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

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed last week's Year in Review. Below is a quick whip-around of this and last week's goings on. Though Side Show is concluding its Broadway run, the new cast recording is slated for release on February 17 . Rolling Stone 's Peter Travers has a message for Academy voters: don't forget these performances! Buzz Feed has a (fairly comprehensive) round up of the most anticipated movies and TV shows/movies of 2015, including Sisters , starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler , and The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore . Nominees for the American Cinema Editors' Eddie Awards were announced this week. Editors for Birdman , Into the Woods , Whiplash and Nightcrawler , among others, are nominated. The Hollywood Reporter has the full list. Tony Kushner ( The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures ) is working on several projects, Playbill reports , including a film with Steven Spielberg...

Foo Fighters Head to the Studio! Over the weekend, Chris Shiflett , who has been the Foo Fighters' lead guitarist for years, told Rolling Stone  that the band is heading back to the studio to start work on the band's next album, a follow up to the incredible Wasting Light . You may recall that in October, Foo frontman Dave Grohl announced the band would be on hiatus for an indeterminate amount of time. Apparently, they couldn't stay away from each other for too long. At a concert for his other band, Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants ( good tunes; check them out! ), Shiflett said, "We actually just started making a new Foo Fighters record within the last few weeks...We've started rehearsing." No further details are available at the time, but read the full write up on Rolling Stone  to learn more about Shiftlett's other creative outlet. The Newsroom : Season Two So much happened this week in "One Step Too Many"! The Don-Mackenzie ch...

Rolling Stone 's resident pop culture guru,  Rob Sheffield , calls  The Newsroom  "the best bad show on TV." ( Read his  argument in the latest issue of  Rolling Stone .) I disagree. I don't think it's a bad show. It is not consummately terrific, but none of Aaron Sorkin's series were right out of the gate. Let's remember:   The West Wing  wasn't out of this world incredible in every single moment of every single episode in season one. (We'll use  The West Wing  as a comparison because many argue it is Sorkin's best series.) It took a while for  The West Wing  to find its footing. (Remember Mandy?) I periodically re-watch my favorite series, and right now I'm re-watching  The West Wing . I'm about eight episodes in, and while I love the series, as I watch each episode this time around, I'm watching it while thinking about some of the criticism hurled at Sorkin for  The Newsroom .  I think much of...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2013 After a few months of deliberation, the 2013 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been announced. Joining the ranks of Chuck Berry, Bruce Springsteen and The Beatles are Rush , Public Enemy , Heart , Randy Newman , Donna Summer and Albert King . (Summer and King will be inducted posthumously.) Lou Adler and Quincy Jones will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers. (Despite being eligible, rocker Joan Jett did not make it this year.) As noted in Rolling Stone 's announcement of the class , Public Enemy will become "only the fourth hip-hop act to be inducted...[joining] Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five...Run DMC...and the Beastie Boys." The induction ceremony will be held on April 18, 2013, and broadcast a month later on HBO. In other rock and roll news, the 12.12.12 concert to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy was held this week and Rolling Stone has a round up of some of the highlights ...

There wasn't a lot of entertainment news this week in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. If you can, consider assisting in the Hurricane Relief effort. Check in with New York Cares to find out how you can volunteer and help out. You can also make a donation in support of relief efforts; donate through the URJ's Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund [the URJ is a non-profit organization that will make sure your donation goes to those on the ground, not overhead costs] or the Red Cross . Storm-related Updates: Bruce Springsteen and friends, including Bon Jovi and Billy Joel , will perform at a benefit concert in support of the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The concert will take place and be broadcast live on NBC, HBO and other networks tonight (November 2). The event will be hosted by Matt Lauer. Rolling Stone has details. Dead Accounts , the new Theresa Rebeck play starring Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Holmes , will begin previews on November 5, two days later than originall...

Top 50 Showrunners This week, The Hollywood Reporter released its list of the top 50 showrunners. (Showrunners are often, but not always, the creators of shows, and often the head writer and sometimes the chief director.) With separate lists for comedy series and drama series , the list is full of some of the most creative forces working in television today. (Check the main page for bonus video footage.) In candid interviews, the showrunners reveal secrets of their show(s) and let us into their creative processes, both past and present. Check it out to hear from Girls ' Lena Dunham , Veep 's Armando Ianucci , The Newsroom 's Aaron Sorkin , Family Guy 's Team Seth MacFarlane and more! 2012-2013 Theatre Season Update Tom Hanks will make his Broadway debut when the late Nora Ephron 's last play, Lucky Guy , bows on Broadway next spring. Lucky Guy begins previews on March 1, 2013, in advance of an April 1 opening, and will conclude the strictly limit...