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

Award Season Updates As many predicted, Hamilton won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. (Lin-Manuel Miranda posted the photo at right of a celebratory cake.) Playbill has details about that award, and you can visit grammy.com for the full list of this year's winners, including the Oscar-winning song, "Glory." Before Hamilton won, though, the cast performed the opening number. Entertainment Weekly  takes you behind the scenes of the performance. BAFTA Awards were handed out last week. The Revenant took home the top honor, and its star, Leonardo DiCaprio , director, Alejandro G. Inarritu , cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki , and sound design team were also winners. Three-time Tony Award winner Mark Rylance won for Best Supporting Actor ( Bridge of Spies ), and Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer won the Best Original Screenplay award for Spotlight . Visit bafta.org for the full list of winners. Additional Oscars presenters have been announced, in...

I had the pleasure of catching the New York City Center Encores! production of Zorba! , the Kander and Ebb ( Chicago , Cabaret ) musical from the late 60s. It's a story about stories, which is, as Marin Mazzie ( Next to Normal , Ragtime ) so beautifully sings to us, how time goes by. And thus the plot details are less important than the whole they create, the lesson they teach us through song and dance. (The lesson, of course, is that time goes by. Life happens. Keep singing and dancing.) John Turturro ( The Cherry Orchard ) performs the title role with gusto, while Tony nominee Santino Fontana ( Cinderella , Act One ) gives an understated, sensitive performance as Zorba's reluctant pupil. Adam Chanler-Berat ( Peter and the Starcatcher , The Fortress of Solitude ) is frisky but sweet as a lovable street urchin. And when Mazzie tells you to listen, do yourself a favor and listen. What a voice, put to great use as The Leader.