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

Encores! Off-Center The Encores! Off-Center season, which celebrates rarely produced or under appreciated off-Broadway fare, has been announced. First up, July 12-15, is a production of Assassins , the Stephen Sondheim – John Weidman musical about the people who have attempted to assassinate US presidents. That will be directed by Anne Kauffman ( Marjorie Prime ). Next, Robert O'Hara ( Barbecue ) will direct Kirsten Childs 's Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin , which runs July 26 and 27. Closing out the season is the whimsical Really Rosie , written by Maurice Sendak (book and lyrics) and Carole King (music). The musical in which kids play pretend will run August 2-5. Theater Mania has more. Playwrights Horizons 2017-2018 Season The venerable off-Broadway company, which has produced works like the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick , has announced its 2017-2018 season, and it includes five world premieres, three plays by women, and one play by a person of c...

Royal Baby News I don't typically include artists' personal or lifecycle event information in these posts, but I'm making an exception. Shuffle Along... leading lady, Audra McDonald , and her husband, Will Swenson , are expecting a child! (Both actors have a child/children from their respective previous marriages.) Of course, this means that a casting shuffle is due at Shuffle Along... The pregnant McDonald will continue with the show through July 24 before going on maternity leave; she intends to return to the show this winter. (This also means that the Lady Day... West End production is postponed. Broadway.com has more about that.) Filling McDonald's tap shoes will be Rhiannon Giddens , making her Broadway debut. In addition, over the summer, the show's Tony-nominated choreographer, Savion Glover , will appear in the show, though, as Broadway.com reports , it has not been announced which track he'll take on. Congratulations to McDonald and Swenson!!! ...

Theatre Award Season Tony Awards —The first round of presenters/performers for the Tony Awards, taking place on Sunday, June8, and hosted by Hugh Jackman, has been announced. Viewers can expect to see Bradley Cooper ( American Hustle ), who is looking to return to Broadway in a revival of The Elephant Man , and Patricia Clarkson , who is set to join Cooper in the revival; Carole King , who will likely perform with Jessie Mueller and the cast of Beautiful ; Maggie Gyllenhaal ( Crazy Heart ), who will make her Broadway debut next season in The Real Thing ; all the Zacharys who made their Broadway debuts this season: Zachary Quinto ( The Glass Menagerie ), Zachary Levi ( First Date ) and Zach Braff ( Bullets Over Broadway ); Clint Eastwood ( J. Edgar ), who might or might not bring along a chair; and many more. Read this press release for the full list of stars and read this press release for details about performer. Note that the releases state that TonyAwards.com will featur...

Les Miserables has been around for a long time. From the Victor Hugo novel to various stage and screen adaptations, the story of Jean Valjean, who was turned into prisoner 24601 because he stole a loaf of bread, has entertained audiences for generations. But believe it or not, I had never seen the Claude-Michel Schonberg-Alain Boublil musical on stage until this most recent revival, which opened tonight at the same theatre that was home to its original Broadway run, the Imperial. I am a little disappointed to report that I didn’t develop more ardent feelings for the musical as a whole, but there are absolutely knock out moments in this production. A quick recap of the story: Valjean (Ramin Karimloo) is paroled from prison life but continues to be pursued by Inspector Javert (Will Swenson). While being pursued, he promises the dying Fantine (Caissie Levy) that he’ll look after her daughter, Cosette (Angeli Negron as a little girl, Samantha Hill as an adult), who has been looked af...

I remember seeing Little Miss Sunshine in the movie theater in 2006. It was one of the first breakout, counter-programming summer movies (in the recent trend, anyway), and it was so delightful and poignant and easy to relate to. So I was a little bit skeptical heading into see the stage musical adaptation but also a little bit excited (particularly because of the cast). I went in with mixed feelings and I came out with mixed feelings. Little Miss Sunshine tells the story of the Hoovers, an average Albuquerque family (mom, dad, grumpy grandpa, depressed uncle, brother and sister) that heads out on an unplanned road trip to Redondo Beach, California, so that little Olive, the (8-10-year old) spunky kid can compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. For most of the show (as in the movie) they're stuck in a van with no one but each other. (That van, by the way, is a clunker and the family has to push it to get it going and then hop in while it's rolling along.) There are l...

American Songbook at Lincoln Center In this annual series, artists perform in intimate venues across the Lincoln Center campus, giving fans a chance to watch their favorite performers let loose and sing great songs. The lineup for the 2014 season has been announced, and it's a good one. Among those set to perform are Jonathan Groff ( Spring Awakening , The Submission ); recent Tony winner Patina Miller ( Pippin ); the incredible Rebecca Naomi Jones ( American Idiot , Murder Ballad ); and Norm Lewis ( Porgy and Bess ), plus there will be special themed nights, like " Michael John LaChiusa's Stories " and " James Naughton: The Songs of Randy Newman ." While Friends of Lincoln Center receive early access to tickets, tickets go on sale to the public on November 12. Check out the full schedule at americansongbook.org . Oscar Buzz There are 18 weeks until the Academy Awards and the jockeying is in full swing. In this week's Feinberg Forecast (in ...