230 stories from Kritzerland
In lo these many decades I've been interviewing, I've always concluded with the same question.
It was the month in which Mark Rylance didn't give an asinine acceptance speech. Meanwhile, JERSEY BOYS had to start advertising "Live! On Stage!" while that show at the Majestic finally got…
They pored over 50 sports references found in lines or lyrics in Broadway musicals. Only Joe Keenan got all 50 -- so I'll inform the rest of you what he knew that you didn't.
Of course you know ANYTHING GOES and KISS ME, KATE. You probably know CAN-CAN, SILK STOCKINGS, OUT OF THIS WORLD and perhaps MEXICAN HAYRIDE as well. And while you would know plenty more Col…
May 26, 1985. Rome. I'd just finished seeing TAXI A DUE PIAZZE.
That may not translate to RUN FOR YOUR WIFE, but that was the title given to Ray Cooney's farce about bigamy.
So we come to the end of another season, one that was supposed to create record grosses thanks to the Super Bowl's February appearance in nearby Rutherford. But Broadway got no significant b…
All the nominations are out, and even some awards (such as the Outer Critics' Circle) have been dispensed. Time to move on to the new season. Welcome, 2014-2015!
Do musical theater enthusiasts really not care about sports? I'm acquainted with dozens of musical theater fans who know that runs and hits are not simply relegated to Broadway; they're part…
Daniel Craig, Daniel Radcliffe, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Orlando Bloom, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Mary-Louise Parker, Marisa Tomei, Debra Messing and…
Off-Broadway had as busy a month as Broadway. Stephen Cole's INVENTING MARY MARTIN was there to remind us that such a great star once walked among us and, more importantly, on stage. Cole wi…
Tuesday evening, April 8, 2014. Matthew Teague Miller, an MFA candidate in directing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is enjoying his cast's final dress rehearsal. Months e…
With all the renewed interest in Moss Hart's ACT ONE " spurred by the new play written and directed by James Lapine " I re-read the memoir, as well as two Hart biographies. One, Stephen Bach…
Before the excellent revival of A RAISIN IN THE SUN " and, oh, that LaTanya Richardson Jackson! " we hear over the Barrymore's sound system a long-ago radio interview with Lorraine Hansberry…
If you have little kids, you couldn't pick a better first-ever show for them than ALADDIN. Young children love anachronisms " "They didn't have that then!" -- and this new musical almost man…
At some point at every show I attend, I take a look at my watch to see how much time has passed. Have more or fewer minutes gone by than I've assumed? Many times, I've wound up assuming I ha…
So have you heard the plot of Edward Sakamoto's FISHING FOR WIVES which The Pan Asian Repertory Theatre opens on April 5?
Hell certainly looks better than my apartment " at least in the way that Harry Feiner has designed NO EXIT for The Pearl Theatre Company. It's a sleek swank room with three lovely chaises lo…
"It was one of the best times I've had in my life," said my girlfriend. She'd just got off the annual Turner Classic Movies Classic Cruise.
As I write this, there are 12 days to Christmas. And if you're one of those Christmas shoppers who is still wondering what to get your friends, relatives and colleagues, I have a few suggest…
Listening to the fetching LOST BROADWAY AND MORE: VOLUME 5, I was reminded of that famous expression that Jule Styne was fond of quoting: "Musicals aren't written; they're rewritten."
It was the month that SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK finally announced its long-anticipated closing. Considering that we don't have access to the financial records, we'll take at face value t…
"Well, Spider-Man's initials are S & M ..." That's how I began my sit-down with Glen Berger at the Drama Book Shop last week. Berger co-authored SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK -- first with J…
BIG FISH is struggling and closing. AFTER MIDNIGHT is running and thriving.
I saw both and preferred BIG FISH.
Not because BIG FISH was such a great musical. It doesn't sport Andrew Li…
While I was reading an advance copy of Carolyn Quinn's MAMA ROSE'S TURN " an extraordinary biography of you-know-who -- I was reminded of chess.
What was the worst-received show of the month? No, not THE SNOW GEESE, but the interminable half-hour documentary that preceded the broadcast of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Worse, because it reve…
