8,501 stories from Backstage
Welcome to girl world! Eve Ensler is back painting the town pink, not to mention the stage, which is decorated with fuchsia drapes and perky flower-power backdrops, just in case you weren&rs…
The late-19th-century classic “Miss Julie,” by Swedish playwright August Strindberg, is yanked ferociously into present-day South Africa in this galvanizing adaptation by Yael Fa…
In Sheila Callaghan’s “Port Out, Starboard Home,” aka “P.O.S.H.”—developed in collaboration with the company FoolsFury—an assortment of lonely, brok…
“Ivanov,” Anton Chekhov’s first produced play, can be hard to love, with its maddening titular protagonist in the throes of depression and the discursive, repetitive ways i…
“The Island of No Tomorrows,” a new musical produced by Interart Theatre and MultiStages, begins with an intriguing premise and then dissolves into a flood of disjointed ideas, p…
It’s an easy week in which to appreciate the Talking Band’s “Obskene,” currently playing at Here. Conceived and directed by Talking Band co-founder Tina Shepard, this…
Sometimes timing is everything, and after the battering New York has taken from Hurricane Sandy and an unseasonable early snowstorm, David Johnston’s lovingly sunny “Coney”…
The changes of adolescence can often seem more terrifying than a ghost story and equally as strange (I’m growing hair where?). In “Billy Witch,” getting its world premiere …
There were three stories on stage the night I attended “Isaac Babel and the Gangster King.” The musical introduces the audience to Babel, a great Russian-Jewish writer of the fir…
In honor of the latest revival of "Annie" opened at the Palace Theater on Thursday night, we look back on the many actors that have taken on the musical's iconic roles onstage over the years…
Every industry has its dynasties. The Kennedys are synonymous with politics. The Fords are the kings of automobiles, and on Broadway the Nederlanders are royalty. Celebrating its 100th anniv…
When Superstorm Sandy hit home, the New York-based Dramatists Guild Fund (DGF) knew what they had to do. DGF, the public charity arm of the Dramatists Guild of America, is providing more tha…
There’s so much that’s right about director James Lapine’s joyous revival of the classic Martin Charnin–Charles Strouse–Thomas Meehan musical comedy “Anni…
Douglas McGrath’s new play “Checkers” offers a reasonably compelling portrait of the relationship between Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat. However, it slights the political…
Just released today is the latest international trailer for the hotly anticipated film adaptation of “Les Misérables” from Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper. Previously, w…
“A Twist of Water,” which comes from the Chicago-based Route 66 Theatre Company, is not only set in Chicago but strives to make that city an additional character in Caitlin Parri…
The show will go on at the Colony Theatre after the Burbank playhouse raised $49,000 in the last 10 days.
The 270-seat theater put out an urgent fundraising plea last month, admitting it was…
Playwright-director Richard Nelson continues his saga of the Apple family with “Sorry,” another wry and melancholy reflection on the state of American politics and private life. …
Not sure if you noticed, but there was a pretty big hurricane in New York last week. Thankfully, we were spared most of Sandy's wrath, but after a week of feeling storm-shocked and stir-craz…
In the days after Hurricane Sandy hit, New Yorkers struggled to return to work. Some created makeshift satellite offices in co-workers’ apartments, while others waited in lines that st…
Don Chaffer is a passionate storyteller. The composer’s mellifluous melodies run deep, and he cradles his creation with the tenderness of a father embracing a small child. However, Cha…
“I’m sorry.” That’s the pitiably defensive mantra of Charlie, a 600-pound housebound literature professor who teaches over the Internet in “The Whale,” Sa…
Iraq vets returning from combat have become our Lost Generation, their stories serving as inspiration for countless writers and artists. But finding someone who can translate the power of th…
Like its predecessor “The Barber of Seville,” Beaumarchais’ “The Marriage of Figaro” is overshadowed by the operatic version and thus rarely performed. Charles …
On his blog, www.newyorkgritty.net, writer Mike Vogel calls his play “March Madness” a “comedy with heart.” “I refuse,” he adds, “to use the word dr…
