23,021 stories from Variety
A crowd-pleaser it most certainly is not, but if you are going to stage this bold, ornate debate, Michael Grandage's faultlessly acted, austerely beautiful production is the first and last w…
Student dramaturgs could really learn their trade by practicing on "Greek Holiday," Mayo Simon's overwritten but under-realized comedic drama about a young couple's attempt to rescue their r…
The piece has only a vague sense of place (its setting is "a rural community in the U.S.") and its structure could use some vigorous polishing, but McKenna's enthusiasm for life-and-death co…
Under the knowing direction of Arthur Laurents, the 1957 show remains both a brilliant evocation of its period and a timeless tragedy of disharmony and hate.
MTV proclaims "Taking the Stage" to be "an entirely new genre of television for us ... the reality musical drama." That's funny, because it's really just an old take on the movie "Fame."
Arena, Signature offering up musicals
Exec wo expand creative role in new post
The week after daylight-saving time often brings box office dips along Broadway -- but not so this year. Sales at most shows climbed.
Eve Beglarian earns Greenfield prize for music
Economic indicators have been cloudy for intimate entertainments eyeing the Main Stem, but if sheer entertainment is any criterion, luck may be with these laboring folk should their jobs be …
Off Broadway has a potential hit in "Rooms," Paul Scott Goodman's "rock romance." Goodman's varied and impressive score combines with Scott Schwartz's canny staging and strong performances f…
While the dry martinis flow freely among hosts and guests alike in Blithe Spirit, those libations do little to loosen up Michael Blakemore's classy but stiff Broadway revival. There are sparkling moments, thanks mostly to the light touch of the sublime Jayne Atkinson and the comedic life-force of Angela Lansbury because she's, well, Angela Lansbury. But overall this is a wispy ectoplasm of the 1941 Noel Coward ghost comedy rather than a full-bodied materialization.
It's safe to say this failed 1945 operetta never sounded so good; nor is it ever likely to again unless the Collegiate Chorale can reassemble the cast and musicians for this one-night event.
Is it worth ponying up at the Ahmanson for the national tour of Peter Morgan's "Frost/Nixon," in the wake of 2008's pic version? You bet -- first and foremost for absorption in the themes on…
Playwright Horton Foote remembered
Road Grosses
Musical tries to stick in new political climate
Despite a handsome production, heavyweight actors such as Edward Hermann and Jay O. Sanders and the inherent drama of the story (also dramatized by Brecht), the production never rises much a…
'Desire Under the Elms' hits 95% attendance
The cameo appearance of 2006 "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel comes off as a Busby Berkeley-esque sideshow but doesn't distract from the infectious talent and energy flowing…
Wright's play also does a lot that has been done before and better, but it has redemptive power.
The Tony-nominated stage star ("A Catered Affair") and TV vet possesses a robust voice; his warm, informal rapport with the audience made for a genial, reflective hour of song.
The composer-lyricist has made two recent visits to Birdland, this time bringing along a clutch of singers to interpret his work. In addition to Bucchino's own fine performance skills, that …
Although casting initially ignites the text, it's not enough to sustain its fitful drama.
Other solo performers, take note: You can describe your troubled childhood, but can you do it with balloons?
