The Broadway Pulse, maintained by Editor-in-Chief, Robert Diamond, highlights the most interesting goings on in the world of theater - online and off...Subscribe to LOOPED Review Roundup
Valerie Harper returns to Broadway this spring in Matthew Lombardo's new comedy Looped, directed by Rob Ruggiero.
Looped tells the story of Tallulah Bankhead, the internationally celebrated actress, being called into a sound studio in 1965 to re-record (or "loop") one line of dialogue for what would be her last film -- the dreadful Die, Die My Darling . Southern, but by no means a belle, Ms. Bankhead was known for her wild partying and convention-defying exploits that outshone even today's celebrity bad girls. And given her inebriated state (and inability to loop the line perfectly), what ensues is a hilarious showdown between an uptight and conservative sound editor, Danny Miller, and the outrageous legend.
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: "Bottom Line: Valerie Harper makes a fine and funny Tallulah Bankhead, but will anybody care?"
Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: "With the corners of her mouth dragged down to her ankles, a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other, Harper camps and vamps with determined proficiency, injecting plenty of life if not much verisimilitude into Lombardo's cruel but enjoyably catty cliche."
John Simon, Bloomberg News: "Valerie Harper does a bravura turn on Broadway as Tallulah Bankhead in Matthew Lombardo's 'Looped.'"
Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "Out of this real-life misadventure, playwright Matthew Lombardo has fashioned a frequently funny but at times labored little play, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre. Not really a one-woman show, the comedy is more of a battle between Bankhead and an agitated film editor named Danny (Brian Hutchison), who's forced to supervise the re-looping."
Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: " Harper plays the final redemptive scene to the hilt, but ending the show on that feel-good note betrays both Tallulah's life and her art."
Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: "A second-act subplot about Danny's troubled personal life ends up setting the groundwork for a moving chaser. He asks Bankhead to redo another performance. Though she's totally looped, she obliges in heartbreaking fashion."
David Sheward, Backstage: "Nobody likes a good Tallulah Bankhead story more than I-in fact, I'll launch into my deep-throated imitation and call you "Dahling" at the least provocation-but even I get a bit tired if it goes on for two hours. That's the trouble with "Looped," Matthew Lombardo's new play, now on Broadway..."
Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "That's clearly the perspective of Matthew Lombardo, the author of Looped (* * * out of four). The play, which opened Sunday at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre, is a passionate, if not entirely convincing, rebuttal to anyone who has tried to reduce Bankhead to a punch line."
Posted on: Sunday, March 14, 2010 @ 09:33 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Geoffrey Nauffts' NEXT FALL takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. While the play's central story focuses on the 5-year relationship between Adam and Luke, NEXT FALL goes beyond the typical love story. This timely and compelling new American play forces us all to examine what it means to "believe" and what it might cost us not to.
Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "One of the pleasures of "Next Fall" is Nauffts' evenhandedness in presenting both sides of an issue. The playwright doesn't preach or try to tell his compelling story only in black and white. He invests the play with a generosity that doesn't prejudge. Nauffts embraces both the virtues and foibles of his characters. And that inclusion makes "Next Fall" an even richer experience."
Ben Brantley, The New York Times: "A flourishing member of a precious and nearly extinct species has been sighted on Broadway, looking remarkably vital and sure of itself for a creature so often given up for dead. "Next Fall," which opened Thursday night at the Helen Hayes Theater, is that genuine rara avis, a smart, sensitive and utterly contemporary New York comedy. The question now is whether theatergoers will recognize that "Next Fall" embodies something they've been sorely missing, perhaps without knowing it, for years."
Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "An off-Broadway run last year garnered rave reviews and was thrice extended, and Fall has since acquired the financial backing of Elton John and his partner, David Furnish. But many who see the new production - which retains the original director, Sheryl Kaller, and cast, and has been tightened only slightly - are bound to wonder how this heartfelt but pedestrian drama generated so much fuss."
Frank Scheck, Reuters/Hollywood Reporter: "In these recessionary times, it might take more than the imprimatur of celebrity presenters Elton John and David Furnish to make "Next Fall" viable for a Broadway run."
Michael Sommers, NJ Newsroom: "From the sniffles pervading the auditorium, apparently some people are moved deeply by this comedy-drama-weeper. Not me. At least not in the way the playwright intends. Frankly I could scarcely wait to move myself out of the theater and into a martini."
Linda Winer, Newsday: "'Next Fall" is a love story about belief. I'm afraid I am not a believer - not in the love story or in the play. Geoffrey Nauffts' drama, which has leaped to Broadway after a well-received run Off-Broadway last summer, has been embraced by its admirers as a thoughtful and sensitive exploration of a five-year relationship between two gay men of differing faiths in New York. "
David Sheward, Backstage: "Can such a small-scale, touching production make a go of it on a Broadway hungry for razzle-dazzle? In this economy and with no stars-except for Elton John as a producer-"Next Fall" will be lucky if it can. Here's hoping it does."
Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: " The play has lost some of its intimacy in the transfer, and the characters sometimes look lost on Wilson Chin's cheap-looking set -- especially in the scenes set in a hospital waiting room."
Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: "Which begs the question: Can a serious drama be seriously funny? In the case of this gay love story, it can, due to Geoffrey Nauffts' sitcom leanings. It can be seriously didactic, too."
Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal: "In art, good intentions count for something-but not much. The intentions of Geoffrey Nauffts's "Next Fall," a new play about a man (Patrick Breen) whose much younger lover (Patrick Heusinger) is dying, are palpably high-minded, and I suspect that many playgoers will think that this makes it worth seeing. Alas, "Next Fall" is cliché-infested and cloyingly sentimental, and the fact that it has transferred to Broadway after a successful Off-Broadway run means only that you can fool some of the people most of the time."
Posted on: Thursday, March 11, 2010 @ 10:35 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
The title is just the starting point; take a man searching for his missing hand (Christopher Walken), two con artists out to make a few hundred bucks (Anthony Mackie and Zoe Kazan), and an overly curious hotel clerk (Sam Rockwell), and the rest is up for grabs. A Behanding in Spokane is Academy Award-winner Martin McDonagh's hilariously black comedy, a world premiere which marks McDonagh's first American-set play.
Ben Brantley, The New York Times: "Sometimes, in one of theater's more undervalued romantic story lines, an actor meets a set and - flash! - chemistry happens. The opening image of Christopher Walken in Martin McDonagh's "Behanding in Spokane" is such a perfect, demented marriage of character and environment that you can't help grinning like a fool."
Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "Far more interesting is the hotel's receptionist (Sam Rockwell), a peculiar man whose strangeness matches Carmichael's. Rockwell effectively channels this man, a fellow who eventually forms a bond with the one-handed guest. The actor gets his own showy monologue in the middle of this short play, which barely runs 90 minutes. But it's quirky for quirk's sake, entertaining but not really helpful in expanding the plot. Still, there is Walken to take up the slack when the weirdness threatens to spin out of control. His performance will haunt you even if the play does not."
Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "As is, this Spokane offers more laughs than insights. While hardly McDonagh's most fully realized effort, it leaves us wondering where his own singular imagination will take him next."
David Sheward, Backstage: "There's not much to Martin McDonagh's "A Behanding in Spokane." While this 90-minute exercise in hilarious terror shares the brutality and pitch-black humor of the Irish playwright's previous works, it doesn't have anything to say about the country of its setting (as his Gaelic-centric plays such as "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" and "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" do) or the nature of storytelling (the theme of "The Pillowman")."
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: "Bottom Line: A brilliant cast elevates this profane shaggy-dog comedy to wildly entertaining proportions."
Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: " Christopher Walken has an eccentric charisma, his hangdog, sorrowful demeanor spiked with a twisted kind of charm. The mix is a perfect fit for Martin McDonagh's particular brand of macabre comedy."
John Simon, Bloomberg News: "Even if, like me, you are no great fan of the Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, you will find "A Behanding in Spokane," in which Christopher Walken makes a triumphant return to the Broadway stage, insane yet also fiendishly funny. "
Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: "Walken's performance is amazing, the stuff Tony Awards are made of. Using his silky voice and haunting eyes, he's spectacularly spooky and funny as Carmichael, a lone-fisted oddball searching for his hand, which, so he says, was severed by hooligans."
Linda Winer, Newsday: "If you are mesmerized by Christopher Walken (and I don't think I could love anyone who isn't), the sight of him in the ratty hotel room is immediately interesting."
Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal: "When blood is shed in a Martin McDonagh play, the audience always laughs-and usually gasps. Mr. McDonagh is partial to comic violence, and in "A Behanding in Spokane" he lets it rip. I mustn't be too specific, this being a play full of grisly surprises, but there's one thing about which I can be absolutely precise: "A Behanding in Spokane" is the funniest new play to open in New York since I started writing this column."
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: "The latest Broadway play from Martin McDonagh lands somewhere between "Pulp Fiction" and an extended star-driven sketch from "Saturday Night Live." We already knew that McDonagh ("The Beauty Queen of Leenane," "Pillowman") writes with remarkable facility in the self-aware, neo-gothic, Tarantino-esque style. But the formative devil has become more formatively devilish. "A Behanding in Spokane" reveals a more comic and happily anarchic side of this irreverent Irish writer, who consumed American noir as a youth in far greater quantity than Kerrygold butter. "
Posted on: Thursday, March 04, 2010 @ 10:47 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
The first Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker stars Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Tony Award nominee Alison Pill (The Lieutenant of Inishmore) as Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, iconic roles made famous by Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in the Tony Award-winning play and landmark feature film adaptation. Set in the South in the 1880s, The Miracle Worker tells the story of real-life Medal of Freedom winner Helen Keller, who suddenly lost her sight and hearing at the age of 19 months, and the extraordinary teacher who taught her to communicate with the world, Annie Sullivan.
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: "Bottom Line: The emotional impact of the story of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan still comes through in this uneven Broadway revival."
Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "But like the original, this Miracle Worker benefits greatly from the involvement of two dynamic young actresses. In her Broadway debut as Helen, adorable Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin manages to make her mute, tortured character moving without turning her into a creature of pity. Breslin's grunts and grasps convey not only frustration but also unmistakable curiosity. She lets us see in Helen the same intellectual potential and thirst for life that Annie recognizes."
Ben Brantley, The New York Times: (Link via El Paso Inc) "How can you not cry, knowing that this breakthrough moment will lead to one of the most astonishing and admirable careers in American history? You are likely to feel, though, that the tears haven't been truly earned by a production that delivers full emotional frissons only in its final, fail-safe scene."
Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "Facial expressions mean a lot in "The Miracle Worker," and depending on where you are sitting at Circle in the Square, you will miss some of them. That's particularly true of the play's final moments, the celebrated "water" scene where Helen grasps the idea of language for the first time."
Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune: "It also is tough to play in the round. Or so, at least, it seems at Circle in the Square. Designer Derek McLane has the Keller's furniture stored up in the air, on wires. That idea mostly seems to cause everyone problems: the parameters of neither the Keller house nor Annie and Helen's treehouse ever seem clear. The rules of space and reality keep changing and the flashbacks involving Annie's late little brother have an uncomfortably Dickensian patina, that keeps torpedoing the freshness of this approach. Most problematic, the show lacks the swirl of the necessarily circular style. "
David Rooney, Variety: "Circle in the Square's last tenant, "The Norman Conquests," was a superlative example of the enhanced scrutiny and heightened involvement that can be afforded by in-the-round presentation. "The Miracle Worker" is a less ideal fit; its staging in this first Broadway revival appears shaped more by necessity than by concept. Kate Whoriskey directs William Gibson's midcentury chestnut with sensitivity, if not with any startling new insight. But the volatile battle of wills between the young Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, remains dramatically and emotionally effective, played with conviction by Abigail Breslin and Alison Pill."
Erik Haagensen, Backstage: "I've never been sure if William Gibson wrote a great play or merely an expert telling of a great story. After seeing the show's first Broadway revival, I'm still not sure, but there's one thing I'd bet good money on: You should never stage "The Miracle Worker" in the round."
Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: " That the theater is in the round adds more burdens. The set distractingly hangs from wires above the stage, and is lowered up and down depending on the scene. Worse, sections of the audience can't see the actors' faces during key moments -- and there's only so much you can express with the back of your head. For a show about the importance of communication, the irony is a bit too rich."
Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: "While highs and lows are largely lacking in the emotions department, the set provides ups and downs. Furniture above the stenciled stage is constantly being lowered and raised as needed for the show, which is performed in the round, with the audience surrounding the action. As such, there inevitably are scenes when you'll be eyeballing backs. A few eclipsed exchanges isn't a big problem. But a tearjerker that leaves you dry in the eyes - now that's an issue."
Posted on: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 @ 10:19 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
I couldn't be happier this morning about the news regarding EVITA's return to Broadway... We had the news here on BroadwayWorld.com first back in early February thanks to our International reporters in both Spain and Argentina picking up on Spanish-language news items.
I had the pleasure of catching Elena Roger when she did it in London a few years back, and thought she was absolutely phenomenal and I'm glad that she's getting the opportunity to do it again here in New York.
The Message Boards are abuzz with the news as well, mostly regarding word that Ricky Martin has been offered the role of "Che". I missed him in Les Miserables, but my many reports he was fantastic in the role and in attracting an audience so I've got a very open mind there...
Can't wait!
Posted on: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 @ 11:16 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
"The prevailing impression of a new book from the Theater Development Fund, "Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play," is that playwrights find themselves financially "exploited," especially when compared to their counterparts in the lucrative worlds of TV and film."
And it goes on to discuss the economics of being a playwright in 2010 including royalties, weekly payments and the semi-startling summary that
"The average playwright earns between $25,000 and $39,000 annually, with approximately 62% of playwrights earning under $40,000 and nearly a third making less than $25,000. These sums are not what playwrights make from writing plays. Rather, it's the income they make for playwrighting plus teaching, TV writing, etc."
It's interesting timing as we'll be announcing something new on BroadwayWorld.com to help burgeoning playwrights as early as this week (if all goes to plan, which sometimes it does). It's important to the future of theatre and plays in America -- and to keep playwrights writing FOR the theatre instead of losing them to the lure of the Hollywood dollar. More to come on this one, later in the week.
This one's been under-construction for a while, so I'm very excited to announce that the first phase is now READY! You can now associate your BroadwayWorld.com login with your Facebook login.
So, what does this mean?
If you're not yet registered for BroadwayWorld, you can now do so with one easy step, getting access to the message boards, special offers, ticket discounts and lots more.
If you are currently using BroadwayWorld, you'll be able to log into both sites at once (who doesn't like less logins?)
This however, is just the first step and we'll have a lot more very cool features on the way to take advantage of this new connection in the coming months ... that I can't wait till our team finishes so I can share them! More to come and have a nice weekend!
Posted on: Friday, February 19, 2010 @ 12:13 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Tens of thousands of users are taking advantage of BroadwayWorld.com's many mobile points of access and we've got some exciting additions to announce.
