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

The Wild West is an iconic American place and time, and the tall tale is a uniquely American storytelling device so, naturally, playwright Kirsten Childs uses both to tell an American story that is conspicuously absent from American lore. Bella: An American Tall Tale  was inspired by some street gawking Childs witnessed. As she describes in the program notes, she was walking down the street behind an African-American couple, and every man that passed took time to look (stare? leer?) at the woman's ample behind. (She notes that the men were "so spellbound they'd even forgotten to catcall.) Rather than seeing this as blatant street harassment or objectification of women, Childs saw an African beauty ideal being worshiped. A Euro-centric beauty ideal pervades society. Pretty much since Twiggy, magazines have been covered with white (often blonde) women who have waif-like bodies: skinny, straight, and with "normal" size features (noses, lips, etc.). In recent...

Casting News Following last week's announcement of the ART production of Jagged Little Pill , inspired by the Alanis Morissette album, this week we learned Tony winner Idina Menzel ( Rent , Wicked , If/Then ) will lead an upcoming industry reading of the musical. As noted in the Broadway.com report, though, Menzel is not likely to appear in the ART production since she is already slated to star in Joshua Harmon's Skintight , which runs at the same time as the ART Jagged Little Pill production. Joe Tippett ( Familiar ) will join the company of Waitress beginning with the June 13 performance. He'll take on the role of Earl, the titular waitress's abusive husband. (Will Swenson plays the role through June 11.) Tippett's first performance will also mark the first performance of Betsy Wolfe in the title role. Playbill has more. Additional casting has been announced for Steven Speilberg's The Papers , a telling of the Pentagon Papers. Sarah Paulson (...

"Art isn't easy," but when everything comes together just right, the results are sensational. Such is the case in the sumptuous revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Sunday in the Park with George . The Stephen Sondheim – James Lapine  musical follows the artistic endeavors of two Georges, the late-19th century painter, Georges Seurat, and George, an American artist (whom we meet in 1984) who, in this story, is a descendant of Seurat. Both artists (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) struggle with "putting it together," balancing (not always successfully) the different parts of their lives that ultimately make up their art. Both must contend with the continual push and pull of competing forces; Seurat's main contention is between his personal life (making room for his lover, Dot (Annaleigh Ashford), and his art) while George is consumed with the tension between commerce and art. In "Finishing the Hat," one of the show's most famous songs...

Remember those wonderful MGM movie musicals? The ones from the studio system, with Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire, the simple feel-good flicks with those fabulous scores from legendary songwriters like the Gershwins and Leonard Bernstein and Adolph + Green? The ambitious La La Land  aims to capture that spirit. Writer and director Damien Chazelle ( Whiplash ) doesn't quite grab the stars, but he reaches for them. Set in Los Angeles (La La Land, where dreams are made), La La Land  tracks Sebastian ( Ryan Gosling ) and Mia's ( Emma Stone ) romance. And I do mean romance, which is one of the things I like about the movie. There is actually a sense of Romance, of exploration and finding beauty and hope in their world. Much like in (500) Days of Summer , this finds its characters actually appreciating their surroundings, not just complaining about traffic. (That's in there.) Mia is an aspiring actress who, like Cathy in  The Last Five Years , is becoming disillusion...

"And another hundred people just got off of the train." That's from "Another Hundred People," the Stephen Sondheim tune from Company . It's my favorite song about my favorite city, and, clearly, the creators of In Transit  like it, too. This theme of the subway connecting all New Yorkers, and the sheer number of people who are in transit at any one time, and the lives they live, is the focus of this original a cappella musical. What, at first, seems like a series of sketches (for the first several minutes, I thought this was going to be a themed revue), turns into a full musical, with story arcs and characters for whom we root. There's the gay couple, Trent ( Justin Guarini , Women on the Verge... ) and Steven ( Telly Leung , Godspell ), who are engaged but fearful of telling Trent's southern, conservative mother that he and Steven are more than just roommates; there's Nate ( James Snyder , If/Then ), the ex-investment banker who's tryi...

Dear Evan Hansen, Today is going to be a great day, and here's why. An original, emotional, affecting musical, free of stunt casting, is on Broadway. It has hints of other musicals (particularly Next to Normal ), but that's what happens when young writers are inspired by those who've come before. Written by Steven Levenson (book) and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (score), this musical is about loneliness, and the ways things that are supposed to connect us these days (social media) can also be terribly isolating. It's about learning who you are, and stepping out into the world. It's about learning who your children are, and loving them unconditionally. It's going to be a great day because Levenson's book is both funny and touching; Pasek and Paul's score features accessible pop (so it sounds natural in the teen characters' mouths) and smart, raw lyrics that reveal depth of character. It's going to be a great day because Rachel Bay Jones ...

