Neil Patrick Harris sings It’s Not Just for Gays Anymoreon Sunday night’s Tony Awards telecast.By Hap ErsteinIt was a great night for smiling proselytizers and equine puppets.Of course, I’m referring to The Book of Mormon and War Horse, which cemented their hit status by taking a victory lap at last night’s 65th annual Tony Awards telecast, grabbing nine and five … [Read more...]
Theater feature: The Broadway season in review, and Hap’s Tony predictions
Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad in The Book of Mormon.By Hap ErsteinRecession? What recession? If the economy was in the doldrums this year, Broadway sure didn’t know about it.For the commercial theater season in New York that ended May 29, Broadway shows drew $1.08 billion in ticket sales, up 5.9 percent from last season to post record-breaking grosses.Of … [Read more...]
Theater feature: ‘Mormon’ leads Tony nominations with 14 nods
Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad in The Book of Mormon.By Hap ErsteinTrey Parker and Matt Stone’s irreverent, yet surprisingly traditional musical comedy, The Book of Mormon, went into this morning’s announcement of Tony Award nominations as the prohibitive favorite to win the all-important Best Musical award. It emerged with 14 nominations, making it even more of a … [Read more...]
Theater feature: Take it from Mel: ‘Young Frankenstein’ is a ‘damn good’ show
Synthia Link, Christopher Ryan, Cory English, Joanna Glushak and Preston Truman Boyd in Young Frankenstein, opening today at the Kravis Center.By Hap ErsteinIf he does say so himself, and he does, Mel Brooks considers Young Frankenstein to be the best of the 12 films he has directed.“I’m not saying it’s my funniest, I’m saying it’s my best. In terms of … [Read more...]
Theater review: Tony Awards show was as lame as Broadway’s season
Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes lock lips at the Tony Awards on Sunday, in an image from the Tonys website. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris)By Hap ErsteinWhen you consider what a mediocre season it was on Broadway, did anyone really think the Tony Awards show would be any good? Sunday night’s ceremony was, as expected, just like the season for musicals – loud, … [Read more...]
Theater review: Broadway season was strong in new plays, weak in musicals
Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell in A Behanding in Spokane. By Hap ErsteinYou know the drill by now. Sunday night’s Tony Awards ceremony will do its best to put a happy face on the Broadway season, but in fact, this was the worst year for musicals in a long time.Note the Best Score category, which could only find two musicals to nominate and had to settle for … [Read more...]
Here’s our Tony Awards quiz: Do better than Hap and win a prize
Alfred Molina as painter Mark Rothko in Red, which Hap thinkswill take this year’s Tony for Best Play on Sunday night.You read Palm Beach ArtsPaper, so chances are you are a theatergoer and you actually care who wins the Tony Awards this Sunday evening. You realize this puts you in a very small minority of the population, don’t you?Well, theater writer Hap … [Read more...]
Theater feature: ‘Fela!,’ ‘La Cage’ lead Tony nominees in lackluster season
A scene from Fela!, starring Sahr Ngaujah.By Hap ErsteinThis season’s Tony Award nominations were announced this morning. So let the gripes and snipes begin, as well as the closing notices for the snubbed shows.No one -- except the consistently upbeat Tonys, a marketing cheerleader for New York’s commercial theater -- is going to try and claim that this was a … [Read more...]
Bulletin from Broadway No. 8: ‘Race’
Kerry Washington, James Spader, Richard Thomas and David Alan Grier in Race.By Hap ErsteinI had a 6:30 p.m. flight home Saturday, so I wasn’t going to see a matinee, the first time a play would be on that I was not in a theater seat.But a press agent recommended I see David Mamet’s latest play, Race. It’s only 100 minutes long including intermission … [Read more...]
Bulletin from Broadway No. 7: ‘Fela!’
Sahr Ngaujah in Fela!By Hap ErsteinMy season-end Broadway visit is coming to a close, and it is fair to say it has been a surprisingly strong year for plays and a pretty disappointing one for musicals.Tony Award nominations get announced Tuesday and the committee is going to have to be pretty creative to fill some of the musical categories. (There are only two musicals … [Read more...]