Thursday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET of INCIDENTAL MOMENTS OF THE DAY: The Apple Family: Life on Zoom,the final play in the pandemic trilogy, written and directed by Tony Award winner Richard Nelson. The third play, written by Nelson from his home in Rhinebeck, New York, will be...

By Marcina Zaccaria Can we connect through the US Post Office?  It’s possible, and even, theatrical. Artistic Directors Shelley Butler (A Doll’s House Part Two) and West Hyler (Cirque Du Soleil Paramour, Big Apple Circus) have created an innovative type of performance to propel the...

For today’s installment of “Leiter Looks Back,” we’ll skip the ten best and take a look at five of the six Mantle liked but overlooked.

by Sandi Durell I had the most extraordinary and funfilled experience interviewing jazz artist Catherine Russell at The Lambs tonite (of which I’m a member). She’s truly a renaissance woman of multi-talents, smart as a whip and filled with energy and great hope. Catherine is a...

Tamara Tunie Will Direct NY Bound Love & Southern D!scomfort “Andrew Lloyd Webber Warns of ‘Point of No Return’ as Holiday Season Hangs in Balance” by Variety’s Naman Ramachandran – ” … Andrew Lloyd Webber has warned of a “point of no...

John Lloyd Young Tony and Grammy Award-winner John Lloyd Young returns to The Space in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 3 with John Lloyd Young’s Broadway, an intimate and unforgettable evening of Broadway favorites and classic showtunes. With Tommy Faragher on piano, the live streamed...

Warren Schein, Ty Stephens, Rosemary Loar Mark Nadler, KT Sullivan, DannyBacher NiCori Studios & Productions in association with Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center and Frungillo Catering will be producing: MUSIC AT THE MANSION: “PORCH PERFORMANCES” once each weekend until October...

The Mabel Mercer Foundation’s annual New York Cabaret Convention — is set to stream Oct. 20-21, from homes and venues in various cities, with a concert scheduled for Oct. 22 as part of the Radio Free Birdland series. It will also showcase finalists in the convention’s third, and...

Miss seeing your favorite Broadway performers? Hallelujah . . . Open Jar’s 4000 square foot space at 1601 Broadway (48th Street) is now transformed into a large cabaret venue for a maximum of 48 people all seated 20 feet from the stage and separated by plexiglass panels. You must wear a...

The Betsy – South Beach, the award-winning, family-owned luxury boutique hotel on Miami Beach — has announced it has become the lead sponsor of the Inaugural International VIRTUAL YI Love YiddishFest 2020 from Sept. 7 thru 11.The Betsy-South Beach is affectionately referred...

September 2nd was Marge Champion’s birthday! She is 101 years old! When we met back when, it was Marge and Gower Champion! These are some of my personal images I’ve kept over the many years I’ve known her. I saw that constant knowing presence at DOLLY rehearsals as...

Expect 16 new and original episodes of That Golden Girl Show! A Puppet Parody. It will be released on Broadway on Demand (www.BroadwayOnDemand.com) beginning September 14. Get your cheesecake ready and pull up your wicker-framed chair. Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, the show was presented...

Lena Hall RENT: “Without Rent Relief, 60 Percent of NYC’s Independent Theaters May Close for Good” by Observer’s Helen Holmes – ““Without complete cancellation of rent and rent forgiveness for the duration of this crisis, so many small and independent theaters...

“The Theatre Will Survive” LIVE Event on August 31, 2020 By Michael Colby “I don’t want to hear that Broadway is dying, because I just got here.”That quote is from A CHORUS LINE, which opened in 1975, forty-five years ago.  Until recently, that was considered something...

“Actors’ Equity Approves Alliance Theatre’s Plans To Produce A Drive-in Radio Play” by BroadwayWorld – “In its proposals … the Alliance outlined key protocols for actors and audiences to guard against the spread of COVID-19, including...

