T/theater

The Lost Great American Musical Returns, Over 75 Years Later

Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner’s pioneering “Love Life” was thwarted by circumstance. Now, it is coming to Encores! at New York City Center.

8 New Shows Our Theater Critics Are Talking About

A British satirical comedy, a Tennessee Williams classic, a soundscape of Havana: These are productions worth knowing about.

The Stiff Who Saved Europe, in ‘Operation Mincemeat’

A proudly silly British musical comedy about the “Trojan corpse” of World War II comes to Broadway.

Hate Jury Duty? These People Actually Pay for It.

Immersive theater productions are taking jury service, which most consider a burden to be avoided at all costs, and packaging it as entertainment.

‘Buena Vista Social Club’ Brings the Thrill of Music Making to Broadway

A new musical inspired by the 1997 hit album gives a fictional back story to the veteran performers of the Havana music scene.

‘We Had a World’ Review: Through the Fourth Wall and Into the Past

Joshua Harmon’s new play features uniformly standout performances and tells a poignant story of family dynamics.

She May Be the Most Powerful Producer Working in Theater

Sonia Friedman has “created her own theater studio system,” balancing big properties like “Harry Potter” and “Stranger Things” with more prestige work by Stoppard and Sondheim.

Eight Andrew Scotts in a Heartbreaking Solo ‘Vanya’

Playing all the characters in an update of Chekhov, the Irish actor turns what could be merely a stunt into a tour de force.

‘Amerikin’ Review: A White Supremacist’s Undoing: DNA

The protagonist of Chisa Hutchinson’s new play is proud of his racial heritage, until he gets some unexpected test results.

Elvis, ‘Cats’ and Babe Ruth: Chairman Trump Reimagines the Kennedy Center

A recording of President Trump’s private remarks at a Kennedy Center board meeting shows that he mused about bestowing honors on dead celebrities and people from outside the arts.

Tituss Burgess in ‘Oh, Mary!’ Is Cole Escola’s Dream Come True

As Burgess prepares to step in to the hit Broadway comedy, he thinks he should have “spent more time at the gym.”

Why Black Satire Is the Art Form for Our Absurd Age

Black American novelists, filmmakers and other writers are using comedy to reveal — and combat — our era’s disturbing political realities.

‘Purpose’ Review: Dinner With the Black Political Elite

A family not unlike Jesse Jackson’s gets barbecued on Broadway by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

Schumer and the Shutdown About-Face

Responses to Senator Chuck Schumer’s reversal on the stopgap spending bill. Also: A Trump threat to law firms; the risk of TB; theaters in peril.

In ‘Weather Girl,’ Climate Change Sets Off a Meltdown

A new one-woman show from the producer of “Baby Reindeer” and “Fleabag” is an irreverent allegory about wildfires and global warming.

With $921 Seats, a Star-Powered ‘Othello’ Breaks a Box Office Record

Demand to see Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal play Shakespeare has set a record in a year when big stars have been driving up the prices of Broadway plays.

Theater to Stream: ‘Beckett Briefs’ and One of Gavin Creel’s Last Shows

Also available for streaming: A masterful F. Murray Abraham in “Beckett Briefs,” and Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon in a take on “Streetcar.”

Bringing a Persian Epic to the World, With Help From 483 Puppets

Hamid Rahmanian has made it his life’s work to share the richness of Iranian culture. “Song of the North,” at the New Victory Theater, is just the latest installment.

Anne Kaufman Schneider, 99, Ardent Keeper of Her Father’s Plays, Dies

She shepherded the works of George S. Kaufman from the 20th century into the next, encouraging regional theater productions and helping to steer two of them to Broadway.

No American Drama Is as Haunted by Ghosts of Actors Past as ‘Streetcar’

With a revival starring Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran in Brooklyn, a look at the carefully weighted balance that actors playing Blanche and Stanley need to strike.

5 Years After Covid Closed the Theaters, Audiences Are Returning

Broadway is almost back, and pop music tours and sports events are booming. But Hollywood, museums and other cultural sectors have yet to bounce back.

A Ferocious Paul Mescal Stars in a Brutal ‘Streetcar’

Desire comes a distant second to violence in a Brooklyn revival of the Tennessee Williams classic.

In ‘The Great Privation,’ Fending Off the Body Snatchers

Nia Akilah Robinson’s new play, for Soho Rep, digs into an ugly historical practice.

Athol Fugard’s Plays Illustrated the Value of Every Human Life

“Sizwe Banzi Is Dead” and other works bear witness to forgotten lives and to the moral blindness and blinkered vision of the realities of apartheid South Africa.

‘Ghosts’ Review: The Sins of the Father, Visited on Everyone

Ibsen’s scathing drama about medical and moral contagion gets a high-sheen Off Broadway staging starring a riveting Lily Rabe.

