadway Spring season promises familiar stars in familiar shows, although both some of the stars and some of the shows are making their Broadway debuts. Nathan Lane and Laurie Metca…
Netflix is not just a streaming video platform anymore. It is now yet another example of immersive theater. There are new "Netflix Houses" " in Philadelphia, Dallas, and soon in Las Vegas " …
Jake Meyer, a Jew from Latvia, escapes conscription into the Russian Army by emigrating to America, landing first in New York, but winding up in Oklahoma,  where he and his bride Hatti…
Watch the ten videos below that were the most viewed in 2025 of those that I've posted on my YouTube channel ,and/or this blog, arranged in order of popularity. The majority were created …
