628 stories by "Jan Simpson"
Directors often say that casting is the most important
decision they make since putting the right or wrong person in a role can make or break
a show. By that measure, the Roundabout
Th…
We regular Broadway theatergoers have gotten used to playing
host to movie stars over the past few years.
But most of them have been young starlets (male and female) hoping to make the…
So many shows, so little time. And since the traditional January post-holiday
reaping is now here, they're closing faster than I can write about them.
Some of those closi…
The news that she was getting $10,000 and a place at the
table alongside America's greatest playwrights must have thrilled Quiara
AlegrÃa Hudes when she got the news that her play Water b…
Today, January 9th, is my husband K's and my
anniversary and so I'm taking time out to celebrate with the man I love even
more than I love theater.
But before I sign off…
Dead Accounts is playing its final performance tomorrow, closing
three months before it had planned. I'm writing about it at this late date because I want to make the argument that the produ…
People began posting 10 best lists so early that I
don't know how they even managed to see"let alone rate"all the shows that
opened in November and December (click here for a handy rou…
It's no surprise that film critics are pooh-poohing the new
movie version of Alain
Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's pop opera Les Misérables. Just as it's no surprise that peopl…
May
your holidays sparkle with peace, love, happiness "and the thrill of great
theater.
In the meantime, have yourself the merriest little Christmas.
The small Minetta Lane Theatre was less than half full when
my theatergoing buddy Bill and I went to see the powerful new play
Falling. The poor turnout could have
been because it was the we…
Christmas is less than a week away and so you're no doubt already deep into your shopping list but there may be one person you
haven't gotten around to yet:
you.
Not to worry. I've…
Eve Ensler hit the theatrical equivalent of the Mega
Millions lottery with The Vagina Monologues, her collection of solo pieces in
which women talk about the full spectrum of the feminine ex…
Who
would have thunk it? After years of
being dissed, theater has become the place where all the cool kids want to hang
out. A pileup of Hollywood actors" Jake
Gyllenhaal, Katie …
Some people, like my sister Joanne, revel in the holiday
season and in all the holiday-themed shows that come with it. Other people,
like me, bah humbug our way through both.
Which is …
There may be some people who get off on watching actors
simulate sex onstage but watching people pretend to get it on under the glare
of a spotlight usually makes me squirmy. And yet, I was …
Just about everyone who has seen it is saying that the new revival
of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is not to be missed. And they're right.
This latest version of Edward Albee's m…
I've had a soft spot
for the porn industry ever since a blind date turned out to be a cameraman in
the business and took me to the party of a producer he worked with. I was
reminded of that …
Love him or hate him, Richard Nixon was rarely boring. But, alas, he is in Checkers, the new play about
the nation's controversial 37th president that is currently playing
at the Viney…
There will be, alas, no post day, and maybe not again until next Saturday. And here's why: in addition to the usual madness that always descends
at this time of year"the sprint towards…
From Jan: Samuel D. Hunter knew that he was going to alienate some
people by making a 600-pound man the central character in his new play The
Whale. As he told the online theater magaz…
Nerds"even the homeliest ones"rule in today's pop culture. They're
the stars of hit movies and TV shows. In real life, many are rich and envied. And
the prettiest girls don't even blink at h…
Hurricane Sandy has done its considerable damage and is now
gone. My husband K and I hunkered down and got through it
with no problems at all, save for a few flickering lights during the wor…
With just 10 days to go before the election and Romney
steadily gaining on Obama, you probably don't need anyone to tell you how
disappointing idealism can sometimes be, how messy democracy …
It's not easy to talk
honestly about race. And the fact that
it's no longer just a black-and-white issue in this country ups the degree
of difficulty. Still, many of today's
brig…
Hallie Foote has been celebrated as the foremost interpreter
of the plays by her late father Horton Foote and more recently of those by her younger
sister Daisy. But as I watched Daisy…
