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

A two-section recap of news and notes from the week: Casting News Rebecca Naomi Jones ( American Idiot , Marie and Rosetta ) is joining the Broadway company of Significant Other . The Joshua Harmon play, which ran off-Broadway in summer 2015 , begins previews at the Booth Theatre February 14, 2017. Opening night is set for March 2, and tickets go on sale October 17. Jones joins Gideon Glick, Lindsay Mendez, Barbara Barrie, John Behlmann, Sas Goldberg, and Luke Smith, all of whom are reprising their off-Broadway roles. Theater Mania has more. Tony nominee Alex Brightman will play his final performance in School of Rock on November 6. Waiting in the wings is Eric Petersen , who'll take on the role of Dewey Finn beginning November 7. Broadway.com has more. Three-time Tony Award winner and Academy Award winner Mark Rylance ( Twelfth Night , Bridge of Spies ) will lead a big screen adaptation of the J.M. Coetzee novel, Waiting for the Barbarians . Deadline has detai...

Nominees for the 2015-2016 Drama Desk Awards were announced. These awards honor excellence in Broadway and off-Broadway, and are voted on by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers. Winners will be announced at that June 5 ceremony. Herein, the full list of nominees. (Note that, because it was considered last year during its off-Broadway run, Hamilton was not eligible this year.) Outstanding Play The Christians The Humans John King Charles III The Royale Outstanding Musical First Daughter Suite Daddy Long Legs School of Rock Shuffle Along... Waitress Outstanding Revival of a Play     Cloud Nine Death of a Salesman Henry IV Long Day's Journey Into Night A View from the Bridge Women Without Men Outstanding Revival of a Musical The Color Purple The Golden Bride Fiddler on the Roof She Loves Me Spring Awakening Outstanding Actor in a Play Andrew Garman , The Christians Avi Hoffman , Death of a Salesman Frank Langella , The F...

It's been said before, including on this blog , but it's the truth: music is better than words. I remember when the Adrienne Shelly movie Waitress , starring Keri Russell, came out. There was buzz around it, and around Russell's performance, yet I never saw it. In anticipation of this musical adaptation, I watched the movie a few months ago, and was underwhelmed. I thought it was just fine, but remembering the buzz around its 2007 release, I couldn't understand the enthusiasm. But there's something that music can do that nothing else can, and that's why telling a story with music—that is, musical theatre—is such an incredible art form. All the main beats from the movie are there, thanks in no small part to a great book by Jessie Nelson . Waitress  tells Jenna's story. She's the titular waitress, working at Joe's Diner. (Owner Joe ( Dakin Matthews ) is a regular at his roadside diner.) She has a knack for making delicious and creatively-named ...

Casting News Tessa Thompson ( Smart People , Creed ) is joining the cast of the Thor sequel, Thor: Ragnarok . Variety has more. Chris Myers ( Whorl Inside a Loop ) will lead the cast of War , a new play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The LCT3 production begins May 21, and officially opens June 6. Playbill has more. Tony and Oscar winner Mark Rylance ( Twelfth Night , Bridge of Spies ) will star as Pope Pius IX in The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara , a film adaptation of the David Kertzer novel. Tony Kushner is writing the screenplay, and Steven Spielberg is directing. Deadline has more. Complete casting has been announced for The Total Bent , the new musical by Stew and Heidi Rodewald (the team behind Passing Strange ). The pair will appear on stage with the band, and other actors in The Total Bent include Ato Blankson-Wood ( Hair ), Jahi Kearse , and Vondie Curtis-Hall , among others. Broadway.com has the full cast list . Previews at the Public begin May 10, with openi...

Casting News Mahershala Ali ( House of Cards ) and Joshua Jackson ( The Affair , The Mighty Ducks ) will lead the cast of Smart People , the Lydia R. Diamond play that will bow off-Broadway in the winter. Previews for the Second Stage production, directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon ( A Raisin in the Sun , Holler If Ya Hear Me ) begin January 26, 2016, with opening night of the limited engagement set for February 11. Broadway.com has more. Christopher Fitzgerald  ( Wicked , Finian's Rainbow ) and Keala Settla  ( Hands on a Hardbody , Les Miserables ) have joined the cast of the Broadway-bound Waitress . They join the previously announce Jessie Mueller. Previews begin March 25, 2016, with opening night set for April 24. Visit Playbill for the full cast list. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The annual Thanksgiving morning tradition will feature a slew of sure-to-be-great performances. Among those scheduled to perform are the casts of Fiddler on the Roof ; School of ...

Shuffle Along... Adds Leading Men Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald is set to star in Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed in the spring, and it was announced this week that she'll be joined by a quartet of terrific actors. Shuffling along will be Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell ( Women on the Verge... ), who will reunite with his Ragtime co-star; Tony winner Billy Porter ( Kinky Boots , scroll down to learn about Porter's Kinky Boots replacement); Tony nominee Joshua Henry ( The Scottsboro Boys , Violet ); and Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon ( Motown , The Wild Party ). Shuffle Along is set to play the Music Box Theatre, with previews beginning March 14, 2016. Opening night is scheduled for April 21. Broadway.com has more. Spring Awakening Completes Its Cast The upcoming revival of Spring Awakening is adding Camryn Manheim , Russell Harvard (a deaf actor who was in the acclaimed Tribes ) and Patri...