Striking Stage Crews Reach Agreement With Atlantic Theater

The deal will be scrutinized by New York’s other Off Broadway theaters, which the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has been working to unionize.

‘All Nighter’ Review: No Sleep but Plenty of Gripes

A new play about a group of college students putting in one last study session evokes recent stories about young women, but without the well-rounded characters.

Jean Smart Will Star in a One-Woman Broadway Show

The new play, “Call Me Izzy,” will begin previews in May and open in June at Studio 54.

How ‘Operation Mincemeat,’ a Very British Hit, Was Fine-Tuned for Broadway

Now in previews, the musical comedy about an outrageous World War II spy mission is working to adjust to the particular sensibilities of its New York audience.

Athol Fugard, 92, Playwright Who Exposed Torments of Apartheid, Dies

In works like “Blood Knot,” “Master Harold” and “The Island,” he laid bare the realities of racial separatism in his homeland, South Africa.

A Play About Segregation Tries to ‘Ride a Fine Line’ in Florida

A production partly aimed at students that highlights Tampa’s history in the civil rights movement lands at a time when the state is changing what schools teach about race and history.

For the Actors of ‘Sumo,’ Learning Lines Was Just the Half of It

The play’s cast members wrestle, slap and toss one another in ambitiously choreographed fight sequences that took months of training to learn.

In ‘The Seagull,’ Cate Blanchett Outshines a Director’s Tired Tropes

Thanks to Blanchett’s charismatic turn as a fading actress, this new Chekhov adaptation in London hangs together in spite of Thomas Ostermeier’s antics.

Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, Nina Hoss and More, Off Broadway in March

Underwater drama, a daunting solo undertaking, a gaggle of students and a version of “The Cherry Orchard” that aims to recapture Chekhov’s winking tone.

Just Before It Was a Cult Film, ‘Rocky Horror Show’ Was a Broadway Flop

Tim Curry and colleagues recall the musical’s misadventure at the Belasco Theater in 1975.

‘Oedipus’ and ‘Rocky Horror Show’ Are Returning to Broadway

The Roundabout Theater Company will also present Noël Coward’s “Fallen Angels,” starring Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara.

Theaters Sue the N.E.A. Over Trump’s ‘Gender Ideology’ Order

The lawsuit seeks to block a new rule that requires groups applying for grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to agree not to promote “gender ideology.”

‘Doom’ Has Everything, and Nothing

Anne Imhof’s three-hour spectacle of moody youth at the Armory is sweet sorrow, full of moping and muttering. Still, almost despite itself, it points to true art.

Wrestling With Angels and Demons in ‘Sumo’

An Off Broadway play opens a window on the spiritual and physical trials of the ancient Japanese sport.

‘Hamilton’ Cancels Kennedy Center Run Over Trump’s Takeover

“We’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center,” said the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

A ‘Greatest Showman’ Musical Is Coming to the Stage, in Britain

The show, developed by Disney with a Tony-winning creative team, will have an initial production in Bristol, England, in the spring of 2026.

Not Time’s Fool: A Rare Version of a Shakespeare Sonnet Is Discovered

An Oxford researcher found a rare, handwritten variation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous love poems. About 400 years ago, its meaning might have been very different.

Olivier Awards: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Secures Most Nominations

The acclaimed revival, which is about to transfer to London’s Barbican, scored 13 nominations at Britain’s equivalent of the Tonys.

After a Decade Away, ‘Mamma Mia!’ Is Returning to Broadway This Summer

The musical’s original run was the ninth-longest in Broadway history; a six-month return engagement will start in August.

Sadie Sink Heads Back to School, This Time on Broadway

In “John Proctor Is the Villain,” the actress is among a group of students studying “The Crucible,” just as the #MeToo movement tears through their classroom.

Why Does Every Play Seem Political Now?

Theater about current events — both literally and abstractly — is changing the conversation between playwrights, directors and their audiences.

What Do We Want From Political Theater?

Playwrights and directors wrestle with how a piece of art can galvanize its audience.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Open the Oscars With ‘Defying Gravity’ Performance

The stars also paid tribute to “The Wizard of Oz,” with Grande singing “Over the Rainbow,” and “The Wiz,” with Erivo singing “Home.”

Is ‘Wicked’ Really a Resistance Musical?

Does Elphaba have anything to do with the political moment in America? Or are we engaging in progressive magical thinking?

‘Mary Said What She Said’ Review: A Hypnotic Huppert

In this Robert Wilson production, Isabelle Huppert is everywhere onstage, all at once, reciting a nonstop script that may well touch on everything.

A Disruptor Asks, Is New York Finally Ready for ‘DOOM’?

Anne Imhof is one of the most talked-about artists in the world. Her new project at the Park Avenue Armory may reveal why.

‘Dakar 2000’ Review: Which One Is the Liar?

