By Brian Scott Lipton . . . Julie Halston is more than just one of the theater and cabaret world’s most beloved treasures. As the host of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation's (PFF) annual Broadway Belts for PFF! benefit, which will be...
Interviews
André De Shields Speaks Truth
Interview by Sandi Durell . . . When I received notice about Black History Month and the performers who were participating at Flushing Town Hall in its virtual 3-part stream of artists this month, I was excited to note André De Shields as one of them. I had the...
LILLIAS WHITE GETS SASSY
by Brian Scott Lipton . . . For four decades, Lillias White has been thrilling New York audiences with her virtuosic performances, from brilliantly playing Effie White in the 1987 revival of “Dreamgirls” to her Tony-Award winning work as the hardened prostitute Sonja...
Plummering the Depths of Words
Written by Harry Haun in 2012. . . Christopher Plummer Wins Oscar 2012 . . . There is a defining moment in Harold Pinter’s ”No Man’s Land” - a word, really—that betrays Christopher Plummer’s unbridled passion for the written text. Playing a shabby wannabe poet, he is...
Rona Siddiqui
By Sandi Durell Rona Siddiqui's career speaks for itself as a composer/lyricist, musical director and the 2020 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient along with numerous awards under her belt, like the 2019 Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award. Her credits are amazing so rather...
ANYONE CAN WHISTLE FIRST COMPLETE RECORDING
Interview by Ron Fassler Stephen Sondheim, John Yap It’s still Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday year and a special gift has arrived long in the making: the First Complete Recording of Anyone Can Whistle, the second Broadway show for which he wrote both music and...
Quarantine Questionnaire 4
Robyn Hurder by Matt Smith Another day in lockdown, another set of responses! As we wrap up the first edition of our dynamic new Quarantine Questionnaire series, we’re taking an up-close and personal look at how this lengthy pause has affected our panel participants,...
Quarantine Questionnaire 3
by Matt Smith As the shutdown rages on, we continue our attempt to capture that deeply-missed theatrical magic with another round of reactions and replies in our Quarantine Questionnaire series! Having previously presented their most-played theatre ditties and...
Quarantine Questionnaire 2
. . . Josh Lamon. . . By Matt Smith To satisfy our long-festering cravings and yours, we reached out to a handful of industry names — including would-be current performers and alumni alike — to ask a few, short quirky Broadway-related questions as they relate to life...
Quarantine Questionnaire 1
by Matt Smith We may have, at this point, logged over 200 days in quarantine, but although states all over the country have begun to ease up on restrictions, it’s pretty clear this virus is showing no signs of slowing down. And with the recent news that our beloved...
Talking with Dr. Drama
by Melissa Griegel Alisa Hurwitz, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist with her own practice in Massachusetts. In addition, she is a psychologist for the Broadway theater community. As “Dr. Drama,” Alisa applies her professional knowledge to consult...
Mattea Conforti
Interview by Carole Di Tosti You are probably familiar with Mattea Conforti if you saw her on Broadway in the title role of Matilda the Musical at age 9. Since then this shining star has appeared in Sunday in the Park with George opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and...
Designer John Lee Beatty: Portrait as a Young Man – Part 15 Final
JOHN LEE BEATTY, PORTRAIT OF THE DESIGNER AS A YOUNG MAN: A LOST INTERVIEW Part 15: “I’m a Designer; A Designer Designs” As told to Samuel L. Leiter This is the fifteenth and final installment in my previously unpublished 1980 interview with designer...
CORBIN BLEU LOVES HIS ART
By Brian Scott Lipton In just 31 years, Corbin Bleu has accomplished a great deal as an entertainer from his star-making role as Chad Danforth in Disney’s High School Musical series to his run on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and especially...
Still Waiting in the Wings Debuts May 15
by Sandi Durell This zany, funfilled song and dance film musical is making its debut on May 15 worldwide on DVD and Digital on numerous platforms (Amazon, ITunes, Google Play) via JJSpotlightProductions.com. You can pre-order now! It's filled with the...
Designer John Lee Beatty: Portrait As a Young man – Part 14
JOHN LEE BEATTY, PORTRAIT OF THE DESIGNER AS A YOUNG MAN: A LOST INTERVIEW Part 14: “I Get the Most Out of Plays That Have No Scenery” As told to Samuel L. Leiter This is the fourteenth installment in my previously unpublished 1980 interview with...
