‘National Lampoon: Lemmings’ Reboot Coming to New York
Arts, Yesterday
“Lemmings: 21st Century,” a satire on modern festival culture, will have a two-night engagement in March.
For the ‘Soldier’s Play’ Star Blair Underwood, the Uniform Fits
Theater, Yesterday
His father served for three decades but had never seen the military drama. So they had a lot to talk about after its opening night on Broadway.
‘Hamilton’ Makes a Curious Cameo in Trump Impeachment Trial
Theater, January 27
John Bolton’s new memoir is titled “The Room Where It Happened,” nearly the same as a song from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit.
Where Broadway Fans Wear the Crowns and the Tentacles
Theater, January 27
The fifth edition of BroadwayCon had enthusiasts dressing for the underworld, swapping stories and merch, and singing along to “Six,” a show that hasn’t even opened yet.
Was Broadway Ready for ‘Slave Play’?
Theater, January 27
The show about race, sex and trauma didn’t earn back its costs, but did demonstrate that audiences would turn out to see, and argue about, risky material.
‘Das Barbecü’ Is Wagner’s ‘Ring’ With a Side of Brisket
Arts, January 27
This country-western parody of the operatic epic is set amid dining tables at a Manhattan barbecue restaurant.
In ‘Goodnight Nobody,’ a Getaway Goes Awry
Theater, January 27
Haunted by Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” Rachel Bonds’s restless and friable play gathers a group of mostly artists at a lakeside retreat.
‘The Transfiguration of Benjamin Banneker’ Review: An Unwieldy Ride
Theater, January 26
A tale about the 18th-century African-American mathematician includes actors, a vibrant marching band and wackadoo puppetry.
‘Thunder Rock’ Review: A Beacon That Fails to Light the Way
Theater, January 26
It’s no surprise that this play about disillusionment, with its message of hope wrapped in warnings about nationalism and isolationism, was a choice for this season.
Margo Lion, Producer of ‘Hairspray’ and More, Dies at 75
Theater, January 25
In an era when big-budget theater was an increasingly corporate affair, Ms. Lion was a proudly independent producer.
‘Oscar Wao’ Review: The Tragedy, and Comedy, of Manhood
Theater, January 24
In a Spanish-language stage adaptation of the Junot Díaz novel, the friendship between two Dominican men is a testing ground for competing visions of masculinity.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Hires a Resident Intimacy Director
Theater, January 24
Sarah Lozoff is joining one of the nation’s leading regional theaters for all 11 of its productions in its 2020 season.
The Comforts of the Cozy Scare in ‘The Woman in Black’
Theater, January 23
This ingenious, bare-bones adaptation of Susan Hill’s Gothic novel — a long-running hit in London — allows audiences to take charge of their fear.
In ‘Grand Horizons,’ Marriage Is a Long-Running Farce
Theater, January 23
Bess Wohl’s new play puts a Neil Simonesque spin on the story of a couple considering divorce after 50 years.
8 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Theater, January 23
Previews, openings and some last-chance picks.
Six Angels Singing the ‘Blues’
Theater, January 23
The Harlem-set “Blues for an Alabama Sky” finally arrives in New York, with a juicy role that has attracted African-American actresses across the country.
Vienna’s Ambitious Burgtheater Tours the Ruins of Europe
Theater, January 23
Under a new artistic director, this season at Austria’s main playhouse includes 30 premieres, ranging from classical dramas to brand-new works.
Native Americans Get a Stronger Voice in the Mayflower Story
Arts, January 22
The United States and Britain will commemorate 400 years since the Pilgrim ship made its crossing. The events are more politically charged on one side of the Atlantic than the other.
How ‘West Side Story’ Was Reborn
Magazine, January 22
Inside the wildly ambitious effort to reimagine the classic musical for 2020.
Phylicia Rashad to Direct ‘Blue’ at the Apollo Theater
Theater, January 22
A revival of the Charles Randolph-Wright play, with Leslie Uggams, had been slated to open on Broadway.
Shrinking Lives at a Big Box Store in ‘Paris’
Theater, January 21
Racism is a stealth force in Eboni Booth’s astute study of the (mostly) quiet desperation of minimum-wage workers in Vermont.
In ‘A Soldier’s Play,’ an Endless War Against Black Men
Theater, January 21
The Broadway premiere of Charles Fuller’s 1981 drama finds premonitions of today in the story of a 1944 murder.
Mission Impawsible: How Much ‘Cats’ Can a Person Take?
Theater, January 21
The assignment: Head to Boston to see the touring stage show and the movie musical all in one day. The result: a purr, a yowl or both?
