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

Robbie Fairchild Sets Return to NYCB Tony nominee Robert Fairchild  will depart An American in Paris  on March 13, one year after playing his first preview on Broadway. This will free up Fairchild to return to New York City Ballet  for the spring season, where he'll make his debut in Balanchine's Agon  and originate a role in the new Christopher Wheeldon  ballet. (Wheeldon, as you know, is the Tony-winning choreographer of An American in Paris. ) Garen Scribner , who is Fairchild's alternate on Broadway, will take over the role full time before heading out on the road, leading the first national tour of An American in Paris  alongside Sara Esty .  The New York Times and Broadway.com have more. Frozen Coming to Broadway A stage adaptation of Frozen  will hit Broadway in spring 2018. The show will be written by married songwriting duo  Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (who won an Oscar for the film's anthem, "Let It Go";...

In the Pulitzer Prize winning Ayad Akhtar play Disgraced , adults of different ethnic and religious backgrounds talk about race and racism, with most of them thinking they are so evolved and post-racial. In Lydia R. Diamond 's new work, Smart People , we are met with a similar premise but with different results. The titular smart people are Jackson ( Mahershala Ali ), an African-American doctor in his residency; Brian ( Joshua Jackson ), a white neuroscience researcher who speaks out against racism; Ginny ( Anne Son ), an Asian-American psychiatrist studying the Asian-American female experience; and Valerie (a captivating and natural Tessa Thompson ), an African-American actress. At rise (Cambridge, MA, circa 2007-2009), Jackson and Brian know each other, but all the other connections will be made throughout the course of the play. (A gripe: we see too little of the development of the relationship between the two women.) Their experiences—both professional and personal—are t...

I keep trying to write this review of John Patrick Shanley 's new and personal work, Prodigal Son . I just can't get authentically passionate about anything in the play. Prodigal Son  takes place at the Thomas More Prep School in New Hampshire; Bronx boy Shanley attended Thomas More as an adolescent. This play is his portrait of the artist as a young man. It's well-written (as you might expect from the author of Doubt ), though Shanley's directing could use some work; and it's mostly well-acted (the cast includes Robert Sean Leonard , and I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the irony of the Dead Poets Society  star playing a teacher at a boys' prep school). Like in Arcadia , there are notions of picking up the breadcrumbs the greats have left behind. And the central tension lies is Shanley's stand-in, Jim ( Timothee Chalamet ), struggling to square the possibly opposing forces of free will and destiny. But by the end of the day, it's...

Hamilton News So, this (→) is happening. The cast of Hamilton will perform on the Grammys . It is not unprecedented for Broadway to be featured on the Grammys. (You might recall, in fact, that the cast of American Idiot performed "21 Guns" will Green Day during the 2010 Grammys, just a month before Broadway previews began.) What's different about this appearance, though, is that the cast will be performing live, via satellite, from the Richard Rodgers Theatre. USA Today has a video of the cast announcing the appearance, as well as statements from the show's producers and its creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Tune into the Grammys on Monday, February 15, on CBS. In other Hamilton news: The national tour will make a stop in Atlanta during the 2017-2018 season. Broadwayworld.com has details. Casting News Tony Award winner Annaleigh Ashford ( You Can't Take It With You , Sylvia ) has joined the cast of the upcoming Rocky Horror remake. Ashford...

The New York City Ballet winter 2016 season is in full swing, and Tuesday night was a "new combinations" evening. The newest of the new combinations was the world premiere of NYCB's resident choreographer (and soloist) Justin Peck's ballet, The Most Incredible Thing . This marked Peck's tenth ballet for the Company, and his first narrative ballet. But the night began with some slightly older new combinations. I have much to say about The Most Incredible Thing , so I'll be brief about the night's other offerings. The evening began with three ballets that premiered as part of the fall gala, and included costume designs by high fashion designers. First was Polaris , the Myles Thatcher ballet, that was led by Emilie Gerrity and Craig Hall . Hall once again impressed in this ballet, and Gerrity did nice work. That was followed by The Blue of Distance , choreographed by Robert Binet . This is the one that looks like it's being danced underwa...

Winners for the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards have been announced. Winners are notated with bold typeface and an asterisk. 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 Actor in a Supporting Role Ro...

Leading Lady Set for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 Pierre  has found his Natasha. Denee Benton will star as Natasha opposite the previously announced Josh Groban (as Pierre) in the Broadway bow of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 . Benton starred in the recent American Repertory Theater run of the show (see the production photo at right). Natasha... , written by Dave Malloy ( Preludes ), still does not have a theatre, and specific dates have not been announced, but the show is expected to begin previews in September.  Theater Mania has more. Cate Blanchett to Make Broadway Debut Academy Award winner (and current nominee ) Cate Blanchett ( Blue Jasmine , Carol ) will make her long-anticipated Broadway debut this fall. She'll appear in The Present , a new play adapted from Chekhov's Platonov . The adaptation was written by Blanchett's husband and frequent artistic collaborator, Andrew Upton , and premiered in Blanchett's native Aus...