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

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Presenters Snoop Dogg will induct Tupac Shakur into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this spring, Rolling Stone reports. The April 7 ceremony (in Brooklyn) will be recorded, and an edited version will be broadcast on HBO on April 29. Shakur's music was the basis for the Broadway musical, Holler If Ya Hear Me , which took its title from one of the late West Coast rapper's songs. In addition, Lenny Kravitz will perform a special tribute to Prince (not one of this year's honorees), and Pharrell , Dhani Harrison , and Train's Pat Monahan will be on hand to induct Nile Rodgers , Electric Light Orchestra , and Journey , respectively. Rolling Stone has more. Casting News Frank Wood ( Clybourne Park , Born Yesterday ), Amber Tamblyn (making her off-Broadway debut), Darren Pettie ( Dinner with Friends ), and Ella Dershowitz make up the cast of Can You Forgive Her? , the new Gina Gionfriddo play bowing at the Vineyard Theatre. Previews...

Rock Hall 2017 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017 has been announced. Entering the Hall on their first year of eligibility are Pearl Jam and Tupac , with Journey , Yes , Electric Light Orchestra , and Joan Baez as their fellow classmates. Musician Nile Rodgers will be given the Award for Musical Excellence, though his band, Chic, remains left out of the Hall. The artists will be inducted and honored during an April 7, 2017, ceremony/performance in Brooklyn, and, as in years past, an edited version of the festivities will air on HBO in May. Rolling Stone has more. NYCB on Your TV This winter, you'll get to watch New York City Ballet on PBS as part of the Great Performances series. Over the summer, NYCB performed in Paris's Theatre du Chatelet, and on February 17 and 24, 2017, you can tune in to see the Company's final performance from that three-week run. As The New York Times reports, the performance includes Walpurgisnacht Ballet , featuring Sara M...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees The nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017 have been announced. Artists are eligible (though not always nominated and, certainly, not always chosen for induction) 25 years after their first release. First time nominees include Pearl Jam (first year eligible), Tupac (first year eligible), and Bad Brains , while Janet Jackson , Chic , Chaka Khan , Journey , and Yes are among repeat nominees. Fans can see all the nominees and vote for their choice on Rolling Stone . Those artists selected for induction into the Rock Hall will be announced in December. The ceremony will be held in Brooklyn in April 2017, and HBO will air an edited version of the ceremony in May. Coming to Broadway and the West End Emmy winner and Tony nominee Allison Janney ( The West Wing , 9 to 5 ) and Tony winner John Benjamin Hickey ( The Normal Heart ) are heading back to Broadway in a revival of John Guare 's Six Degrees of Separation . Dire...

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...

Josh Groban Set for Broadway Debut The Grammy-nominated crooner , theatre lover, and funny guy will make his Broadway debut in a Broadway mounting of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 . Written by Dave Malloy and directed by Rachel Chavkin (who collaborated on Preludes ), Natasha... had a celebrated run off-Broadway in 2012, and featured site-specific staging. The musical is now at American Repertory Theatre, this time with a more traditional proscenium staging. Natasha ... is inspired by a passage in War and Peace , and the original off-Broadway cast included Hamilton 's Phillipa Soo. At this time, Groban is the only confirmed cast member (and he is said to have made a sizable time commitment to the show); a theatre and specific dates have yet to be announced, though performances are expected to begin in September 2016. Broadway.com has more. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2016 The inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Class of 2016, have been an...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Annoucned Nominees for the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class have been announced. Among the nominees are Janet Jackson , t he Smiths , N.W.A. , Chaka Khan , Nine Inch Nails  and more. Winners/inductees will be announced in December; they'll then be honored in a rocking ceremony in the spring, which will be edited and broadcast on HBO later in the year. Rolling Stone  has the full list of nominated artists. While you're there, you can vote for the artist you'd most like to see inducted into the Rock Hall. Hamilton News Go behind the scenes at Hamilton  on a two-show day, courtesy of featured player, Anthony Ramos , who plays John Laurens and Phillip Hamilton. Playbill has the photo essay. In other Hamilton  news, Andrew Rannells  will take on the role of King George III from October 27 through November 29 while current king, Jonathan Groff, films the concluding Looking  special. Groff will retake his throne on...