My One and Only

Speight Jenkins, who led Seattle Opera for 31 years and transformed it into one of the most respected opera companies in the US, has died at 89, the company announced.

What did our critic think of FUN HOME at The Gladstone Theatre?

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.

In the 1983 film, 'The Big Chill,' starring Glenn Close and Kevin Kline, a group of middle-aged, lifelong friends are reunited at a funeral after a member of their college clique commits suicide. The character Chloe, played by Meg Tilly, asks, “I haven’t met that many happy people in my life. How do they act?”

The lineup has been announced for the 33rd edition of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF), spotlighting 14 contemporary and classic feature films and 25 short films.

Written by acclaimed playwright Hannah Khalil, Love Omar is a love letter to theatre set backstage at Chichester Festival Theatre in 1983 when Omar Sharif starred in Terence Rattigan's The Sleeping Prince.  

The Young Texas Artists Music Competition will showcase eight exceptional classical musicians from Texas on March 14 at the Crighton Theatre. These finalists, either residents or students in Texas, will compete in a variety of categories for significant cash prizes.

Tony Award winner Richard Maltby, Jr. discusses with Jennifer Ashley Tepper About Time, his new revue written with collaborator David Shire which, alongside Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever, completes the writing team’s trilogy. They also chat about friendship with Stephen Sondheim, how Off-Broadway has evolved since the 1960s, the role Yale University has played, and more.

We had the opportunity to interview Jim Vagias about the show, his work at ATG and his plans for the future. 

Olly Alexander and Iz Hesketh will join Vanessa Williams and Matt Henry in a UK reading of Stan Zimmerman's suicide awareness play, RIGHT BEFORE I GO, at London's Soho Theatre.

Tony Danza gives NYC his Frank Sinatra memories in SINATRA & STORIES, February 11 to 13. This reviewer was thrilled with the amazing singing and dancing talents of Tony Danza!

Carolyn Lucas was studying dance in college when a friend took her to see iconic postmodern dance choreographer Trisha Brown (1936–2017) and her eponymous company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The experience changed her life and launched her career, according to Lucas.

It’s… Hairspray! BroadwayWorld is taking a look back at what the cast of this beloved musical has been up to since the show first graced the Broadway stage!

Musically and dramatically, THE OUTSIDERS plays like a top-notch chamber version of WEST SIDE STORY: less-heated animosities between the gangs, no symphonic aspirations to the music, and no hormones - none of these Greaser dudes has a girl! But when the music, the jagged choreography, and the special effects get cranked up, the fanaticism of the pre-sold audience is irresistibly contagious.

Four of Broadway’s ten longest running musicals are currently on the boards: Chicago, The Lion King, Wicked, and The Book of Mormon. One, The Phantom of the Opera, closed in 2023 after attaining the title of longest running Broadway show of all time.  But what about Broadway’s longest running plays?

The Broadway production of Ragtime was a glorious accomplishment, a riveting testament to the original American musical and to all that America itself could be. The show ran for 834 performances at the Ford Center, closing in the final year of the 20th century. It was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, taking home four.

One of the most effective things the musical gains by moving from page to screen to stage is permission to reframe the story without betraying it. By leaning harder into the Curtis brothers as the emotional spine, the musical clarifies a distinction that’s always been present in the text but rarely foregrounded this explicitly: Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy are family by blood, bound by obligation and grief; while the Greasers are family by choice, bound by loyalty and survival.

After a series of sold-out Australian seasons, including a five-star run at the Sydney Opera House, Yentl, Kadimah Yiddish Theatre's new adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer's story, will make its international premiere at Marylebone Theatre.

Based on S. E. Hinton’s 1967 novel of the same name as well as Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film adaptation. The Outsiders is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s. The story follows Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade, and their Greaser family of ‘outsiders’ as they battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. Together, the Greasers fight for survival and a quest for purpose in a world that doesn't accept them.

54 BELOW will celebrate the happiest time of the year with an incredible lineup of performances by Tony winner Christine Ebersole with Billy Stritch, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Darius de Haas, and more.

In the past few theater seasons, Sehnaz Dirik has enhanced her reputation for playing strong women.

For all those operagoers tired of classics set in rodeos, Las Vegas or on a space station (Paris has a BOHEME of that ilk), Otto Schenk’s production for ARABELLA, with stage design by Gunther Schneider Siemssen, dating back to 1983, will be a relief. It features a return to “old Vienna,” including an Act II ballroom scene that’s as welcoming as a sacher torte.

While different tryout theaters have different relationships to the development of new shows, it’s worth looking at both which commercial rental theaters and which non-profit theaters have had the most Best Musical Tony Award winners come from their stages.

Earlier this year, it was announced that the Library of Congress had acquired the Stephen Sondheim collection. The legendary composer and lyricist passed away in 2021 at the age of 91 after a long and extraordinary career. His collection at the Library of Congress is in the midst of being catalogued, and this piece shares several highlights from the boxes of Sondheim’s lyric drafts, music manuscripts, rewrite notes, brainstorm pages, song list outlines, and more.

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.