5,790 stories by "Jonathan Mandell"
Thomas Jefferson was in his forties when he began having sex with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, who was 14. Had they fallen in love? The question is absurd. But did they eventually f…
With twelve shows opening on Broadway in the next ten days" and several Off Broadway " it's a taxing time (yes, a pun) for theater award voters and critics, and a busy one for theater makers…
A woman is pictured as a machine several times in "Lempicka," a musical about Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980), an artist whose heyday was in the 1930s, painting Art Deco-style portraits of…
With Tax Day approaching, here are seven times that characters have sung or talked about taxes in Broadway musicals, from "I'll Put a Tax on That" in Casino Girl 1910 to "My Shot" and "Cabin…
In the middle of the busiest theater month in memory, the theater company Playco held a group nap today. It was the first of its slate of free events during its  "Month of Rest" …
In "The Outsiders," opening on Broadway tonight, an exciting cast of gifted young performers, a lovely if little-varied folk and country score, and some thrillingly muscular, almost cinemati…
Since the publication of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the Jazz Age " on April 10, 1925, 99 years ago today "  "The Great Gatsby" has been turned into an opera, a ballet,  several …
By the end of "Oh, Mary!," we have learned that First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was a homicidally bitter alcoholic and frustrated cabaret singer married to a vicious closet homosexual whose ass…
Nature's getting dramatic, taking center stage, with the earthquake last week and the eclipse today. (New York City is expected to see a partial solar eclipse, with the moon covering about 9…
Zombie fungi " the same parasites that wipe out civilization in the sci-fi thriller "The Last of Us" "  are real; fruit flies grieve; a group of five towns in 17th century Italy fil…
The Great American Eclipse of 2024 is happening in North America on Monday, with the moon completely blocking the light of the sun in cities from Mazatlan, Mexico to Montreal, Canada, …
There is an arresting tidbit about Leonard Bernstein and "West Side Story" near the beginning of "Broadway Melody" (Benzinger and Frank, 492 pages), written by Jack Viertel, whose illustriou…
"Wet Brain," "Buena Vista Social Club" and "Stereophonic" received the most nominations for the 39th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. Wi…
Below is a calendar of dates in 2024 when nominations and awards are announced, and ceremonies take place, for the major New York theater awards (and a few others), followed by an opinionate…
Once again, the voices of the original Broadway cast of "Rent" rang out from a New York stage " this time at Lincoln Center. But as Idina Menzel sang "Over the Moon," Sandra Mae Frank perfor…
Ariana DeBose will once again be the face of Broadway, when she returns for the third time as host of the Tony Awards. The Oscar-winning actress of "West Side Story" and six-time Broadway ve…
Below is a selection of theater opening* in April. It's an overwhelming number of shows " fourteen just on Broadway, twelve of them in the week leading up to the April 25th cut-off date f…
Elmer J. McCurdy was killed in a shoot-out with sheriff's deputies in Oklahoma in 1911, but took 66 years to be buried, his mummified remains having been exhibited all that time by a seri…
How well were you paying attention to the theater news and reviews in March? Answer these ten questions " plus a bonus question " to find out. Loading…
There is a core of irresistibly tuneful songs in "The Who's Tommy" that have drawn in fans for more than half a century, first with the rock band's pioneering 1969 double album, then t…
In honor of World Theater Day, celebrated internationally every March 27th since 1962, here are 10 beautiful theaters from around the world, and 10 great books about New York theater. …
John Patrick Shanley's latest play begins with a tentative connection between two lonely middle-aged people, Fran (Cecily Strong), who brings her latest bag of dirty laundry to the neighborh…
I reviewed seven shows this past week " two on Broadway, two Off-Broadway, two Off-Off Broadway, and one in Kentucky. A mad busy theatergoing week, prelude to an even more insane month, with…
 We're in the parking lot of the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church on a hot Good Friday afternoon in Dallas, Texas. We're also on stage in the Pamela Brown Auditorium of the Actors…
Bathhouse.pptx,  "a mess" of a play about gay bathhouses that is "a symptom of loneliness and longing" (in the words of its playwright Jesús I. Valles), won the 2023 Yale Drama Seri…
