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

New York City Ballet Season On Sale Individual tickets for New York City Ballet's 2015-2016 season are now on sale. The season includes seven world premiere ballets, including two from the Company's resident choreographer and soloist, Justin Peck ( Everywhere We Go , Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes ). There will also be a new Christopher Wheeldon ( After the Rain , An American in Paris ) ballet, as well as another collaboration between choreographers and fashion designers. (Read this Week in Review from June for more about that.) In addition, the promotional artwork for the season (like the NY Export: Opus Jazz drawing at right) marks a collaboration between NYCB and artist Jamie Lee Reardin. The trailer below shows the art in motion. Visit nycballet.com for more information and to purchase tickets. PBS Fall Arts Festival This fall, PBS will broadcast several recorded shows, concerts and other specials as part of its annual Fall Arts Festival. Highlights include the Oc...

(Scroll down to hear the latest tune off of Sonic Highways .) Cast Album Alerts Two musicals opened on Broadway in October, and this week, each show's cast recorded their respective cast albums. The incredible company of The Last Ship , led by Michael Esper , took to the recording studio, creating the original Broadway cast recording. Broadway.com was on hand to capture the record session , and, later in the week, reported that the album will be released on December 16. (It is now available for pre-order from Amazon . Scroll down for even more The Last Ship goodies.) The recording will feature a bonus track of Sting "covering" the beautiful ballad, "What Say You, Meg?' In another recording studio, the company of the On the Town revival recorded their cast album, which will likely be released in January 2015. Broadway.com has more about the On the Town recording. Thanksgiving Day Parade Performances For me, Thanksgiving just isn't the same...

Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways As you know by now, Foo Fighters went on an incredible journey as they developed, wrote and recorded their eighth studio album, Sonic Highways . The band traveled the United States, making stops in cities known for a unique musical sound or influence. Frontman Dave Grohl interviewed musicians, and the band used the influence of the city to write songs. (One song for each city.) Not only is the band releasing the resulting album, but, following on the success of Grohl's Sound City , there is an accompanying HBO docu-series, which premieres tonight. Below, check out the first single from the album, "Something from Nothing," and then watch the bonus performance from the Foos' week-long residency on the Late Show with David Letterman . You can still pre-order the album; visit foofighters.com to do so. The Last Ship in the News The Times Talk featuring The Last Ship collaborators Sting and Joe Mantello will be live stre...

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...

(Scroll all the way down for the first snippet of new Foo Fighters music.) Side Show Coming Back to Broadway A revival of the 1997 musical Side Show , about twins Daisy and Violet Hilton and their journey through the vaudeville circuit, will bow on Broadway this fall. Bill Condon directs the reimagined production that took shape in celebrated runs at La Jolla and the Kennedy Center. Those productions' stars, Erin Davie and Emily Padgett , will reprise their roles in the Broadway run. Side Show features a book by Bill Russell (with addition book material by Condon) and a score by Russell (lyrics) and Henry Krieger (music). The revival will play at the St. James Theatre; previews begin October 28, with opening night set for November 17. Playbill has more. Larry David to Star on Broadway "Pretty, pretty good." Larry David ( Seinfeld , Curb Your Enthusiasm ) will make his Broadway debut in Fish in the Dark . David has developed the play (which was previou...