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

New Foo Fighters Album Foo Fighters are releasing a new album, Concrete and Gold , this fall!!! Set for release on September 15, the album, the band's ninth, will be supported by a national tour. You can gain pre-sale access when you pre-order the album (several combo packages are available) and/or you become a verified fan (an anti-ticket bot measure). All pre-orders come with an instant download of the single, "Run." See the announcement below, and head to foofighters.com to pre-order and rock out. Casting News Broadway —Initial casting for the Broadway bow of The Band's Visit has been announced. Many of the actors from the acclaimed off-Broadway production will be reprising their roles, including Tony Shalhoub ( The Price , Act One ), Katrina Lenk ( Indecent ), and Jonathan Raviv . Previews for the David Yazbek–Itamar Moses musical begin October 7 at the Barrymore Theatre, with opening night scheduled for November 9. Broadway News has more. Concer...

It's an Honor Lilly Awards — Tony nominee Denee Benton ( Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 ) and others are among this year's Lilly Award honorees. These awards recognize women's contribution to American theatre, and the women will be feted at the May 22 ceremony. Playbill has more. Mark Twain Prize for Humor —Funny man and former late night weirdo David Letterman has been named the 2017 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Letterman will be honored at the Kennedy Center in October, and an edited recording of the tribute will likely air on PBS later in the year. Rolling Stone  has more. Broadway.Com Awards —Winners of the Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards were announced, and the fans loved Dear Evan Hansen . The musical won eight awards, including Favorite New Musical and Favorite Lead Actor, Ben Platt. Visit Broadway.com for the full list of winners. Off-Broadway Alliance Awards —Honoring excellence in off-Broadway, the Off-Broadw...

History was made at New York City Ballet on Thursday (April 2 7 ) night as the venerable dance company presented its first–ever all–Peck program, an evening dedicated to ballet's golden boy, Justin Peck , a soloist with the company and its resident choreographer. It was a momentous occasion for the toast of the town, who, still under 30, is seen as a ballet wunderkind and, perhaps, the superhero who is going to bring ballet back to popular culture. Peck has been choreographing for NYCB (and others) for just five years, yet he's already created 13 ballets for the company (with a 14th set to premiere in May), including one that was the subject of the documentary Ballet 422 , his ode to his hometown, Paz de la Jolla . Peter Martins had his pick of Peck's many creations, but for the first all–Peck program, he chose four works: In Creases , the first ballet Peck made for NYCB; The Dreamers , a pas de deux; New Blood , one of Peck's collaborations with fashion designer...

Carousel   Revival to Hit Broadway in 2018 A revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel  will bow on Broadway in spring 2018, officially opening at a theatre to be announced on March 23. The production will be directed by Jack O'Brien  ( Catch Me If You Can ) and choreographed by NYCB resident choreographer  Justin Peck  ( Everywhere We Go , The Times Are Racing ). Peck's fellow NYCB dancers Amar Ramasar  and Brittany Pollack  will be among the company, figuring prominently in the act two dream ballet. The production will star Tony winner Jessie Mueller  ( Beautiful , Waitress ) as Julie Jordan and two-time Tony nominee Joshua Henry  ( The Scottsboro Boys , Violet ,  Shuffle Along... ) as Billy Bigelow. (Now this photo of Justin and Joshua has been demystified.) Opera diva Renee Fleming  will also appear in the production. In the  Playbill  announcement, Peck promises "an even more dance-and-movement-f...

New York City Ballet 2017-2018 Season NYCB teased the 2017-2018 season, which will be headlined by a centennial tribute to Jerome Robbins , one of the company's founding choreographers. 19 Robbins ballets will be featured, including favorites Fancy Free and the West Side Story Suite . Resident choreographer Justin Peck ( Everywhere We Go , The Times Are Racing ) will create at least two new ballets for the company, including one set to a Leonard Bernstein score, an homage to Robbins, who famously collaborated with Bernstein on the aforementioned ballets/shows. (2018 marks the centennial for both Robbins and Bernstein; the NY Phil's 2017-2018 program includes lots of Bernstein.) The season will also include new works by company members Lauren Lovette ( For Clara ), Troy Schumacher ( Common Ground ), and Peter Walker ( ten in seven ), as well as a new piece by 18-year-old SAB student, Gianna Reisen . (She'll be the youngest person to choreograph for the company.) S...

Notes on the New Combinations evening, including the world premiere of two ballets: Fearful Symmetries : This Peter Martins ballet is reminiscent of Robbins's Glass Pieces , though it's just one movement (with a coda). Using the John Adams composition of the same name, Fearful Symmetries , which I first saw in 2011 , is athletic and buoyant. Taking its cue from the music, there is repetition—symmetry—to the steps. The ending coda is like a cool down, something suggesting that everything leading up to it was a fever dream. There are no principals, giving more corps de ballet members and soloists an opportunity to be showcased, and not just the two main couples ( Claire Kretzchmar + Russell Janzen and Ashly Isaacs + Zachary Catazaro ). In particular, I noticed featured soloist Harrison Ball , who made great leaps in some impressive sections. While Isaacs comes on like a seductress, Kretzchmar looks too green to make me believe she feels anything the ballet might be ...

Casting News Complete casting for the revival of Sunday in the Park with George has been announced. Joining stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford are their City Center costars Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles ( The King and I ) and Phillip Boykin ( Porgy and Bess ), among others, as well as Andrew Kober ( She Loves Me ), Erin Davie ( Side Show ), Max Chernin ( Bright Star ), and Robert Sean Leonard ( Dead Poets Society , Prodigal Son ), and more. Previews begin February 11, and opening night is set for February 23. The limited engagement is scheduled to conclude April 23. Broadway World has the full casting announcement. Ben Schwartz ( House of Lies , This is Where I Leave You ) and Noell Wells ( SNL , Master of None ) will star in the Netflix original film, Happy Anniversary . The Tracking Board has more. Complete casting for the February 19 Crazy for You concert has been announced. Joining stars Tony Yazbeck and Laura Osnes are Mark Linn-Baker ( On the Twenti...