Users of BroadwayWorld.com's iPhone app have automatically recieved an update which greatly enhances our wireless show listings, all with new user-requested features including show logos, mapping functionality, mobile video previews & more useful information! If you're not yet using BWW on your iPhone, just search the app store for 'BroadwayWorld'. If you're already using it, you don't need to do anything, you're all set.
And, we now have an updated install icon for Blackberry users which installs a direct link to BroadwayWorld.com's Blackberry Site, which includes all the content of the web site, the message board, restaurant guides, show listings and for the first time, mobile video previews as well (for those using the newer Blackberry OS).
All of our wireless features have been updated to take advantage of the new Blackberry functionality. To install BroadwayWorld.com on your Blackberry, simply enter w.broadwayworld.com into your wireless browser!
Lots more to come!
Posted on: Monday, February 15, 2010 @ 01:14 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Just a quick amusing find... Buried in the news stories about the first of what's sure to be MANY letters (and hopefully more substantial works) from J. D. Salinger is his report in a letter to a friend on "Ain't Misbehavin'" that he attended in 1979...
By August 1979, his interest in the city has further waned. He discusses how much he enjoys the 30 hours he spends each August mowing his fields atop "the big dopey tractor" and writes that he was in New York for the first time in months and hated it. He and a companion attended a performance of "Ain't Misbehavin'." The best part, he reports, was the subway ride.
Posted on: Friday, February 12, 2010 @ 02:58 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Few things are more annoying (and are more easily avoidable) to both fellow audience members and to those on stage alike and that's when a cell phone goes off in the theatre. It means that the audience member (generally) has ignored both verbal and written reminders as well as the common sense / respect for others to do so.
You'd think that Ben Brantley, Chief Theatre Critic of The New York Times, and therefore a constant theatergoer would be amongst those to quickly and fully condemn such behavior, but you'd be wrong. In a new blog post, Brantley relays the tale of a theatre date of his forgetting to turn her cell phone off and cites the instant shame as punishment and reminder enough to prevent it from happening again (to her) in the future, noting that he's now more sympathetic to the other side of the issue.
While I'm not suggesting that lynching is a viable alternative (although...), I've always thought that there could be a technical solution to this problem one of these days with cell phone blockers that could still allow legitimate emergency calls through to doctors, etc. using a separate frequency.
I also wonder if Brantley's opinion would be harsher if it hadn't happened to a friend of his or if theatre critics and writers (myself included) had to pay for their theatre tickets, thereby potentially making it more of a personal investment. Thoughts?
Posted on: Thursday, February 11, 2010 @ 03:08 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Well, I went out earlier today for a meeting and regretted walking instead of taking public transportation. If you're curious about what's going on with today's weather (or if you're in a windowless office or out of the city), you can click here for the live Times Square Cam.
Personally, I think there's nothing better to do today than to curl up with a nice cup of hot chocolate (with marshmallows of course) and to read through the 500+ entries in this year's GIANT Valentine's Day feature which features the favorite Broadway songs of everyone from Streisand to Boyle, Peters to Mackintosh, HAIR to GLEE and everything in between.
Posted on: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 @ 02:53 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
In case you ever thought that there might be a musical version of the HBO hit mob-family drama THE SOPRANOS (and I think the only ones who did might have been New York Magazine), the mag checked in with star Edie Falco at last night's Drama League Gala who told them "No. Off the top of my head, no, I couldn't [see that happening]. I think David Chase would probably hang himself before he let such a thing happen."
Click here for their full report and let's be glad that there's one less thing for us all to worry about.
Posted on: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 @ 02:05 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Bashing the Roundabout Theatre Company has been a popular online topic as the non-profit theatre company didn't have the most successful of years (then again, few non-profits did in the economy). The good news for fans of the theatre company is that the company's got a heck of a lot more assets than they do debt, so conventional wisdom says that they'll be around for years to come producing even more theatre that, at the very least, will always have people talking.
Philip Boroff of Bloomberg News covers Roundabout's financials in a story this morning on the site, and delves into both how they went from producing a revival of "Merrily We Roll Along" to "Sondheim on Sondheim" instead, as well as into the company's deal with "All About Me" and more.
It's an interesting Monday AM read for sure, and though attacking the 'big guy' is always easy, I'm keeping the faith and believe that we'll be seeing lots more good work from them ...
Posted on: Monday, February 08, 2010 @ 09:34 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
The only real surprise (to me) in this morning's Academy Awards Nominations announcements was that the wonderful documentary, EVERY LITTLE STEP, wasn't included on the list. The film did make the Best Feature Documentary short list back in November, which are the 15 films (narrowed down from 89) that were being considered for the 5 documentary slots.
The documentary is thankfully however available on DVD and if you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it.
EVERY LITTLE STEP explores the incredible journey of A CHORUS LINE, from ambitious idea to international phenomenon. Through 15 years of continuous performances from the 70's to 90's and a revival beginning last year, A CHORUS LINE has touched generations around the world with stories so poignant, they could only have come from truth. The film compares and contrasts the original musical with the current revival. It investigates the societies in which they've debuted, and why the themes are so timeless and universal.
