I'm usually not one to sit in judgment of my journalistic colleagues but when one of them is up on stage performing, what's a theatre critic to do? Fortunately, I can honestly report that Matt Windman, known for his snappy reviews in amNew York and on Theatremania.com, did a fine job in the small role of 'Matt Windman,' on opening night of Paper Mill's funny and heart-tugging production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. (Actually, the role would have been a little larger if he knew how to spell 'palestra' correctly.)
Roundabout Theatre Company presents the new Broadway production of Oscar Wilde's comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by and starring Brian Bedford as 'Lady Bracknell,' at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd St.).
Count Dracula, the world's most famous vampire, returns to the New York stage this fall in DRACULA by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, based on the eponymous novel by Bram Stoker, opened January 5 at the Little Shubert Theatre (442 West 42nd Street). Paul Alexander directs the production, which began previews December 14. Based on the world-famous novel by Bram Stoker, DRACULA is the classic Gothic drama about the power of seduction and the nature of true love.
Donny & Marie - A Broadway Christmas, a new holiday production starring America's favorite sibling entertainers, has extended for two performances, now ending on January 2, 2010. The production had been once extended through December 30, 2010. Productions on December 31 and January 2nd have now been added due to demand.
Brendan Fraser and Denis O'Hare star in ELLING on Broadway with Jennifer Coolidge in ELLING, new comedy from London, directed by Tony Award-winner Doug Hughes. ELLING began performances Tuesday, November 2, opened Sunday, November 21 on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre 243 West 47th Street and will play a strictly limited engagement through March 20, 2011. ELLING is based on the popular original novels by Ingvar Ambjørnsen and adapted for the Oscar nominated film and the stage by Axel Hellstenius and Petter Næss, in a new English adaptation by critically hailed writer Simon Bent. ELLING played the West End and was nominated for the Lawrence Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year.
ELF opened on Sunday, November 14th at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street). ELF is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Buddy is raised unaware that he is actually a human, until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa's permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father and discover his true identity. Faced with the harsh reality that his father is on the naughty list and his step-brother doesn't even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. This modern day Christmas classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner ELF!
Based on Pedro Almodóvar's internationally acclaimed 1988 film, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN is set in late 20th-century Madrid and tells the story of the intertwining lives of a group of women whose relationships with men lead to a tumultuous 48 hours of love, confusion and passion and now it's come to Broadway!
THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, the exhilarating new Kander & Ebb musical, opens Sunday, October 31 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street). THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is the final collaboration by musical theatre giants John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret). Based on the notorious 'Scottsboro' case in the 1930s (in which nine African-American men were unjustly accused of a terrible crime) this musical explores a fascinating chapter in American history. This production is directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers) and features a book by David Thompson (who adapted the script for Chicago's record-breaking revival).
RAIN performs the full range of The Beatles' discography live onstage, including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles themselves recorded in the studio but never performed for an audience. From the early days of their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 through Sgt. Pepper and on to the Abbey Road years, RAIN performs it all. The multi-media concert recaptures the era through all phases of The Beatles astounding musical career including Shea Stadium, the psychedelic late 60s and the long-haired hippie, hard-rocking rooftop days. A fusion of historical footage and hilarious television commercials lights up video screens and live cameras zoom in for close-ups.
It's an opportunity to see acting legends James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave together on stage when they star in one of the most beloved and celebrated American stories of the late twentieth century, Driving Miss Daisy, which will have its Broadway premiere this fall. Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play (later adapted into an Oscar-winning film) is a timeless, searing, funny, and ultimately hopeful meditation on race relations in America, told through the complex relationship between Daisy Werthan (Redgrave) and her driver Hoke Colburn (Jones), two of popular culture's most enduring characters.
BROADWAY MELODY MAKERS on Friday October 15th at 8PM, was directed by Scott Coulter, with musical direction by Ross Patterson. The cast also includes Tony Award ® winners Alice Ripley (Next to Normal, Sideshow) and Michael Cerveris (Assasins), along with Nellie McKay (Threepenny Opera), Tom Wopat (Annie Get Your Gun, A Catered Affair), and Mary Testa (Xanadu, On the Town). The concert featured songs by Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, and so many others down through the decades to the likes of Jule Styne and Cy Coleman, among others.
In BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, rising star BENJAMIN WALKER reprises his role as America's first political maverick. A.J. kicked British butt, shafted the Indians and smacked down the Spaniards all in the name of these United States-who cares if he didn't have permission? An exhilarating and white-knuckled look at one of our nation's founding rock stars, BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON recreates and reinvents the life of 'Old Hickory,' from his humble beginnings on the Tennessee frontier to his days as our seventh Commander-in-Chief. It also asks the question, is wanting to have a beer with someone reason enough to elect him? What if he's really, really hot?
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC 're-opened' on Sunday night August 1st as it officially celebrated Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch joining the cast. So what did the critics have to say?
The cast of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, which ended its twice extended, sold-out run at Vineyard Theatre on Sunday, April 18, will record an Original Cast Album of the musical on Friday, April 23rd, it has been announced by Vineyard Theatre Artistic Director Douglas Aibel. The cast album of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will be recorded and released by JAY Records. Release date TBA.
ANYONE CAN WHISLTE is an experimental satire that takes aim at every target on the American cultural scene of the moment-conformity, psychology, race relations, greed, religion and politics. It divided the critics, thrilled the emerging counter-culture, baffled the masses, and became an instant legend-one that has grown over the years along with Sondheim's reputation. The title song and 'With So Little to Be Sure Of' have survived as cabaret classics, but the rarely heard complete score is a riot of jazzy, show-biz razzmatazz, waltzes, gospel numbers and Broadway pastiche, as full of variety and surprise as the show that gave birth to it.
