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

The New York City Ballet Here/Now Festival continues, and on Saturday, May 6, I got to see program five, which includes the newest from Alexei Ratmansky, Odessa . Herein, some notes about all five ballets that are part of the program. Jeu de Cartes —For a ballet that's supposed to be light, the choreography is heavy, it feels—in many sections—grounded. This Peter Martins ballet, which is set to Igor Stravinsky's eponymous composition, is meant to be an abstract representation of a card game. Megan Fairchild is the Queen of Hearts, and she's joined along the way by Harrison Ball , Joseph Gordon , and Aaron Sanz as the Kings of Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs (respectively). The estimable ensemble are also dressed as the various suits. For all that frivolity, it's just an uninteresting ballet. It's not bad or off-putting, but it's also not engaging, despite, on Saturday, a talented cast. Gordon was fine if a little one-dimensional; Sanz was appropriately ...

NYCB's spring season continues. Saturday afternoon's program was All Robbins , featuring Dances at a Gathering and West Side Story Suite , two ballets I thrill over each time. The last time I saw Dances at a Gathering in full was January 2011 (an excerpt was presented during Wendy Whelan's farewell performance in October 2014), so while it felt familiar, it also felt fresh and new. I like the way Dances at a Gathering , set to a Chopin piano score, is an opportunity for the dancers to show off both their technique and their personality. This is also why I think Chase Finlay , dancing in blue, is so poorly suited for this; he hardly ever looks like he's connecting with his fellow dancers. On the other hand, it's why Robert Fairchild (in brown), back in the full NYCB swing after spending a year on Broadway with An American in Paris , is perfect for this ballet. I've always adored the way he brings a flair to his roles, and there was a special moment...

Spring ballet outing three of five was a success. The afternoon began with Peter Martins 's Barber Violin Concerto , a ballet I'd never seen before. Set to Samuel Barber 's "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 14," this ballet dazzles not just because of the dancing but also because of the music. The ballet begins with the curtain down while the solo violinist ( Kurt Nikkanen on Saturday afternoon) playing a few beautiful bars, setting the stage for the aural experience ahead. His virtuosity becomes even more apparent as the piece continues, with fabulous aggressive sections matched by the choreography. Martins created a ballet for four dancers, a classical couple and a modern couple. When I looked at the casting and saw Megan Fairchild and Jared Angle as one couple and Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen as the other, I thought I knew which would be which. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong. Mearns and Janzen enter first, playing...

Hamilton Hype Between the announcement of the Broadway mounting and tickets going on sale, Hamilton has been getting extra attention. Watch this CBS Sunday Morning interview in which Hamilton writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda talks about being inspired to write the musical, and why the hip-hop vernacular is the perfect fit for the story. In this bonus clip , Miranda talks about performing a song from Hamilton at the White House. Miranda also spoke to MSNBC's Chris Hayes , with whom he went to high school. (For more, watch the extended, 20-minute conversation between the old friends.) Hamilton tickets are now on sale, including at the pop-up box office at the Marquis Theatre. The musical continues its Public run through the beginning of May. Broadway previews (at the Richard Rodgers Theatre) begin July 13, with opening night set for August 6. Visit hamiltonbroadway.com for more. Josh Groban Stages Josh Groban has been working, simultaneously, on two albums. One is...

My favorite ballet is Jerome Robbins ’s NY Export: Opus Jazz , but the ballet that comes in at a close second is Robbins’s Fancy Free . It was the first ballet he created for New York City Ballet, and it marked his first collaboration with Leonard Bernstein . (The pair would continue to collaborate, most famously on West Side Story. ) In about 20 minutes, Fancy Free tells the story of three sailors on leave in NYC. Not long after the ballet premiered, book writers and lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green teamed with Bernstein to expand the story into a full length musical, and On the Town was born. ("...A risk was taken with On the Town and look what happened: Betty and Adolph burst onto the scene. A shout out to Comden and Green...") While I know this is supposed to be about the three sailors, in this production, the town belongs to the women. New York City Ballet principal dancer Megan Fairchild ( Double Feature ) does nicely in her Broadway debut, and, for...

New York City Ballet on Broadway The New York Times checks in with NYCB principal dancers Megan Fairchild , Robbie Fairchild and Tiler Peck , who are all starring in Broadway or Broadway-bound musicals this year. Megan will portray "Miss Turnstiles" in the revival of On the Town , now in previews. (The musical is based on Jerome Robbins's Fancy Free , which marked the choreographer's first collaboration with Leonard Bernstein.) Robbie is set for An American in Paris , a musical adaptation of the Gene Kelly movie, directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon ( A Place for Us , Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ). The musical will debut in Paris this winter and then take up residency at Broadway's Palace Theatre in the spring. (Previews begin March 13, 2015; opening night is April 12.) And Peck takes on the title role in Little Dancer , a new musical inspired by the works of Edgar Degas. Little Dancer , debuting this fall at the Kennedy Center (Oct...

Casting Updates Film —The incomparable Meryl Streep will star as Maria Callas in HBO's adaptation of Terrence McNally's Master Class . (McNally's Mothers and Sons star, Tyne Daly, played the role in a recent Broadway revival.) The HBO movie will be directed by Mike Nichols ( Death of a Salesman ). Filming will begin in January 2015. Broadway.com has more. Broadway —The starry cast of It's Only a Play added a new player: Rupert Grint , of Harry Potter fame. Grint joins the already announced Nathan Lane ( Guys and Dolls ), Matthew Broderick ( The Producers ), Stockard Channing ( Other Desert Cities ), F. Murray Abraham ( Homeland ) and Megan Mullally ( Guys and Dolls ). It's Only a Play is written by Terrence McNally and directed by Jack O'Brien. Previews begin on October 9 at the Schoenfeld Theatre. Broadway.com has more. Film —Before Andrew Rannells ( The Book of Mormon ) dons Hedwig's wig, he'll make an appearance in The Intern , a new f...