The film goes behind the scenes with exclusive interviews and footage of the revival's audition process, revealing the dramatic journey of the performers, and unfolding the story of life imitating art. The real dead-of-night conversations in a dance studio that inspired A CHORUS LINE were recorded to audio tapes which have been locked away for decades. The filmmakers, James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, were granted unprecedented access. Interviews, then and now, with the creative minds who shaped A CHORUS LINE and the cast who realized it provide fascinating insights and reveal the truths behind the genesis of the show.
Posted on: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 @ 12:15 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
In efforts to better serve YOUR theatre interests, BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the net, is seeking YOUR feedback to help us determine new site features, adjust direction, and help plan our extensive growth for 2010!
All survey results will be kept fully anonymous, and you may enter your email address on the last page (it will be stored separately, not with your survey answers) for a chance to win a FREE pair of tickets to one of Broadway's hottest shows as our thank you for taking the time to fill out the survey.
Thank you for participating, and we look forward to continuing to serve you!
Are we supposed to deny ourselves ordinary happiness because there's misery in the world? This is one of many questions Donald Margulies poses in his intelligent and timely new play. James and Sarah, a journalist and a photographer, have been together for nine years and share a passion for documenting the realities of war. But when injuries force them to return home to New York, the adventurous couple confronts the prospect of a more conventional life. Time Stands Still is a blazingly important new work about responsibility - to ourselves, to our loved ones, to our community, and to our world.
David Rooney, Variety: "Donald Margulies' new play is a thoughtful, absorbing work, its strengths maximized in the crystalline naturalism of Daniel Sullivan's production and the incisive interpretations of four astute actors. Reflecting on the divergent growth paths and changing needs of long-term relationships, "Time Stands Still" tends to tack on ethical debate points that reveal as much of the playwright's voice as those of his characters. This makes the drama somewhat amorphous and less satisfying than it could be. But there's a ring of truth to the emotional experience being thrashed out onstage that keeps it compelling."
Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: "Time Stands Still," which opened Thursday night at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater in a flawless Manhattan Theater Club production directed by Daniel Sullivan, is handily Mr. Margulies's finest play since the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Dinner With Friends." Like that keenly observed drama about the growing pains of adulthood, the new play explores the relationship between two couples at a crucial juncture in their lives, when the desire to move forward clashes with the instinct to stay comfortably - or even uncomfortably - in place.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: "Bottom Line: Donald Margulies' sharp, well-observed drama receives a beautifully acted Broadway production."
Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal: "I wish I could say something nice about a play that stars Laura Linney, Alicia Silverstone, Eric Bogosian and Brian d'Arcy James. No can do: Donald Margulies's "Time Stands Still" is a predictable piece of middle-of-the-road Pulitzer bait that has nothing to recommend it beyond the cast, Daniel Sullivan's staging and Mr. Beatty's set, all of which are exemplary."
Erik Haagensen, Backstage: "Margulies' habit of carefully doling out the exposition keeps us engaged, but it's not enough. Though there's much to admire at the Friedman Theatre, "Time Stands Still" ultimately fails to cohere in either a thematically or emotionally satisfying way."
Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "But it is Linney who galvanizes the production, expertly riding the rhythms of Margulies' insightful writing. There is an unsparing directness to her performance - not to mention a superb sense of timing - that makes this photographer one of the most compelling characters to grace a Broadway stage this season."
John Simon, Bloomberg News: "Donald Margulies's "Time Stands Still" compellingly demonstrates what a master playwright can do with great economy and efficiency, and with four fine actors who conjure up a commanding cross section of our conflicted, compromising or intransigent world."
Melissa Rose Bernardo, Entertainment Weekly: "As a shrapnel-scarred war photographer, Laura Linney (HBO's John Adams) is all sharp edges and steely gazes in Time Stands Still, whether battling her journalist boyfriend (Brian d'Arcy James) or pouncing on her editor (Eric Bogosian) and his 'embryonic' young girlfriend (a brilliant Alicia Silverstone). Why this woman is so prickly remains a mystery, but Donald Margulies (Sight Unseen) has crafted another beautifully bleak portrait of a tortured artist. A-"
Michael Sommers, NewJerseyNewsroom.com: "At heart a mournful individual, Sarah might be a total downer were it not for the tensile steeliness of purpose that Linney builds into her character. Setting her jaw and lowering her vocal pitch, Linney effectively makes Sarah a woman on a mission to expose the wounds of the world no matter what the personal price."
Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "Time Stands Still (* * * out of four), which opened Thursday at Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, is a case in point. The characters and dilemmas are variations on themes we've encountered before - if not in life, then in films and TV dramas. Sarah, a photographer, and James, her journalist beau, are socially conscious adrenaline junkies who thrive on dangerous, purposeful assignments."
Stephanie Zacharek, NY Magazine: "There's a mournful tug beneath the surface of Time Stands Still, but the material, directed here by Daniel Sullivan, is also colloquial, lively, and inquisitive without being preachy."
