355 stories by "Barbara Hoffman"
Kurt Vonnegut once wrote about a dystopian world that mandated mediocrity, so that beautiful people had to mask themselves, while brilliant ones donned headsets to scatter their thoughts. I …
Some musicals leave you wanting to sing and dance. One musical helped me leave my husband. And yes, that was a good thing. The show was "March of the Falsettos," William Finn's 1981, sung-th…
He played Hemingway in "Midnight in Paris," a doomed congressman in "House of Cards," and a gay heartbreaker in "Girls." And while he's got one more season to fight zombies on "The Strain," …
Nick Kroll and John Mulaney lead double lives: Their 70-something alta-kocker alter egos " Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland, respectively " say they met during the Columbia University stud…
Put on your headset " Simon McBurney wants to take you into the Amazon. His one-man show, "The Encounter," which opened Thursday night, is the most immersive show Broadway's ever heard. The …
Dan Rosales was waiting tables at Isabella's three years ago when a man and a pregnant woman sat down in his section. It didn't take long for the Boston Conservatory grad to recognize the ma…
Some cats love dogs " at least, many actors in Broadway's "Cats" do. After shows they leave their feline personas in the Neil Simon Theatre dressing room and cuddle at home with their canine…
Never has a "Tempest" touched off such a tempest. The all-female, bare-bodied Bard production that played Central Park in May was both warmly reviewed ("Liberating," trilled the Huffington P…
Psyched for fall? Josh Groban and Robert Morse are. At 35 and 85, respectively, they can't wait to get to Broadway. "I'm working harder than I ever have in my life and I'm loving every minut…
“Hamilton" has a new Mr. Burr, sir! Brandon Victor Dixon stepped into Leslie Odom Jr.'s boots this week, but he's no Broadway newbie: The 34-year-old Maryland native helped create the …
He worked on "Sleeping Beauty," "Mary Poppins" and "The Jungle Book." But while those Disney films are ageless, their animators are not " which is why Floyd Norman found himself canned becau…
The 20th annual New York International Fringe Festival rolls into town Friday, and for the next two weeks, you and sundry hungry off-Broadway producers are invited to look for the next "Urin…
Decades before she soared with "The Lion King" " even longer before she crashed with "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" " Julie Taymor saw her first Shakespeare play. It was 1960, and young Jul…
When Chilina Kennedy, the star of Broadway's "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," decided to adopt, she thought she was doing it for Molly. That was six years ago. Kennedy was living in her…
You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime, you just might find … you're singing backup for Mick Jagger. Hey, it happened to Matthew Ciuffitelli. Three years ago he wa…
Robert Cenedella may be an "art bastard," but he comes by it legitimately: Not only did his parents never marry, but he's an art-world pariah, and proud of it. You can see his work on-screen…
“I wish I was more of a go-getter," Michelle Williams says, laughing. "I just sort of sit and wait for things to come my way." So far, plenty's come her way, from "Dawson's Creek" to "…
Dining with Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Momofuku and Eleven Madison Park on someone else's dime? For most of us, that's priceless. For "Fully Committed" playwright Becky Mode, that was research.…
No, there isn't a shower in there. But anyone who's seen "Psycho" will recognize that rickety Victorian on the Met's roof: Norman Bates, are you in there? Not a chance. Like the house in the…
Somewhere under the massive beard he sports in "The Crucible" lies Ben Whishaw. The fine-boned British star of "London Spy" and the last two James Bond flicks hasn't been this furry since vo…
When it comes to making theatrical magic, Broadway often relies on specialists, such as dialect coaches, fight directors " and even actual magicians. But a number of current shows require mo…
Oh, what a difference a da Vinci makes " and a Rembrandt, a Michelangelo and a van Gogh. A whole who's who of old masters and impressionists is hanging on the walls of the old Whitney. The l…
It’s the rare star who covers for his own understudy. But Lin-Manuel Miranda did just that when Javier Muñoz, his alternate in "Hamilton," missed a Sunday matinee. Considering Sunda…
What’s it like beating up Bruce Willis? Laurie Metcalf " whose character does it eight times a week in "Misery" " says it's "a lot of fun," though both have the bruises to show for it.…
For years he starred with Mary Tyler Moore. Now Ed Asner's coming to New York to star in "A Man and His Prostate," in which the former Lou Grant enacts the tale of an American abroad, felled…