    Parity Productions will honor and announce winners of the Fourth Annual Parity Commission on October 7 virtual Awards Ceremony and Celebration (AC&C). The Theatre company is an advocacy organization that ensures they fill a minimum of 50% of the creative roles on their...

by Carole Di Tosti How much have you missed seeing a musical (LIVE) during this pandemic? Well, London theater has been experimenting with the extent it can tolerate adhering to safe protocols while offering a qualified return to live performances. Broadway producers might learn from London...

  by Carol Rocamora   So you think Richard III is a creepiest character you’ve ever seen onstage?  Or Iago?  Or Edmund, or all the other Shakespearean villains?  Wait till you meet Fred the bartender at The Jacksonian, the motel of horrors in Beth Henley’s hometown of Jackson,...

      ‘The Theatre Will Survive’ was revealed last night, August 31, 2020 and turned out to be the event of the season!  Lyricist Michael Colby and Composer/Orchestrator Ned Paul Ginsburg made quite the splash on MetropolitanZoom in this fundraising event for The Actors Fund...

  New York Theatre Barn will continue to host weekly free live streams of its New Works Series each Wednesday evening at 7PM ET. Upcoming September installments of the series include excerpts from the new musicals A Walk On The Moon, Walt and Roy, We Live In Cairo, Loch Ness and more....

      By Samuel L. Leiter   To date, the seasons covered by this series have not been especially thrilling with regard to revivals, especially Shakespearean ones. Much of the Shakespeare on view was in the hands of traveling companies led by actor-managers Fritz Leiber,...

CD Review By Marilyn Lester In the years since her first CD in 1991, You Taught My Heart To Sing, Chicago-based Kirsten Gustafson has established herself as a jazz singer of note. Her latest CD, the newly released Wait Until Dark, takes a generous handful of modern pop tunes and develops them...

The Theatre Will Survive Register Here for $20 Ticket donation. You will receive Zoom link after registering: https://metropolitanzoom.ticketleap.com/the-theatre-will-survive/ We’re excited to present the cast of illustrious performers who are part of the music video “The Theatre...

The Theatre Will Survive-Benefit Mon.August 31 at 7pmEST-LIVE “The Theatre Will Survive” A Benefit for The Actors Fund  (Lyrics Michael Colby/Music & Orchestrations Ned Paul Ginsburg) Hosted by TheaterPizzazz.com On MetropolitanZoom.com Click for Tickets and to Register:...

Don’t Tell Mama and Michael Lee Stever Are Ready to Save Cabaret, Concerts, Theatre! nbsp;Since the Covid-19 onslaught began nearly 6 months ago, performers have been so eager to be seen, they have often diminished their artistry by appearing in any and all do-it-yourself live streams, taped...

  Outdoor, socially distanced Shakespeare has started! After a successful opening weekend, Black Box PAC is happy to announce that dates have been added at the Overpeck County Park Bandshell/Ampitheater! Check out a full list of all performances and location.THE BLACK BOX PERFORMING ARTS...

  Fanny Brice Fans  – With the renewed talk of Funny Girl coming to Broadway, the renewed love/chatter of Fanny Brice on such shows as Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the ability to now watch theatre at home, comes a Fanny Brice solo show (the live one featuring Kimberly Faye Greenberg toured...

          By Matt Smith   No need reminding me that it all fell apart I need no lyrics singing of stormy weather There’s quite  enough around me that’s breaking my heart Sing happy.   Before launching into her recent virtual concert, performed as part of the...

PARADE PLANNING: “Macy’s is “reimagining” its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade this year” by Time Out’s Shaye Weaver – “Unlike many events this year, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will not be canceled, but it will look quite different....

Sadly as much as we wish and pine for the days of eating indoors here in New York, here’s the latest update from the Mayor along with a Theatre Row favorite now out of business. “Mayor Casually Hints That Indoor Dining May Not Return Until 2021” – “In a press...

          By Samuel L. Leiter   I count twelve shows we can classify as musical revues for the New York season of 1922-1923, the season having begun in June and run through the end of May. In chronological order, they are Ziegfeld Follies of 1922, Strut Miss...

