Familiar Rock Dreams in ‘Gettin’ the Band Back Together’
Culture, Yesterday
A new “original” musical is usually something to welcome, but when it’s a Frankenstein monster created from spare parts, maybe stay out of its way.
He Used to Move Pianos. Now He Moves Audiences.
Culture, Yesterday
Stephen Payne, a longtime understudy, gets his first Broadway starring role in “Straight White Men.”
Shakespeare With an Eight-Course Feast
Dining, Yesterday
The Shake & Bake theater company brings “Love’s Labour’s Lost” to the meatpacking district, and dinner is included with the ticket.
‘Pushkin’ Squanders a Russian Poet’s Real-Life Drama
Culture, August 12
Jonathan Leaf sticks close to historical fact in his ambitious new verse play, but the action in this production always feels removed, like a diorama.
A Housekeeper Claims Center Stage in ‘Member of the Wedding’
Culture, August 10
Roslyn Ruff gives a wondrous performance in the Williamstown Theater Festival revival of the Carson McCullers play.
So, You’re Going to Call Your Play _____?
Arts & Leisure, August 10
Naming a show can be tricky. Some recent titles are obscure, others extremely long. And then there’s the weird punctuation. What’s going on?
Brokers With a Song and Dance
Real Estate, August 10
Bohemia Realty caters to (and draws talent from) New York City’s theater community.
A High School Meltdown Heats Up ‘Be More Chill’
Weekend, August 9
This high-energy, high-anxiety musical, a hit on social media even before it opened, reflects the metabolism of its teenage audience.
11 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Weekend, August 9
Previews, openings and some last-chance picks.
After Years Helping to Reinvent 42nd Street, Cora Cahan Will Step Down
Culture, August 9
Over 28 years, the arts administrator helped spearhead the refurbishment of a once-seedy district and kept several classic theaters in use.
Paris Cabarets: Can We Ask for More Than the Cancan?
Weekend, August 9
Many visitors to Paris take in a cabaret. But it gives them a strange view of the city, women and what theater is, our critic says.
5 Actresses on Their First (and Dream) Roles
Video, August 9
Allison Janney, Idina Menzel and more share how they started and where they hope to end up next.
Stacy Keach Had a Heart Attack Onstage. Now, the Show Goes On.
Arts & Leisure, August 8
First Stacy Keach got healthy. Then he began work again on a one-man play about Ernest Hemingway, now at the Goodman Theater in Chicago.
‘Carousel’ Will Close on Broadway in September
Culture, August 8
The revival, which won two Tony Awards, will wrap after a six-month run.
Guarding the Throats of Broadway
Metropolitan, August 8
Dr. Linda Dahl, a throat doctor to many Broadway actors, is known for her emergency visits to dressing rooms of panicking performers.
Glen Roven, Emmy-Winning Composer and Conductor, Dies at 60
Obits, August 8
With little formal training, he made his debut on Broadway when he was 19 and became a prolific presence on TV and in concert halls around the world.
At Edinburgh Fringe, a Spotlight on Mental Health
Culture, August 8
Even as many performers focus on psychological well-being in their work, the grueling annual event can take a toll.
Stage Version of ‘Network,’ Starring Bryan Cranston, Sets Broadway Opening
Culture, August 8
Mr. Cranston will reprise his role as the unraveling news anchor Howard Beale in this adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky’s Academy Award-winning satire.
Rosie O’Donnell and Chorus of Broadway Stars Perform Musical Protest at White House
Washington, August 7
On the 22nd night of a series of protests, cast members from “Wicked,” “Hamilton” and other shows sang songs meant to evoke a political edge or offer a tinge of hope for the hundreds of demonstrators.
Far From Home, but Not Far Enough
Arts & Leisure, August 7
Political tensions and populist hostilities familiar to the American scene find their way to London stages, too, in “Imperium” and “The Jungle.”
Whimsy, Horror and Missing Bones in ‘Hunter John and Jane’
Culture, August 6
Two lost souls (one literally back from the afterlife) meet in a gritty city park in Amina Henry’s overstuffed but empathetic play.
