T/theater

Black Musical Theater, 200 Years and Running

The nearly forgotten Black stars, songwriters and strivers who made Broadway what it is today.

The New Obama Musical Made Me Feel Old

It’s no ‘Hamilton,’ but it’s history.

Sex With a Stranger: How Actors Do It Onstage

The experimental play “Good Sex” lets audiences in on the process, while giving its performers an unusual acting challenge.

The Dusty Boxes of Aging Papers That Changed American Music and My Life

Some of the best music I’ve ever heard was almost lost forever.

John Russell Taylor, 90, Dies; Cultural Critic and Hitchcock Biographer

A prolific journalist and author, he wrote the only authorized biography of Alfred Hitchcock and heaped early praise on the future Nobel laureate Harold Pinter.

‘Queens’ Review: The Heavy Burden of Past Lives and Uncertain Futures

Martyna Majok reimagines her 2018 play about the immigrant women who at various points live in a basement apartment in the New York City borough.

‘Girl, Interrupted,’ With Aimee Mann Songs, to Be Staged in New York

The Public Theater will present the play, which Martyna Majok adapted from the best-selling memoir.

3 Plays About Jewish Identity That Resist Easy Answers

The Off Broadway shows “Hannah Senesh,” “Jewish Plot” and “Playing Shylock” take stock of discussions around casting and storytelling.

Ariana Grande Still Has Surprises in Store

The pop superstar reinvented herself in the first “Wicked,” but the sequel shows just how much further she can go as an actress.

‘Messy White Gays’ Review: A Satire We’ve Seen Before

Drew Droege’s newest play Off Broadway is a lot like his others, skewering the entitlement of wealthy, oblivious gay men in Manhattan.

‘Godot’ Is a Puzzle, However You Pronounce It

The latest starry revival of Samuel Beckett’s play is on Broadway, and one thing is certain: Whatever you call its elusive character, he doesn’t come.

In ‘Kyoto,’ Seeking Consensus to Save the Earth but Veering Off Course

At Lincoln Center Theater, a new play from the makers of “The Jungle” tries to dramatize the negotiations that led to the Kyoto Protocol.

Your Guide to London

From the must-see locations to the most frequently asked questions, our guide has all you need to plan your next visit.

‘Romy & Michele: The Musical’ Review: Just Following the Script

This movie adaptation has a couple of laughs, but could have been better served by expanding its reach.

Has Theater Become Everybody’s Church?

New shows by Jen Tullock, Jordan E. Cooper and others have a common theme: You can walk away from the church, but the songs stay with you.

Nia DaCosta vs. Ibsen

The director’s sumptuous rethinking of “Hedda Gabler” raises questions about women, freedom and the choices we make about our lives.

15 Off Broadway Shows to Catch in November

Tom Hanks returns to New York theater alongside Kelli O’Hara, and Ariana DeBose leads “The Baker’s Wife,” a cult musical.

28 Things to Do in N.Y.C. in November

Sure, Tom Turkey looms large this month, but other highlights include a magic show with Muppets, Patti Smith and “Horses,” and wrestling drag queens.

How a Broadway Star Spends a Day Training for the N.Y.C. Marathon

Jordan Litz, who plays Fiyero in “Wicked,” gets pulled out of bed by his 2-year-old daughter. Then he’s off for a long run and hours of dancing in two shows.

Laurie Metcalf Is Riveting in ‘Little Bear Ridge Road’

The playwright Samuel D. Hunter makes his Broadway debut with an addition to his Idaho oeuvre, set during the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath.

‘Bat Boy: The Musical’ Review: He’s Just Trying to Fit In

For its gala, New York City Center revives an antic show about a half-man tabloid sensation, with catchy music and lyrics by the versatile Laurence O’Keefe.

London’s West End Will Now Look After This Bear

Over nearly seven decades Paddington Bear has enjoyed a lasting popularity. Now, he’s the star of a new musical.

He Taught a Class on Keanu Reeves in 1994. What Does He Think of ‘Godot’?

Stephen Prina may have been one of the first to see a deeper pattern in Mr. Reeves’s work.

Theater About the Northern Lights, by Those Who Know Them Best

The aurora borealis draws thousands of visitors to the Far North each year. A new play tells the lights’ tales from the perspective of Indigenous creators.

A Spooky Season of Phantoms, a Bat Boy and More

From Broadway to the small screen, these unnerving theater productions are not just about horror and frights.

