Today was Wednesday, matinee day on Broadway. My shows today underlined the range of what is available now on Broadway – a first-rate revival of Tony Kushner's epic Angels in America and a so-so new musical adaptation of Tina Fey's high school anti-bullying comedy movie, Mean Girls. Subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," Angels in America first arrived on Broadway in … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway, No. 3: “Frozen”
Since the early '80s, when the Disney organization made its first assault on Broadway with Beauty and the Beast, it has regularly raided its animation vaults for musical subjects. Some have been inspired adaptations (The Lion King), some rote copies (Mary Poppins) and some painful (Tarzan). This season's Disney entry, Frozen -- the most successful animated film of all time … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway, No. 2: ‘My Fair Lady’
I am more of a Sweeney Todd and Fiddler on the Roof fan, but if you insisted that My Fair Lady is the great American musical, I wouldn't argue with you, particular after seeing the extraordinary Lincoln Center revival Sunday. Bartlett Sher, the Center's resident directing marvel (South Pacific, Light in the Piazza, etc.) has created a knockout production, with eye-popping … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway, No. 1: ‘Travesties’ and ‘Harry Potter’
Saturday was sunny, but chilly in New York, but fortunately I was spending almost six hours in a theater watching Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the hot ticket of the season. My trip began with a revival of Tom Stoppard's Travesties, another import from London. Both were in final previews, so I can't get too specific with my opinions yet, but both are challenging works, … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway No. 9: ‘Crucible’ still works, despite directorial mangling
Sophie Okonedo and Ben Whishaw in The Crucible. And so the week in New York ended with the 12th production, a love-it-or-hate-it revival of Arthur Miller’s historical epic, The Crucible, deconstructed by Dutch director Ivo van Hove. As you probably recall from studying the 1953 play in high school, Miller’s view of history is two-pronged. On the literal level, he is … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway No. 8: Harrowing ‘The Father,’ sprawling ‘Shuffle Along’
The cast of Shuffle Along performs “Broadway Blues.” (Photo by Julieta Cervantes) My New York trip is starting to wind down. Saturday, was my last two-show day, beginning with the dramatic immersion into the world of dementia, The Father, by French playwright Florian Zeller. In the evening I saw a new musical based on a 1921 show called Shuffle Along. But this was no mere … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway No. 7: Earnest ‘Tuck Everlasting’ falls a little short
Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Sarah Charles Lewis in Tuck Everlasting. (Photo by Joan Marcus) Before tonight's show, a new musical called Tuck Everlasting, I caught a little culture at the Museum of the City of New York. In addition to an artifact-rich exhibit on the Yiddish Theater and its influences on Broadway, the 5th Avenue treasure trove is currently featuring a … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway, No. 6: Newsmaker interviews, disarming ‘Bright Star’
With only one show on my schedule today, I could have relaxed, but this is New York City, where so many artists, writers and producers of shows on tour, heading to South Florida, reside. So I arranged to interview a couple of them today, to bank them stories for when the shows arrive at home. This afternoon, for instance, I met with Doug McGrath, screenwriter (Bullets Over … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway No. 5: Two searing, powerful plays
Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams in Blackbird. Wednesday is, of course, a matinee day, so I saw two productions today and, as it worked out, they were two highly intense, intermissionless plays, which packed a lot of gut punch in roughly 90 minutes each. The one with considerable star power was David Harrower's Blackbird, making its Broadway debut although it is … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway, No. 4: Semi-sort-of seeing ‘Hamilton’
Oh well, the odds of winning the Hamilton digital lottery are said to be 80,000 to 1, and — what a surprise — I did not win. But the next day, I ended up seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of Hamilton performing anyway. OK, they weren't actually performing the show Hamilton, but they appeared at the 30th annual Easter Bonnet Competition, where they did a new number … [Read more...]