Susan Hilferty News

Hey Des Moines, here she is. A new production of 'Funny Girl' opened on Tuesday evening. When you think of the show 'Funny Girl,' one of the first things you probably think of is the person you saw bringing Fannie Brice to life on stage. For the show to work, you need someone who can deliver an iconic performance. That may be why it took nearly 60 years for the show to be revived on Broadway. Now, just short of 60 years, the revival's national tour is making a stop in Des Moines as part of the Willis Broadway Series. Judging from the audience response, there is a new iconic name that people will consider when thinking of 'Funny Girl.'

The North American Tour of FUNNY GIRL is coming to BroadwaySF’s Orpheum Theatre for a limited four-week engagement this spring. See who is starring in the tour and learn how to purchase tickets.

What did our critic think of WICKED at Regent Theatre?

FUNNY GIRL is coming to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles for a limited four-week engagement this spring. See who is starring and learn how to purchase tickets.

The Metropolitan Opera has unveiled the 2024–25 season lineup. Learn about the operas being presented and see how to purchase tickets.

TDF, the not-for-profit service organization for the performing arts, has just announced that celebrated costume designer ANN HOULD-WARD and legendary scenic designer RICHARD HUDSON are among the 2024 TDF/Irene Sharaff Award recipients.

Funny. In 1964 a newcomer named Barbra Streisand was the third or fourth choice  to take on the role of Fanny Brice in the new Jule Styne musical FUNNY GIRL. The result catapulted a gawky Jewish girl from Brooklyn to superstar status. And the musical has never been revived again on Broadway.

Tonight, at a celebration honoring outstanding theatre on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered at the ATLAS Performing Arts Center for Theatre Washington's announcement of nominees for the 40th Helen Hayes Awards.

'WICKED' celebrated its 12 millionth visitor at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre. Get all the details!

What a way to open a brand-new year of live theater in Nashville: in Funny Girl, audiences may have found exactly what they were longing for as Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s touring presentation provides a portentous kick-off to 2024. In fact, we can’t recall a standing ovation more gratifyingly sincere and genuine in the 35+ years we’ve been reviewing shows at TPAC than the one with which the company was rewarded on opening night in Andrew Jackson Hall. It was appreciative and effusive – downright enthusiastic and straight from the heart – the thunderous and sustained reaction to two-and-a-half hours of gloriously exhilarating musical theatre straight out of the golden age.

Get a first look at footage of The Avett Brothers' Swept Away at Arena Stage!

The producers of FUNNY GIRL, the sensational musical comedy revival, are delighted to announce full casting for the North American Tour coming to the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis for a limited two-week engagement from January 23 to February 4.

The acclaimed Broadway revival of Parade is hitting the road in 2025! The musical will launch its tour in January 2025 at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, followed by its official tour premiere at Hennepin Theatre Trust’s historic Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.

On Wednesday evening, The Avett Brothers (Scott Avett, Seth Avett, and Bob Crawford) celebrated the opening of their new musical, Swept Away, running at Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theater at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, D.C. through January 14 after a thrice-extended run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in early 2022. Check out photos below!

Read the reviews for Swept Away at Arena Stage.

What did our critic think of SWEPT AWAY at Arena Stage?

Check out photos from opening night of The Avett Brothers musical Swept Away at Arena Stage!

Get a first look at Swept Away at Arena Stage!

THEATRE FOR A NEW AUDIENCE announces final extension of Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' starring Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks. Don't miss this critically acclaimed production running through December 23.

Theatre for a New Audience, responding to demand, will present a two-week extension of its production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, directed by Arin Arbus. Learn how to purchase tickets!