  How Can There Be Tony Awards Without all the Expected Shows That Were to Open??? “Tony Awards sets February eligibility cutoff date”  The eligibility cutoff date for the upcoming Tony Awards is Feb. 19, 2020, Tony Award Productions confirmed Friday. — The eligibility...

    A Diva and Grammy Winning Songwriter Get Together: Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee, Grammy-winning and Emmy nominated songwriter-producer, Desmond Child, will release his brand new single “VIVA LA DIVA” (BMG) featuring Countess Luann, star of The Real Housewives of New York...

  Calling All Designers to LaMama’s Design Fest!  Created and Curated by Hao Bai Application Deadline: Sept. 9, 2020 by 11:59pm (EST) www.LaMama.org DesignFest is an online theatre design festival to celebrate and support emerging theatre designers in the time of pandemic and beyond. The...

    By Marilyn Lester   The second installment of The Michael Friedman Collection, (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch, has been released by Ghostlight Records and The Civilians (of which Friedman was a founding Associate Artist). The new title is available for downloading and streaming....

  Brierpatch Theatricals (Laura Cronin/Scott Newsome, Producers) is pleased to announce “Stars & Cars Cinema” an outdoor cinema experience for the whole family beginning Thursday, September 3 at Pfizer/IRG North Lot (401 N. Middletown Road) in Pearl River, NY. Kicking off the opening...

The Acting Company’s Alumni Spotlight Series will feature a Zoom reading of Maria Irene Fornes’ Letters from Cuba featuring alumni and friends streaming 4 days – August 26 thru August 30 – free.  Letters From Cuba is directed by Alejandro Rodriguez and features Danaya Esperanza (for colored...

  Apple Family Productions announces the world premiere of INCIDENTAL MOMENTS OF THE DAY: The Apple Family: Life on Zoom, the final play in the pandemic trilogy, written and directed by Tony Award winner Richard Nelson, on Thursday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The third play, written...

      Joshua Morgan joins Jelani Remy in #PerformersSingForFans as they sing out loud for those “Happy Days/Get Happy” times we’re all longing for when theatre resumes and we can see both Joshua and Jelani back on Broadway in Ain’t Too Proud: The Life...

  by Michael Colby “The Theatre is dying, The theatre is dying, The theatre is practically dead! …But actors keep acting And plays keep attracting …And year after year There is something to cheer.”   Thus wrote Oscar Hammerstein II in 1953.  This lyric is from the song “Intermission...

  “Hugh Jackman Talks Taking Zoom Dance Classes in Preparation For The Music Man” by BroadwayWorld – “Hugh Jackman recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Jackman revealed that he has been taking the Zoom dance classes offered by the Broadway...

Berkshire Theatre Group in Pittsfield, Ma. under the tent . . . happening now with Godspell thru Sept. 4 and SOLD OUT!  The innovative socially distanced seating has made it possible.   There’s a long list of upcoming shows including jazz diva Wanda Houston celebrating diversity of...

“Bryan Cranston Reveals He Wants to Do a Broadway Musical on The Late Show” by BroadwayWorld – “Cranston was asked if he would ever do a musical on Broadway … . “I have a secret desire to do a musical,” he said. “But I don’t consider...

“THE THEATRE WILL SURVIVE” STARRING MANY OF BROADWAY’S GREATEST VOICES PREMIERES AUGUST 31, 7pm *Premiering on video “The Theatre Will Survive,” features many of Broadway’s greatest voices. The brainchild of lyricist Michael Colby and composer/orchestrator Ned Paul Ginsburg,...

    “Howell Binkley Dies: Two-Time Tony Winner For ‘Hamilton’ And ‘Jersey Boys’ Was 64” by Deadline’s Bruce Haring – “Howell Binkley, considered one of Broadway’s premier lighting designers, died Friday, Aug. 14 in North Carolina, his wife, Joyce, told...

