5,771 stories by "JONATHAN MANDELL"
The artist who calls himself Mur has written a musical about trees. On the surface, artist and subject differ greatly. Trees can live for thousands of years; a spruce in Sweden is said to be…
Yes, there was good theater this year, enough to fill the Top 10 lists below. Â "Take Me To The World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration" Â followed by "Russian Troll Farm," "The Line…
"Being Alive"and "Losing My Mind" " are there any better Sondheim songs to sing at the close of a year full of loss, unrequited yearning and obsession? That they are sung by performers who h…
"Being Alive"and "Losing My Mind" " are there any better Sondheim to sing at the close of a year full of loss, unrequited yearning and obsession? That they are sung by performers who have mo…
Congressional leaders announced an agreement on a nearly $900 billion stimulus package on Sunday that includes some $15 billion for theaters and other cultural venues in the Save Our Stag…
On January 1, 2020, I explored seven possible major theater trends  of the new decade, asking: What will the future of theater turn out to be? The future arrived abruptly without warning …
My ten favorite individual New York stage performances from 2020 are listed alphabetically, with explanations for my choices largely excerpted from my reviews. I say "New York stage performa…
The beloved annual holiday shows return this year with two distinct differences: All are online, and many are free. That includes the two oldest and best-known: Radio City Christmas Spectacu…
What kind of weird holiday show is this? That was my initial reaction " not my usual reaction to a show by Taylor Mac, which is more  often: Wow ( to Hir, and A 24 Decade History o…
Many people in the theater community have stepped up to this moment of multiple crises, including those I detail below, listed roughly in alphabetical order. They stand in for all the others…
What kind of weird holiday show is this? That was my initial reaction…"Taylor Mac's Holiday Sauce Pandemic!" begins with the star looking like a tropical fruit monster, or as Mac had �…
How do you make your "A Christmas Carol" so different that it stands out in a season piled high with streaming versions of Dickens' heartwarming tale? That seems to be the main aim of Stream…
A solo musical about Mother Teresa performed in drag inside a closet? This may sound like an irreverent campy nun musical boosted to greater sacrilege because she is now officially Saint Ter…
Ann Reinking, Tony-winning choreographer, dancer, actor, Broadway veteran (Cabaret, Coco, Chicago, A Chorus Line, etc) Â Bob Fosse's muse and lover, has died at the age of 71. The cause wa…
August Wilson will be a "forever" stamp starting in January, the U.S. Postal Service announced last week, but the playwright is already forever stamped on American culture, which is clearer …
The first reason I love the Irish Repertory Theater's "performance on screen" of "Meet Me in St. Louis" will sound like a backhanded compliment: It got me to watch the original 1944 Judy Gar…
On the occasion of 74-year-old André De Shields' lifetime achievement Audelco award, I resurrect this speech by the long-time Broadway veteran from a decade ago, before his newfound acclaim…
Even those who treat holiday cheer as a seasonal tyranny have to admire the pluck of the three Broadway princesses " Laura Osnes, Susan Egan and Courtney Reed (who portrayed Ella in Rodgers …
See  below a video of "Zazz," the musical number starring Nicole Kidman and Jo Ellen Pellman,  from The Prom, the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, released today on Netflix " t…
For those who missed the special last night, NBC is offering  "One Night Only: The Best of Broadway" online.  I'm not sorry I saw it; among the pile-up of familiar songs from famili…
Joel Grey sings "Give My Regards to Broadway" " in Yiddish. And he's not alone among the 50 performers of the Folksbiene Chanukah Spectacular, a fast-moving, entertaining 80 minutes that is …
Joel Grey sings "Give My Regards to Broadway" " in Yiddish. And he's not alone among the 50 performers of the Folksbiene Chanukah Spectacular, a fast-moving, entertaining 80 minutes that is …
 Some four decades before "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" was turned into a film on Netflix featuring spectacular performances by  the late Chadwick Boseman in his final role and Viola Dav…
The following 15 plays/play collections by Black playwrights make up the Golden Collection, curated by playwright Jeremy O. Harris, who has announced plans to donate the collection to lib…
A good news, bad news week. IF approved by federal regulators, a vaccine could start arriving in New York City next week, and, say both Dr. Anthony Fauci and impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, …
