"I'm reading my five-star reviews!" lyricist Don Black said Tuesday when I congratulated him on the triumphant opening of "Sunset Boulevard" at London's English National Opera. The revival, …
Performing Shakespeare would be a feat for any 71-year-old. For Jane Lapotaire, it's a miracle. In 2000, while teaching in Paris, the English actress collapsed onstage in front of her studen…
The terrific 1972 musical "Pippin" begins with a call from a charismatic leading player to "join us." What ensues is a wild, funny, inclusive coming-of-age story about the son of Charlemagne…
Sunday night on "The Walking Dead," a newcomer named Negan bashed someone to death with a barbed-wire baseball bat. Yet actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan doesn't necessarily think of his characte…
Fiscally responsible " what else would you expect from "Hamilton," the hit musical about the first US treasury secretary? The play's investors are roaring louder than the theatergoers for…
At first Lukas Graham's hit ballad "7 Years" " No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 " sounds a little sappy. Next thing you know, you've listened to it 375 times in a row. Maybe you've even t…
Somewhere under the massive beard he sports in "The Crucible" lies Ben Whishaw. The fine-boned British star of "London Spy" and the last two James Bond flicks hasn't been this furry since vo…
When "Hamilton" surfaced, it was called the multi-culti version of "1776." But it'd be sad if that 1969 hit about the signing of the Declaration of Independence was remembered only as the sq…
Riding high on an Oscar nomination for "Brooklyn," Saoirse Ronan is the poster child of Broadway's "The Crucible." Literally: A close-up of her face is on the show's posters and Playbill. Wi…
Everyone's raving about the Encores! production of "1776," at City Center through Sunday. It's one of my favorite musicals, with its catchy score by Sherman Edwards and its brilliant script …
A dumbfounding amount of energy has been wasted on guessing who will die on Sunday's season finale of "The Walking Dead" " likely at the hand of the new arch-villain, Negan. Here's a secret:…
Open auditions are being held for the hit Broadway rap-musical "Hamilton" " but whites need not apply! A flier for three upcoming casting calls says producers for the musical are seeking "NO…
I'm a huge Barbara Cook fan, so I was sad to learn this week that the off-Broadway show she was working on with James Lapine and Tommy Tune had been scrapped. "Barbara Cook: Then and Now" wa…
Warning: This article contains spoilers from “The Walking Dead” Episode 615 The nice way to look at the latest "Walking Dead" episode is as the calm before the storm " i.e., next…
When it comes to making theatrical magic, Broadway often relies on specialists, such as dialect coaches, fight directors " and even actual magicians. But a number of current shows require mo…
The abrupt cancellation on March 8 of the Broadway musical "Nerds" " about the rivalry between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates " shocked the cast and crew. They were rehearsing the show that very …
Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's "Bright Star" is a Broadway oddity " and not just because it has a bluegrass score. No, the weird thing about "Bright Star" is the way it juxtaposes an over-…
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' has been running continuously in theaters longer than any other movie in history " 40 years " and is among the top-grossing musicals ever released in North A…
It’s always nerve-wracking to watch TV stars venture out onstage. Can they manage without multiple takes and craft services? Does the magic happen in the editing room? Happily, Claire …
A few months ago while lunching at Sardi's, Broadway press agent Sam Rudy looked around at the caricatures of theater people lining the walls and wondered if there was one of his longtime cl…
At its highest level, ballroom dancing is quite a workout: Do you think those high-flying acrobatics and fleet-footed shimmies are easy to pull off? Yet somehow pro Mark Ballas " back for th…
Warning: Spoilers ahead. There was some good news in Sunday's episode of "The Walking Dead": Daryl recovered both his bike and his crossbow. The man is complete again! The bad news was every…
Oh, what a difference a da Vinci makes " and a Rembrandt, a Michelangelo and a van Gogh. A whole who's who of old masters and impressionists is hanging on the walls of the old Whitney. The l…
It’s the rare star who covers for his own understudy. But Lin-Manuel Miranda did just that when Javier Muñoz, his alternate in "Hamilton," missed a Sunday matinee. Considering Sunda…
A musical doesn't have to be perfect to delight. Cutting-edge is overrated, too: Just give us well-crafted material and a starry cast that knows exactly what it's doing. Exhibit A and B are …