Linda Winer, Newsday: "It feels ungrateful to be impatient with any play that gives Laura Linney a flinty, complicated character to put under her high-powered microscope. And it's at least as unsettling to be frustrated by "Time Stands Still," the Donald Margulies drama that bothers to grapple with authentic and timely questions about the nature of happiness amid a world of suffering."
Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: "Under Daniel Sullivan's direction, the cast of this Manhattan Theatre Club production rises above the material it's been handed. Richard is a sketch of a nice guy, but Bogosian fills it with substantial decency. Silverstone imbues Mandy -- a part written with infuriating condescension -- with a kindness and generosity that make Sarah and James look like rude jerks."
Posted on: Thursday, January 28, 2010 @ 11:50 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Tony® Award-winner Liev Schreiber and Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson, in her Broadway debut, star in Arthur Miller’s A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE directed by Gregory Mosher on Broadway at the Cort Theatre. This limited engagement will run for 14 weeks only. In A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, Schreiber plays Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman obsessed with his 17-year-old niece Catherine, played by Scarlett Johansson. When Catherine falls in love with a newly arrived immigrant, Eddie's jealousy erupts in a rage that consumes him, his family, and his world...
Ben Brantley, The New York Times: "Mr. Schreiber is such a complete actor that he has often thrown productions into imbalance, highlighting the inadequacy of the performances around him. That is not a problem here. That the excellent stage veteran Ms. Hecht holds her own with Mr. Schreiber is no surprise. That Ms. Johansson does - with seeming effortlessness - is."
David Rooney, Variety: "Sometimes it's high praise to call a stage director's work invisible. The compliment applies to Gregory Mosher's searing revival of "A View From the Bridge," though it by no means indicates any lack of craftsmanship or insight. Returning to Broadway after a considerable absence, Mosher has instilled in his outstanding cast an unconditional trust in Arthur Miller's text, evoking a time, a place and a 1950s blue-collar community with penetrating integrity. Each scene flows seamlessly from the one before in a production that expertly plants the seeds of inexorable tragedy yet grips with a tension and volatility that make every moment seem unpredictable."
Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "A new revival of A View From the Bridge (* * *½ out of four) features what could be this season's most inspired piece of movie-star casting - though you may not immediately recognize the star."
Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "As Alfieri says of the play's protagonist: "Eddie Carbone never expected to have a destiny." At the Cort, Schreiber, Johansson and company have managed to make it a memorable one."
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: "Bottom Line: Scarlett Johansson makes a fine stage debut and Liev Schreiber delivers another titanic performance in this revival of Miller's classic tragedy."
David Sheward, Backstage: "Scarlett Johansson matches Schreiber's intensity as the inexperienced but determined Catherine. This film star makes an impressive Broadway debut, clearly conveying what this girl wants-to be a grown woman-and pushing against the only obstacle in her path: her overly attentive uncle. As Eddie's loving but agonized wife, Beatrice, Jessica Hecht stakes her claim as one of our most sensitive portrayers of downtrodden women. Her climactic howl of despair rings through the theater and tears at your heart."
Stephanie Zacharek, NY Magazine: "Schreiber even manages to look stunned by the violence at the show's climax, as if Miller hadn't been signaling it from the start. Schreiber recognizes it as a moment of Shakespearean grace, as Hecht's Beatrice does-her body folds around his, protectively, like the petals of a flower. But it's not time to go home yet: That noble wet blanket Alfieri is lurking nearby, ready to send us off with a final, mournful monologue. Yet even he brings a delicate touch to Miller's speechifying. Can actors save a playwright from his worst impulses? This A View From the Bridge may be everything a playwright, living or dead, could want: People who care enough not just to keep your language and your ideas alive, but to watch your back."
Linda Winer, NY Newsday: "Over a decade of New York theater, Liev Schreiber has coolly skinned the layers of darkness off some of its most thrilling and complex tough guys. He has been sleaze triumphant in David Mamet and Eric Bogosian, silken menace in Harold Pinter, crumbling evil as Shakespeare's Macbeth and Iago. Even so, nothing prepares us for the shattering grandeur of his Eddie Carbone - the Brooklyn longshoreman..."
Michael Sommers, NewJerseyNewsRoom.com: "Written by Miller with an inexorable sense of doom, "A View From the Bridge" is a drama where viewers realize early on that something bad surely is on the way and yet can't help but hope the flawed hero somehow will avoid catastrophe. Schreiber's sensitive, deeply-felt portrayal of inarticulate Eddie Carbone only increases one's pity for this good-hearted man wrecked by a love gone terribly wrong."
Peter Marks, Washington Post: "The acumen on display raises the Cort's thermostat from what might have been coolly sobering to positively scorching. You'll leave, happy to have felt the theatrical heat."
Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly: "But this production pivots on Schreiber, as it must. And the actor effectively conveys Eddie's inner torment, feelings so deep he seems incapable of articulating them with mere words, let alone of overcoming them. B+"
John Simon, Bloomberg News: "Johansson, looking less cosmeticized than she does onscreen, fits the bill well enough as an otherwise ordinary but appealingly young girl and comes across sincere and believable. Schreiber brings his considerable skill to conveying outward stolidity and uncomprehended inner turmoil, the dumb animal sliding into a wild one. So, too, Corey Stoll manages Marco's transition from dignified calm to wounded fury with condign competence."
Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: "Rarely has a character shown so much appetite for self-destruction as Eddie, and Schreiber's sober portrayal makes you feel for each agonizing decision. But then, we already knew that Schreiber is a superb stage actor equally at ease in Shakespeare ("Macbeth") and Mamet ("Glengarry Glen Ross"), and that Hecht can suggest flutters of pain and defiance that will tear your heart out. Johansson, on the other hand, comes out of left field with a committed performance that's resolutely unshowy. She certainly does better by Miller than Katie Holmes did in 2008's "All My Sons." This Catherine is demure and shy, but she also goes after what she wants, and it's just wonderful to watch Johansson challenge both herself and our expectations of her. She's the biggest surprise in a production that's short on them -- not that this is a bad thing. As this show proves, a punch in the gut doesn't hurt any less if you see it coming."
Posted on: Sunday, January 24, 2010 @ 10:19 PM Posted by:Robert Diamond
Victor Garber stars in this new production (and the first Broadway opening of 2010!). Garry is a vainglorious actor who is about to celebrate his birthday with a trip to Africa. But when Garry's posh London flat is invaded by a love-struck ingénue, his estranged wife, an adulterous producer and a crazed young playwright, so begins the kind of midlife crisis that could only come from the brilliant mind of comic genius - and master of the mix-up - Noël Coward.
Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "director Nicholas Martin manages to keep the bubbles from bursting in the Roundabout Theatre Company's effervescent revival that opened Thursday at Broadway's American Airlines Theatre. Much of the credit goes to his debonair leading man, Victor Garber, who looks totally at home in a spiffy dressing-gown and silk pajamas. But then the man has the requisite matinee-idol profile to play Garry Essendine, a charming, self-absorbed actor who bears an uncanny resemblance to the playwright himself."
Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: "Should Bergdorf Goodman experience a sudden run on velvet smoking jackets and silk pajamas, blame Victor Garber, the debonair star of the Roundabout Theater Company revival of "Present Laughter," Noël Coward's valentine to the maddening, marvelous world of the theater and to his own maddening, marvelous self."
Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: "Coward didn't traffic in over-the-top, but when Ashmanskas is on stage, it's omnipresent laughter. Works for the show, works for me."
Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: "The performances are fun to watch -- and Garber does have a smooth charm -- except that they belong to different shows."
Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal: "If you've never seen "Present Laughter," go and enjoy yourself: It's a comic gem, and this production is much better than none at all. The set alone, an Art Deco orgy designed by Alexander Dodge, is almost worth the price of admission. If you know the play at all well, though, you won't need to be told what Messrs. Martin, Garber and Ashmanskas are getting wrong, and why it matters."
Scott Brown, NY Magazine: "Victor Garber, God bless him, can wear the daylights out of a dressing gown. He can even make an old one look...well, not new, exactly, but damned comfortable. And "comfortable" is the word that pops immediately into mind after experiencing the gentle, genial charms of the Roundabout's Present Laughter, a comedy about aging ungracefully, the silken pleasures of decompensation, and the people we choose to grow old with, to the extent that we have any choice in the matter."
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: "Unless a comedy by Noel Coward is played with perfect precision, it tends to have the taste of champagne that has lost its fizz. Such is the case with the Roundabout's Broadway revival of "Present Laughter." In this production, the name of the lead character of aging matinee idol Garry Essendine, modeled on the playwright himself, has been reduced to Gary. Like that wayward letter, something has been lost along the way."
John Simon, Bloomberg News: "The text has undergone cuts, rephrasings, and some peculiar additions, including a redundant, musical-comedy second ending. Still, no one can quite kill Coward."
Brendan Lemon, Financial Times: "A climactic physical gag between the playwright, played by Brooks Ashmanskas, and a dowager, played by Alice Duffy, remains priceless, but Ashmanskas's wide-eyed leaping about tended to grate the second time around. And the line readings of the lovely Pamela Jane Gray, as Garry's seducer Joanna, slow down the evening's pace too much. Otherwise, Present Laughter is delightful."
Michael Sommers, NJNewsRoom.com: "Roundabout Theatre Company's revival, which opened Thursday, showcases Victor Garber, an excellent actor who's all right here but doesn't possess that indefinable but indispensable life force that Coward termed "star quality." Without a powerfully charming hero blazing at its core, the comedy drifts along rather than whirls away."
Erik Haagensen, Backstage: "it's with bewildered disappointment that I have to report that Roundabout's current production amounts to almost a total misfire."
David Rooney, Variety: "The silk dressing gowns and suave airs of aging matinee idol Garry Essendine are a fine fit for Victor Garber in "Present Laughter," as are the quietly melancholy undertones of a charming but vain peacock, too self-absorbed and infantile to appreciate the pleasures life affords him. He's housed in the swankiest of London apartments in Nicholas Martin's elegant production, with its gorgeous, honey-toned deco wall treatments and cascading chandeliers, dominated by a portrait of Garry as Hamlet that leaves no doubt as to who's the center of attention. But those assets can't keep a certain windy fatigue from creeping into Noel Coward's comedy."
