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

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2015 I love rock and roll, and so do these people. The 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class has been announced. Lou Reed ; Green Day ; Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble ; Joan Jett and the Blackhearts ; Bill Withers ; and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band will be inducted in an April 18, 2015, ceremony. In addition, Ringo Starr will receive the Award for Musical Excellence, and "5" Royales will receive the Early Influence Award. As you may know, artists are eligible for nomination into the Hall 25 years after their first release. Green Day make it in on their first year of eligibility. Reed was previously inducted with the Velvet Underground but will be posthumously inducted as a solo artist. And, as Rolling Stone notes , Starr is the last of the Beatles (inducted as a band in 1988) to be inducted as a solo artist. An edited version of the induction ceremony and concert will likely air on HBO in May, as has been the case in the ...

The Newsroom : Inside the Episode The series finale of The Newsroom will air this Sunday, 12.14, and if you're anything like me, you're probably still gutted from the way the penultimate episode ended. Aaron Sorkin has a habit of creating dramatic and tragic season enders (consider just The West Wing : season one - the shooting at Rosslyn; season two - Mrs. Landingham; season three - Posse Comitatus; season four - Zoe is taken), so I suppose we should have seen this coming. The series finale is titled, as many of his season finales are, "What Kind of Day Has it Been," and it promises to be riveting, so tune in! For more about episode five, let Sorkin take you inside the episode: (and head to HBO Connect for an interview with Sam Waterston and to Alternative Nation for an interview with John Gallagher, Jr. ) Kennedy Center Honors The 2014 "class" of Kennedy Center honorees have been feted in a gala reception and tribute ceremony. This year's...

Nina Arianda Back on Broadway Rejoice! Tony Award winner Nina Arianda ( Venus in Fur , Tales from Red Vienna ) will be back on stage in NYC next fall. You might recall that the goddess starred alongside Sam Rockwell ( A Behanding in Spokane ) in the Sam Shepard play, Fool for Love , at the Williamstown Theatre Festival this summer. That production, with both stars in tow and directed by Daniel Aukin ( Bad Jews , The Fortress of Solitude ), will bow on Broadway (courtesy of the Manhattan Theatre Club) beginning September 15, 2015. Opening night is set for October 8. MTC also announced that David Lindsay-Abaire ( Rabbit Hole )'s latest comedy, Ripdcord , will be part of its off-Broadway offerings. Broadway.com has more. Foo Fighters "I Am a River" The documentary series Sonic Highways comes to a conclusion with the New York episode, airing this week. (Don't despair yet: Dave Grohl hinted at a second season when he spoke to Jon Stewart on Wednesday .) Che...

An American in Paris Sitzprobe The company of Christopher Wheeldon 's An American in Paris are in the City of Lights rehearsing for the show's world premiere at the Theatre du Chatelet. ( Check out this video of them making their way to Europe .) This week brought the all-important sitzprobe (literally: sit and sing), which is the first time the orchestra and cast (which includes Robert Fairchild ( look how excited he is ) and Leanne Cope ) come together in the same room to play/sing through the score. (And this is a gorgeous score; An American in Paris is a Gershwin trunk musical.) The musical, directed and choreographed by Wheeldon and featuring an updated book by Craig Lucas , runs in Paris November 21-January 4, 2015. Broadway previews (at the Palace) begin March 13, with opening night set for April 12. Watch highlights from the sitzprobe below, then head to anamericaninparisonbroadway.com to purchase tickets. Casting Updates Off-Broadway —Full casting has ...