Uncle Vanya<br> Review By MARILYN STASIO

Austin Pendleton's helming is physically energetic and far less gloomy than the customary theatrical take, allowing a sterling ensemble to exercise its comedic chops on the scribe's complain…

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Opera to spotlight Anna Nicole Smith

Royal Opera to focus on late tabloid queen

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Drabinsky must pay investors By RICHARD OUZOUNIAN

Court denies duo permission to appeal

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Three Days of Rain<br> Review By DAVID BENEDICT

The play had not one but two smartly performed runs at London's Donmar Warehouse in 1999, and it's now in the West End with an outstanding cast directed by the exacting Jamie Lloyd. But even…

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Betty Buckley: "Broadway by Request"<br> Review by Steven Suskin

Betty Buckley returns to Feinstein's with her most enjoyable and entertaining act in years.

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Rod Blagojevich Superstar!<br> Review By STEVEN OXMAN

Combining the disgraced governor's grandiosity with the musical flavors of '70s rock operas like Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar," the show probably has a limited audience of p…

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Heavens Are Hung in Black<br> Review By PAUL HARRIS

"Heavens" is not likely to find commercial success beyond this venue. Running at almost three hours, it exhausts its message well before the closing scenes, while the absence of plot or susp…

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

BBC grows star-studded 'Triffid'

Redgrave, Izzard added to sci-fi miniseries

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Impulse buys hope to boost sales

BroadwayBox.com launches LunchTix

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

<cite>Telephone</cite>, reviewed by Sam Thielman

Hello, Stein residence? Is Gertrude available? In her new play, poet Ariana Reines channels the dramatic voice of the influential writer, but to call Telephone a pastiche or homage would be to do it a disservice—there's plenty of "there" there. In perfect concert with sound man Matt Hubbs and lighting designer Tyler Micoleau, helmer Ken Rus Schmoll pitches the absurd, occasionally hilarious play along fault lines of human communication that scrape together during encounters with Alexander Graham Bell, turn-of-the-century mental patient Miss St., and a series of men and women uncomfortably like ourselves.

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by David Rooney

Sexual violence against women as a side effect of civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the kind of subject most of us read about in a Nicholas Krystof column or watch on a CNN report, shaking our heads in horror before moving on. But in Lynn Nottage's emotionally scorching new play, it's impossible to look away. Ruined takes us inside an unthinkable reality and into the heads of victims and perpetrators to create a full-immersion drama of shocking complexity and moral ambiguity. What's more surprising is the exquisite balance the playwright brings—of brutality and poetry, hope and even humor.

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Burlesque bow for 'Minsky's'

Much-anticipated musical premieres in L.A.

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Actor Darrell Sandeen dies at 78

Career spanned Broadway, TV, movies

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Heigl, Knight leaving 'Grey's'?

Studio insists nothing's official despite rumor

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Showtime orders more 'Tara'

Toni Collette series renewed for second season

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Kathryn Hahn joins 'AbFab'

ABC to adapt U.K. series 'No Heroics'

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Canadian theater takes a hit By RICHARD OUZOUNIAN

Economy forces cancellations, seat reductions

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Alan Cumming: I Bought a Blue Car Today<br> Review By STEVEN SUSKIN

The Scotland-born thesp used the opportunity to salute his new country -- he attained citizenship in November -- and handily charmed the enthusiastic crowd with songs and banter.

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Woman in Mind<br> Review By DAVID BENEDICT

The play remains as fine as ever, but audiences unfamiliar with it may not notice due to the playwright's own curiously flaccid production.

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

'Dr. Horrible,' 'Dollhouse' do Paley

TV event's full sked will be disclosed Feb. 18

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Broadway box office gaining steam

Broadway upticked slightly last week in a frame still plagued by winter doldrums and subject to the added sales drain of Kids Night, the two-day initiative that offered free ducats for youth…

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Memorial honors Gerald Schoenfeld

Hugh Jackman emcees theater celebration

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by Marilyn Stasio

Every thesp of a certain age and professional stature dreams of scoring a party piece to keep him in front of an audience and tide him over through lean times. Michael Countryman, an exceptionally versatile, ever-dependable character actor who seems never to be out of work, has found himself a charming vehicle in David Margulies' Shipwrecked!. This slight, but nonetheless enchanting feat of old-fashioned storytelling can be staged anywhere and on a dime, with minimal props, a couple of assistants and a bit of imagination.

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

<cite>Minsky's</cite>, reviewed by Bob Verini

The potential of a tuner titled Minsky's, with its promise of gorgeous gals, baggy-pants comics, hot dance and nostalgia, is partly realized in its Ahmanson Theatre premiere thanks to a strong Charles Strouse/Susan Birkenhead score and state-of-the-art musical staging by helmer-choreographer Casey Nicholaw. On the debit side are a thin, uninvolving storyline and curiously antiseptic take on the raffish art form the tuner purports to celebrate.

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Celluloid takes rights to Hoffman film

Actor to direct, star in 'Jack' adaption

SOURCE: Variety at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