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

Grammy Nominations Grammy Award nominations were announced this week. You can view the full list of nominees on the Grammy website . Herein, some nominees of interest: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album — Josh Groban , Stages ; Seth MacFarlane , No One Ever Tells You ; Tony Bennett and Bill Charlap , The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern ; Bob Dylan , Shadows in the Night ; and Barry Manilow , My Dream Duets Best Musical Theater Album — An American in Paris , Fun Home , Hamilton , The King and I , and Something Rotten Foo Fighters —Best Rock Performance, " Something from Nothing "; and Best Music Film, Sonic Highways Best Spoken Word Album —nominees include Dick Cavett , Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks ; Jimmy Carter , A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety ; and Amy Poehler , Yes Pelase Best Comedy Album —nominees include Wyatt Cenac , Brooklyn and Louis C.K. , Live at Madison Square Garden Best Score Soundtrack for Visu...

The nominations for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards were announced today. Winners will be announced and celebrated at the January 10, 2016, ceremony. Herein, the full list of nominees. Film Best Motion Picture, Drama Carol Mad Max: Fury Road The Revenant Room Spotlight Best Motion Picture, Comedy The Big Short Joy The Martian Spy Trainwreck Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama Cate Blanchett , Carol Brie Larson , Room Rooney Mara , Carol Saoirse Ronan , Brooklyn Alicia Vikander , The Danish Girl Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama Bryan Cranston , Trumbo   Leonardo DiCaprio , The Revenant Michael Fassbender , Steve Jobs Eddie Redmayne , The Danish Girl Will Smith , Concussion Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical Jennifer Lawrence , Joy Melissa McCarthy , Spy Amy Schumer , Trainwreck Maggie Smith , The Lady in the Van Lily Tomlin , Grandma Best Performance by an ...

Nominees for the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced today. Winners will announced during the January 30, 2016, ceremony. Herein, the nominees. Film Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Beasts of No Nation The Big Short Spotlight Straight Outta Compton Trumbo  Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Bryan Cranston , Trumbo Johnny Depp , Black Mass Leonardo DiCaprio , The Revenant Michael Fassbender , Steve Jobs Eddie Redmayne , The Danish Girl   Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Cate Blanchett , Carol Brie Larson , Room Helen Mirren , Woman in Gold Saoirse Ronan , Brooklyn Sarah Silverman , I Smile Back    Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Christian Bale , The Big Short Idris Elba , Beasts of No Nation Mark Rylance , Bridge of Spies Michael Shannon , 99 Homes Jacob Tremblay , Room    Outstanding Performance by a Female...

The show begins with Robert ( Max Wilcox ) at a drum kit, showing off his skills and letting us know he doesn't see anything wrong with being overweight. We soon shift to Camp Overton (get it?), a "fat camp" run by Sandy (Leslie Kritzer) and Mike ( Burke Moses ), who've been engaged for 15 years. We then meet Robert's fellow campers, including Taylor (Ryann Redmond), a girl who, unlike most of the other campers, actually wants to be there. Gigantic is about being body positive (to use today's buzzy phrase), loving yourself and your look independent of other people's opinions. That's a good message, one magazines try to preach (although they usually do so just pages after a fashion editorial featuring a model that is "sample size"), and certainly one young people would do well to learn. With clever lyrics and a decent pop score (lyrics by Randy Blair ; music by Matthew roi Berger ), Gigantic , directed by Scott Schwartz , is entertaining...

Due to Thanksgiving festivities and travel, there was no Week in Review last week. Please enjoy this expanded edition, which includes information from the last two weeks. Johnny Gallagher to Release Solo Album At long last, Tony Award winner  John Gallagher, Jr.  ( American Idiot , The Newsroom ) has announced that he has recorded and will release his debut solo album at the beginning of next year. Entertainment Weekly  reports that the album, Six Day Hurricane , will be released January 15, 2016, through Rockwood Music Hall Recordings. Gallagher recorded the album of original material a couple of years ago, with the help of Thad DeBrock, who was in the band Spring Awakening band. Visit EW  for more details, an interview with Gallagher, and to listen to the lead song, "Two Fists Full." Tony Awards Update The Tony Awards have a home—and a new date. With Radio City Music Hall unavailable (as it was a few years ago), the annual theatre gala will be held on t...

Much of the action of this new musical takes place in Africa, but don’t expect bird puppets flying overhead (like in The Lion King ) or wonderfully acerbic satire (like in The Book of Mormon ). Instead, Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews ’s Invisible Thread is a personal tale of a young African-American man getting in touch with his roots. Griffin (played by Matthews) is a gay man, a tenor who likes singing in his church choir. He is in a committed relationship with Ryan ( Corey Mach ), a Jewish white guy. When Griffin comes out to his pastor and the church, he is shunned—and stunned. With Griffin looking for direction, Ryan playfully offers that the Jews will take him. Griffin grimaces, but thinking about the Birthright trip, he decides to go to Uganda and connect with his people. He is staying at a compound, where his job is to help build a school, but one day, he meets a group of teenagers who challenge him to become their teacher and, unsurprisingly, end up teaching him a les...

You’ve seen those classic detective films, the ones with the snappy dialogue recited by men in sharp trench coats. Nick Jones ’s Important Hats of the Twentieth Century is detective flick pastiche, complete with radio addresses and some mad-cap antics thrown in for good measure. We begin in the early twentieth century, just after the Great Depression. Fashion reporter T.B. Doyle ( John Behlmann ( Significant Other )) is investigating a theft (he’s been asked to cover more hard news). We don’t yet know what’s been stolen, but we know a scientist was the victim. Next we meet Doyle’s secret paramour, fashion designer Sam Greevy (a delightful Carson Elrod ( Peter and the Starcatcher )). He believes clothes should make women feel beautiful, and takes pride is being Savile Row-ready. His nemesis, Paul Roms (a deliciously zany Matthew Saldivar ( Honeymoon in Vegas )), was not a model student in design school, but is now working on a new fashion item: a sweatshirt. Greevy, of course, i...