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 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...]
Commentary: Messy Tonys show misrepresented Broadway’s good year
The cast of Hair in the Tony Awards' opening number Sunday.(Photo by Anita and Steve Shevett)By Hap ErsteinYou would never know it from the overstuffed, frantic Tony Awards ceremony, but it was actually a pretty good year on Broadway.Any year that includes a powerhouse heart-tugger of a musical like Billy Elliot and a cutting edge show about a bipolar manic-depressive suburban … [Read more...]
ArtsBuzz: Predicting the Tony winners
From left: Aaron Tveit, Alice Ripley and J. Robert Spencer in the musical Next to Normal.By Hap ErsteinIt’s true: I can see into the future and am willing to prove it with my uncanny predictions of this year’s Tony Award winners. Those without my clairvoyance will have to wait until Sunday, June 7, to learn how accurate I am.* Best musical: OK, your maiden aunt Sophie from Iowa … [Read more...]
ArtsBuzz: Tony voters cheer ‘Billy,’ slight ‘9 to 5’
Kiril Kulish in Billy Elliot, nominated today for 15 Tony Awards.(Photo by David Scheinmann)By Hap ErsteinIf you think the three weapon-wielding secretaries of the newly opened musical 9 to 5 were angry before, you probably do not want to cross their path now that this season's Tony Award nominations have been announced.Although the Dolly Parton-penned show got fairly … [Read more...]