The Go-Go’s Gave Us the Beat and So Much More
Culture, August 5
The new wave band, whose music is being celebrated in a Broadway musical, provided a blueprint for girl-powered groups. But the Go-Go’s weren’t always taken seriously.
Hit Songs to Sin By in a Smashing ‘Moulin Rouge!’
Culture, August 5
The movie that heralded the jukebox musical has been reinvented as a jukebox musical on its very own terms at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston.
Winston Ntshona, Tony-Winning South African Actor, Dies at 76
Obits, August 5
After a Broadway run, Mr. Ntshona was jailed in his home country for performing in a play he had written with Athol Fugard and the actor John Kani.
Deep Dives Into Justice From Shakespeare, Wilde and Atticus Finch
Culture, August 3
With “The Tempest,” “An Ideal Husband” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the Stratford Festival carries on a conversation about purity and forgiveness.
The Literati: Henry James’s Final Curtain Call
Book Review, August 3
Edward Sorel illustrates the great turn-of-the-century author’s fumbling foray into the theater.
Learning Lines. And Crossing Them.
Arts & Leisure, August 3
A brief (recent) history of plays, films and TV shows exploring the fraught, sometimes predatory relationship between directors and their charges.
Mike Birbiglia Has a ‘New One.’ It’s Funny Until It Isn’t.
Weekend, August 2
Mr. Birbiglia’s solo show about becoming a father is at first excruciatingly funny and then just kind of excruciating.
‘Sweat’ to Start Free Election-Season Tour Across Midwest
Weekend, August 2
Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about working class anxieties will be performed in 18 counties in the lead-up to the election.
6 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Weekend, August 2
Previews, openings and some last-chance picks.
‘The Boys in the Band’ and a Generational Divide
Arts & Leisure, August 2
Four gay men who recently attended the Broadway revival of this 50-year-old play — three seeing it for the first time — debate its significance and relevance.
At Salzburg Festival, High Passion and Redemption Onstage
Culture, August 2
It’s an event more associated with classical music, but drama is in its DNA. Two productions of German-language classics at the festival show differing approaches.
Anika Noni Rose Was Waiting for This Moment
Culture, August 1
It has taken a while, but playing the sultry title role in “Carmen Jones” fulfills a lifelong dream.
In ‘The Saintliness of Margery Kempe,’ a Comically Restless Mystic
Culture, August 1
A play based on a confessional, self-obsessed woman’s memoir — from the 15th century — is back, at the Duke.
5 Shows to See in New York: ‘Pretty Woman,’ ‘Be More Chill’ and More
Culture, August 1
August turns out to be a month for musicals, with science fiction, a Hollywood rom-com and dueling garage bands on the agenda.
In a Blissful Musical ‘Twelfth Night’ in Central Park, Song Is Empathy
Culture, July 31
This radiant Public Works production of Shakespeare’s comedy of identity asks us “to see through the eyes of another.”
Studying the Mechanics of Comedy With 525 Ventriloquists
Insider, July 31
At the International Ventriloquist Convention, a reporter discovered a supportive community of puppeteers, many of them young (even if the puppets skewed elderly).
In a New Orleans ‘House,’ Wealthy Women Are Haunted by Slavery’s Ghosts
Culture, July 30
Marcus Gardley’s loquacious and freewheeling answer to a Lorca classic is set in a fascinating moment for race relations.
After the Play, a Supreme Encore From Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Culture, July 30
Following “The Originalist,” the judge talked fondly about its subject: her frequent legal sparring partner Antonin Scalia.
What the Heck Is That?
Games, July 30
A look at one of the entries that stumped crossword solvers last week.
Mixing the Salty and the Sweet in ‘My Life on a Diet’
Culture, July 29
Renée Taylor’s solo show, based on her memoir, is about more than food and deprivation, and it’s loaded with one-liners.
A Rough Rehearsal, a Suicide and a Broadway Show in Turmoil
Culture, July 28
The death of Jeff Loeffelholz, a longtime standby actor in “Chicago,” has rattled the cast and brought attention to workplace behavior on Broadway.