Daniel Radcliffe Will Return to Broadway in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’

The “Harry Potter” alumnus, who won a Tony Award last year, will star in a solo play that involves something unexpected: audience participation.

In Samuel Beckett’s ‘Endgame,’ Repetition Is the Thing

All four characters in this bleak tragicomedy, staged by the Druid theater company, share the human desire to hear the same tales again and again.

‘Liberation’ Review: A Tony-Worthy Ensemble Plotting Revolution

Bess Wohl’s play, about a consciousness-raising group in 1970s Ohio, transfers to Broadway where it remains powerfully moving — and funny.

Anyone Who’s Anyone Got Their Start at Joe’s Pub

Despite its small stage, the cabaret space inside New York’s Public Theater building has made an outsize imprint on the city’s art scene.

In Two Solo Plays, a Search for Belonging and Parental Love

Ari’el Stachel’s “Other” and Zoë Kim’s “Did You Eat?” are self-interrogations that deal with family, race and identity.

A Broadway Tradition Is Fluttering Into History

Broadway plans to replace the cast-change slips that are stuffed into Playbills with QR codes. Some understudies and theater buffs will mourn their loss.

50 Years of ‘Freedom Onstage’ at Steppenwolf

Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise and other members of the Chicago company reminisce about unexpected performances, stunning monologues and career-changing roles.

When Hollywood Depicts Broadway Genius, the Results Rarely Sing

The new Lorenz Hart biopic “Blue Moon” gets a lot right about the creation of musicals that a spate of 1940s films got wildly wrong.

‘Slam Frank,’ a Daring Satire, and ‘Crooked Cross’ Demand Our Attention

A gleefully provocative new musical and a quiet 1930s domestic drama speak to each other across time, resounding quite loudly in our present.

Tom Morello Brings Rage to an Unexpected Genre: the Musical

This firebrand guitarist pulled songs from his lesser-known catalog for “Revolution(s),” about family of activists, now playing in Chicago.

Some of the Greatest American Music You’ve Never Heard Of

Why has the genius of these Black innovators been consigned to academic conferences?

Broadway Averts Strike as Musicians Reach Deal With Producers, Union Says

The tentative agreement, which still requires ratification by union members, comes five days after a similar agreement with actors and stage managers.

Samantha Eggar, Oscar-Nominated Star of ‘The Collector,’ Dies at 86

She also had leading roles in “Doctor Dolittle” with Rex Harrison, “Walk, Don’t Run” with Cary Grant and “The Molly Maguires” with Sean Connery.

‘Blue Cowboy’ Review: A Surprising Love Rides Into Town

David Cale’s astonishing one-man show in Brooklyn erects some familiar signposts before swerving into the unexpected.

‘Bull Durham’ Review: This Musical Version Is a Bunt

Adapted for the stage, the baseball rom-com is now less sexy and sophisticated than the ’80s classic.

‘Paranormal Activity’ Wants to Scare You From the Stage

Like “Stranger Things” and “Harry Potter,” this horror film franchise is branching out with an original story that aims to pull the rug from under theatergoers.

Ari Emanuel Buys TodayTix, Gaining Footing on Broadway and West End

The ticketing company is already a significant player in the two big theater markets of New York and London.

Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ Takes Center Stage in Minneapolis

There was a flourish of purple at the State Theater for the debut of a new musical adaptation of the performer’s 1984 movie in his hometown in Minnesota.

EL ajuste de cuentas de Ben Stiller

Equilibrar una carrera artística y la vida familiar es una tensión a la que se ha enfrentado recientemente en la vida, y ahora, en la pantalla, para una nueva película sobre sus padres.

Broadway Actors Reach Deal, but Musicians Still Threaten Strike

The Broadway League and Actors’ Equity Association reached a tentative agreement early Saturday. Union members must decide whether to ratify it.

Glenn Close no tiene que demostrarle nada a nadie

Durante medio siglo, ha llevado su singular talento al escenario y a la pantalla. Ahora, la actriz quiere volver a interpretar el papel que la convirtió en una estrella.

How Wendell Pierce Spends His Day Exploring New York City

Mr. Pierce, the popular actor from shows like “The Wire,” said time is precious. He spends his shopping in Harlem, walking through Central Park and staying up all night listening to jazz.

‘Ragtime’ Review: Checking the Status of Our American Dream

Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz lead the glorious cast of Lear deBessonet’s inspiriting Broadway revival at Lincoln Center Theater.

