If - 1927 - Broadway Articles Page 1

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom stars A Noise Within resident artist Amber Liekhus in the title role, with ANW newcomer Jamar Gilbert taking on the role of Levee. I decided to speak with the two actors about their experience bringing the two iconic roles to the stage and why they believe the play teaches important lessons about Power, Music, Survival, and Legacy.

The American Broadway musical has seen quite the evolution since the 1927 introduction of SHOWBOAT, widely considered the blueprint for using song and dance to advance a story’s plot. Over the years, audiences and technology have grown so sophisticated that 2025’s Tony Award winner for Best Musical about two robots falling in love (MAYBE HAPPY ENDING) no longer seems far‑fetched.

Over the years, Broadway has seen a number of family acts sharing the stage. It’s extra special when family members team up to write a Broadway show together. The Great White Way has seen many instances of this historically, in a variety of different situations. While last week’s column focused on spouses penning shows together, this week is all about blood relatives partnering to write work. 

Over the years, Broadway has seen a number of family acts sharing the stage. It’s extra special when family members team up to write a Broadway show together. The Great White Way has seen many instances of this historically, in a variety of different situations. 

Since The Lost Boys took Broadway by storm this spring, there has been much chatter about the “vampire curse” on Broadway being lifted. In the early 2000s, Broadway received a string of three vampire musicals, which all closed relatively quickly. Dance of the Vampires (2002), Dracula (2004), and Lestat (2006) each received attention in their own right, but they also received attention as a group, since it was remarkable that they came along in such quick succession. But the early 21st century wasn’t the first time vampires thirsted on Broadway. The play adaptation of Dracula was a hit all the way back in 1927 and an even bigger hit in a 1977 revival. And there have been vampires lurking in the theatre district in all sorts of other projects too…

What is a pro-shot and how is it different than an adapted film? Pro-shot is an abbreviation for professionally shot, denoting a stage play that was captured in its native habitat: a theatre. In general, a pro-shot seeks to film the exact experience that audience members would have at a live performance of the show, in contrast with a feature film which actually adapts the piece into a new form, including different locations, the removal of theatrical aesthetic, and changes to make the script work as a film as opposed to as a live theatrical show.

xBroadway’s current theater capacity rules have not always been how they are now. The distinctions between Broadway, off-Broadway, and other types of venues have changed over the decades as the industry has evolved. 

The St. Charles Singers will perform 'Sacred Spaces,' an a cappella program of sacred works at venues in Wheaton and St. Charles, before embarking on a concert tour of Italy, including St. Peter's Basilica.

San Diego Theatres continues its SILENT MOVIE MONDAYS series with a striking presentation of Metropolis, showcasing Kino Lorber’s most complete restoration of Fritz Lang’s groundbreaking silent film.

TheatreZone announced its 2026–2027 season featuring six musicals and four concerts, including a world premiere by Naples-based playwright Mike Ruffolo and one of the first regional productions of HARMONY following its Broadway run.

Asolo Repertory Theatre has announced its 2026/2027 Season — a celebration of 1927, the year John Ringling moved the 'Greatest Show on Earth' to Sarasota. Learn more about the lineup here!

This history gives context to the legacies of theatrical dynasties—considered to consist of at least three subsequent generations of theatre creators. In 2026, there is a stigma around any successful professional who follows a parent into their line of work, with this being seen as a pattern of nepotism.

For the past two seasons, 14 or 15 new musicals have opened on Broadway. Even in the challenging first two seasons coming out of the pandemic, Broadway saw 8 or 9 new musicals opening. And in the last four full seasons prior to the pandemic, Broadway saw an average of 11 new musicals per season. What gives?

After staging a charming version of Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer two years ago, the Orange Tree's Tom Littler brings us Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 250-year-old comedy The Rivals. Like She Stoops to Conquer, Littler, along with associate Rosie Tricks, has almost rewritten the play, updating much of the language and making the setting the Wodehousian 1920s.

The Park Theatre's two-part production of The Forsyte Saga - based on John Galsworthy's Nobel-winning epic novels of love, ownership and the end of Empire - plays the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

With frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in the news due to actor Bruce Willis fighting the disease for several years, I decided to speak with playwright Jake Broder, an Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute, about his motivation to create Unravelled and his research on the disease.

Broadway currently boasts 41 theaters. This number has always been ever-changing—since even before the first time the word “Broadway” was used to describe professional theater in New York.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been taped at the Ed Sullivan Theatre located on Broadway between 53rd and 54th Streets since it began in 2015. Before the Broadway-loving Colbert took over The Late Show, the host was David Letterman, who ruled late night from 1993 onward via his perch at 1697 Broadway.

Prohibition is in full swing but you're invited to flout the rules at The Snapper…if you have the password, that is. A wholly immersive murder mystery from interactive theatre company Not Cricket Productions, Murder at The Speakeasy II, is a fun and family-friendly adventure.

Dietrich Smith directs the world premiere of Amerika or, The Man Who Disappeared, for Open Fist Theatre Company at Open Fist. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets!

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL is a vibrant, music-soaked love letter to a city that lives and breathes rhythm even in the face of heartbreak and hardship. The Phoenix Theatre Company creates a celebration of a city, its culture, and its music.

In many of America’s cities, theatre history exists in plain sight. Whether inside a museum or on a street corner, fascinating pieces of theatre lore exist, waiting to be discovered by an interested passerby. Here are ten inspiring displays of theatre history I saw up close and in person this summer, from New York City to Washington D.C. and beyond. You can visit them too—and many are free to see! 

The League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT) has bestowed the 'Outstanding Historic Theatre Award' to Jacksonville's very own Florida Theatre! Learn more here.

Do you love plays?! Looking to beef up your knowledge of straight plays? AMT is beginning something new, a 'reading series, with a lower case r!' entitled Theater IQ Come to AMT Theater.

Second Stage Theatre’s 43rd Street off-Broadway house, right near 8th Avenue, recently changed hands and is now the home of Studio Seaview . Seaview’s first production in the space is Angry Alan, starring John Krasinski. They have renovated and updated the space since Second Stage switched off-Broadway locations to now present shows at the Signature.