It has only been 12 years since New York audiences saw a production of Henrik Ibsen’s classic nineteenth-century play “An Enemy of the People.” But unlike that last staging at the Manhattan Theatre Club, the version that just opened at Circle in the Square Theatre on Mar. 18 is a departure, thanks to the vision of director Sam Gold and a new adaptation of the text by Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog. “Enemy” runs through June 16, the day of the 2024 Tony Awards.
Gold has attracted star-wattage to his remounting of the Ibsen play with Jeremy Strong in the title role of Dr. Thomas Stockmann, who uncovers that the spas that have made his Norwegian town a booming tourist destination are in fact highly contaminated and will cause many visitors to get sick and potentially die. Michael Imperioli is his brother, Peter Stockmann, the mayor of the town who immediately turns on...
Gold has attracted star-wattage to his remounting of the Ibsen play with Jeremy Strong in the title role of Dr. Thomas Stockmann, who uncovers that the spas that have made his Norwegian town a booming tourist destination are in fact highly contaminated and will cause many visitors to get sick and potentially die. Michael Imperioli is his brother, Peter Stockmann, the mayor of the town who immediately turns on...
- 3/22/2024
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
According to our current combined predictions, Jodie Comer (“Prima Facie”) is the frontrunner to win Best Actress in a Play at this year’s Tony Awards with 12/5 odds. She already won an Olivier a couple of months ago for her work in the West End production. She would be the fifth Tony winner in this category for a one-woman performance.
In Suzie Miller‘s one-woman show, Comer plays Tessa, a barrister from working-class origins who must deal with an unexpected event that forces her to confront the patriarchal power and morality of the law.
When it comes to solo performances at the Tonys, four have prevailed in this category before. In 1977 Julie Harris won her fifth and final competitive accolade for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson in William Luce‘s “The Belle of Amherst.” In 1986 Lily Tomlin won for playing multiple characters in Jane Wagner‘s “The Search for Signs...
In Suzie Miller‘s one-woman show, Comer plays Tessa, a barrister from working-class origins who must deal with an unexpected event that forces her to confront the patriarchal power and morality of the law.
When it comes to solo performances at the Tonys, four have prevailed in this category before. In 1977 Julie Harris won her fifth and final competitive accolade for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson in William Luce‘s “The Belle of Amherst.” In 1986 Lily Tomlin won for playing multiple characters in Jane Wagner‘s “The Search for Signs...
- 5/29/2023
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
When Jesse Green wrote in his New York Times review of this season’s revival of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” that the show had been “restored to its proper size,” he meant its orchestrations, staging, and ensemble, but he could have been forecasting its Tony Awards nominations success, too. This most recent remounting of the legendary Stephen Sondheim musical received eight Tony bids, the most of any musical revival of the year. But how does it stack up against the original production and the two revivals that preceded it?
While this “Sweeney” is back to its original scale, it is actually just shy of the very first production in terms of the Tonys, missing its nominations record by one. The original from 1979 netted nine bids for Best Musical, Director (Hal Prince), Actor (Len Cariou), Actress (Angela Lansbury), Score, Book, and Scenic, Costume and Lighting Designs. The...
While this “Sweeney” is back to its original scale, it is actually just shy of the very first production in terms of the Tonys, missing its nominations record by one. The original from 1979 netted nine bids for Best Musical, Director (Hal Prince), Actor (Len Cariou), Actress (Angela Lansbury), Score, Book, and Scenic, Costume and Lighting Designs. The...
- 5/4/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
The final production of the historic 2021-2022 Broadway season reaches back to the early modern era for inspiration with a remounting of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” Tony-winner Sam Gold (“Fun Home”) once again brings his unique style to the Bard, having previously worked on productions of “King Lear” on Broadway and “Hamlet” and “Othello” Off-Broadway.
Daniel Craig stars as “Macbeth” in his third appearance on Broadway, Ruth Negga makes her Broadway debut as Lady Macbeth, and Tony-nominee Amber Gray returns to the boards as Banquo. “Macbeth” opened at the Longacre Theatre on April 28 for a limited run.
See 2022 Tonys predictions: Complete odds for 75th annual Tony Awards nominations
“Macbeth” received mixed and negative reviews from critics. Jesse Green (New York Times) calls the production “uneasy” and “overthought,” one that feels like “an endless rehearsal rather than a Broadway revival.” He has compliments for the two stars, though, describing Craig as...
Daniel Craig stars as “Macbeth” in his third appearance on Broadway, Ruth Negga makes her Broadway debut as Lady Macbeth, and Tony-nominee Amber Gray returns to the boards as Banquo. “Macbeth” opened at the Longacre Theatre on April 28 for a limited run.
