Broadway

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White Director for Black Play Puts Race Center Stage

Violates playwright Wilson's wishes

(Newser) - The selection of a white director for the Broadway revival of an August Wilson play has sparked racial tension, the New York Times reports. Before his death in 2005, Wilson refused to let white directors oversee productions of his work, partially out of racial solidarity, partially because he felt black...

Still Wrestling 'Fat Kid Thing,' John Goodman Returns to Stage

Actor will star opposite Nathan Lane in Godot

(Newser) - Unlike millions of Americans, John Goodman hated Dan Conner, the beleaguered husband he famously played on Roseanne. “It’s one of those arrogant things that happen to you when you don’t realize the breaks you’re catching,” Goodman tells the New York Times. But the portly actor...

Decades Later, Hair Still Swings
 Decades Later, Hair Still Swings 
Theater review
Apr 1, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

Decades Later, Hair Still Swings

Critics love 'exuberant' revival

(Newser) - Bursting with energy, the Broadway revival of Hair, recently moved indoors from Central Park, has wowed critics—though there are a few gripes. What they had to say:
  • “Hair, for all its references to hippies, Vietnam, free love and the revolution, feels utterly of the moment in its exuberance,
...

New Bilingual West Side Story Tender, Uneven

 New Bilingual 
 West Side Story 
 Tender, Uneven  
Theater review
Mar 20, 2009 11:44 AM CDT

New Bilingual West Side Story Tender, Uneven

Production can be uneven, but still enjoyable

(Newser) - The highly anticipated revival of West Side Story on Broadway opened last night to solid reviews, with critics applauding an unusually tender interpretation in which the women rule. Highlights:
  • “Even when they’re flashing switchblades and kicking people in the ribs, the teenage hoodlums who maraud through Arthur Laurents’
...

Richardson Died After 'Blunt Impact,' Clot

(Newser) - Natasha Richardson’s cause of death was an “epidural hematoma due to blunt impact to the head,” the New York Post reports. The verdict comes from the city’s medical examiner, ruling the actress’ death an accident. A hematoma is a blood clot that grows between the brain...

Richardson a Superb Artist of Own Making

Late actress commanded a presence that went far beyond mere inheritance

(Newser) - Natasha Richardson had the finest theater pedigree possible, but her stage presence owed itself to far more than her acting genes, Lisa Schwarzbaum writes in Entertainment Weekly. Her upbringing in the theater—and those famous Redgrave cheekbones—were plainly visible, but the late actress had an aura of competence and...

Producers Press Case Against Piven

(Newser) - The producers of Speed-the-Plow haven't given up their legal pursuit of Jeremy Piven,Variety reports. They plan to seek independent arbitration, which could result in serious fines for the actor. A panel of actors and producers failed to reach consensus on a possible penalty last week, leading to the producers'...

Money Woes Ground Spidey, Other Musicals

Stephen Sondheim revue stumbles before opening

(Newser) - Financial woes are forcing more musicals to face the music: Spider-Man’s Broadway appearance has been delayed until next January, while Stephen Sondheim’s latest couldn’t raise the cash for tryout performances, Bloomberg reports. Spidey’s show, with tunes by U2’s Bono and the Edge, costs a record...

Piven Avoids Penalty for Broadway Absence

(Newser) - Jeremy Piven has escaped punishment—at least for now—for bailing on the Broadway play Speed-the-Plow, reports Playbill. Piven insists he had to leave because of mercury poisoning, but the producers aren't buying it. The actor appeared before representatives of the Actors' Equity Association and the Broadway League at a...

NYC to Kick Cars Off Broadway
 NYC to Kick Cars Off Broadway 
Feb 26, 2009 4:00 PM CST

NYC to Kick Cars Off Broadway

Mayor unveils pedestrian-friendly midtown makeover

(Newser) - New York is turning the Great White Way into the Great Walk Way, the New York Times reports. Mayor Bloomberg announced plans yesterday to turn five blocks of Broadway around Times Square into a pedestrian zone complete with tables and landscaping starting this May. City officials say the plan will...

