(REVIEW) A new musical opens this month at Nederlander Theatre celebrating (and poking fun at) a piece of American culture not often seen on the Broadway stage—the rural farming communities of middle America. “Shucked,” a musical from Nashville songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, takes place in the fictional Midwest area of Cobb County, a rural community of farmers who are content with life within their own community.
Read More(REVIEW) In the late 1970s, Fosse conceived and staged a musical completely his own. It lacked a narrative arc or cohesive theme, consisting of a series of vignettes told mostly through dance (with a little bit of singing mixed in). The spectacle, entitled “Dancin’,” opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in 1978 and ran for over four years. This month, “Dancin’” returns to New York City under the direction of Wayne Cliento, a cast member of the original 1978 production.
Read MoreOriginally staged in 1998 at Lincoln Center, Jason Robert Brown’s “Parade” returns to Broadway this month at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre as the musical event of the season. Set in the deep-south state of Georgia fifty years after the Civil War, “Parade” tells the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish-American factory superintendent falsely accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old factory worker. It stars Tony-Award winning actor Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen, The Book of Mormon) as Frank and Micaela Diamond (The Cher Show) as his wife Lucille.
Read More(REVIEW) “Everybody in New York hates cops. Even cops hate cops,” says Pops, a retired police officer and the protagonist of “Between Riverside and Crazy,” a 2014 play making its Broadway debut this season at Second Stage’s Helen Hayes Theatre. The play is about the complex relationship between the New York Police Department and the African-American community in New York City. While the story has a lot of potential, it can’t seem to get many plot lines off the launch pad.
Read MoreSix-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald returns to Broadway this holiday season in “Ohio State Murders,” a dark tragedy about the racially motivated murder of a new mother’s infant African-American daughters. “Ohio State Murders,” is directed by Kenny Leon. This play is a short seventy-five minutes on stage, but McDonald gives a tour-de-force performance as Alexander that is spell-binding to witness.
Read MoreThis December marks the finale of the two-month running of “Straight Line Crazy”, a play written by David Hare and directed by Nicholas Hytner on the legacy of the one and only Robert Moses. Moses, a larger-than-life enigma of a man captured for the stage by British star Ralph Fiennes, is portrayed as an eccentric genius of a builder hampered by the inconveniences of American democracy. However, Moses’ legacy has a darker side.
Read More“Kimberly Akimbo,” the story of Kimberly Levaco, a 16-year-old from New Jersey with a rare aging disease that makes her look 72, opened last week at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. This new musical has no shortage of energy, laughs or heartfelt moments, but it is a largely forgettable show and comes across more as a vehicle for a fifth Tony nomination for lead-actress Victoria Clark than a serious attempt to be Broadway’s next big thing.
Read MoreThe King’s Players put on their production of “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon” on Nov. 4 and 5, a comedy that showcased a wide range of whimsical characters and stories all mashed together into one wildly entertaining rollercoaster of events. Consisting of a small cast, The King’s Players showed their versatility during the performance as they played a wide range of roles, from man-eating crabs to troubled princesses, witches, and wolves.
Read MoreBroadway’s latest new musical is “Almost Famous,” a coming-of-age story based on the popular 2000 film of the same name. “Almost Famous” is full of potential and vibrant energy, proudly declaring that “it's all happening” at the show. Although it misses the mark from time to time, the talented cast quickly picks the magic back up.
Read More“Death of a Salesman” is a powerful story that interrogates the American Dream and one man’s inability to live out that dream for himself and his family. In Miranda Cromwell’s new interpretation of the script, the titular character and his family are depicted as African-Americans, adding a new layer of complexity to the social and professional lives of the protagonists of the story.
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