See 2022 Tonys predictions: Complete odds for 75th annual Tony Awards nominations
“Macbeth” received mixed and negative reviews from critics. Jesse Green (New York Times) calls the production “uneasy” and “overthought,” one that feels like “an endless rehearsal rather than a Broadway revival.” He has compliments for the two stars, though, describing Craig as...
- 5/7/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
In politics – and Broadway’s Tony Awards season – timing is everything. New play “Potus: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” knows that extraordinarily well, not only because of its finely-tuned farce, but also because it enters the 2021-2022 Tony season just under the eligibility wire. “Potus” opened at the Shubert Theatre on April 27 for a limited engagement.
Written by Selina Fillinger and directed by Broadway extraordinaire Susan Stroman, “Potus” unfolds during a particularly tumultuous day for the President of the United States, as the women in his life – staff members, family, and all – try to get him back on course. The who’s-who ensemble stars Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough, Suzy Nakamura, Julie White, and Vanessa Williams.
See 2022 Tonys predictions: Complete odds for 75th annual Tony Awards nominations
“Potus” earned mostly positive and mixed reviews from theatre critics. Helen Shaw...
Written by Selina Fillinger and directed by Broadway extraordinaire Susan Stroman, “Potus” unfolds during a particularly tumultuous day for the President of the United States, as the women in his life – staff members, family, and all – try to get him back on course. The who’s-who ensemble stars Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough, Suzy Nakamura, Julie White, and Vanessa Williams.
See 2022 Tonys predictions: Complete odds for 75th annual Tony Awards nominations
“Potus” earned mostly positive and mixed reviews from theatre critics. Helen Shaw...
- 5/6/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Two years after its premature pandemic closure, Martin McDonagh’s play “Hangmen” has slipped the proverbial noose and returned to Broadway in a plot twist you might think McDonagh wrote himself. The unexpected resurrection of this dark comedy about the cessation of the death penalty in England in 1965 stars a slightly different cast than it did back in March 2020: David Threlfall has stepped into the shoes of the hangman played by Mark Addy, while Alfie Allen takes over the menacing character Mooney that Dan Stevens once embodied.
These two characters come to loggerheads when they meet in the bar that Threlfall’s Harry runs in his early retirement, while a subsequent kidnapping plot propels both characters to make fateful decisions. Matthew Dunster directs the thriller, which also features original Broadway cast members Tracie Bennett, Gaby French, and many others. “Hangmen” opened at the Golden Theatre on April 21.
Watch Martin...
These two characters come to loggerheads when they meet in the bar that Threlfall’s Harry runs in his early retirement, while a subsequent kidnapping plot propels both characters to make fateful decisions. Matthew Dunster directs the thriller, which also features original Broadway cast members Tracie Bennett, Gaby French, and many others. “Hangmen” opened at the Golden Theatre on April 21.
Watch Martin...
- 4/27/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
For all those people who have been dying to hear the music that makes you dance once again on a Broadway stage, “Funny Girl” has finally returned after a 58-year absence. Beanie Feldstein steps into the role of performer Fanny Brice, which made Barbra Streisand a sensation decades ago. Ramin Karimloo is her gambling love interest Nicky Arnstein, and Jane Lynch her mother. Boasting a classic score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, this production features Harvey Fierstein’s revisions to Isobel Lennart’s original book, and Michael Mayer‘s direction. “Funny Girl” opened at the August Wilson Theatre on April 24.
With such high expectations for the long-awaited return of this musical theatre favorite, it would have been hard for any production to hit the mark, and most critics think this “Funny Girl” missed. In one of the positive notices, Mark Kennedy (Associated Press) calls Feldstein’s interpretation of Brice “earthy,...
With such high expectations for the long-awaited return of this musical theatre favorite, it would have been hard for any production to hit the mark, and most critics think this “Funny Girl” missed. In one of the positive notices, Mark Kennedy (Associated Press) calls Feldstein’s interpretation of Brice “earthy,...
- 4/27/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
In a Broadway season teeming with exciting plays, musicals, and revivals, a dramatization of a small city council meeting may sound dull. Perhaps in the hands of a lesser playwright than Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts, but his fictional Big Cherry bureaucracy at the center of “The Minutes” is anything but tame. The “August: Osage County” scribe re-teamed with director Anna D. Shapiro for this genre-defying political satire with a horrifying underbelly. The ensemble comprises both New York and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre mainstays, featuring the likes of Blair Brown, Jessie Mueller, Austin Pendleton, and Letts himself, with Noah Reid making his Broadway debut. “The Minutes” opened at Studio 54 on April 17 for a limited engagement.
