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

Tony Awards Lots of Tony Awards news. In a long-overdue decision, the Tony Awards Administration Committee  has decided to reinstate the Best Sound Design categories , which had been eliminated after the 2013-2014 season. The categories, as well as a new voting process for that and the Best Orchestrations category, will be effective starting with the upcoming 2017-2018 season. Broadway.com has more. Tony Award nominations for this season will be announced May 2.   Baayork Lee , a member of the original A Chorus Line company, will receive the honorary Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award in recognition of her humanitarian work. Playbill has more.   James Earl Jones ( You Can't Take It With You ) will receive the 2017 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre . Broadway.com has more. Additionally, the final round of eligibility rulings were announced. Unless noted below, eligibility is consistent with opening night credits. That means that actors billed a...

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...

The Lucille Lortel Awards honor excellence in off-Broadway. Winners will be announced and honored at the May 1 ceremony. Herein, the full list of nominees, as well as special award recipients. (Unless indicated, categories were open to both plays and musicals.) Of note: There are several incredible shows, performances, and creative efforts that did not get nominated (say, like, Significant Other ), which just shows how rich the off-Broadway scene is these days. Outstanding Play The Christians , by Lucas Hnath  Eclipsed , by Danai Gurira  Gloria , by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Guards at the Taj , by Rajiv Joseph  John , by Annie Baker Outstanding Musical Futurity , by Cesar Alvarez (music, lyrics, book) and The Lisps (music)  Iowa , by Jenny Schwartz (book and lyrics) and Todd Almond (music and lyrics)  Southern Comfort , by Dan Collins (book and lyrics) and Julianne Wick Davis (music)  Tappin' Thru Life , by Maurice Hines  The Wildness: S...

Casting News Broadway —Additional casting has been announced for the Broadway bow of American Psycho . Next to Normal  co-stars Alice Ripley  and Jennifer Damiano  will reunite for the new musical. Helene Yorke  ( Masters of Sex ) also joins the company, which will be led by the previously announced Benjamin Walker. Opening night has not been set, but previews, at the Schoenfeld Theatre, begin March 24, 2016. Theater Mania has more. TV — Andrew Call  ( American Idiot , Brooklynite ) and Ana Gastayer ( A New Brain ) have joined the cast of the upcoming Fox telecast of Grease . Call will play T-Bird Sonny, and Gastayer will delight as Principal McGee. They join a cast that is led by Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuko. Broadwayworld.com has more about Call and Deadline has the report on Gastayer. Off-Broadway —The Vineyard Theatre production of Colman Domingo's Dot  will be led by Leslie Uggams . Directed by Susan Stroman, previews begin February 4, 20...

Ask a Star: Robbie Fairchild and Leanne Cope The Tony-nominated stars of An American in Paris are the latest to sit down on the Broadway.com couch and answer fans' questions (including mine!) in the latest installment of Ask a Star. Casting News Aaron Tveit ( Next to Normal , Graceland ) will lead the cast of a new CBS series, Brain Dead . The show is set in DC, and imagines what would happen if aliens took over the Capitol and started eating elected officials' brains. (Different from now how...?) The series is set to premiere next summer. Broadway.com has more. Full casting has been announced for Gigantic , the new musical set to play off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre this fall. Bring It On alumnae Taylor Louderman and Ryann Redmond are among the cast members, as well as Leslie Kritzer ( A Catered Affair , The Memory Show ), Andrew Durand ( War Hors e ) and others. Previews begin November 11, with opening night set for December 3. The limited engagemen...