Finding Music in Shakespeare, Suffragists and Mitch McConnell
Arts & Leisure, July 27
A rising star in musical theater, Shaina Taub is a fiercely political singer-songwriter who is writing the lyrics for her first Broadway show, with Elton John.
Theater Director Returns to China With ‘Liberating and Cool’ Vision
Foreign, July 27
Chen Shi-Zheng, who has staged opera and theater work around the world, has not presented a public piece in his native China since 1996. He hopes two major shows in Beijing will open eyes and minds.
A Dramatic Play About Finance? Yes, if It’s Lehman Brothers
Arts & Leisure, July 27
“The Lehman Trilogy,” a story of American capitalism, is playing on a London stage. Two journalists — one British, one American — discuss.
Brushing Up Your Shakespeare, By the Book or Not
Arts & Leisure, July 27
Shakespeare finds his way into many a musical, from faithful adaptations to breakthrough works like “Hair.”
Two Long-Lived Kings on the London Stage
Culture, July 27
Ian McKellen shines as King Lear in a new production of Shakespeare’s play, and Rhys Ifans also plays a beleaguered monarch in Ionesco’s “Exit the King.”
Ye Olde Go-Go’s Songs Hit the Renaissance in ‘Head Over Heels’
Weekend, July 26
This confused musical combines 1980s pop hits with a Renaissance romance, while considering the importance of being nonbinary.
In ‘Lempicka,’ Blond Ambition Is Set in a New Key
Culture, July 26
Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould’s exciting new musical dares to dream big as it follows the making of the artist Tamara de Lempicka in Jazz-Age Paris.
A Second Robert Lepage Production Canceled After an Outcry
Culture, July 26
“Kanata,” a collaboration with the French theater group Théâtre du Soleil, was canceled Thursday after being criticized for its casting.
9 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Weekend, July 26
Previews, openings and some last-chance picks.
With Only Song and Dance, ‘Don’t Bother Me’ Tells a Huge Story
Weekend, July 26
The 1972 Broadway musical, closing the Encores! Off-Center season, sketches the history of the resilience of black Americans in song and dance.
Kennedy Center 2018 Honorees Include Cher and ‘Hamilton.’ Will President Trump Attend?
Culture, July 25
Reba McEntire, Philip Glass and Wayne Shorter will also be honored at the Kennedy Center ceremony, which Mr. Trump skipped last year after some winners expressed discomfort with him.
Which Show Is Good, Clean Fun: ‘Rocky Horror’ or ‘The Music Man’?
Culture, July 25
Playing in repertory at the Stratford Festival in Canada, these mirror-image musicals turn out to be part of the same conversation.
A Dirge for Wilting Salad Days in ‘This Ain’t No Disco’
Culture, July 24
This tone-deaf rock-opera remembrance of the twilight of Studio 54 features characters named Steve Rubell and The Artist. (Psst! That’s Andy Warhol.)
Public Theater Is to Stage ‘The Gospel at Colonus’ in September
Culture, July 24
This soul-infused interpretation of Sophocles’ “Oedipus at Colonus” will return to New York for the first time since 2004.
BRIC Appoints New President
Culture, July 24
Kristina Newman-Scott, director of culture for the State of Connecticut, is to join BRIC as its president in September.
‘Straight White Men,’ Now Checking Their Privilege on Broadway
Culture, July 23
In Young Jean Lee’s smart, thorny play, two brothers (Armie Hammer and Josh Charles) urge a third (Paul Schneider) to own his male prerogatives.
Chocolate Factory Unveils Final Season in Its Current Home
Culture, July 23
The season — with work by Melanie Maar, Miguel Gutierrez and Niall Jones — is focused on creative process, ahead of a move to a new facility in 2020.
‘Smokey Joe’s Cafe’ Is a Feast of Pop Nostalgia
Culture, July 22
But, racing through 40 classic Leiber and Stoller songs in 90 intermission-less minutes, the show only occasionally slows down enough to breathe.
‘Emojiland’ and a Graceful Elegy at the New York Musical Festival
Culture, July 22
A show set inside a smartphone is silly yet surprisingly resonant with contemporary politics.
Taylor Swift and Jennifer Hudson to Star in ‘Cats’ Movie Adaptation
Culture, July 20
James Corden and Ian McKellen will also be a part of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, directed by Tom Hooper.