Rent for Kids Too Risque, Blast Parents, Schools

(Newser) - The long-running Broadway musical Rent has been edited for the school stage, but the truncated version retains themes of drugs, AIDS, and homosexuality that have some administrators running scared, the New York Times reports. High school productions around the country have met with administrative and parental resistance, forcing organizers to...

U2's $31M Spider-Man Musical Hits Delays

Show is most expensive Broadway production ever

(Newser) - Spider-Man has hit more snags en route to its debut as a Broadway musical, Bloomberg reports. Rehearsals for the U2-scored production, set to begin this spring, have been postponed indefinitely. With its budget currently at $31.3 million, the Spidey musical is the most expensive Broadway show ever, and costs...

Veteran Actor Whitmore Dead at 87

(Newser) - Down-to-earth stage and screen actor James Whitmore died of lung cancer in Malibu today, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was 87. Known for his supporting roles and leads in films such as Battleground, Planet of the Apes, and The Shawshank Redeption, the Emmy and Tony Award winner preferred theater....

No Misunderestimating Ferrell as Dubya
 
 
 No Misunderestimating 
 Ferrell as Dubya 
THEATER REVIEW
Feb 6, 2009 1:05 PM CST

No Misunderestimating Ferrell as Dubya

(Newser) - It’s not quite a landslide, but critics mainly agree that Will Ferrell gets his mission accomplished in lampooning the 43rd president with his Broadway show, You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush. Though Saturday Night Live viewers will see the “retread” in Ferrell’s...

Jacko Plans Broadway Thriller

(Newser) - The Gloved One is planning a comeback on Broadway, E! Online reports. After years of promising a return to showbiz, Michael Jackson has agreed to stage a musical based on his smash record, Thriller. He will supervise "every aspect of the creative process," a rep says, allowing producers...

Virginia Woolf Gets Silly in 'New' Play

Off-Broadway troupe revives author's one satirical work

(Newser) - A satirical play by Virginia Woolf received its professional premiere today in New York, NPR reports. Featuring figures like poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and painter George Frederic Watts, Freshwater lampoons "high-falutin', oldish, long-bearded Victorians," the play's producer said. Woolf wrote the hour-long farce as a fun project for...

Sleepwalker Stirs Yuks Off-Broadway

Sleepwalking With Me wins praise from neurologists

(Newser) - Fighting off an imaginary Brad Pitt and leaping from a second-story window confirmed it: Mike Birbiglia was ready to turn his sleepwalking stories into a one-man show, Newsweek reports. Launched off-Broadway in November, the comedic Sleepwalk With Me is drawing raves from reviewers and sleep researchers alike. "Mike...

TomKat Plot London Move
 TomKat Plot 
 London Move 
Jan 22, 2009 11:52 AM CST

TomKat Plot London Move

Holmes could pursue theater across the pond: Cruise

(Newser) - Europe is fast becoming the new Beverly Hills, with Tom Cruise saying last night he may move back to London. The Valkyrie star lived there for 2 years with ex Nicole Kidman, and it seems he still remembers the lingo: “Katie was absolutely brilliant on Broadway,” Cruise tells...

Mercury Illness Was Real: Piven
 Mercury Illness Was Real: Piven
Jan 12, 2009 2:29 PM CST

Mercury Illness Was Real: Piven

Star defends decision to leave Broadway production

(Newser) - Jeremy Piven has taken a lot of flak since leaving the Broadway production of Speed-the-Plow due to unhealthy amounts of mercury in his body—including anonymous sources who said medical reasons were a cover for the fact that he was fired—but the condition was real, the actor tells People....

Katie Leaves NYC as Sons Ends

Actress jets back to LA to meet Cruise post-Golden Globes

(Newser) - Katie Holmes’ dressing room is empty and the actress took her final bow last night as All My Sons ended its Broadway run yesterday, the New York Post reports. Holmes and daughter Suri were helicoptered to a waiting cross-country flight after the final curtain, the Daily Mail adds, and she...

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