5,806 stories by "Jonathan Mandell"
Two hit Off-Broadway plays on my Top 10 list for 2016Â are transferring to Broadway in the Spring, written by two of the most respected women playwrights in America — Pulitzer Prize …
“In Transit” is the first a cappella musical on Broadway, and the rich harmonies and rhythmic beatboxing of a cappella evangelist Deke Sharon's arrangements reveal the human voic…
The members of the creative team behind "The Band's Visit," a delightfully low-key musical starring a memorably paired Tony Shalhoub and Katrina Lenk, have taken a 2007 Israeli film that is …
Below are a dozen photographs from “Hairspray Live,” which was broadcast on NBC December 7th; videos of seven of its songs; and my ten takeaways. Takeaways from Hairspray …
"A Bronx Tale," the new Broadway musical co-directed by Robert De Niro and Jerry Zaks, tells a story that its author, Chazz Palminteri, says is true: He really did witness a mob killing as a…
My list of ten favorite shows on New York stages in 2016 reflect two unmistakable trends " the use of the stage to present important current issues facing the country, and shows that innovat…
While watching "Tiny Beautiful Things," a stage version at the Public Theater of Cheryl Strayed's best-selling book, I started to wonder whether it made sense to try to adapt a collection of…
Below is the tracklist for Hairspray Live broadcast on NBC today December 7, 2016, 8 to 11 p.m. ET.  The song titles (accompanied in parentheses by the character or characters  s…
At one of the continual neighborhood get-togethers in "Rancho Viejo," Dan LeFranc's new play at Playwrights Horizons about the residents of a fictional California suburb, one of the characte…
Below, ten major theater artists are interviewed by their peers as part of the Dramatist Guild Fund’s Legacy Project TONY KUSHNER Interviewed By Michael Friedman GRETCHEN CRYER & N…
The world may feel as if it's coming to an end (see The Trump Effect, below), but the future looks promising for the theater, even in the few weeks remaining of this year, with several intri…
For its third annual holiday appearance on Broadway, The Illusionists, a variety showcase for a rotating group of magicians and stunt performers,
For its third annual holiday appearance on Broadway, The Illusionists, a variety showcase for a rotating group of magicians and stunt performers, has a new subtitle, "Turn of the Century," w…
Dear Evan Hansen has changed now that it's on Broadway, in ways that make it an even more affecting musical. Ben Platt's performance, impressive from the get-go, is even better. But what's c…
"Dear Evan Hansen" has changed now that it's on Broadway, in ways that make it an even more affecting musical. Ben Platt's performance, impressive from the get-go, is even better. But what's…
Four shows are opening on Broadway this month, three of them new musicals: “A Bronx Tale” marks the Broadway debut of Robert De Niro as a “co-director,” although Jerr…
Live from the Hamilton stage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City, some of the recording artists in the Hamilton Mixtape — songs directly from, or related to, the Hamilton m…
"Ride the Cyclone" begins with six teenagers from the high school choir of a small Canadian town dying on a roller coaster called the Cyclone. Then, one by one, we hear their stories " or, m…
Here is a 2 1/2 minute excerpt from tonight’s episode of the Comedy Central series, Drunk History, in which Lin-Manuel Miranda recounts Alexander Hamilton’s adulterous affair wit…
How well were you paying attention to theater news and reviews in November? Take this 13-question quiz and see.
Yes, they say interval what we say intermission, they call stalls what we call orchestra seats, they eat ice cream in the theater and we certainly do not. Â But audiences on Broadway and i…
It might seem as if the creative team behind "Homos, or Everyone in America," a fabulous and fragmented look at six years of a gay relationship, has put up barriers between the audience and …
Denzel Washington's movie adaptation of "Fences," August Wilson's 1987 play, will be in movie theaters nationwide on December 25, 2016. Below is a first movie trailer from Paramount Picures …
The cast of The Humans posed for this photograph, which pays homage to Norman Rockwell’s painting Freedom From Want: The Humans takes place on Thanksgiving. I don’t think it̵…
My fifth annual Broadway gift guide below includes info on shopping for theater tickets, theater subscriptions, play scripts, cast recordings and new and cherished books about the theater, a…
