Brief Lives

In a world where AI increasingly tries to consume and simulate real human experiences, theatre sometimes feels like one of the last gasps of being in a room together. When we watch a show with others, respiration synchronizes, empathy increases, and information retention improves. It’s one of my favourite feelings.

Renowned international music conservatory Manhattan School of Music has announced that acclaimed composer, conductor, and saxophonist Jim Saltzman has been appointed Dean of the School's prestigious Jazz Arts division, effective July 1, 2025.

 Chicago’s Raven Theatre Company has announced its upcoming productions and programming during the company’s 42nd season in 2024 - 2025. Learn more about the lineup here!

National Sawdust has revealed its Winter/Spring 2024 season. Learn how to purchase tickets!

Harlem Stage has announced highlights of its 2022-2023 season, whose centerpiece is a seven-event series devoted to deepening and unpacking understandings of the Black Arts Movement, its intersections with the larger Black Power Movement, and its historic and cultural relevance in today’s America.

What did our critic think of SHREK! THE MUSICAL at Murry's Dinner Playhouse? The critic couldn't stop laughing, and loved every minute of it.

Being Alan Bennet, there is plenty of wit and humour.

Meet the complete cast for A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical, as rehearsals began in New York ahead of the musical's world premiere, pre-Broadway engagement this summer at Boston's Emerson Colonial Theatre.

Reyes | Finn will present Sail, the gallery’s third solo presentation of work by artist Maya Stovall, on view from April 16–May 28, 2022.

The Arts Council of Princeton has announced acclaimed fine art photographer Robin Resch as its Winter 2021 Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence. During her residency, Resch will continue work locally on her series, aptly named Taking Pause, in response to the challenges of this year and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Start sweater weather season off right with exciting new original series and A-list blockbuster movies coming this October to HBO Max.

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 greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!

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

How do we make a list of the 101 greatest show tunes from the past 100 years? Well, we did the near-impossible task.  Check out our full list here! 

An exclusive interview with Kennedy Caughell, a stunning multi-talented redhead who is currently starring as Carole King in the national touring musical, 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' in Thousand Oaks at the Fred Kavli Theatre.

Celebrating its 37th anniversary, Outfest - the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization promoting equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBTQ stories on the screen - today announced the complete programming lineup for the 2019 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, presented by HBO. The nation's leading LGBTQ festival will be held July 18-28, 2019.

In the latest North American touring production of what continues to be one of Broadway's laudable theatrical staples, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF's amiable patriarch Tevye is now being played by Israeli-born actor Yehezkel Lazarov, who gives the iconic role a fresh, less geriatric delivery that still shines with old-world charm, nuanced depth, and a down-to-earth, relatable persona. Lazarov--who leads this touring non-Equity iteration of the Bartlett Sher-directed 2015 Broadway revival--provides just one of the many reasons to reacquaint yourself with this enduring stage classic, now finishing up its limited engagement at Segerstrom Center for the Arts through May 19, 2019. Sill lively and emotionally poignant--and quite relevant and timely to see through the lens of the uneasy times we live in--the stage musical offers a safe, if slightly sanitized view into the lives of poor Jewish families in turn-of-the-century Russia where the looming assault of pogroms are about to threaten their very lives and existence.

'Bring it On' meets 'Dreamgirls' in the girl-group musical, 'Betty and the Belrays' by William Electric Black aka Ian Ellis James, which will be presented by Theater for the New City January 31 to February 17. The piece tells the story of three white female singers from Detroit who struggle to change a racially divided society by singing for a black record label. Book and lyrics are by William Electric Black. Music is by Black, Valerie Ghent (arranger/keyboards for Ashford & Simpson) and Gary Schreiner. Choreography is by Jeremy Lardieri. Director is Mr. Black.

'Bring it On' meets 'Dreamgirls' in the girl-group musical, 'Betty and the Belrays' by William Electric Black aka Ian Ellis James, which will be presented by Theater for the New City January 31 to February 17. The piece tells the story of three white female singers from Detroit who struggle to change a racially divided society by singing for a black record label. Book and lyrics are by William Electric Black. Music is by Black, Valerie Ghent (arranger/keyboards for Ashford & Simpson) and Gary Schreiner. Choreography is by Jeremy Lardieri. Director is Mr. Black.

On July 1, 1968, The Band's landmark debut album, Music from Big Pink, seemed to spring from nowhere and everywhere. Drawing from the American roots music panoply of country, blues, R&B, gospel, soul, rockabilly, the honking tenor sax tradition, hymns, funeral dirges, brass band music, folk, and rock 'n' roll, The Band forged a timeless new style that forever changed the course of popular music. Fifty years later, the mythology surrounding Music from Big Pink lives on through the evocative storytelling of its songs including 'The Weight,' 'This Wheel's On Fire,' 'Tears of Rage,' and 'To Kingdom Come,' its enigmatic cover art painted by Bob Dylan, the salmon-colored upstate New York house - 'Big Pink' - where The Band wrote the songs, and in myriad descendant legends carried forth since the album's stunning arrival.

The Old Globe's 2017-2018 Season continues with today's announcement of the complete cast and creative team for the Southern California debut of A Thousand Splendid Suns, Ursula Rani Sarma's sweeping and deeply moving theatrical production based on the best-selling book by Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner). Directed by Carey Perloff and presented in association with American Conservatory Theater, A Thousand Splendid Suns will run May 12 - June 17, 2018 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets start at $30.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Previews run May 12-16. Opening night is Thursday, May 17 at 8:00 p.m.

The Segal Centre for Performing Arts announced today an exquisite lineup of programming for its 2018-2019 season and a new name for its mainstage theatre.

New York's beloved Dance Theatre of Harlem, under the artistic direction of Virginia Johnson, returns to NY City Center for its annual homecoming season tonight, April 4, the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with the annual Vision Gala, honoring dance legend Carmen de Lavallade and civil rights icon Xernona Clayton.

Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, presents 'Breaking Bread with Balanchine'on Sunday and Monday, April 8 and 9, 2018 at 7:30pm.