In Rajiv Joseph’s two-hander, a couple of Americans in Senegal twist, deflect, massage, stretch and maybe even tell the truth.

Theater Company’s Lost French New Wave Film Gets Its New York Premiere

Future members of Mabou Mines produced the footage over 50 years ago. Now it’s a film with new dialogue spoken by children of the original cast.

‘Curse of the Starving Class’ Doesn’t Satisfy

The New Group production of Sam Shepard’s classic tragicomedy comes off as disjointed and self-consciously stagy.

At France’s Oldest Theater, Things Change, but They Also Stay the Same

A new leader for the Comédie-Française, Clément Hervieu-Léger, is an insider who looks set to keep the venerable Paris company on a steady course.

Bill Burr Is About to Hit Broadway. Broadway Better Duck.

The acerbic comic sounds like a Mamet character, and thanks to Nathan Lane, he’s making his Broadway debut as one in “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

‘Grangeville’ Review: Am I My Half Brother’s Keeper?

A story as old as Cain and Abel gets filtered through cellphone and video confrontations in Samuel D. Hunter’s bleak two-hander.

A Rising Star Rides the Stormy Seas in a Maritime ‘Hamlet’

Luke Thallon expertly blends sincerity and neediness as the embattled prince in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s latest production.

Making Dancers Fly, Hooked to a Tree or Soaring Off a Cliff

For the Oakland dance troupe Bandaloop every surface is a stage. Now its vertical choreography and environmental ethos have come to Broadway in “Redwood.”

Ser George Clooney es más difícil de lo que parece

Debuta en Broadway con una versión teatral de su película de 2005 “Buenas noches, y buena suerte”. Está preparado, pero también aterrorizado.

Lynne Marie Stewart, Miss Yvonne on ‘Pee-wee’s Playhouse,’ Dies at 78

She was the “most beautiful woman in Puppetland” in the 1980s children’s show starring Paul Reubens, and more recently had a recurring role in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

Finding a Common Thread in Jonathan Larson’s Unheard Music

“The Jonathan Larson Project,” a years-in-the-making musical collage of Larson’s life, features songs he wrote before he died. Now it’s onstage at the Orpheum.

How the Co-Founder of an Immigrant Theater Spends Her Sundays

Mino Lora, who co-founded the People’s Theatre with her husband, has a double breakfast, a dance break and a bilingual reading session to wrap up her night.

Olga James, a Star of ‘Carmen Jones’ and ‘Mr. Wonderful,’ Dies at 95

An operatic soprano, she had high-profile roles on film and stage in the 1950s. But after that, she mostly spent her career away from the limelight.

‘Safe House’ Review: Singing a Song of Loneliness

Enda Walsh’s formal experiment, at St. Ann’s Warehouse, finds him in pared-back mode.

Menos drag, más country: Trump se apodera del Centro Kennedy

El dominio del presidente Trump sobre Washington se ha extendido a una institución fundamental para la vida cultural de la ciudad.

These Actors Made Broadway Debuts as Children. Now They’re Back.

Nick Jonas, Sadie Sink and Christian Slater are among this year’s unusually large cohort of stars who first appeared onstage as tweens or even younger.

Off Broadway, Labor Tension Heats Up

Stagehands and other backstage workers have gone on strike against a prominent theater, and two productions have been canceled.

Stratford-Upon-Lake-Michigan: Royal Shakespeare Company Plays Chicago

With less touring, it’s been a while since all the world has been its stage, but the troupe is working with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater — where it has family ties.

On Broadway, a Covid Switcheroo: Marsha Mason in for Mia Farrow

Mason, an associate director of “The Roommate,” which opened on Broadway last week, stepped in as Patti LuPone’s counterpart.

Does a Smash Hit Like ‘Lion King’ Deserve a $3 Million Tax Break?

Broadway is still recovering from the pandemic. A state tax-credit program has helped, but watchdogs say it aids some shows that don’t need a boost.

Audience Snapshot: Four Years After Shutdown, a Mixed Recovery

Covid brought live performance to a halt. Now the audience for pop concerts and sporting events has roared back, while attendance on Broadway and at some major museums is still down.

Is Earlier Better for Theater Start Times?

In an effort to entice audiences back after the pandemic, Britain’s National Theater is testing a 6:30 p.m. curtain.

Off Broadway, a Vital Part of New York Theater, Feels the Squeeze

The small theaters that help make the city a theater capital are cutting back as they struggle to recover from the pandemic.

Luring Theater Audiences Back After Covid

Readers discuss the decline in theater subscribers after the pandemic. Also: Northern Ireland; food allergies; a Covid playmate; anti-China bias.

72 Regional Theaters, One Shared Crisis

Michael Paulson spoke with producers and artistic directors at nonprofit theaters across the country about the crisis their industry is facing.