A Buoyant ’70s Musical About Black Lives Lands in 2018
Arts & Leisure, July 20
The creators of “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope” took their bighearted revue all the way to Broadway. A concert production will show how it plays today.
13 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Weekend, July 19
Previews, openings and some last-chance picks.
Taming ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ Under a Tent
Weekend, July 19
An hour north of New York City, a new production of Shakespeare’s impossible comedy finds a sensible way to respond to the #MeToo moment.
At Avignon Festival, Lots of Imagination on Show, but Few Women
Culture, July 19
Despite some eye-catching dramatics, the paucity of female directors and protagonists at the most important event in the French theater calendar sticks out.
Gary Beach, Tony Winner for ‘The Producers,’ Dies at 70
Obits, July 18
Mr. Beach’s many Broadway roles also included Lumière, the genial candelabra, in the original cast of “Beauty and the Beast.”
In ‘The Damned,’ Ivo van Hove Finds the Mortal Chill in a Nazi Fire
Culture, July 18
The Comédie-Française’s mesmerizing adaptation of Luchino Visconti’s film charts the fall of a family steel dynasty during Hitler’s rise to power.
Song Trumps Senility in the Angry ‘Allelujah!’
Culture, July 18
This comedy of dismay by Alan Bennett, author of “The History Boys,” portrays a geriatric ward (of singing, dancing patients!) in an uncaring Britain.
At Stratford, ‘Coriolanus’ Is Riveting and Troubling
Culture, July 18
The director Robert Lepage, recently criticized for cultural appropriation, finds in Shakespeare’s tragedy a defense of Great Man prerogatives.
Abrons Arts Center to Celebrate a Milestone With Political Work
Culture, July 18
Craig Peterson, the artistic director of the center, says the new season will focus how local issues on the Lower East Side mirror national concerns.
Bruce Springsteen’s Broadway Show Is Becoming a Netflix Special
Culture, July 18
The recording of “Springsteen on Broadway” will be released on Dec. 15, the day of its final live performance.
The Gritty Club at the Heart of ‘This Ain’t No Disco’
Arts & Leisure, July 18
A new rock opera explores the New York club scene in 1979, with special attention to the Mudd Club, a punk-rock dive in TriBeCa.
A Yiddish ‘Fiddler on the Roof’? Sounds Crazy, Nu?
Culture, July 17
A powerful new revival of the 1964 musical offers a kind of authenticity no other American “Fiddler” ever has: It’s in Yiddish.
‘School of Rock’ Announces Closing Date
Culture, July 17
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical will have played more than 1,300 performances when it wraps up in January.
The Upcoming Flea Season Will Explore Police Brutality and Gun Violence
Culture, July 17
Productions include the filmmaker Todd Solondz’s first play, “Emma and Max,” and Thomas Bradshaw’s incendiary “Southern Promises.”
‘Fire in Dreamland’ Is a Parable of Love and Licorice
Culture, July 16
Rinne Groff’s new play, at the Public Theater, brings arguments about art and relationships to Coney Island in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
A Show About Indigenous Canadians Has a Glaring Omission: Indigenous Canadian Actors
Culture, July 16
The theater director Robert Lepage is ensnared in another controversy over cultural appropriation, this time with “Kanata,” a new production.
Cyrano Behind Bars
Editorial, July 15
A prison theater program in New York offers hope for inmate rehabilitation.
‘Trainspotting Live’ Has (Gross) Humor but Not Enough Heart
Culture, July 15
This immersive British import at Roy Arias Stages puts a crusty toilet in the center of the audience, but it lacks the film version’s sense of seamy tragedy.
A Stranger, Sexier Version of ‘Peter Pan’? It’s Leonard Bernstein’s
Culture, July 15
In this production of J.M. Barrie’s 1904 play, Bernstein’s neglected score brings out the characters’ melancholic desires.
In ‘Marie and Bruce,’ It Takes Two to Do This Nihilistic Tango
Culture, July 15
In this revival of Wallace Shawn’s 1979 play, a couple’s loathing creates a weird frisson of erotic challenge.