‘Oh Happy Day!’ Review: And God Told Keyshawn to Build an Ark

An urgent family mission propels Jordan E. Cooper’s pain-spiked supernatural comedy, a very loose riff on the biblical story of Noah.

Her Play Pulls on the Fashion Industry’s Threads

The French theater maker Caroline Guiela Nguyen brings unheard voices to the stage, like the real and imagined garment workers in her latest work, “Lacrima.”

The Reckoning of Ben Stiller

How to lead an artistic life and be part of a family is a tension he has only recently faced in life and now, onscreen, for a film about his comedian parents.

Aubrey Plaza Shines in Ethan Coen’s Retrograde ‘Let’s Love!’

It’s unusual for an Atlantic Theater Company production to feel so uninspired, but in this set of one-acts, committed actors are let down by juvenile language.

He Won a Tony. Then Came the Hard Part: Facing His Demons.

In his solo Off Broadway show “Other,” Ari’el Stachel explores the anxiety that has exacerbated his struggles with being an Arab Jew.

George Clooney in ‘Good Night, and Good Luck,’ and More Theater to Stream

This month’s picks include Clooney’s Broadway run as the CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow and an audio play starring Hugh Jackman.

Jen Tullock Multitasks in ‘Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God’

The “Severance” actor portrays all the roles in a play she wrote with Frank Winters, inspired by her evangelical upbringing.

‘Can Art Bear This?’: How Carolina Bianchi Explores Trauma Onstage

For her performance piece “The Bride and the Goodnight Cinderella,” which opens in New York later this month, the artist drugs herself as the audience looks on.

‘Are the Bennet Girls OK?’ Well, Their Mother Is Magnificent.

Bedlam’s sharply irreverent production of Emily Breeze’s comedy, a riff on “Pride and Prejudice,” has period dress, contemporary vernacular and a magnetic Mrs. Bennet.

Tim Curry Isn’t Done Yet

A 2012 stroke has largely kept him from acting, but not from writing — and recording — a new memoir. “It was very peculiar not to be able to speak,” he says.

Sunday Special: Bringing Broadway Home

How to experience the best of the theater world in your living room

Zora Neale Hurston’s 1935 Play Comes Alive

“Spunk,” a fable weaving together music and movement, is getting its first full staging since being rediscovered in 1997.

‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ Review: Stephen Rea’s Duet With His Younger Self

Samuel Beckett’s 55-minute contemplation of mortality comes to NYU Skirball in a neat and handsome staging by Vicky Featherstone.

La estrella revelación de ‘El beso de la mujer araña’

“Quería contar una historia que abarcara todo el espectro de género”, afirma Tonatiuh, quien transformó su cuerpo para interpretar al escaparatista queer Luis Molina.

Harlem Stage Takes Its Show on the Road for the First Time

“Freedom Riders,” a performance featuring monologues about police violence against Black people, played in cities throughout the South before returning to New York.

The Breakout Star of ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’

“I wanted to tell a story that encompassed the gender spectrum,” said Tonatiuh, who transformed his body to play the queer window dresser Luis Molina.

Is Dylan Mulvaney ‘The Least Problematic Woman in the World’?

In her bold, funny solo show, the social media influencer details a life of identity-searching, controversy and a determination to be absolutely herself.

What Would Elphaba Grow? The Botanical Garden Has Some Ideas.

Striking plants of deep pinks and dark greens conjure the visual world of “Wicked” this month at the New York Botanical Garden.

In ‘Mary Page Marlowe,’ Susan Sarandon Is One Part of a Woman in Pieces

The screen star is making her London stage debut in Tracy Letts’ portrait of embattled womanhood.

‘Cats’ Is Returning to Broadway, This Time With Heels Instead of Paws

The reimagined “Jellicle Ball” version of the musical is set in the ballroom scene — the queer subculture built around dance competitions.

How This ‘Severance’ Actor Lost God and Found Herself

Jen Tullock’s Off Broadway play, “Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God,” delves into growing up in a Christian family.

How David Henry Hwang Remade Theater in His Own Image

Long the leading Asian American playwright, he was writing autofictional works about identity politics decades before those were cultural obsessions.

Glenn Close Has Nothing Left to Prove

For half a century, she’s brought her singular talents to the stage and screen. Now, the actress wants one more shot at the role that helped make her a star.

The Greats: Glenn Close, David Henry Hwang and Tyler, the Creator

For T’s annual celebration of the people changing the culture, we profile three artists united in their dedication to taking risks.

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.

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.