Letts’ latest work received overwhelmingly strong notices from critics. In a rave review, Naveen Kumar (Variety) calls the play a “cunning,” “sensational,” and “astonishing feat” handled with “brilliant finesse.” He applauds Letts for penning this “thrilling...
Letts’ latest work received overwhelmingly strong notices from critics. In a rave review, Naveen Kumar (Variety) calls the play a “cunning,” “sensational,” and “astonishing feat” handled with “brilliant finesse.” He applauds Letts for penning this “thrilling...
- 4/20/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Over two years after its slated pre-pandemic bow, the fourth production of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” has arrived on Broadway. The nearly 50-year-old play takes place in a junk shop owned by Don (portrayed in this remounting by Laurence Fishburne), who has seller’s remorse over a valuable buffalo nickel and conscripts his assistant and protégé Bobby (Darren Criss) and, later, his buddy Teach (Sam Rockwell) to steal it back. Directed by Mamet’s frequent collaborator Neil Pepe, “American Buffalo” opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 14 for a limited run.
Much of the luster of this staging has been dulled by the recent incendiary comments by playwright Mamet. The majority of the mixed reviews of “American Buffalo” reflect on this news, remark on the strong performances from the trio of actors, and question how well the text has aged. In a negative take, Alexis Soloski...
Much of the luster of this staging has been dulled by the recent incendiary comments by playwright Mamet. The majority of the mixed reviews of “American Buffalo” reflect on this news, remark on the strong performances from the trio of actors, and question how well the text has aged. In a negative take, Alexis Soloski...
- 4/18/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
The ensemble of Second Stage Theatre’s revival of “Take Me Out” has waited over two years for the first pitch of this baseball drama on Broadway, but after the lengthy pandemic delay the remounting finally opened on April 4 at the Hayes Theater. Playwright Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning play centers on fictional baseball team The Empires and chronicles the personal and professional fallout after the center-fielder Darren Lemming (Jesse Williams) reveals that he is gay. The ensemble boasts recognizable faces including Williams and Patrick J. Adams in their Broadway debuts, plus Broadway mainstays Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brandon J. Dirden, and others under the direction of Tony-nominee Scott Ellis.
“Take Me Out” received strong notices from critics, who note how the play still feels relevant despite how much American culture has evolved in the past 20 years. In a Critic’s Pick review, Jesse Green (New York Times) calls the work “mostly delightful and provocative,...
“Take Me Out” received strong notices from critics, who note how the play still feels relevant despite how much American culture has evolved in the past 20 years. In a Critic’s Pick review, Jesse Green (New York Times) calls the work “mostly delightful and provocative,...
- 4/6/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Broadway’s mad dash to the Tony Award nominations began on April 3 with the opening of original musical “Paradise Square,” the first of 17 new productions set to bow this month. Set during the Civil War in Manhattan’s Five Points, “Paradise Square” explores the antagonisms between Irish immigrants and Black Americans during the national conflict and the potential haven for solidarities at the title bar. The musical stars an ensemble cast that boasts Tony Award-nominee Joaquina Kalukango, directed by two-time Tony nominee Moisés Kaufman. The musical runs at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
“Paradise Square” features a book cowritten by Christina Anderson, three-time Tony nominee Craig Lucas, and Larry Kirwan, and a score with music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare with contributions from Kirwin. Tony-nominee Allen Moyer is the musical’s scenic designer, three-time Tony nominee Toni-Leslie James the costume designer, and two-time Tony winner Donald Holder the lighting designer.
“Paradise Square” features a book cowritten by Christina Anderson, three-time Tony nominee Craig Lucas, and Larry Kirwan, and a score with music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare with contributions from Kirwin. Tony-nominee Allen Moyer is the musical’s scenic designer, three-time Tony nominee Toni-Leslie James the costume designer, and two-time Tony winner Donald Holder the lighting designer.
- 4/5/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Twenty-five years after her last appearance on Broadway, Sarah Jessica Parker has returned to the stage in the first revival of Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite.” For her long-awaited bow, Parker has brought along a familiar theatre actor, her husband and two-time Tony winner Matthew Broderick. The comedy features three standalone acts centering on a different couple that each occurs in Suite 719 of the famed Plaza Hotel in New York City. This production features the direction of Tony-winning actor John Benjamin Hickey and opened at the Hudson Theatre on March 28.
