"Betty Boop" Returns in Living Color by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler . . . When a truly old-fashioned musical like Boop! The Musical opens, offering a beatific heroine, dazzling choreography, and hummable tunes that send you out in…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 1:40pm on April 10, 2025[SHARE]

"All the Beauty in the World": A Picture of Exhilaration and Exultation by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler . . . A dozen or so years ago, when journalist Patrick Bringley found himself unsure of what to do with the rest of his life, his restlessness caused him to quit his hi…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:17am on April 9, 2025[SHARE]

"A Mother" Updates Brecht in a Modern Mash-Up by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler . . . You may be forgiven if you're not familiar with playwright Bertolt Brecht's The Mother, as it did have its premiere nearly a century ago in 1932 Berlin. Writte…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:36pm on April 7, 2025[SHARE]

"GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK" IS SMOKING GOOD by Ron Fassler

George Clooney as Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck" (Photo: Emilio Madrid).April 5, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler. The current state of journalism in …

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 11:50am on April 5, 2025[SHARE]

"Danger and Opportunity" Fills a Small Space with Big Ideas by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler . . . I wasn't sure what to expect when the location of Ken Urban's new play Danger and Opportunity took me to a theater called East Village Basement. Located at …

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:10pm on April 3, 2025[SHARE]

Deaths of Salesmen: "Glengarry Glen Ross" Returns  by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler . . . The first time that audiences heard the precise and profane language of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross was nearly forty-two years ago in September of 1983. …

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 12:50pm on April 2, 2025[SHARE]

AFTER 77 YEARS: "LOVE LIFE" RETURNS TO THE NY STAGE by Ron Fassler

Brian Stokes Mitchell and Kate Baldwin in 2025's "Love Life" (photo by Joan Marcus).March 28, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler You would think that the only musical ev…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 5:04pm on March 28, 2025[SHARE]

The York Theatre's 2025 Spring Gala Blooms by Ron Fassler

By Ron Fassler . . .   The York Theatre, founded in 1969 by Janet Hayes Walker, has rightly earned its place as an integral part of the city landscape from which it draws its name. Wal…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 2:38pm on March 27, 2025[SHARE]

"MOMENTS": A BIRTHDAY SALUTE TO STEPHEN SONDHEIM by Ron Fassler

Stephen Sondheim (1930"2021). Photo by Richard Avedon.March 22, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler. "Oh, if life were made of moments,Even now and then a bad one "…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 10:34am on March 22, 2025[SHARE]

"Maybe Tomorrow" " And Baby Makes Three? by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler . . . Upon entering A.R.T.'s Mezzanine Theatre on Manhattan's West Side for the off-Broadway premiere of Max Mondi's Maybe Tomorrow, you are greeted by a ¾ wrap-a…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 8:04am on March 21, 2025[SHARE]

MEMORIES OF "1776" 56 YEARS AFTER SEEING ITS SECOND-TO-LAST PREVIEW by Ron Fassler

My ticket stub from 56 years ago (note the tape marks). It used to hang on my bedroom wall.Fifty-six years ago yesterday afternoon, I took my seat as a just-turned twelve-year old in seat…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 9:49am on March 16, 2025[SHARE]

A Mother: An Interview with Jessica Hecht on Her New Play by Ron Fassler

By Ron Fassler . . . Two-time Tony nominee Jessica Hecht, an actress who seems to always be working on the New York stage (that is when she isn't shooting films or television shows), is t…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 5:30pm on March 14, 2025[SHARE]

Norbert Leo Butz Tears it Up at 54 Below by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . For those of you who only know Norbert Leo Butz from his numerous Broadway and off-Broadway credits in both musicals and straight plays (nineteen of…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 11:29am on March 11, 2025[SHARE]

Judy Collins & Friends: 85 Years of Music & Protest by Ron Fassler

Review by Ron Fassler . . . I was an adolescent-teenager in the 1960s and 70s when Judy Collins was among the most prolific and influential singer-songwriters of her generation. I actively l…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 1:38pm on March 10, 2025[SHARE]

JOHN GARFIELD: STAND UP GUY AND A HELL OF AN ACTOR by Ron Fassler

Jacob Julius Garfinkel, also known as John Garfield (1913"1952).March 5, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler Yesterday was my birthday. I share the date with an actor born i…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 4:29pm on March 5, 2025[SHARE]

AN EVENING WITH RUTHIE ANN MILES by Ron Fassler

"Sparking greater human connections through musical storytelling, providing unforgettable performances that reflect the world around us and reimagining what the choral experience can be." Th…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 12:51pm on March 3, 2025[SHARE]

THE LEGEND THAT WAS GENE HACKMAN by Ron Fassler

Gene Hackman in "Under Fire" (1983).February 27, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler. Waking up to news of the death of Gene Hackman has been a shocking blow due to circu…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 4:23pm on February 27, 2025[SHARE]

Family is Family is Family in "Grangeville" by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . .  The plays of the prolific Samuel D. Hunter have one common theme: connection. The Idaho born and reared Hunter, the region in which he sets the …

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 9:49pm on February 24, 2025[SHARE]

Q & A with Taylor Iman Jones on "The Jonathan Larson Project." by Ron Fassler

Theater PIzzazz's Ron Fassler recently had the pleasure of discussing The Jonathan Larson Project with cast member Taylor Iman Jones. Currently in previews at the Orpheum Theatre on Second A…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 2:50pm on February 24, 2025[SHARE]

A Liberating "Liberation"  by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . In the 1970s, it was extremely difficult for a woman in America to experience any sense of empowerment without first getting some sort of economic or soci…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:03pm on February 20, 2025[SHARE]

Singing the Flops: Beyond the Walls of Joe Allen's Restaurant by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . If you're a theatre fan then you are probably aware of Charles Kirsch's podcast "Backstage Babble." The now seventeen-year-old has recorded more than 2…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 5:20pm on February 20, 2025[SHARE]

ON HAL HOLBROOK'S 100TH BIRTHDAY by Ron Fassler

Hal Holbrook on the left and his alter ego, Mark Twain, on the right.February 18, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler Yesterday marked 100 years since the birth of Harold…

SOURCE: ronfassler.medium.com at 12:18pm on February 18, 2025[SHARE]

Joaquina Kalukango Burns it Up at 54 Below by Ron Fassler

Cabaret Review by Ron Fassler . . . It was a pleasure on Saturday evening to catch the final performance of Joaquina Kalukango's four-night engagement at 54 Below. It was her birthday, which…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 1:33pm on February 17, 2025[SHARE]

Someone in a Tree: "Redwood" Opens on Broadway by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . Idina Menzel's career in musical theatre was launched nearly thirty years ago as Maureen in the original company of Rent. A few years after that, she t…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 10:26pm on February 13, 2025[SHARE]

The Epistolary Charms of "Dear Jack, Dear Louise" by Ron Fassler

Theatre Review by Ron Fassler . . . I only got to Ken Ludwig's 2019 play Dear Jack, Dear Louise last night and since it closes this weekend please take my word that it's well worth rus…

SOURCE: Theater Pizzazz at 6:44pm on February 12, 2025[SHARE]