A Crisis in America’s Theaters Leaves Prestigious Stages Dark

As they struggle to recover after the pandemic, regional theaters are staging fewer shows, giving fewer performances, laying off staff and, in some cases, closing.

In ‘Plays for the Plague Year,’ the Soundtrack of Our Lives

Suzan-Lori Parks wrote one play a day for 13 months during the pandemic. Those stories come to life onstage in the form of monologues, dialogues and songs at Joe’s Pub.

As Presenters Cut Back on Streams, Some Disabled Arts Lovers Feel Left Out

When shuttered venues embraced streaming during the pandemic, the arts became more accessible. With live performance back, and streams dwindling, many feel forgotten.

‘Covid Vortex Anxiety Opera’ Review: Gloom, Zoom and a New Bloom

The veteran performance artist Karen Finley leads the audience through the troubles that plagued New York City at the peak of the pandemic.

Obie Awards Honor ‘English’ as Best New Play

A ceremony for the awards, celebrating work Off and Off Off Broadway, will be held Monday, but organizers decided to announce the winners in advance.

Broadway Bounces Back With ‘Best Week Since the Before Times’

Broadway shows grossed $51.9 million during the holiday week, the most since 2019, and “The Lion King” set a record for the most earned by any show in a single week.

‘Broadway Rising’ Review: Surviving the Pandemic

Stakeholders including Patti LuPone and Lynn Nottage share their real-time reactions to New York theater’s shutdown and reopening in Amy Rice’s documentary.

Onstage, It’s Finally Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Again

After one holiday season lost to the pandemic and another curtailed by Omicron, seasonal staples including “The Nutcracker,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Messiah” are back in force.

Lynn Nottage’s ‘Clyde’s’ Is the Most-Staged Play in America

An annual survey, suspended during the pandemic, resumes and finds theaters nationally doing fewer shows and torn between escapism and ambition.

Did Fauci Lead America Astray on Covid?

Responses to an essay that criticized Anthony Fauci’s handling of the pandemic. Also: Migrants as props; abortion rights; David Milch; theater’s lessons.

To Mask, or Not to Mask: Theaters and Concert Halls Face a Dilemma

Some audience members are turned off by mask mandates. Others won’t attend indoor performances without them. Arts presenters are taking different approaches this season.

‘It’s My Tradition Too’: A Town’s Centuries-Old Passion Play Evolves

After a two-year pandemic delay, villagers in the German town of Oberammergau are once again re-enacting the story of Jesus’s life and death, with some changes.

On Broadway, One Show Decides to Keep Masks. No, It’s Not ‘Phantom.’

“American Buffalo,” at Circle in the Square, is sticking with masking till it closes, July 10, citing the “proximity of the audience to the actors” and “the staging in the round.”

You Don’t Want to Wear a Mask? Do It for Hugh Jackman

Beginning in July, Broadway will no longer require audiences to mask up. Actors and theater workers aren’t loving the idea.

You Don’t Want to Wear a Mask? Do It for Hugh Jackman.

Beginning in July, Broadway will no longer require audiences to mask up. Actors and theater workers aren’t loving the idea.

Broadway Will Drop Mask Mandate Beginning July 1

Most theaters stopped requiring proof of vaccination this spring. Now they are going “mask optional.”

‘A Strange Loop’ Wins Best Musical as Tonys Celebrate Broadway’s Return

“The Lehman Trilogy” won best play, “Company” won best musical revival and “Take Me Out” won best revival of a play at the 75th Tony Awards.

‘Come From Away’ to Close, the Latest Broadway Show to End Run

The musical, which opened in 2017, is the third to announce a closing in two days, as many shows struggle in a pandemic-softened marketplace.

Broadway theaters will continue requiring patrons to wear masks at least through June 30.

The decision comes at a time when New York City has declared a “high Covid alert.”

The Twisting Trail to the Tonys: ‘Can You Believe That We’re Here?’

At times it felt like a game of survival. But during a Broadway season unlike any other, productions showed their resourcefulness while learning how to live with Covid.

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ to Close on Broadway, After Reopening

The musical, which shuttered temporarily in January as the Omicron variant spread, has struggled with the slow return of tourists to the theater.

Your Monday Evening Briefing

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.

Most Broadway theaters have ended vaccination checks as coronavirus cases are rising.

Most of Broadway Ends Vaccine Checks as Cases Rise in New York

While for-profit theater owners and operators agreed to stop checking proof of vaccination this week, several nonprofit Broadway theaters continue to require it.

Manhattan Springs Back to Life

Broadway enthusiasts, art aficionados and food lovers will find new offerings in and around Times Square and in neighborhoods below 42nd Street, heralding the promise of a vibrant recovery.

‘For Colored Girls’ to Close on Broadway, Reflecting Tough Season

The revival, directed by Camille A. Brown, received strong reviews but struggled to attract audiences and overcome challenges posed by Covid.