Posted on: Friday, January 22, 2010 @ 12:27 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
BroadwayWorld.com, the largest, most comprehensive theatre site on the net with regional coverage for 100 U.S. cities, and 25 countries is now going even more global!
At the request of many of our International readers and to help serve Broadway (and BroadwayWorld.com's) growing audience of tourists, for whom English isn't their native language, we're proud to announce that the site can now be instantly translated into 52 languages, including Chinese, Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Russian, Thai, Welch, and many more all powered by the technology of the Google Translator.
Now, millions more theatre fans, site visitors, and New York bound travelers around the world can enjoy BroadwayWorld.com's unmatched content in their native language via a simple pull-down menu located on the left navigation bar.
This new feature enables them to easily navigate the site, read articles, browse show descriptions, and purchase tickets to the Broadway shows of their choice, as well as gather information on special events, restaurants, hotels and other New York City offerings as they plan their trips to the Great White Way.
Additional BroadwayWorld.com international expansion and partnerships will be announced shortly!
Posted on: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 @ 11:24 AM Posted by:Robert Diamond
In “Promises, Promises” C.C. Baxter gets ahead in the corporate world by loaning his apartment to married executives wanting a private place to take their girlfriends. Would you ever consider doing the same?
Geoffrey Nauffts' NEXT FALL takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. While the play's central story focuses on the 5-year relationship between Adam and Luke, NEXT FALL goes beyond the typical love story. This timely and compelling new American play forces us all to examine what it means to "believe" and what it might cost us not to.
The first Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker stars Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Tony Award nominee Alison Pill (The Lieutenant of Inishmore) as Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, iconic roles made famous by Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in the Tony Award-winning play and landmark feature film adaptation. Set in the South in the 1880s, The Miracle Worker tells the story of real-life Medal of Freedom winner Helen Keller, who suddenly lost her sight and hearing at the age of 19 months, and the extraordinary teacher who taught her to communicate with the world, Annie Sullivan.
This one's been under-construction for a while, so I'm very excited to announce that the first phase is now READY! You can now associate your BroadwayWorld.com login with your Facebook login.
Google Buzz is the newest entry into the social networking space, and if you're using Gmail, well, you're already a 'member'.
Tens of thousands of users are taking advantage of BroadwayWorld.com's many 
Few things are more annoying (and are more easily avoidable) to both fellow audience members and to those on stage alike and that's when a cell phone goes off in the theatre. It means that the audience member (generally) has ignored both verbal and written reminders as well as the common sense / respect for others to do so. 
The only real surprise (to me) in this morning's Academy Awards Nominations announcements was that the wonderful documentary, EVERY LITTLE STEP, wasn't included 
Are we supposed to deny ourselves ordinary happiness because there's misery in the world? This is one of many questions Donald Margulies poses in his intelligent and timely new play. James and Sarah, a journalist and a photographer, have been together for nine years and share a passion for documenting the realities of war. But when injuries force them to return home to New York, the adventurous couple confronts the prospect of a more conventional life. Time Stands Still is a blazingly important new work about responsibility - to ourselves, to our loved ones, to our community, and to our world.
Tony® Award-winner Liev Schreiber and Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson, in her Broadway debut, star in Arthur Miller’s A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE directed by Gregory Mosher on Broadway at the Cort Theatre. This limited engagement will run for 14 weeks only. In A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, Schreiber plays Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman obsessed with his 17-year-old niece Catherine, played by Scarlett Johansson. When Catherine falls in love with a newly arrived immigrant, Eddie's jealousy erupts in a rage that consumes him, his family, and his world...
Victor Garber stars in this new production (and the first Broadway opening of 2010!). Garry is a vainglorious actor who is about to celebrate his birthday with a trip to Africa. But when Garry's posh London flat is invaded by a love-struck ingénue, his estranged wife, an adulterous producer and a crazed young playwright, so begins the kind of midlife crisis that could only come from the brilliant mind of comic genius - and master of the mix-up - Noël Coward.
BroadwayWorld.com, the largest, most comprehensive theatre site on the net with regional coverage for 100 U.S. cities, and 25 countries is now going even more global!
Grosses & Quote
LOOPED Reviews
March 8, 2010
Karimloo Unmasked
LA CAGE Blog: Sean Patrick Doyle's First Entry
'IDOL' WATCH: The Top 8 Women
Ke$ha and Orianthi Perform On American Idol Results Show 3/17
ADDAMS FAMILY Cast Album Gets June 2010 Release!
STAGE TUBE: The Making of AMERICAN IDIOT
'10 Lincoln Center Festival to Feature Jones, von Hove et al.
STAGE TUBE: Ben Vereen Hosts Jazz at Lincoln Center's ' Fats Waller,' 4/16-4/17
Sheik & Sater Debut New Song at Sondheim 80 Gala, 3/22
Laurie Beechman Theatre Hosts Joan Rivers in April and May
Kushner to Give Commencement Spech for SVA Graduation, 5/14
