5,854 stories by "Jonathan Mandell"
MarÃa Irene Fornés was a thirty-year-old aspiring New York painter visiting relatives in her native Cuba with her then-lover Susan Sontag, when she stumbled upon a cache of old letters. …
The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, as compiled by the New York Times, includes no plays, nor any non-fiction books about the theater. I might have featured at least two of the dozen gre…
Broadway shows have lower attendance than they did before the pandemic, and make less money, but "we are no longer in recovery," Broadway producer Ken Davenport says. "This is the new normal…
Summer for theater folk is usually a time to savor the past season, as illustrator Ray Kampf did in his clever rendition of "Stereophonic" as an Archie comic book. (The play didn't win th…
"Oh, Mary," which opened on Broadway this past week, is meant to be funny and deliberately tasteless; one scene in it, reimagining the first American presidential assassination, turns out to…
In "Ain't Done Bad," a gay boy who feels like a misfit in his hometown leaves to find love in the big city. Although there are 17 songs over the ninety minutes of the show, it could not b…
Below are video snippets of the performances by the casts of five Broadway shows " The Who's Tommy, Water for Elephants, The Wiz, Back to the Future, and Hell's Kitchen " in the first Broadw…
There was a thrilling dance number in  last year's Kander, Ebb and Miranda musical "New York, New York," in which iron workers dance in mid-air on a beam of a skyscraper under construc…
The opening of "Oh, Mary!" tonight at the Lyceum marks the Broadway debut of Cole Escola as both playwright and performer, but the Off-Broadway run earlier this year of this campy comedy abo…
The League of Independent Theater has announced the half dozen recipients of the 2024 New York independent Theater Awards, honoring "outstanding leadership, service, artistry and commitment …
Let's show our PresidentWe're glad he's the White House resident. Step on the gasAnd dance to a rhythm that's class-A,Hey, hey,This is the wayWe're keepin' cool with Coolidge. The song "Keep…
These ten titles are newly available to watch for free at the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT), in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, which since 1…
A friend writes about the final performance of Merrily We Roll Along on Sunday: "The Merrily performance was so moving. Worth every penny. The crowd was high energy  Saw some people with…
Laura Benanti's autobiographical show is far from the first live performance that Audible has produced at the Minetta Lane Theater in order to turn it into an audiobook; the company has been…
My latest patriotic poll: Rank these ten Broadway musicals that take actual American history as their subject, from most to least favorite. Two are currently on Broadway; one is schedule…
"Because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent of Trump v. United Stat…
Only "Merrily We Roll Along" is performing on the 4th of July itself; its acclaimed run ends on Sunday! But more than a dozen of the 27 currently running Broadway shows have added performanc…
Below is a calendar of New York theater opening* in July,, including two Broadway plays, "Oh,Mary" and "Job,"  both of which are transferring from sold-out runs Off Broadway; Â�…
The patriotic fireworks arguably started early this year, with the fallout from the Presidential debate, which arguably was the very definition of "political theater" " something that Hillar…
How well were you paying attention to theater news this past month? Answer these ten questions (plus a bonus question) to find out. Loading…
Fifty-five years to the day after the riot that launched the modern gay rights movement, a group called Pride Live celebrated the official opening of a visitor center in the room where it ha…
One debater vigorously delivered one lie after another, but the other spoke with a raspy voice and a tentative manner.  (debate transcript.) So Republicans gloat and Democrats pa…
Holland Taylor and Ana Villafañe are perfectly cast in this intelligent and illuminating comedy about the relationship between the  first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, a…
When he first met Lucille Ball, his future mother-in-law, Laurence Luckinbill  accidentally set his apartment on fire.  He had been preparing a meal for her, and left the eggplan…
Broadway in Bryant Park has announced the lineup for this summer's four free Thursday lunchtime concerts, performed by the casts from current Broadway shows, which will begin on July 11. …