For 13 Years, He Has Humanized the Villain of ‘Oklahoma!’
Theater, January 20
Patrick Vaill took his final Broadway bow as Jud Fry, after performing in Daniel Fish’s production of the musical since college.
Bess Myerson’s ‘Ugly Daughter’ Recalls Miss America Dearest
Theater, January 20
Barra Grant’s autobiographical solo play plumbs her fraught relationship with her mother, the famous politician and beauty queen Bess Myerson.
‘Emojiland’ Review: There’s a Rom-Com in Your Phone. With Music.
Theater, January 19
Everybody’s on hand, from a variety of Smileys to Nerd Face, and from Princess to Pile of Poo.
Shakespeare’s ‘Timon’ Gets an Occupy Athens Makeover
Theater, January 19
Kathryn Hunter stars as the fabulously rich Greek who understands the corrupting value of money only after she loses it.
A Climate Show Was Canceled. Then Came the Finger-Pointing.
Theater, January 18
One of the nation’s most successful theaters, the Public, shortened the run of a monologue by a prominent artist-activist, Josh Fox. Now each party is blaming the other.
Peter Larkin, Stage Designer With a Funky Asterisk, Dies at 93
Arts, January 18
His Broadway work won him four Tony Awards. A different audience knew another of his designs: the Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership.
At Under the Radar, Avant-Garde Shows Leap Outside Reality
Theater, January 17
The Public Theater’s festival has included 12 main offerings, four cabaret acts and six pieces in development. Here’s the last of what our critics saw.
In Hamlet and in Life, Ruth Negga Does Not Hold Back
Theater, January 17
The Ethiopian-Irish actress returns to a “completely destroying” stage role. Next: a film adaptation of a 1920s novel about passing for white.
‘How to Load a Musket’ Review: A Play About Re-enactors Gets Real
Theater, January 16
Talene Monahon’s show at 59E59 Theaters feels provocative but unfinished, a pieced quilt of overlapping textures and ideas.
15 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Theater, January 16
Previews, openings and some last-chance picks.
‘Distances’ Review: Fumblingly Picking at the Knot of Race
Theater, January 16
In this experimental play, a white talk-show host and a black science fiction writer have a challenging conversation. Plus dancing.
Feuding Families Take Center Stage
Theater, January 16
From the blood bath of “The Duchess of Malfi” to the intergenerational confusion of “Snowflake,” family disputes are at the center of three plays in London.
‘Lucy Barton’ Review: Laura Linney Finds Her Perfect Match
Theater, January 15
Ideally cast as a plain-spoken woman made of quiet steel, she acts the way Elizabeth Strout writes in this compelling adaptation of the 2016 novel.
Staging a Movie Melodrama in ‘The Conversationalists’
Theater, January 15
Music (and eventually emotion) cuts through the alienating layers of abstraction in this new work by the musician-storytellers James & Jerome.
Riz Ahmed and Kahlil Joseph Among New Faces in BAM’s New Season
Arts, January 14
Favorites like Reggie Wilson and Steve Reich will also appear at the arts center in Fort Greene.
The Sex Scene Evolves for the #MeToo Era
Magazine, January 14
Studios and theaters are hiring intimacy coordinators to keep actors safe. The twist: They’re also making the scenes sexier.
Cynthia Nixon to Direct Groundbreaking Lesbian Play on Broadway
Theater, January 13
The production, “Last Summer at Bluefish Cove” by Jane Chambers, is backed by producers including Ellen DeGeneres and Lily Tomlin.
When Disability Isn’t a Special Need but a Special Skill
Theater, January 13
Two productions at the Under the Radar Festival ask if the theater is ready to embrace the artistry of autism and other once disqualifying conditions.
‘Maz and Bricks’ Review: Marching for Rights, With Signs of Romance
Theater, January 12
Set in Dublin during the run-up to Ireland’s vote to repeal its abortion ban, this play by Eva O’Connor too easily pairs up two damaged souls.
‘Maz and Bricks’ Review: Marching for Rights, With Signs of Romance
Theater, January 12
Set in Dublin during the run-up to Ireland’s vote to repeal its abortion ban, this play by Eva O’Connor too easily pairs up two damaged souls.
Drawing on the Past, Living in the Present, Dreaming of the Future
Theater, January 12
A jazz memoirist, a Palestinian rocketeer and Mexican myths set to music kick off the Public Theater’s annual festival of adventurous work from across the globe.
‘Cartography’ Hops Around a Fractured World Map
Theater, January 12
This documentary show, created to teach young audiences about the experiences of refugees, focuses on optimism and hope, perhaps to a fault.
