Joan Marcus News

Roughly two months ago American Theatre announced that for the second time in the past three seasons, Lauren Gunderson has topped their list of the most-produced playwrights in the country, her 33 professional productions among the 385 Theatre Communications Group's member theatres easily surpassing second place finisher Lauren Yee's 18, Tennessee Williams' 17 and more than doubling the totals of August Wilson and Neil Simon. She came in at #2 on last year's list after her first #1 finish the year before. (For the record, Shakespeare, who would surely rank #1 every season, is excluded.)

Six years before the world premiere of part one of his eventual Pulitzer-winning, monumental theatre epic ANGELS IN AMERICA, Tony Kushner was an inexperienced 26-year-old playwright who, as inexperienced 26-year-old playwrights are wont to do, wrote and directed an Off-Off Broadway play about young, optimistic bohemians living in Berlin during the rise of Adolf Hitler, which was regularly interrupted by a then-contemporary character offering commentary on the parallels between the emergence of the Third Reich and what was going on in America at the present time.

Beginning at a rather leisurely pace, JITNEY takes its time introducing us to the cast of characters working and hanging out together in the one-room gypsy cab business office run by Becker (Steven Anthony Jones), a former mill worker who prides himself on owning his own business. His employees, who we learn about via their individual stories as they interact with the other characters, allow the audience an intimate view of the Pittsburgh working-class struggling to keep afloat in a time of great social change during the city's period of so-called a?oeurban renewal,a?? as the city tries to shut down businesses -- including the cab station -- to make way for a new, more upscale modern building

In 1979 a strike by the New Orleans Police Department led to the city's official cancellation of that year's public Mardi Gras celebration. The people of New Orleans had something else in mind.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's HAMILTON is certainly one of the best touring shows going, and the company visiting Richmond through December 8 is of the greatest imaginable quality.

Marley is still dead to begin with, and near the end we're still reminded of Tiny Tim's observation, 'God bless Us, Every One!' But in between... Let's just say I never thought I'd have to fact-check the plot before reviewing a production of A Christmas Carol.

Every decade has a quintessential musical associated with it: Guys and Dolls for the 30s, Jersey Boys for the 50s. For the 1960's, A Bronx Tale is that musical.

Great comedy is often the byproduct of political scandal and those who humorously comment on the news often overshadow the newsmakers themselves.  You might say that more Americans learned about the controversies of Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon from watching The Smothers Brothers and Mort Saul, rather than Walter Cronkite.  For over forty years our perceptions of world leaders have been defined more by the impersonations seen on Saturday Night Live than by actual news clips.  And today there are a multitude of television hosts combining comedy with deep analysis and investigative journalism to editorialize on the goings-on of the current administration.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will begin previews for the MOBILE UNIT's production of Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE on Monday, November 18. Directed by LA Williams, the free sit-down run of MEASURE FOR MEASURE follows a three-week tour to the five boroughs that brought Shakespeare to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts. MEASURE FOR MEASURE will run through Sunday, December 8 with an official press opening on Friday, November 22.

That harmonious hit jukebox musical Jersey Boys is once again back at Syracuse's Landmark Theatre as part of the Famous Artists Broadway Theater Series: Broadway in Syracuse. The musical of course tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.

When a play is called a?oea must see,a?? I get a little nervous, but August Wilson's Jitney was exactly that. It's healthy to question your peers, but the Huffington Post was spot on with that description. Broadway in Detroit is currently presenting the show in partnership with The Detroit Public Theatre at The Music Hall until November 16th in Detroit. Winner of the 2017 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, the show is set in the early 1970s and this richly textured piece follows a group of men trying to eke out a living by driving unlicensed cabs or jitneys. When the city threatens to board up the business and the boss' son returns from prison, tempers flare, potent secrets are revealed and the fragile threads binding these people together may come undone at last. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson with an extremely talented group of performers, Wilson's poignant story to life on stage in a magnificent way.

The Half-Life of Marie Curie is now in previews and will celebrate opening night on Tuesday, November 19 at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane, between MacDougal & 6th Avenue – one block south of W. 3rd Street), Audible's creative home for live performances in New York.

Last night, November 13, New York City Center kicked off its Gala Presentation of Evita, running through November 24. Directed by Sammi Cannold, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock-opera musical follows the controversial ascent of Argentina's renowned first lady.

It's been a long-time point of pride among New Yorkers to be living in the most culturally and ethnically diverse spot on the planet, and given the history of the planet you can say that, comparatively, the city has done pretty well in encouraging a society of integration and acceptance.

Music, connection, fear, love, lonelinessa?? Once, is a musical that isn't afraid to grab hold of your heartstrings and take you on a journey through the spectrum of human emotion and universal experience. The 8-time Tony Award-winning Broadway smash hit opened last night at the Bucks County Playhouse bringing romance, a dreamy sense of melancholy, and the magic of a shared love of music to this historic theater.

15 years after the movie premiered, Mean Girls is still making 'Fetch' happen, this time onstage.

The complete cast for A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY features Linda Emond (Annabella Gotchling), Michael Esper (Vealtninc Husz), Grace Gummer (Paulinka Erdnuss), Jonathan Hadary (Xillah), Nikki M. James (Agnes Eggling), Crystal Lucas-Perry (Zillah), Nadine Malouf (Rosa Malek), Mark Margolis (Gottfried Swetts), Estelle Parsons (Die Älte), Danielle Skrastaad (Understudy), Michael Urie (Gregor Bazwald), Kerry Warren (Understudy), and Max Woertendyke (Emil Traum).

MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by LA Williams. MEASURE FOR MEASURE will begin its run at The Public on Monday, November 18, following a three-week tour to correctional facilities, homeless shelters, social service organizations, and community centers. The production will have an official press opening on Friday, November 22.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at The Mean Girls National Tour which launched on September 21 in Buffalo, NY. Mean Girls features a book by nine-time Emmy Award winner Tina Fey, based on her screenplay for the film, music by three-time Emmy Award winner Jeff Richmond; and lyrics by two-time Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin. Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw directs and choreographs.

Audiences might be familiar with the 1993 film, a?oeA Bronx Tale,a?? which was directed by and starred Robert De Niro. It's the tale of a young man growing up in the Bronx in the 1960s who is torn between his father and the Mafia boss who takes him under his wing. The film also featured its writer, Chazz Palminteri, and was based on his one-man play of the same name. The musical A BRONX TALE was adapted by Palminteri from that play over the course of a decade and opened on Broadway in 2016. It is this production that is at DPAC this week, as a stop on its second national tour.