The Main Line - - Broadway Articles Page 15

In my play Dial 1 for UK, my character, an undocumented migrant who moves to London for a better life, smiles for a reporter and says: “It’s a dream to be here.” This line, and the play itself, reveals a profound contradiction: the dream is alive, but it's haunted. 

Only two new musicals are opening on Broadway in the first half of the 2025-2026 season: The Queen of Versailles and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). There has been much discourse on the topic of whether rising capitalization costs and the rareness of full recoupment is impacting the number of new musicals being produced on Broadway. 

The annual Fall Festival presented by the Ashland New Plays Festival is just around the corner. Learn more about the festival and see how to purchase tickets here!

The Al Hirschfeld Foundation is celebrating the release of Hirschfeld’s Sondheim with nationwide events in New York, California, Pennsylvania, and more. The new poster book, featuring over 50 drawings of Stephen Sondheim’s works, includes essays by Bernadette Peters, Ben Brantley, and David Leopold.

Blessed with undeniable vocal talents and an endearingly charming persona, Tony and Olivier Award winner and Disney Legend Lea Salonga recently returned to Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts for the one-night-only Orange County stop of the North American leg of her brand-new, perfectly-curated concert tour 'Stage, Screen, and Everything in Between' to a sold-out crowd that included a mix of rabid superfans, Broadway/musical theater enthusiasts, and, yes, lots of proud fellow Filipinos. Accompanied by a rousing, multi-piece band led by musical director Larry Yurman and a couple of excellent background vocalists (who were showcased in duets with her on a few songs), the concert was, to no one's surprise, an exquisite showcase of Salonga's enduring artistry, stage presence, global appeal, and, of course, incredible talents.

It’s been 70 years since the publication of Patricia Highsmith’s celebrated thriller, and the introduction of one of literature’s greatest creations: Tom Ripley.  He’s appeared in four further novels, several films, most famously the Oscar-nominated one by Anthony Minghella, and a recent TV series on Netflix starring Andrew Scott.  This year, the numerous articles in the media about the character continue – what makes him so consistently compelling?

What did our critic think of OPERA À LA CARTE'S PRODUCTION OF OFFENBACH'S ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD at St. Peter's Episcopal Church Of Del Mar? With even large companies struggling to survive, why did soprano and voice teacher Abla Hamza decide to found Opera À La Carte? Her goals were laudable. As national opportunities continued to shrink, she wanted to provide new ones to local professional opera singers and attract San Diegoans new to opera with lower cost tickets and less intimidating venues. But could she succeed during such a difficult period? Opera À La Carte began with vocal recitals at small venues, and last year graduated to its first full opera.

On August 5, 2025, Teater Tetas performed Plunge: Catatan Kelam Sembilan Delapan (Plunge: An Account of the Ninety Eight Tragedy) at Graha Bhakti Budaya.

Set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, there is a chilling and unsettled edge to Endgame as the shadow of death haunts the characters. This is cleverly done from the off, as ghostly fabric hides the set pieces and a blank picture frame hangs on the wall. Staging is minimal and effectively chosen overall; this is not a home as most would recognise it.

During Thursday night's monologue, Jimmy Kimmel addressed the potential strike that could occur if the Actors’ Equity Association and the Broadway League can't come to an agreement on terms for a new contract. Find out what he had to say here.

Rubicon Theatre will launch the company's 2025-2026 'CROSSROADS' Season with Million Dollar Quartet. Learn more about the production and see how to purchase tickets!

Narrative ballet is hard, so anyone willing to go there deserves a medal regardless of the outcome. The Royal Ballet (mainstage) season opened last night with Christopher Wheeldon's 2022 Like Water for Chocolate. Based on the 1989 Laura Esquivel novel of the same name, the ballet is fundamentally a love story, and includes all the trials and tribulations that often come with it - with a heavy dose of mysticism and culinary explorations.

FX is officially moving forward with Very Young Frankenstein, a new series spinoff of the 1974 Mel Brooks film Young Frankenstein, with a cast that includes Zach Galifianakis, Nikki Crawford, and Kumail Nanjiani.

L'Alliance New York will present the upcoming North American premiere production of Coquilles as part of the 2025 Crossing The Line Festival. Learn more!

Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts will present The Marshall Tucker Band at Patchogue Theatre in February. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets.

Hulu has cancelled Mid-Century Modern after one season. The sitcom, which starred Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham, premiered in March of this year and ran for ten episodes. 

For all the dreamers under the moon, SILENT SKY tells the story of Henrietta Leavitt, who unlocked the universe and redefined what we know about the cosmos.

What did our critic think of JONAS AND BARRY IN THE HOME at Ottawa Little Theatre?

My starry heart eyes were all lit up as I (I mean…..the audience) was serenaded by the mesmerizing voices of The River City Men’s Chorus Monday, Sept. 22, at the St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock for their 22nd season opening concert, THE MAGIC OF STAGE & SCREEN.

Did you know that the Equity Production Contract officially expired on September 28. Actors’ Equity Association and the Broadway League are currently negotiating the terms under which actors and stage managers will work on Broadway for the next several years.

Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts will present Broadway's Rock Of Ages Band at Patchogue Theatre. Learn more about the performance and see how to purchase tickets here!

Mark Minnick directs SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER at Toby's in Columbia through November 2, 2025. The music is most of the Saturday Night Fever album by the incomparable BeeGees. It’s a terrific immersive experience, filled with color and sound. The band is flawless, the vocals impressive, the choreography inspired, and the cast’s commitment to the performance unrestrained.

Perhaps no one is more surprised Steve Hackett is doing a retrospective on THE LAMB 50 years after the fact than the guitarist himself. THE LAMB was ranked in the top ten of Rolling Stone magazine’s top 50 progressive rock albums of all time. The BBC called it a “conceptual masterpiece.” Hackett has another word for it: an anomaly.

Colin Hay, who will perform an acoustic show Nov. 2 at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main Street in downtown Columbus), disagrees with the assessment, but the former Men at Work frontman is a man of misperceptions. For example:

Just over 100 years ago, Perth was rocked by a murder that paralleled events happening on the other side of the world that were to become the inspiration for the musical Chicago. Theatre 180 transport us to the Roaring Twenties to illustrate how far the truth can be bent in ARTHUR HAYNES AND THE SMOKING GUN, with a mini-season taking place at the very spot of the crime that shook the city, Government House.