Ben Brantley News

Rehearsal shots have been released for new dark comedy Fritz and Matlock written and performed by long-time collaborators James Wallwork (BBC, Film4) and Salvatore D’Aquilla (War Horse, BBC) opening at The Pleasance Downstairs this October 5-17. The show is directed by Jessica Millward and produced by Olivia Munk of Part of the Main Productions.

Signature Theatre has announced the cast of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, National Humanities Medal-recipient Anna Deavere Smith’s gathering of voices surrounding the 1992 L.A. civil unrest in a complex portrait of a city’s racial anguish.

Stream the track of Jeremy Jordan singing 'Grow For Me' THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. The same day, the label will release Little Shop of Horrors – The New Cast Album on CD, online, and in stores. This production is the recipient of 2020 “Outstanding Revival” Awards from the Drama Desk, the Drama League and the Outer Critics Circle.

Wallwork, who is based in London, and D'Aquilla, who lives in Sheffield, wrote the play over Zoom during the COVID-19 lockdown. Fritz & Matlock is set in the basement of an inner city Sheffield house. Carl Fritz (D'Aquilla) and Barry Matlock (Wallwork) try to bury the bodies of their past and find their way to a more hopeful future.

Jason Danieley returns to Feinstein’s/54 Below with Reflections, an evening of Broadway and Great American Songbook standards threading together reflections of yesterday, today and a hopeful look toward tomorrow.

Reflections is an evening of Broadway and Great American Songbook standards threading together reflections of yesterday, today, and a hopeful look toward tomorrow.

The Obie Award-winning HERE has announced programming for its upcoming 2021/22 Season.

In its most ambitious work to date, the Obie Award-winning Target Margin Theater has announced details for We Will Care for You, a massive nine-hour theatrical event that concludes the Company’s four-year exploration of The One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of classic Silk Road stories.

Signature Theatre has announced a 35-minute video preview of playwright, actor, and scholar Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, directed by Taibi Magar, ahead of the Fall 2021 production on the Irene Diamond Stage.

SILENT is the touching and challenging story of homeless McGoldrig, who once had splendid things. But he has lost it all – including his mind. He now dives into the wonderful wounds of his past through the romantic world of Rudolph Valentino. Dare to laugh at despair and gasp at redemption in this brave, bleak, beautiful production, specially filmed by Fishamble, with support from Culture Ireland, to mark the production’s tenth year

On This Day, we're celebrating the birthday of Broadway favorite, Brian d'Arcy James!

Independent producer Adam Kern will present a reading of Ken Kaissar's Play The Victims Or: What do you want me to do about it?, which will have a virtual reading on Thursday June 24th 2021 at 8:00 PM EST on Zoom.  

NYSAF returns July 17-August 1 with in-person programming in Poughkeepsie for their 2021 Summer Season.  In partnership with Vassar College, Marist College, and Revel 32 °, NYSAF will serve the needs of theater and film artists today, bringing them safely together in community to generate new stories and reconnect with one another and audiences.

Feinstein's/54 Below has announced additional shows for its reopening months.

Two shows into their second series, PORCH PERFORMANCES is already making a mark in the 2021 season of live entertainment.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS have just announced that Tony Award Nominee Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, American Son) will finally be able to take the stage as Seymour, alongside original cast members Emmy Award winner Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland, Gypsy) as Audrey and two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle (Something Rotten!, Falsettos) as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S.. 

Classic Stage Company today announced the four female theater luminaries that comprise the summer lineup for its virtual Classic Conversations series: Pulitzer Prize finalist Anna Deavere Smith on June 3; Academy Award nominee Marsha Mason on July 1; Tony Award winner Chita Rivera on August 5; and Tony Award winner Donna McKechnie on September 2.

On the heels of its Tarik O'Regan Composer-in-Residence announcement which breaks new ground in the early music world, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale takes another bold step into the future with the appointment of bass-baritone DAVÓNE TINES as the organization's first-ever Creative Partner.

Classic Stage Company today announced Tony Award-winning actor and singer Brian Stokes Mitchell (Shuffle Along; Kiss Me, Kate; Chairman of The Actors Fund; Founding Member of Black Theatre United) as the March 25 guest for the online version of its Classic Conversations series.

On Wednesday, March 4th 2020, eight days before New York City theaters closed, Broadway was booming. I had tickets to see Matthew Lopez’s, The Inheritance.