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

The winners for the 71st annual Tony Awards have been announced and feted! The full list of winners is below, beginning with the big four categories. Thereafter are the winners in the play categories followed by the nominees in the musical categories. Winners are notated with bold typeface and an asterisk. Best Musical Come From Away Dear Evan Hansen * Groundhog Day Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 Hooray!!! Dear Evan Hansen  had been the early frontrunner, but Come From Away  was the horse that broke late, and made the category competitive. (I certainly don't mean that as a knock on Great Comet , which I've seen and loved, or Groundhog Day , which I haven't seen; that's just what the race, according to chatter, was.) I love this musical. It's raw, honest, and important. It worked so well off-Broadway, it works amazingly on Broadway, and you better look for it in your town because I have no doubt it will be incredible on tour. Best Play ...

Ah, She Loves Me . It's a story we all know, thanks, mostly, to the movie You've Got Mail , which is based on the same source material as the musical. (That would be the Miklos Laszlo play Parfumerie  and the ensuing film adaptation, The Shop Around the Corner .) That familiarity doesn't mean it's not worth retelling. It's a lovely story, quaint, old-fashioned, and sincere, the kind of story we don't see these days, which makes this glorious revival such a welcomed treat. She Loves Me  comes from songwriting duo Jerry Bock (music) and Sheldon Harnick (lyrics), who brought us  Fiddler on the Roof , and book writer Joe Masteroff , who wrote the libretto for the Kander and Ebb classic,  Cabaret . (What a winning trio; Bock and Harnick's score is a feast for your ears, and Masteroff's book is substantive and feels fresh.) It takes place in Maraczek's parfumerie in Budapest, circa 1934. (The locale is rather inconsequential; no one puts on a Hungari...

An American in Paris Starts Rehearsals The cast and creative team of An American in Paris  began rehearsals and met the press this week. Theater Mania has pictures of stars Robert Fairchild  and Leanne Cope  and director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon ;  Broadway Box caught up with them to find out everyone's favorite musical number in a movie musical; and Broadway.com interviewed the company, including book writer Craig Lucas  and music supervisor Rob Fisher , about what the show brings to Broadway (watch below). An American in Paris  will take up residence at the Palace Theatre beginning March 13. Opening night is set for April 12. Awards Round Up BAFTA Awards, DGA Awards and Grammys were handed out this week. Herein, a brief recap. BAFTA : Boyhood  took home the top honor, and director Richard Linklater and supporting actress Patricia Arquette were also honored; Eddie Redmayne  ( The Theory of Everything )...

Gavin Creel's Get Out The talented Tony nominee Gavin Creel is releasing a record! Announced first at his shows at the Allen Room (his performance was part of the Lincoln Center Songbook series) and later confirmed in a statement on Playbill.com , the Hair star will celebrate the release of his new album Get Out with two shows at Joe's Pub on Monday, March 19. The first show will be at 7pm and the second at 9:30. According to the release on Playbill, attendees of the 9:30 show "will be invited to stay for a post-show album release party." Tickets went on sale on Wednesday, but you can check in with Joe's Pub at either 212.967.7555 or joespub.com for availability. Why Wall Street Should Stop Whining In a new blog post, Rolling Stone 's unparalleled Matt Taibbi eviscerates a ridiculous new New York magazine piece. "The End of Wall Street as They Knew It" is a preposterous piece that argues Wall Streeters have it tough in this economy because thei...

Merrily We Roll Along City Centers Encores! is presenting a Merrily We Roll Along concert this month. This cult favorite Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical tracks three "old friends" as they tumble through a rise and fall in the musical theatre world. The show was famously ill-received when it originally ran on Broadway but has since developed a fervent following among musical theatre fanatics. Playbill.com recently caught up with the company, which includes Lin-Manuel Miranda, Celia Keenan-Bolger ( Peter and the Starcatcher ) and Colin Donnell ( Anything Goes ) as they rehearsed for their two-week run. Watch below as they rehearse "Old Friends" and talk about discovering Sondheim and Merrily . All Wheeldon at City Ballet New York City Ballet's first ever All Wheeldon night was a rousing success ! Those lucky enough to be in the audience (like me!) were treated to the world premiere of Les Carillons , Wheeldon's breakthrough work Polyphonia and the NYC ...