‘Queens Row’ Review: Richard Maxwell on Life After Doomsday
Theater, January 10
In this stark, eloquent new play, three women reflect on what remains in the aftermath of an American civil war.
Broadway Playwright as High Line Curator
Arts, January 10
Jeremy O. Harris will combine disciplines in a summer festival.
Call Charles Busch a ‘Drag Legend,’ if We Must Use Labels
Theater, January 10
With a gown and love for old Hollywood, Busch stars in his latest zany romp, “The Confession of Lily Dare.”
Harry and Meghan’s Exit Has Been Dramatized Before
Theater, January 9
The 2014 play “King Charles III,” in which a fictional Prince Harry wants to leave the royal family, has proved to be prophetic.
15 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Theater, January 9
Previews, openings and some last-chance picks.
A Show Reminds Young Audiences: We All Got Here From Somewhere
Theater, January 9
“Cartography,” a multimedia work inspired by migrants’ stories, presents their journeys as universal and heroic, not merely tales of suffering.
A Director Making His Mark in More Ways Than One
Theater, January 9
With powerfully contemporary stagings of “Betrayal” and “Cyrano,” Jamie Lloyd has had an attention-grabbing year. That’s not what makes him hard to miss.
Adela Holzer, Whose Fall From Grace Was Theatrical, Is Dead
Theater, January 8
She went from being “Broadway’s hottest producer” to “one of the cleverest and most successful white-collar criminals in the history of this state.”
James McAvoy’s Rapping Cyrano Dazzles With Words
Theater, January 8
In Martin Crimp’s time-bending version of the Rostand “Cyrano de Bergerac,” directed by Jamie Lloyd, people make love and war through glorious language.
Fran Drescher Developing ‘The Nanny’ Musical for Broadway
Theater, January 8
The songwriting team behind the musical comedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” will write the score.
‘Sing Street’ to Bring Irish Romance and ’80s Sounds to Broadway
Theater, January 8
The new musical, now wrapping up an Off Broadway run, will open at the Lyceum Theater in April.
Jack Garfein, Director From Actors Studio’s Heyday, Dies at 89
Theater, January 7
His family perished in the Holocaust. He survived and came to the United States, where he worked with Ben Gazzara, George Peppard, Samuel Beckett and Arthur Miller.
Reimagining Old Friends at the National Theater in London
Theater, January 6
New takes on beloved works by Elena Ferrante, Anton Chekhov and Neil Gaiman testify to the pleasures and perils of adaptation.
Behind the ‘Lightning Thief’ Twitter Curtain: A Tony Winner
Theater, January 6
Ashlee Latimer fostered a young online community through the musical’s social media. Fans know her better as Mx. Thief.
The Role of a Career in ‘Fiddler,’ and He Might Even Keep the Beard
Theater, January 6
Steven Skybell was finally the right age for Tevye. Little did he know that when the time came, the show would be in Yiddish, and for a surprisingly long run that ended Sunday.
Trigger Warnings as a Provocateur Puts Suicide Onstage
Theater, January 6
Milo Rau’s latest work is inspired by a French family whose members took their own lives.
Curtain Goes Down on New York Musical Festival
Theater, January 3
Faced with staff resignations and significant debt, the organization declared bankruptcy after 15 years.
17 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Theater, January 2
Previews, openings and some last-chance picks.
A Séance Relies on Illusion. So Does Theater.
Theater, January 2
E.S.P. Conjuring the dead. Speaking with them. Shows like “The Thin Place” and “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord” use the occult to put on a show.
Arthur Miller’s Dying ‘Salesman’ Is Reborn in London
Theater, January 2
An electrifying revival, starring a heartbreaking Wendell Pierce, reimagines Willy Loman as a black man in a white man’s world.
‘West Side Story’: How We Covered the Classic N.Y.C. Musical
Theater, January 2
Since its 1957 premiere, The New York Times has tracked the musical’s evolution, covering its casting, its politics and its role in the Cold War along the way.
Beyond Racial Strife, a Dose of Optimism for the New Year
U.S., January 1
At a time when hate crimes, inequality and white supremacy appear to be on the rise, these stories offered a little hope.
Simon Stone Faced the Unthinkable. He Thinks You Should Too.
Theater, January 1
After a family tragedy, the Australian director found a home in the theater, creating harrowing updates of classics. His latest: “Medea” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Is Theater Ridiculous? Movies, TV and Books Seem to Think So
Arts, December 30
Four recent works put plays and the people who make them in a weird spotlight.