Sir Ian McKellen Leads Only Make Believe 20th Anniversary Gala
Children’s theater company Only Make Believe celebrated its 20th anniversary with a gala featuring appearances by Sir Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming and Hayley Mills.... Read More...
Iris Wiener
‘Bat Out of Hell’ a Hellish Vision of Meat Loaf’s Seminal Album at NY City Center
An inflated concert crossed with amusement park production value, Bat Out of Hell is a hot mess of an attraction, but musical theater fans who expect quality production will be disappointed.... Read More...
Darth of Female Directors Mar 2019 Tonys and Other Insights by Broadway’s Finest
Rachel Chavkin won the Best Director Tony for Hadestown, but excoriated Broadway for its lack of female directors. (Photos by Iris Wiener)Best Director of... Read More...
The Prom Wins Top Musical, Ferryman Takes Top Play at 64th Drama Desk Awards
The Prom was awarded the top prize for Outstanding Musical, while Tootsie and Hadestown were big winners at the 64th Drama Desk Awards in New York City. ... Read More...
SpongeBob, My Fair Lady Win Top Honors at 63rd Drama Desk Awards (Photos!)
SpongeBob SquarePants and My Fair Lady were standouts at the 63rd Drama Desk Awards, winning Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Revival of a Musical, respectively. Admissions and Angels in America won in the same categories for plays. The Drama Desk Awards annually celebrate the best in New York theatre. Nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway during the 2017-2018 season.... Read More...
Harry Potter, My Fair Lady, SpongeBob Lead Outer Critics Circle Award Winners
Billy Crudup won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. (Photo: Iris Wiener)The Outer Critics Circle, an organization of media wr... Read More...
‘Friends, The Musical Parody’ Is a Hysterical Send-Up of ’90s Sitcom
Could Friends!, The Musical Parody be any more fun? Nope. The hit NBC show is ripe for riffing, and who better to take it on than parody masterminds Tobly and Bob McSmith, the clever writers behind Showgirls! The Musical! and Bayside! The Musical! Whether you’ve simply caught the sitcom in reruns or you have pined for the day when Ross and Rachel would finally get together, this musical is a hysterical send-up of all that you loved to hate about the 1990s.... Read More...
Steven Dietz’s Lonely Planet Brilliantly Produced by Keen Company (Video)
Steven Dietz’s play, Lonely Planet, has been brilliantly produced by the Keen Company. It’s an emotional touchstone harkening back to a time when America was caught in the deadly grip of the AIDS epidemic. Written in 1993, Lonely Planet is a two-character study that follows Jody (Arnie Burton) and Carl (Matt McGrath) through a world consumed by darkness, doubt and death.... Read More...
DiPietro, Roberts Craft Delightful Update of Classic Dating Musical
In a rare feat, Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts have crafted a new, updated version of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change that is as fresh, affecting and delightfully funny as the original when it debuted 21 years ago.... Read More...
Andy Karl Portrait Unveiled at Tony’s Di Napoli Broadway Wall of Fame
It was a bittersweet evening at Broadway’s mainstay Tony’s Di Napoli, as the cast of Groundhog Day gathered for the restaurant’s celebration of a portrait honoring Andy Karl to its esteemed “Wall of Fame.” The Tony-nominated star was being honored as his lauded show heads toward its closing, Sept. 17. ... Read More...
Jacques Lamarre Cooks Up a Feast in Delightful Comedy ‘Raging Skillet’
In Jacques Lamarre’s Raging Skillet, food transcends symbolism and the fourth wall. Delectables are actually distributed to the audience and become a variety of bookmarks in a delightfully funny piece based on the memoir (with-recipes) of Chef Rossi.... Read More...
Donald Trump Political Satire ‘Me the People’ a Hilarious Call to Arms
Me the People: The Trump America Musical manages to be entertaining and cringe worthy at its best moments and only slightly schlocky at its worst. Me the People is not simply a jab at America’s current president; this cabaret is an important call to arms. In an era of watered down jokes and impressions a la “The Tonight Show with Jimmy zoneslon” and “Saturday Night Live,” it’s a gift to find a show that is as funny as it is unapologetic for its painful impressions and humor. ... Read More...