    By Marcina Zaccaria   BroadwayHD takes us back to 1950 to reveal a bit of movie magic in “Summer Stock.” An overhead crane shot leads the viewer to a large farm.  Judy Garland begins with the musical “If You Feel like Singing.”  After calling above, with a whole town...

  by Carol Rocamora   Once again, the Irish Rep shows its flair for on-line theatricality – this time, with the inspired remounting of its lovely Love, Noël at The Players in New York. It’s part of the Rep’s Digital Summer series, and it provides welcome entertainment that’s as...

  Producers Grove Entertainment (Beth Williams), Frank Marshall and The Araca Group announced today that Diana A New Musical will premiere on Netflix next year ahead of the Broadway opening. Diana, the upcoming new musical, currently on hiatus due to Covid-19, began previews on Monday,...

  Following his Off-Broadway debut in the 2018 revival of Smokey Joe’s Café, Jelani Remy joined the Broadway company of Ain’t Too Proud and would ultimately step up to fill the shoes of Tony Award nominee Jeremy Pope, taking over the role of original Temptation Eddie...

  By Marilyn Lester The vocal-instrumental duo, Branden & James, have released their debut album, Chasing Dreams, a collection of fastidiously curated tunes high on the gold standard of enjoyment. Branden James, an operatic tenor and James Clark, a virtuoso of the cello, simply make...

      By Samuel L. Leiter   If prizes were ever handed out for the best musical theatre seasons of the 1920s, 1922-1923 wouldn’t come close. Not only wouldn’t it be considered in the running, it would be mired in the decade’s lower half with little to redeem it, at least...

  “Broadway Star Danny Burstein on His Struggles After COVID-19: “I’m Not Really Sure How I’m Doing”” by Danny Burstein for The Hollywood Reporter – “Four months later — and here’s the honest truth — I’m not really sure how...

  by Roger Hendricks Simon   Notable theatre critic Eric Bentley passed away on August 5, 2020 at age 103.  It used to be an amazing thing to live that long. But today he seems like just another older “kid” who accomplished that milestone. Both friend and foe to me...

    The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center & Burke-Cohen Entertainment will present a live virtual reading of Jeff Cohen’s new play Righteous on Monday August 24 @ 7:30 pm EDT. The reading stars Tony Award-winners Frank Wood and Denis O’Hare, Tony Award-nominees Johanna Day,...

  by Carol Rocamora   In some versions, she’s a songbird or a skylark.  In Simon Stephens’s version, she’s a swallow or a bluebird.  Whatever her husband Torvald calls her, Nora is  belittled, trivialized and infantilized, and every time we see her suffering onstage, we feel her...

  by Marcina Zaccaria   It was a spirited evening of virtual cabaret at MetropolitanZoom.com on Friday, August 7, when Special 3K took the stage at 7PM for an hour of pop tunes and musical theater favorites. Special 3K is a new girl group created and produced by Robert R. Blume of...

Free streaming Jazz Great Sessions     The Newport Jazz Festival comes straight to you free streaming from the Golden Age to the Modern All-Stars. Watch The Joshua Redman Quartet, Jazzmeia Horn’s final live performance pre pandemic, Wynton Marsalis, Michela Marino Lerman and Russell...

  Birdland, in association with BroadwayWorld.com, is proud to present Radio Free Birdland, a pay-per-view concert series featuring a slew of exciting Broadway, jazz and cabaret performers. Each show will be filmed with three cameras, state-of-the-art sound, socially distanced musicians,...

  “‘Godspell’ in 2020: Masks, Partitions and a Contactless Crucifixion” by The New York Times’ Michael Paulson – “The two productions here in Pittsfield — “Godspell” at Berkshire Theater Group, and the one-person play “Harry Clarke” at Barrington Stage...

  by Carol Rocamora   It looks so familiar, doesn’t it?  Two homeless men, standing along a highway… waiting … waiting … If Beckett’s masterpiece comes to mind, that’s just what playwright Antoinette Nwandu intends.  But instead of Godot, they’re waiting for “po-po” – that’s jargon...

