178 stories by "Kevin Daly"
The musical Purlie, based on Ossie Davis’ 1964 comedy Purlie Victorious about a charismatic and enterprising black preacher who goes head to head with a bigoted plantation owner.…
A timpani drumroll, a series of minor chords and then seemingly out of nowhere, a showgirl appears. This tall, lithe yet shadowy figure seems frozen in time and space, but as the music ta…
It’s not often that one gets to see The Life and Death of King John (by William Shakespeare, no less), so when I received the press invite for the New York Shakespeare Exchange’s…
The Saint of Bleecker Street, Gian-Carlo Menotti’s penultimate Broadway opera, ran for only 92 performances at the Broadway Theater in 1955. However, the piece garnered enough at…
I saw the following shows just in the nick of time. I thought that I might skip them, but my gut instinct told me I had to check them out. All three shows I saw on their closing weekends,…
The esteemed Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, and rather then rest on their laurels they decided to present Hamlet for the very first time. I …
Seeing the first preview of Follies on Sunday, I haven’t been able to get the score out of my mind (something that happens every time I see the show). But this time, in particular, it&…
The first time I ever heard the name Phileas Fogg was in 4th grade. Our teacher wanted to read a classic adventure to us and chose Jules Verne’s classic Around the World in 80 Days.…
One of the unexpected perks of writing this blog has been the press invitations that have come my way in the last several years. It was new business for me, arranging dates and times with pr…
In the last post, I mentioned toward the end that I made an appearance on Jesse North’s Stage-Rush TV (my 2nd!)Â co-hosting the 70th episode of his weekly web series about the goings…
Thus endeth the sabbatical. After five weeks away from writing, I have returned with cool head and a keen eye and am looking forward to a new theater season and many adventures with friends …
There’s a lot going on at Sony’s Masterworks Broadway this spring. First of all, they celebrated the first anniversary of their essential website, with its ever-expanding databas…
Alexis Smith. Follies. Original cast. Wow. Related Posts Alexis Smith in “Platinum” "I do not do anything ‘merely’…" Mary Martin Goes to Hollywood "…
Merrily We Roll Along Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: George Furth February 8-12, 2012 Pipe Dream Music: Richard Rodgers Book & Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II March 28-April 1, …
The Independent Theater Bloggers Association is proud to announce the 2011 recipients of the 3rd Annual Patrick Lee Theater Blogger Awards. Patrick, one of our founding members and awards di…
It’s been 25 years since Larry Kramer took NY theatre by storm with his seminal play The Normal Heart, simultaneously an indictment of those who turned a blind eye to AIDS in the epide…
The original Broadway production of La Cage Aux Folles was a major success, winning six Tony awards and having a run of 1761 performances at the Palace Theatre. The original London productio…
It’s once again time to celebrate some of the breakthrough performances and debuts of the 2010-2011 theatre season! The Theatre World Awards will be held on June 7 at a venue to be det…
One thing that surprised me about Sister Act: The Divine Musical Comedy (that’s some billing) is that it’s rather entertaining. The new musical based on the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg …
I’m a big fan of Barbara Harris, make no bones about it. She’s a fascinating performer with a unique comic sensibility. For musical theatre fans, she’s most famous for her …
I’m convinced Donna Murphy can do anything. I believe this from having seen her past performances, but the versatility of the two-time Tony winner never always surprises me each an…
Luminous, effervescent, captivating, staggering, astonishing, breathtaking. These are all words I have used in the past five days to describe Nina Arianda’s star-making performance as …
Matthew Lombardo’s new play High closes today after only 8 performances, despite the megawatt presence of star Kathleen Turner. The concept is fascinating. A “been there, done…
The other night I settled in to watch the film adaptation of The Teahouse of the August Moon, an East meets West comedy about the 1946 occupation of Okinawa by the American military. I’…
While watching this clip, I realized that Angela Lansbury never transferred any of her Tony award winning performances to London’s West End. She starred in the original London producti…