A quick note to praise Party People , the revolutionary play with music at the Public. Created by Universes ( Steven Sapp , Mildred Ruiz-Sapp , and William Ruiz ), this show asks: How do we fight now? There's just as much to speak out against and fight for as there was in the 60s, it can be difficult to know what to do. I happened to see this the Saturday after the election, with the wounds of Trump's Electoral College victory still fresh. It was exactly what I needed. Taking a look at the history of the 60s Civil Rights movement, particularly the role of the Black Panthers and Young Lords, Party People  juxtaposes history with the here and now. It shows that while the revolution looks different, the fight is the same. The fight for justice for ALL continues. How we fight is different, too. There's a moment in the show when today's young people are called armchair activists, with the veteran revolutionaries chiding them for thinking tweeting is activism. There...

The show starts when you walk in to the Imperial Theatre, with the entryway looking like a dive club. The walls are lined with posters for Russian bands. In the house, lively Russian music plays as the audience gets seated in the opulent Russian nightclub, outfitted with orbital and constellation–looking light fixtures. The design appears to continue in the mezzanine, with blood red curtains and portraits of notable Russians adorning the walls. Looking around, you can see that the playing area is everywhere, making this a fantastically immersive experience. I had a blast. (Be sure to check out all the seating options, including stage seating, to get the most out of the experience.) Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 is inspired by a brief passage in the classic Leo Tolstoy doorstop novel, War and Peace . This portion is a soap opera, but one you care about when you're reading the full novel. In The Great Comet , the action centers on Natasha and Pierre (obviously)....

As difficult as the week was, it wasn't all bad news. Here are some pieces of good news that you might have missed. Casting News Tony winner Cynthia Erivo ( The Color Purple ) and Tony winner Viola Davis ( Fences ) will star in the heist flick, Windows , written by Gillian Flynn ( Gone Girl ) and directed by Steve McQueen ( 12 Years a Slave ). Variety has more. Casting for the BBC adaptation of Mike Bartlett's future history play King Charles III has been announced. Reprising their roles from the stage version are Tim Pigott-Smith , Oliver Chris , Richard Goulding , and Margot Leicester . Deadline has details. Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon ( Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed ) will appear in a recurring role in the Starz series, Power . Deadline has details. You can catch Dixon on stage as Aaron Burr in Hamilton . Tony nominee Alex Brightman ( School of Rock ) and Rosie O'Donnell have joined the ca...

There's an informative history of Falsettos on the Lincoln Center Theatre blog. It traces Falsettos ' origins, from In Trousers to March of the Falsettos (nee Four Jews in a Room Bitching ) to Falsettoland , providing background and context, as well as insight into its significance in famed off-Broadway company, Playwrights Horizons. It does not, however, make me like the show more. Falsettos , written by William Finn (score and book) and James Lapine (book), focuses on Marvin (Christian Borle), and his desire for a tight knit family. Set in 1979 (act one) and 1981 (act two), we meet Marvin just after he's left his wife, Trina (Stephanie J. Block), and son, Jason (Anthony Rosenthal), to be with his lover, Whizzer (Andrew Rannells). Marvin must navigate his sexuality, relationships, and familial needs, while Trina and Jason figure out how to move forward. (They'll be aided by Mendel (Brandon Uranowitz), a therapist-turned-Trina's love interest.) In act two,...

Unfortunately, the glorious concert version of Sunday in the Park with George played only four performances. But what a treat for those of us who got to see it. With the limited run now concluded, herein you'll find just a few notes about the production. Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford is magical. I am convinced there's nothing she can't do. Her Dot was funny and sensitive and heartfelt and layered, and her Marie was equally funny and touching. I feel lucky that I've had the chance watch her career blossom (from a Heathers reading and a member of the replacement Tribe to Kinky Boots and her Tony-winning turn in You Can't Take It With You ), and look forward to watching her perform for years to come. Jake Gyllenhaal was so good presenting a portrait of an artist as a young man. His two Georges seemed different on the surface, but Gyllenhaal showed how similar they are. He loses himself in characters, delving deep into their psyche, and, here, he painted ...

photo credit: Shervin Lainez Benjamin Scheuer made a splash in the New York theatre scene in June 2014 with the MTC production of his musical memoir, The Lion . Since that run (and a subsequent run in downtown NYC), Scheuer has toured with the show, and recorded an album, Songs from The Lion . The singer-songwriter continues to write and perform throughout the US and UK. While in rehearsal for the San Diego stop of The Lion  tour, Scheuer talked to me about the show, the album, and revisiting some of the most trying times in his life.  Reviewing the Drama: Hello. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. Benjamin Scheuer: My pleasure. Let’s dive right in. I had the pleasure of seeing The Lion twice. I saw it when it was at MTC and then I saw it when it was downtown. Really? Yeah. Oh man, cool. Yeah. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know who you were, and so I didn’t know what to expect, but I saw a man and several acoustic guitars so I said, “OK...