Multi Emmy Award (23 of them) composer and songwriter Billy Goldenberg has died at the age of 84 at his Manhattan apartment. He collaborated with everyone from Elvis Presley to Barbra Streisand to Diana Ross. He composed music for Queen of the Stardust Ballroom and Spielberg’s Duel.  He...

  A reprise of the show Love, Noel! will be part of the Irish Reps’ virtual season and was recently filmed at the renowned Players Club in Manhattan theplayersnyc.org There will be six performances available for streaming next week from Aug.11th through the 15th. Steve Ross will be...

  You won’t get wet at the Theater for the New City’s virtual Street Theater. The 2020 live streaming production “Liberty or Just Us: a City Park Story” runs thru Sept. 13 – More information: www.theaterforthenewcity.net     Mostly Mozart Festival will bring the treasured...

    T. Oliver Reid or “T” as he’s known to many, is a Broadway veteran with numerous shows under this belt, including Hadestown, Once On This Island, Sunset Boulevard, After Midnight, Sister Act and many others. He’s also a singular sensation when performing...

  Mixing It Up Productions announces the grand winners of its inaugural Spring Emerging Playwrights Contest  today. Lia Romeo (Full-Length), David John Preece (One-Acts) and R.A. Pauli (Short Plays) received top nods for their scripts from nearly 800 entries from the United States and...

  by Marcina Zaccaria   Director Samantha Shay is testing the bounds of Zoom, adding quotes, live screen texting, Social Media posts, and dance out on a beach.  She is obsessed with “intimate relationships through the void” throughout  In These Uncertain Times.   Enduring COVID-19...

  Beginning August 4, you can hear Four-time Tony Award® winner Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy, Kinky Boots, Hairspray, Mrs. Doubtfire) on Audible as he brings New York’s very own political firebrand, Bella Abzug – a founding feminist, US Congresswoman, and activist with a...

  By Samuel L. Leiter   The New York theater season of 1922-1923 was memorable. According to my count (which differs a bit from other available surveys), 202 shows of every variety opened (down by a dozen or so from 1921-1922), Of those 202, 122 were new plays, the remainder being...

  Charles Busch will receive the Provincetown American Playwright Award (PAPA) this year in a virtual presentation on August 15th at 5:30 pm.  He is the third person to receive this award which will be presented to him by Paul Vogel, last year’s award winner. The first award was...

  Members of the theater community launched #MaskUpCurtainUp, a social media campaign encouraging theater fans everywhere to wear their masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Using the hashtag #MaskUpCurtainUp, members of the Broadway community will post photos and Boomerangs of...

  By Beatrice Williams-Rude   In  5th Century BC Greece where, arguably, theater as we know it emerged, performances were given in huge outdoor venues with audiences numbering many thousands. In the pre-pandemic  21st Century AD New York City, while there are theaters that have...

  Wilford Brimley died over the weekend. He was 85 years old.  You might remember him best from films that included “Cocoon,” “The Natural,” and “The Firm.” He’s also memorable as that guy in the Quaker Oats commercial and seen more recently in commercials about diabetes. Brimley was a...

  All good intentions when Founder/Artistic Director Julianne Boyd told me in an interview the beginning of May (https://www.theaterpizzazz.com/how-barrington-stage-is-handling-live-theatre-reopening/) that the The Barrington Stage Company (BSC) production of Harry Clarke (by David...

  The Homebound Project is pleased to announce the lineup for its fifth and final edition of new online theater benefiting hungry children affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Co-creators Catya McMullen and Jenna Worsham, along with their all-volunteer team, are also pleased to announce...

  By Myra Chanin   I have always admired Lillian Hellman. She may not ever have served drinks, tits propped up as a Playboy bunny, but she was a total feminist, born way before her time, remarkable: As the blacklisted icon who in reply to a HUAC subpoena offered to speak truthfully...

  By Marilyn Lester   The newly released Kim David Smith: Live at Joe’s Pub, available on digital and streaming platforms, is a fitting tribute to the singer’s devotion to Weimar-era Berlin. It features excellently self-curated selections of numbers performed over 10 years of...

