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

Lazarus in London A London production of Lazarus will be mounted this fall. Featuring music from the late, great David Bowie 's catalog (and a few new tunes) and a book by Enda Walsh , Lazarus is inspired by and is a continuation of The Man Who Fell to Earth . Michael C. Hall , Michael Esper , and Sophia Anne Caruso , who starred in the off-Broadway run last year, will reprise their roles across the pond. Lazarus will begin previews at the Kings Cross Theatre on October 25. Opening night is set for November 8, and the limited engagement is scheduled to conclude January 22, 2017. Broadway.com has more. Casting News Oscar winner and Tony nominee Lupita Nyong'o ( 12 Years a Slave , Eclipsed ), Tony nominee Danai Gurira ( Eclipsed ), and the great Michael B. Jordan ( Fruitvale Station ) have joined the previously announced Chadwick Boseman in Ryan Coogler's Marvel flick, Black Panther . Deadline has details. Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth ( On the Twentieth...

I had been wanting and waiting to see Fruitvale Station since January, when Rolling Stone ’s Peter Travers reported from the Sundance Film Festival that it was the film to beat. Sometimes, such anticipation leads to disappointment. Other times, it leads to Fruitvale Station .  Based on a real, tragic event, the title refers to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train station where Oscar Grant, a 22-year old black man, was shot by a police officer in the wee hours of New Year’s Day 2009. (Yes, a police officer, someone whose job it is to protect and serve, not some vigilante.) The film begins with the actual footage witnesses took of the incident, which is at once both macabre and gripping. We then flash back and spend the rest of the film following Grant (Michael B. Jordan) around during his final 24 hours.  Written and directed by Ryan Coogler (making his feature film debut), the film is careful not to sanctify Grant. Rather, it portrays him as the complex you...