5,851 stories by "Jonathan Mandell"
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 …
"Marjorie Prime,"Â Â has turned even more uncanny in the ten years since its Off-Broadway run, when the 85-year-old Lois Smith gave a lustrous performance as the 85-year-old Marjorie, a …
Over the weekend, "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Hamnet" opened in cinemas nationwide, each connected to live theater in very different ways " one, a recording of a live Broadway production, t…
Kara Young and Nicholas Braun were so much fun to watch in this latest production of Rajiv Joseph's peculiar play that it hurt. As Kayleen and Doug, they portray friends who are consistently…
The annual production of "Peter & the Wolf" at the Guggenheim Museum, which launched again last night and is running this year through December 13, has evolved in largely wonderful but a…
The scenes from the play "Hamlet" will make you cry in this latest film from Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao ("Nomadland"), but there is a catch. The scenes don't occur until more than 90…
The "Merrily We Roll Along" movie is different from the Wicked films; it's not a film adaptation, it's a recording of the live 2024 Tony-winning Broadway production that turned the Stephen S…
Is "Dirty Books" itself obscene? Not at all,  if we go by the Supreme Court's three-pronged test. The theater company Bated Breath does enlist the audience to write erotica, but 1. …
Scrooge is back on stage this holiday season, as always, but as we head towards the end of a trying year, the question off-stage is which Scrooge will win out " the one at the beginning or t…
On this fourteenth annual #GivingTuesday (created in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y), consider donating to a theater company or theater organization in New York City. This is what Scroog…
Below is a calendar of New York theater opening* in December. There are two new shows on Broadway, both with starry casts, one a revival of a futuristic play that feels almost present-day…
Any guide to holiday theatergoing in New York City must begin with the three annual staples: "The Radio City Christmas Spectacular" starring the Radio City Rockettes, "George Balanchine's th…
Tom Stoppard, 88, an acclaimed author of some three dozen plays, had an extraordinary body of work, and lived an unusual life: Although he was viewed as one of the greatest English-language …
How well were you paying attention to theater news and reviews in the month of November? Take this quiz to find out. Loading…
My fourteenth annual theater gift guide below features links and information on shopping for theater tickets,theater subscriptions/memberships,cast recordings,play scripts and books about…
Below are videos from the Broadway casts who performed at the 2025 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Buena Vista Social Club, Ragtime and Just in Time, as well as Broadway veteran and Wicked s…
"The Baker's Wife" offers dual stories of redemption that make it feel designed for the holidays: There is the fable of all the villagers in a small French town setting aside their petty squ…
Once again, theater seems of little interest to the book review staff at the New York Times. Their Notable Books of 2025 features no published plays (although books of poetry are inclu…
Below are works of theater that I saw this year in New York for which I'm most grateful.  I have been posting such a list around Thanksgiving Day every year since 2013, which is my ann…
Fixings and pairings will be on the table later this week, and were on stage this past week, with the revival of a couple of old musicals that needed to be fixed (were they?), and some starr…
"Chess" is not a serious musical.  That's the key to appreciating this show, which is supposed to be about an American and a Russian grandmaster battling over both the game of chess an…