Speaking With Mile Square Theatre
by Adam Cohen Mile Square Theatre sits in a corner of Hoboken, New Jersey. Their jewel of a theater creates innovative productions with working professional actors, designers, and directors. There is a beautiful intimacy to their space allowing the...
Designer John Lee Beatty: Portrait As a Young Man-Part 13
JOHN LEE BEATTY, PORTRAIT OF THE DESIGNER AS A YOUNG MAN: A LOST INTERVIEW Part 13: “Stage Designing Is Not Going to Make Anyone Rich” As told to Samuel L. Leiter This is the thirteenth installment in my previously unpublished 1980 interview with designer...
How Barrington Stage is Handling Live Theatre Reopening
Theater Pizzazz' Sandi Durell got some insight and information from Julianne Boyd, the Artistic Director of Barrington Stage Company, regarding how they are planning to handle live theater, during Covid-19, and reopen this summer in August in their...
What’s Missing with Virtual Technology? Part III
By Marcina Zaccaria With virtual performances now so readily available on YouTube or thru Zoom, artists and audiences alike are considering the feeling that we are missing when the stage is replaced by the screen. How are we embracing technology to...
Designer John Lee Beatty: Portrait as a Young Man – Part 12
JOHN LEE BEATTY, PORTRAIT OF THE DESIGNER AS A YOUNG MAN: A LOST INTERVIEW Part 12: “Think, Think, Think” As told to Samuel L. Leiter This is the twelfth installment in my previously unpublished 1980 interview with designer John Lee Beatty, which...
John Lee Beatty Designer: Portrait As a Young Man
JOHN LEE BEATTY, PORTRAIT OF THE DESIGNER AS A YOUNG MAN: A LOST INTERVIEW Part 11 “Most People Don’t Know What Design is Really About” As told to Samuel L. Leiter This is the eleventh installment in my previously unpublished 1980 interview with...
FRANCIS JUE: A DOUBLE LIFE
By Brian Scott Lipton In his multi-decade career on the New York stage, Francis Jue has become no stranger to taking part in great shows, including Pacific Overtures and Thoroughly Modern Millie, or winning awards. But this past theatrical season was...
Chat with Seamus Scanlon
An Email Chat with McGowan Trilogy’s Seamus Scanlon by Carole Di Tosti In October 2014 one of the offerings of the Origin Company’s 1st Irish Theater Festival was Seamus Scanlon’s the McGowan Trilogy. My review for another outlet extolled the work...
Catching Up with Beetlejuice’s David Josesfsberg
by Melissa Griegel Theater Pizzazz had an opportunity to speak with veteran Broadway actor David Josefsberg. His career spans ten Broadway shows, in addition to regional work. Most recently, David was seen playing the role of Adam Maitland in Beetlejuice at...
Designer John Lee Beatty: Portrait As a Young Man – Part 10
JOHN LEE BEATTY, PORTRAIT OF THE DESIGNER AS A YOUNG MAN: A LOST INTERVIEW Part 10: “Sometimes You Have to Goose up the Production so It’s More Wonderful.” As told to Samuel L. Leiter This is the tenth installment in my previously unpublished 1980...
The Clint Edwards Show
Getting to Know Clint Edwards: Composer/Pianist/Musical Director The best way to get to know this talented man was to do a short Q & A and have the pleasure of listening and watching his video featurette of the musical Carousel, including...
Designer John Lee Beatty: Portrait As a Young Man (Part 9)
JOHN LEE BEATTY, PORTRAIT OF THE DESIGNER AS A YOUNG MAN: A LOST INTERVIEW Part 9: “Oh, Gee, I Just Thought It Would Be Pretty” As told to Samuel L. Leiter This is the ninth installment in my previously unpublished 1980 interview with designer...
Oh, What a Knight!
By Brian Scott Lipton There are some songwriters most of us can name pretty easily – Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Jimmy Webb, Marvin Hamlisch – but most of the men and women behind both popular and Broadway music are truly the “unsung heroes” of...
Chatting with Austin Pendleton
by Carole Di Tosti During this time of sheltering in and staying safe from the Covid 19 pandemic, I checked in with Tony nominee, actor, director, playwright and instructor Austin Pendleton. Austin Pendleton most recently portrayed Mr. Oldfield in...