In the nearly 55 years since “Plaza Suite” premiered, critics have mostly cooled on the comedy. In a positive notice, Peter Marks (Washington Post) calls the show a “merry old time,” and Parker, Broderick, and Hickey “do proud the memory of Simon.” He applauds the “unbeatable” John Lee Beatty’s “resplendently detailed set of Room 719, a luxe facsimile of a Plaza Hotel room,...
In the nearly 55 years since “Plaza Suite” premiered, critics have mostly cooled on the comedy. In a positive notice, Peter Marks (Washington Post) calls the show a “merry old time,” and Parker, Broderick, and Hickey “do proud the memory of Simon.” He applauds the “unbeatable” John Lee Beatty’s “resplendently detailed set of Room 719, a luxe facsimile of a Plaza Hotel room,...
- 3/29/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Tony Awards nominations are always tricky to predict, but this year’s shortlist of Broadway’s best and brightest proves even more challenging to wrangle thanks to the coronavirus-shortened season, eligibility confusion, changed numbers of slots per category, and even questions about whether the two-person Actor in a Musical category will get nixed. Despite these unique hurdles, conventional Tony wisdom will still help to foresee some unexpected nominations. Below, see a list of just a handful of potential upsets that could shock theatre fans when the shortlists are announced.
A “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” surge
The Tony nominating committee often favors spring productions, leaving a lot of summer and fall works underrepresented in the nominations. Though this season got unfortunately shortchanged due to Covid-19, some of those shows from the very start of the season now have a chance at recognition, like the beautiful revival of...
A “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” surge
The Tony nominating committee often favors spring productions, leaving a lot of summer and fall works underrepresented in the nominations. Though this season got unfortunately shortchanged due to Covid-19, some of those shows from the very start of the season now have a chance at recognition, like the beautiful revival of...
- 10/15/2020
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Ben Brantley, the influential New York Times theater critic, will leave the job next month. “This pandemic pause in the great, energizing party that is the theater seemed to me like a good moment to slip out the door,” Brantley said in a statement.
News of Brantley’s departure was announced on Twitter by the newspaper’s theater reporter, Michael Paulson.
Brantley joined the Times as its second-string theater critic in 1993, taking the chief critic job three years later. His last day on the job will be Oct. 15. The paper’s newish co-chief critic title currently is shared by Brantley and Jesse Green, who will remain on board.
According to Paulson, the Times will fill Brantley’s position, though the Broadway pandemic shutdown makes any action less pressing. Culture editor Gilbert Cruz, said Paulson, “is committed to filling Ben’s position. But, given that the coronavirus pandemic has indefinitely prevented most in-person performance,...
News of Brantley’s departure was announced on Twitter by the newspaper’s theater reporter, Michael Paulson.
Brantley joined the Times as its second-string theater critic in 1993, taking the chief critic job three years later. His last day on the job will be Oct. 15. The paper’s newish co-chief critic title currently is shared by Brantley and Jesse Green, who will remain on board.
According to Paulson, the Times will fill Brantley’s position, though the Broadway pandemic shutdown makes any action less pressing. Culture editor Gilbert Cruz, said Paulson, “is committed to filling Ben’s position. But, given that the coronavirus pandemic has indefinitely prevented most in-person performance,...
- 9/10/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Even though it’s early days in the 2019-2020 Broadway season, Jeremy O. Harris’s new drama “Slave Play” has just emerged as the first genuine Tony Awards contender in the play categories. After a critically-acclaimed, if not controversial, start at New York Theater Workshop last year, “Slave Play” officially opened at the Golden Theatre on October 6 for a limited run through the beginning of next year.
Directed by Robert O’Hara, “Slave Play” opens on three couples—Kaneisha and Jim (Joaquina Kalukango and Paul Alexander Nolan), Alana and Phillip (Annie McNamara and Sullivan Jones), and Gary and Dustin (Ato Blankson-Wood and James Cusati-Moyer)—all navigating the dynamics of power, race, and sex on the MacGregor Plantation. As the play progresses, though, Teá and Patricia (Chalia La Tour and Irene Sofia Lucio) enter and disrupt the unfolding narrative in a most surprising way.
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Directed by Robert O’Hara, “Slave Play” opens on three couples—Kaneisha and Jim (Joaquina Kalukango and Paul Alexander Nolan), Alana and Phillip (Annie McNamara and Sullivan Jones), and Gary and Dustin (Ato Blankson-Wood and James Cusati-Moyer)—all navigating the dynamics of power, race, and sex on the MacGregor Plantation. As the play progresses, though, Teá and Patricia (Chalia La Tour and Irene Sofia Lucio) enter and disrupt the unfolding narrative in a most surprising way.
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- 10/8/2019
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
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