Alice Ripley in ‘Next to Normal’: knowing when to leave
The money — and the media — behind Broadway serve up the illusion that hit shows are frozen on opening night. Whatever superlatives were showered on “Billy Elliott” or “In the Heights” when they opened...
View ArticleThe old-fashioned craftsmanship of ‘Promises, Promises’
When the cast album of the current Broadway revival of “Promises, Promises” was released a few months back, I wrote here about how much I admire the song score of Burt Bacharach and Hal David and how...
View Article‘Sholem Aleichem’: the man who inspired ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Working under the handicap of very little archival film of his subject, director Joseph Dorman has nevertheless produced the beautiful and illuminating documentary, ‘Sholem Aleichem: Dancing in the...
View Article‘Company’ DVD preserves New York concert performance
As a small but significant number of people started to walk out of the Stephen Sondheim short film “Evening Primose” last week in Norwalk, it seemed to reinforce the notion of the composer-lyricist’s...
View ArticleThe sheer hell of working with Jerome Robbins
The nice folks at Yale University Press sent me an advance copy of “The Leonard Bernstein Letters” which they will be publishing on Oct. 29. I’ve only skimmed the surface of the massive volume which is...
View Article‘Acting Foolish’: Lewis J. Stadlen’s lowdown on show biz
There are few stage actors who have given me more pleasure over the years than Lewis J. Stadlen, from the 1974 Broadway revival of “Candide” (above), in which he played Pangloss, right up through last...
View Article50 years of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Almost a half century has passed since “Fiddler on the Roof” debuted on Broadway Sept. 22, 1964. Although the show was the creation of proven theater talent, from director-choreographer Jerome Robbins...
View ArticlePlaybill Yearbook: 12 months on Broadway
Now in its tenth edition, the annual “Playbill Broadway Yearbook” has become an indispensable record of a year’s worth of shows and benefits and other special events connected to Broadway. An offshoot...
View Article‘Hamilton’: Broadway music is hot again
There was good news from the Associated Press this week for Broadway musical fans – the original cast recording of “Hamilton” has scored big on the music charts, placing higher than any show album...
View ArticleRecalling New York City’s Yiddish theaters
A terrific exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York immerses visitors in a part of the city’s theater scene that vanished around the middle of the 20th century. “New York’s Yiddish Theater: From...
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