Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

Hamilton on Tour A second Hamilton national tour will launch in February 2018. Beginning with a six-week sit-down production in Seattle, the tour will also hit Portland, Salt Lake City, Costa Mesa, Las Vegas, Des Moines, Cleveland, and Minneapolis. The first national tour just began in San Francisco. It'll be there for several months (through August 5) before heading to Los Angeles for another multi-month run, beginning August 11. After the Los Angeles engagement, the company will make additional tour stops, including stints in Washington, DC, Ft. Lauderdale, New Orleans, and Memphis. Broadway.com has more, and the Hamilton tour page has a more detailed itinerary. Tony Awards The calendar of events for the 2017 Tony Award season has been announced. Herein the timeline:  (Visit Playbill for additional information about each event.) April 27—Tony eligibility cut off May 2—Tony nominations announced May 3—Meet the Nominees press reception May 23—nominee luncheon ...

Be careful what you wish for because "wishes come true, not free." Sage advice from musical theatre's greatest living legend, Stephen Sondheim . In Into the Woods , Sondheim (music and lyrics) and frequent collaborator  James Lapine (book/screenplay) take several well known fairy tales and blend them together to create a morality tale. We begin with a prologue that introduces us to all the characters and their wishes. The Baker (James Corden) and the Baker's Wife (Emily Blunt) wish for a child (they don't know it at rise, but it's a curse cast on the Baker's father that has made them barren). Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) wishes to go to the festival (i.e., the Prince's ball), but her stepmother (Christine Baranski) says no. Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) wants to keep his cow, Milky White, but his mother (Tracey Ullman) insists he sell it. Little Red (Lilla Crawford) is en route to grandmother's house. And then there's the Witch (Meryl Streep), ...

Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways The rock band's eighth album has a release date and album artwork. Sonic Highways will be released worldwide on November 10 . The release coincides with the band's 20th anniversary. You'll recall that this album was written and recorded differently from the other studio albums. The band traveled the US, talking with local musicians and discussing the local music scene in each city. The artwork, above, reflects the journey and the way music connects us all and stays with us forever. Visit foofighters.com for a preview, to view the track list and to pre-order your copy. And don't forget to tune into HBO beginning October 17 for the accompanying docu-series, also titled Sonic Highways . Trading Theatres The upcoming Broadway productions of Love Letters and Honeymoon in Vegas are switching theatres. Love Letters , the A.R. Gurney play that boasts a rotating roster of stars (including Carol Burnett and Martin Sheen ), will now ...

“Who are you?” This is what Olivia (Anna Gunn) asks at the beginning and end of Laura Eason ’s play, Sex with Strangers . The question is directed at a different person each time it is asked, and while it is both the first and last line of the play, it hangs over Olivia and Ethan (Billy Magnussen) throughout.  The two-hander begins with Olivia sitting in a secluded bed and breakfast (of which she’s a guest) in the Michigan woods. Ethan, another (unexpected) guest, barges in, ostensibly looking for a quiet place to write. (The space is known as a writer’s haven.) The two begin talking, exchanging some bits of information but not others, trying to figure out the answer to Olivia’s question. The second act sees them in Olivia’s cramped Chicago apartment, and while the circumstances have changed (they evolved over the few days seen in the first act), the quest to understand who they are, as individuals and to each other, remains.   I’ll diverge for a moment to remind y...

PBS Fall Arts Series Announced The lineup for PBS's Fall Arts Festival (airing on consecutive Fridays this fall) has been announced, and it's a great slate of programming. First up, on September 26, is the New York Philharmonic concert presentation of Sweeney Todd , performed this past spring with Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett. Next, on October 3, will be Austin City Limits Celebrates 40 Years , in which musicians, including Foo Fighters , Gary Clark, Jr. and Bonnie Raitt , will play and pay tribute to the famed series. That will be followed, on October 10, by The Nance , which bowed on Broadway in the 2012-2013 season and starred Nathan Lane . Other broadcasts include the Great Performances concert featuring Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga (October 24) and Kristin Chenoweth 's Coming Home concert (November 28). Visit Broadwayworld.com for the full schedule, then mark your calendars, set your DVR or fire up your PBS Roku channel! Casting Updates Film — Aaron Tveit ...