A Lovely Light - 1964 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 1

It's music's biggest night! Laufey, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, and more took home awards at The 68th Annual GRAMMYs. Check out the full list of GRAMMY winners here.

Barbra Streisand, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, and more have been nominated for 2026 GRAMMYS. See the full list of nominations here!

Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl dropped on October 3rd, and it includes plenty of references—some explicit and some ambiguous—to real showgirls throughout history. Many of these women have a Broadway past worth exploring that adds new context to Swift’s songs.

Brian Wilson, musical genius and founder of the Beach Boys, died today (Wednesday, June 11, 2025), so in honor of him, here is an article of the 40 greatest Beach Boys songs that I wrote for Broadway World two years ago.  Love & Mercy, Brian!

Having seen over 320 shows in cities like London, New York, Edinburgh in 2024, it was certainly difficult to narrow it down to my top ten shows of the year, but I have done my best! This list is a mix of plays, musicals and stand-up comedy shows that I have seen as both a critic, as well as some that I went to as a punter.

Let's toast the New Year by looking ahead to some of the most anticipated shows of the next 6 months. We put together 14 shows we're looking forward to seeing next year, that are likely to sell out well in advance.

Bistro Award winning singer Kim David Smith was utterly mesmerizing at MORE MOSTLY MARLENE at Joe’s Pub on February 6th at 9:30 pm. Smith captured the essence of that famed star of stage and screen, Marlene Dietrich, and the period she represented.

Stream Original Comedy Specials “Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!” For HBO And “Gary Gulman: Born on 3rd Base” For Max, Max Original Documentary “Oprah and The Color Purple Journey,” HBO Original Documentary Series “Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning,” and more. Check out what's coming to Max and leaving Max in December 2023.

It seems fitting that Goodman Theatre opens new Artistic Director Susan V. Booth’s inaugural season with THE NACIREMA SOCIETY, a play that’s about coming out to society. This Chicago premiere marks a continuation of Booth’s long-standing relationship with celebrated Black playwright Pearl Cleage. THE NACIREMA SOCIETY takes the form of an extended farce, following the incredibly wealthy Dunbar family in 1964 Montgomery, Alabama. In this light-hearted (if not always legitimately laugh-out-loud) comedic play, Cleage draws heavily from classic farce conventions. As the centennial event of matriarch Grace Dubose Dunbar’s beloved Nacirema Society, Montgomery’s organization for Black young women, dawns — and she awaits her own granddaughter Grace’s coming out — the antics become more and more heightened as family secrets come to light.

Chicago celebrates the depth and breadth of Atlanta’s Poet Laureate with a first-ever citywide festival, featuring the centerpiece production The Nacirema Society, directed by Lili-Anne Brown at Goodman Theatre, plus concurrent readings, workshops and special events.

'Good Vibrations'? 'California Girls'? 'I Get Around'? See where your favorite Beach Boys songs land on the list!

Follow us throughout the day, as we'll bring you Tony nominee reactions, exclusive reports, surprises, behind the scenes coverage and oh, so much more!

The incredible four-act “Sixties Spectacular” is coming to Proctors, Schenectady 7 p.m. Saturday, April 29. The headliner is Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits.

Reviewer Peter Nason ranks his choices for Burt Bacharach's top 50 tunes.

From iconic elf costumes to familiar furry friends, fans of the TV special will be delighted to reunite with these festive favorites on stage. And for anyone new to Rudolph, this musical makes for a perfect introduction to the world of everyone’s favorite flying reindeer. 

In the wake of Stephen Sondheim's passing, there has been an outpouring of grief from the Broadway community and beyond. Read them all here.

Returning to lead the cast are Shereen Ahmed as Eliza Doolittle, Laird Mackintosh as Professor Henry Higgins, Leslie Alexander as Mrs. Higgins, Adam Grupper as Alfred P. Doolittle, Kevin Pariseau as Colonel Pickering, Gayton Scott as Mrs. Pearce, and Sam Simahk as Freddy Eynsford-Hill.

The national tour of MY FAIR LADY opens October 7th in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre, running through October 31st. Bartlett Sher directs this timeless story of Professor Henry Higgins’ experiment to transform the social standings of Eliza Doolittle, a lowly flower girl, to one fitting comfortably in high society. MY FAIR LADY, brimming with familiar musical standards, stars Laird Mackintosh as Professor Higgins and Shereen Ahmed as Eliza Doolittle. Had the chance to catch Laird during his offstage time before his evening performance.

Did you miss some of the many, many musical theatre references on Schmigadooon? We've got you covered! Find out where you first heard those references to Brigadoon, The Music Man, Oklahoma!, and more.

The criteria are that these shows have been nominated for Best Musical from the 3rd Tony Awards (the ceremony that started the Best Musical category) in 1949 to the nominations of what will now be the 74th Tony Awards in 2021. I will be determining their signs based upon their Broadway premiere date. With those rules in mind, here we go!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest Motown songs from 1960-1994. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest Beatles songs, including some of the fab four's solo works. They're all here: 'Twist and Shout,' 'In My Life,' 'Helter Skelter,' 'Imagine,' 'Something,' 'Maybe I'm Amazed,' 'Let It Be.' See if your favorites made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best musical theatre characters from 1940-2020; see if your favorites are on our list of the best characters from Broadway musicals.

The Beatles! Rihanna! Michael Jackson! Johnny Cash! Kanye West! The Rolling Stones! Aretha Franklin! Bob Dylan! Miles Davis! Nirvana! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest albums from the rock and rap era (1950-2020); see if your favorites made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best film musicals since the sound era began; see if your favorites made the list!