Intimate Apparel Beautifully Weaves Hopes, Pathos, Desire in Moving Play
Intimate Apparel, written by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony nominee Lynn Nottage, is as beautifully woven as the fine fabrics running through the hands of protagonist Esther Mills (Kelly McCreary), a New York City seamstress circa 1905. Currently playing at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, the production addresses a litany of complex issues that might have overcrowded a 130-minute play in less worthy hands. ... Read More...
Lucas Hnath’s Doll House, Part 2, Takes Ibsen In Whole New Direction
If A Doll’s House, Part 2 is viewed as a sequel to Ibsen’s A Doll’s House theatergoers will be in for disappointment. It does not complement the original play, nor does the new piece give it new meaning. A more appropriate label would be fan homage. Lucas Hnath’s Part 2 takes the 19th century classic and adds modern vernacular and insightful wit, while presenting a story centered on women who are battling against oppression. ... Read More...
Baghdaddy Relives Iraq War’s Dark Truths in Quirky Off-Broadway Musical
Free donuts and coffee, name tags, a church basement. Is this an AA meeting, or is it a musical? Actually, it’s a bit of both. Factor in political satire, vigorous choreography, dark humor, strobe lights and rap and rock music, and you get Baghdaddy, a show with a title just as bizarre as its storytelling. The audience is a part of the show as disgraced spies sit among guests revealing their truths: “I’m Martin. I started the Iraq War,” says one actor.... Read More...
Drama Desk Theater Nominees Celebrate the 2016-2017 Season
The 62nd Annual Drama Desk Award nominees met with members of the organization on May 10th at the New York Marriott Marquis Manhattan Ballroom. The Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Michael Urie, will be presented on June 4th at the Town Hall in Manhattan. The organization, comprised of theater critics, journalists, editors, broadcasters and publishers covering theater, honors outstanding achievement by professional theater artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway.... Read More...
Vagaries of Power Define This Year’s ‘Author Directing Author’ Theme
Playwright Neil LaBute (reasons to be pretty, Fat Pig), Italian playwright Marco Calvani (Strong Hands) and Spanish playwright Marta Buchaca (Emergencia) explore power struggles in three one-act plays as part of the this year’s “Author directing Author” project. Though the roles of playwright and director often overlap in rehearsals, their work is usually distinguished by their jobs; this is what makes “Author directing Author’ so special.... Read More...
James Monroe Iglehart Warms Hearts With Lots of Soul at 54 Below
James Monroe Iglehart has punch and pizzazz. Both were on display at Feinstein’s/54 Below in his solo cabaret show, “How the Heck Did I Get Here?” This Genie holds more magic in his big heart than he’s ever displayed in Broadway’s Aladdin. Iglehart won a Tony award in 2015 for his show-stopping performance in Aladdin’s “A Friend Like Me.” What might be surprising is the number of layers beneath his comical veneer.... Read More...
Jude Law Honored at Only Make Believe 17th Annual Gala (Photos!)
Jude Law was the marquee guest at Only Make Believe’s 17th Gala, an event that brings together Broadway stars to help raise funds for the non-profit organization’s interactive theatre for children in hospitals and care facilities. The non-profit organization is dedicated to the principle that freeing a child’s imagination is a valuable part of the healing process.... Read More...
Holiday Inn Musical Not Equal to the Sum of Its Parts on Broadway
Holiday Inn has all of the ingredients for a sparkling Broadway musical–glitzy costumes, actors with the vocal chops, twenty Irving Berlin classics and dance numbers so energetic, performers almost fly from the stage. The story is another matter. Director Gordon Greenberg and co-writer Chad Hodge turned the film, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, into a feel-good piece of eye candy.... Read More...
Iris Wiener
Iris Wiener is an entertainment journalist. Follow her on Twitter @Iris_Wiener or visit her Web site.