The haunting themes of King Lear touch on nature’s cruelty, Fate’s arbitrary hand, and man’s inevitable decline – and their truth strikes everyone differently depending on where one is in life. Somehow, I’ve seen Lears now at every decade change, and each time the play changes for me.
This spring’s outstanding NYC musical performances
A look at 7 New York spring musicals, and a Stephen Schwartz opera Before the Tony Awards are upon us, I wanted to talk about some of the musicals I saw in NYC this spring. There was a tsunami of book problems this year with many of the musicals. All you have to do is […]
By the Way, Meet Vera Stark and A Minister’s Wife
Lynn Nottage’s Ruined won the Pulitzer Prize and a slew of other honors a couple of seasons ago [and just opened at Arena Stage]. Her Intimate Apparel was also acclaimed in its Roundabout production. But her bio is filled with other awards for other plays. She is prolific, she is gifted, and she seems to […]
The Book of Mormon
I’m sure you’ve read by now that this original musical by the creators of “South Park” and Avenue Q is the first offering of the New York season to enjoy unanimous raves from the press. I happily join my sibling critics in telling you that it was a most jolly experience for me as well.
Margaret Colin at home in Arcadia and on the big and small screens
Arcadia’s Margaret Colin on playing Lady Croom and her stage, film, and TV roles I’m a big fan of Margaret Colin’s work and it was so much fun schmoozing with her about her role as Lady Croom in the revival of Arcadia now playing on Broadway. What a blast it was talking about her soap […]
Catch Me If You Can
I don’t know who first said “let’s make a musical out of the hit movie “Catch Me If You Can”. Let’s assume it was Margo Lion, the producer, Jack O’Brien, the director, or Marc Shaiman, the composer, but clearly it was also decided to bring together virtually the entire creative staff of their last musical […]
Anything Goes
The very wise Roundabout Theatre management, and the very gifted director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall decided to lift some Cole Porter gems from their sources and plop them down in the middle of this stunning revival of Porter’s Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway.
Nick Adams and J. Elaine Marcos from Broadway’s Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical
Nick Adams and J. Elaine Marcos talk to us about playing Adam/Felicia and Cynthia They both wear outrageous colorful and eye-popping costumes and dance and sing their hearts out in the entertaining Broadway production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical. What are the challenges of performing in a high-energy, quick-costume-changing, and visually stunning […]
Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Broadway cast recording
Good news + Bad news = Good disc! The delightful Broadway cast album of this not quite so delightful Broadway show is a fun listen. It may stay in your CD player longer than you’d expect … and get re-inserted when your spirits need a bit of a lift.
Three Men on a Horse and Cactus Flower
If you’re the sort of theatre goer who enjoys taking old plays off the library shelf, dusting them off, having a look at what went down well in past decades, New York has a grand assortment for you, on and off Broadway.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
I have always maintained, and I believe I’ve said so several times in this column, that there should be room on Broadway for the whole spectrum of musical theatre. Certainly there was room in the 1920s when Show Boat, The Music Box Revue, Very Good Eddie, Naughty Marietta, Ziegfeld Follies and Shuffle Along could all […]
Richard Seff remembers Lanford Wilson and his days at Circle Rep
Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson died March 23, 2011, at the age of 73, on the eve the opening night revival of his work Hot l Baltimore at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. ———- I worked as an actor with Circle Rep in New York from 1981 until it closed up shop in the mid 1990s. Most […]