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

Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways The rock band's eighth album has a release date and album artwork. Sonic Highways will be released worldwide on November 10 . The release coincides with the band's 20th anniversary. You'll recall that this album was written and recorded differently from the other studio albums. The band traveled the US, talking with local musicians and discussing the local music scene in each city. The artwork, above, reflects the journey and the way music connects us all and stays with us forever. Visit foofighters.com for a preview, to view the track list and to pre-order your copy. And don't forget to tune into HBO beginning October 17 for the accompanying docu-series, also titled Sonic Highways . Trading Theatres The upcoming Broadway productions of Love Letters and Honeymoon in Vegas are switching theatres. Love Letters , the A.R. Gurney play that boasts a rotating roster of stars (including Carol Burnett and Martin Sheen ), will now ...

(Scroll all the way down for the first snippet of new Foo Fighters music.) Side Show Coming Back to Broadway A revival of the 1997 musical Side Show , about twins Daisy and Violet Hilton and their journey through the vaudeville circuit, will bow on Broadway this fall. Bill Condon directs the reimagined production that took shape in celebrated runs at La Jolla and the Kennedy Center. Those productions' stars, Erin Davie and Emily Padgett , will reprise their roles in the Broadway run. Side Show features a book by Bill Russell (with addition book material by Condon) and a score by Russell (lyrics) and Henry Krieger (music). The revival will play at the St. James Theatre; previews begin October 28, with opening night set for November 17. Playbill has more. Larry David to Star on Broadway "Pretty, pretty good." Larry David ( Seinfeld , Curb Your Enthusiasm ) will make his Broadway debut in Fish in the Dark . David has developed the play (which was previou...

(Scroll down for your first look at Little Dancer , starring Tiler Peck.) Love Letters to Broadway A revival of A.R. Gurney 's Love Letters is coming to Broadway, and the rotating cast is unbelievable! The production, which follows two friends who write, wait for it, love letters to each other for 50 years, will be directed by Gregory Mosher , and will open at the Nederlander Theatre on September 18 (previews begin September 13). The rotating cast is scheduled as follows: ( see Broadway.com for more details ) September 13-October 10: Brian Dennehy and Mia Farrow October 11-November 7: Dennehy and Carol Burnett (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) November 8-December 5: Alan Alda and Candice Berngen December 6-January 9, 2015: Stacy Keach and Diana Rigg January 10-February 1: Martin Sheen (!!!!!!!!!!) and Anjelica Huston Casting News Television —Stage and screen veterans Mary-Louise Parker ( The Snow Geese ) and Peter Sarsgaard ( Blue Jasmine ) will co-star in the NBC miniseri...

“Who are you?” This is what Olivia (Anna Gunn) asks at the beginning and end of Laura Eason ’s play, Sex with Strangers . The question is directed at a different person each time it is asked, and while it is both the first and last line of the play, it hangs over Olivia and Ethan (Billy Magnussen) throughout.  The two-hander begins with Olivia sitting in a secluded bed and breakfast (of which she’s a guest) in the Michigan woods. Ethan, another (unexpected) guest, barges in, ostensibly looking for a quiet place to write. (The space is known as a writer’s haven.) The two begin talking, exchanging some bits of information but not others, trying to figure out the answer to Olivia’s question. The second act sees them in Olivia’s cramped Chicago apartment, and while the circumstances have changed (they evolved over the few days seen in the first act), the quest to understand who they are, as individuals and to each other, remains.   I’ll diverge for a moment to remind y...

I'm sure you've watched a daytime soap. Maybe you've even watched a Spanish soap. Those daily serials that are totally ridiculous but totally fun because they are so implausibly juicy and anything can happen. You watch for the same reason people rubberneck at a crash site. It works on TV. It doesn't work so well on stage. Tanya Saracho 's Mala Hierba , directed by Jerry Ruiz , is being presented at Second Stage as part of the off-Broadway company's Uptown summer series. The title means bad weed in Spanish, and while Saracho's writing (peppered with Spanish) is just good enough to keep me from calling this a bad play, I can't say it's a good one. Mala Hierba  is a daytime soap on stage but the problem with this overwrought play is that it doesn't have the benefit of extreme close ups, underscoring or any of the other tricks of television that make TV soaps so wonderfully cheese-tastic and worth watching. Instead, the four women of Mala Hierb...

PBS Fall Arts Series Announced The lineup for PBS's Fall Arts Festival (airing on consecutive Fridays this fall) has been announced, and it's a great slate of programming. First up, on September 26, is the New York Philharmonic concert presentation of Sweeney Todd , performed this past spring with Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett. Next, on October 3, will be Austin City Limits Celebrates 40 Years , in which musicians, including Foo Fighters , Gary Clark, Jr. and Bonnie Raitt , will play and pay tribute to the famed series. That will be followed, on October 10, by The Nance , which bowed on Broadway in the 2012-2013 season and starred Nathan Lane . Other broadcasts include the Great Performances concert featuring Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga (October 24) and Kristin Chenoweth 's Coming Home concert (November 28). Visit Broadwayworld.com for the full schedule, then mark your calendars, set your DVR or fire up your PBS Roku channel! Casting Updates Film — Aaron Tveit ...

American Psycho Coming to Off-Broadway The musical stage adaptation of the cult favorite American Psycho will debut in the US as part of Second Stage 's 2014-2015 season. The musical features a score by Duncan Sheik , who won acclaim and Tonys for Spring Awakening , and a book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa , who served as show doctor for Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark . Rupert Goold directed the London premiere and will reprise his work for the off-Broadway bow, which will begin in February 2015. The American Psycho film (which starred Christian Bale ( American Hustle )) and musical are based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel. Broadway.com has more. Broadway Dates and Theatre Announced for An American in Paris Great news: Dates and a theatre for the stage adaptation of the beloved Gene Kelly movie have been confirmed. After a world premiere in Paris (November 11, 2014-January 4, 2015), the Gershwin musical will bow on Broadway at the Palace Theatre. Previews are scheduled to...