      Tonight, the cast of “Scandal” will reunite for a very special episode of “Stars In The House,” hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, which will livestream on PEOPLE’s social platforms at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.  For one night only, the White House, Olivia Pope &...

  Jay Armstrong Johnson, Ahmad Simmons, and Mary Michael Patterson launch BRIDGE ARTS PROJECT with Virtual Workshop August 10th-14th. Founded by three Texas natives, Bridge Arts Project is a training and mentorship program that cultivates the potential of emerging artists nationwide. ...

    Stephanie Pope is an actor, dancer, singer – a veteran of the Broadway stage for 35 years. Her lengthy credits include Chicago, Sweet Charity, Pippin, Big Deal . . . along with the Fosse legacy she carries forth. This video was created to help support the Playhouse on Park...

  PROMO VIDEO  Special 3K, a concert created and produced by Robert R Blume of Step Forward Entertainment, highlights three young performers, ranging in age from 10 to 22 years old.  Kea Chan, Kayla Merrow and Denise Kara, who will make their professional debut together on August 7th at...

Just in Time: A Cli-Fi Fable – Other Than We Presented by the Earth Institute   By Marcina Zaccaria   Other Than We, by Karen Malpede, journeys from the hospital to a dome, where even inter-species life can take its first breath.  It’s a world where emotion and empathy,...

  by Carol Rocamora If the true test of theatre today is directing a play on-line, then Ciarán O’Reilly is a wizard. Somehow, he has managed to stage The Weir, Conor McPherson’s haunting tale of the terminally lonely – by directing 5 actors in 5 different locations and making it appear...

    by Adam Cohen   In the vast theatrical pause of 2020, online get togethers have thrived.  One gets a perspective of theatrical performers, creators, and producer’s creative process.  The audience is allowed to get even more intimate with their favorite.  This is inherently...

    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 on shows, conduct...

  Alan Menken Achieves EGOT Status With Daytime Emmy Win  – Composer Alan Menken became the 16th person ever to achieve EGOT status. He joins the small group of entertainers who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. Menken won the award for best original song in a...

Join Quarantine Cabaret for Cocktails and legendary triple threat Chita Rivera on Thurs. July 30 at 7 pm. It’s hosted by Lee Lessack (LML Music founder) and Robert Bannon who will also welcome Tony Award Nominee Lisa Mordente (Chita’s daughter) and Michael Orland ((American Idol).  ...

  Two-time Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland,  and for decades the last surviving star of “Gone With the Wind,” has died at age of 104, her publicist Lisa Goldberg reported. The actress died July 26 of natural causes at her residence in Paris where she lived for more than six...

  Longtime television host Regis Philbin died on July 24 at the age of 88. “We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday,” his family shared with People Magazine. “His family...

    By Marilyn Lester   In 1966, a young journalist and newly turned playwright named Tom Stoppard, debuted his absurdist, existential play, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The play went on to great success. In New York, the Royal...

  by Carol Rocamora   So much has been written about Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda’s marvel of a musical that has taken our country – and the world – by storm.  We’ve read the gamut of reviews and commentary – featuring ecstatic raves ever since it opened in 2015, praising Miranda’s...

  Rumor has it that famed Ellen’s Stardust Diner and its counterpart, The Iridium Jazz Club (located in the basement), may be closed for good based upon rent monies owed in the sum of over $600,000 that go unpaid. If the rents are not received by August 7, the landlord will assume...

  Broadway Records announced today the release of Live Your Life: Live at Feinstein’s/54 Below, the recording of Nick Cordero’s cabaret performance, directed and music directed by Emmy Award-winning Producer and Music Director, Michael J Moritz Jr. Prior to being diagnosed with...

  Stage and screen star, Linda Purl, presents a benefit performance for The Actors Fund. Based on Joan Didion’s National Book Award-winning memoir, THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING is the remarkable story of loss, journey, and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. Please consider making...