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

Mark Rylance Sets Broadway Return The three-time Tony Award winner and Academy Award winner will return to Broadway this winter. Rylance ( Twelfth Night , Bridge of Spies ) leads the cast of Farinelli and the King , a new play by Clair van Kampen that premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2015. As noted in the announcement on Playbill , Farinelli and the King is "inspired by the true story of the Italian castrato opera singer," and includes many Handel arias. Previews at Broadway's Belasco Theatre (where Rylance was last in the dual Twelfth Night/Richard III productions) begin December 5, with opening night set for December 17. The limited engagement is scheduled to conclude March 25, 2018. Casting News This is not a drill: Aaron Tveit will play Bobby in Company this summer! The stage and screen vet ( Next to Normal , Graceland ) will take on the lead role of Stephen Sondheim's musical at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA, August 10-Sept...

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...

The winners of the 88th Academy Awards have been announced. Herein, the full list of winners. (Winners are notated with an asterisk and bold typeface.) Best Picture The Big Short Bridge of Spies Brooklyn Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Room Spotlight * Yes! What a fabulous choice! This is everything a Best Picture should be: well-crafted, substantive, fantastic cast, and with something to say about our society. Excellent.   Best Actor in a Leading Role Bryan Cranston, Trumbo Matt Damon, The Martian Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant * Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl Y'all, I love Leo. It was all but a foregone conclusion that he was (FINALLY) going to win, and so the smart, thoughtful, passionate actor took the opportunity to craft a speech ahead of time. He not only spoke nicely about the professional achievement, but wove his work as an actor seamlessly into his work as an activist. Perfect speech for the best...

The nominees for the 88th Academy Awards have been announced. Herein, the full list of nominees. Best Picture The Big Short Bridge of Spies Brooklyn Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Room Spotlight Not that I've seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens , but I'm surprised it is not nominated. There are available slots (there are only eight nominees; there could be ten), and the number of possible nominees was expanded in recent years specifically to make room for blockbusters like Star Wars . Given the nominees, I'd say The Revenant has the edge (it's well represented throughout the full nomination list), though I'm actually rooting for Spotlight in this category. I think it's a powerful film, and represents film making 101: compelling story told well with fantastic actors.   Best Actor in a Leading Role Bryan Cranston , Trumbo Matt Damon , The Martian Leonardo DiCaprio , The Revenant Michael Fassbender , Steve Jobs Eddie Redmayne...

This week's Week in Review features news items from last week and this week. Casting News From Motown Philly to Teen Angel: the extant version of Boyz II Men will appear in the January 31 live Fox broadcast of Grease . They'll be singing "Beauty School Dropout" to Frenchy. The Grease Live cast is led by Aaron Tveit. Broadway.com has more. Samantha Barks , who wowed audiences as Eponine in the recent film adaptation of Les Miserables , has been cast in the film adaptation of Strike , a 2005 musical about the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. She'll appear alongside Alan Doyle and Barenaked Ladies' Steven Page . Broadway.com has more. Possible casting news: Tom Hardy ( The Revenant , Inception ), Mark Rylance ( Jerusalem , Twelfth Night ), and Kenneth Branagh (every Shakespeare movie you've seen) are in talks to star in Christopher Nolan 's WWII action thriller, Dunkirk . The Wrap has more. Casting for Familiar , the new Danai Gurira ( E...