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

Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients Announced 17 people will receive the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. The recipients will be presented with the honor by President Obama at a November 24 ceremony. Among those who will be honored are Barbra Streisand ; baseball greats Willie Mays and the late Yogi Berra ; Senator Barbara Mikulski ; Steven Spielberg ; Itzhak Perlman ; the late congresswoman Shirley Chisholm ; and James Taylor . Legendary songwriter Stephen Sondheim was selected for the honor last year, but was unable to attend the ceremony; he will celebrate the honor next week with Babs and the rest of the 2015 honorees. Broadway.com has more. Jesse Tyler Ferguson Returns to Broadway The Modern Family star and five-time Emmy nominee will return to Broadway in spring 2016. Though Ferguson has regularly appeared on stage in Shakespeare in the Park productions since hitting it big on Modern Family , this will mark the first time he's ...

(Scroll down to find out which New York City Ballet dancer is taking her final bow with the Company.) If/Then Opens on Broadway Sunday marked the official Broadway opening of the fantastic, original, challenging musical, If/Then . The show, written by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey and directed by their Next to Normal collaborator Michael Greif , follows Elizabeth ( Idina Menzel ) as different "what if"s play out. Some opening buzz: Menzel talks about coming back to Broadway ; photo coverage , from Broadway.com; and opening night arrivals , curtain call , after party part one and after party part two , all from Broadwayworld.com. And post-opening buzz: Menzel talks to People magazine about the road not taken and also performs on Today , including "Here I Go," with costar James Snyder . In addition, the cast album is now available for pre-order via Amazon . And below, watch as Kitt and Yorkey give you an in-depth look at the score. To learn more about I...