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

Hamilton Mixtape Details Announced, Available for Pre-Order The highly-anticipated Hamilton Mixtape , which features covers and remixes of Hamilton songs, demos and cut songs, and original pieces inspired by the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning show, will be released December 2, and is now available for pre-order . You can view the full track and performer list on Broadway.com (and on Amazon , where you can place your order). Highlights include the cut song, "Congratulations," John Legend singing "History Has Its Eyes On You," Regina Spektor and Ben Folds 's take on "Dear Theodosia," Lin-Manual Miranda's demo of the slavery rap battle, and Busta Rhymes and friends on a "My Shot" remix. American Songbook The Lincoln Center American Songbook season has been announced. Featured artists include two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster ( Anything Goes ), Tony nominee Santino Fontana ( Cinderella , Act One ), recording artis...

Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed  is a long title. It is also a perfect title because it aptly describes act one, Shuffle Along , and act two, all that followed. Conceived by George C. Wolfe , Shuffle Along, or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed  tells the story of the groundbreaking musical, Shuffle Along , remarkable because it was New York's first commercially successful musical written, directed, produced by, and starring African-Americans. (It went on to play 504 performances, and throughout the run and subsequent tours, performers included Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker.) The first act focuses on the show coming together. Noble Sissle ( Joshua Henry ) and Eubie Blake ( Brandon Victor Dixon ) are songwriters working the vaudeville circuit. F.E. Miller ( Brian Stokes Mitchell ) and Aubrey Lyles ( Billy Porter ) are a comedy duo also making the vaudeville rounds. The pairs meet at a ...

Shuffle Along... Adds Leading Men Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald is set to star in Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed in the spring, and it was announced this week that she'll be joined by a quartet of terrific actors. Shuffling along will be Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell ( Women on the Verge... ), who will reunite with his Ragtime co-star; Tony winner Billy Porter ( Kinky Boots , scroll down to learn about Porter's Kinky Boots replacement); Tony nominee Joshua Henry ( The Scottsboro Boys , Violet ); and Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon ( Motown , The Wild Party ). Shuffle Along is set to play the Music Box Theatre, with previews beginning March 14, 2016. Opening night is scheduled for April 21. Broadway.com has more. Spring Awakening Completes Its Cast The upcoming revival of Spring Awakening is adding Camryn Manheim , Russell Harvard (a deaf actor who was in the acclaimed Tribes ) and Patri...

Tell people that you’re going to see a show called Kinky Boots and they’re instantly intrigued. It sounds like a show that might add some flair to a sometimes staid art form. This splashy, flashy musical certainly does add some pizazz to the Great White Way, albeit in a rather traditional way and with varying degrees of success. Kinky Boots , based on the 2005 film, is a good old traditional book musical. Book writer Harvey Fierstein ( Newsies , Safe Men ) knows his way around the book of a musical and does nice work integrating the book with the score, even if the book itself somewhat lazily borrows heavily from the film. (The stage version does incorporate some moments that did not make the final cut of the film but are available in the DVD extras. Their inclusion helps bring closure to the story’s heart.) And like the first book musicals, Kinky Boots uses the show-within-a-show device to make itself more palatable. (More on that later.) In what’s becoming another tradit...