Only Stephen Sondheim could have taken a motley group of would-be murderers and made them sympathetic and funny. At one time, a musical about killing presidents would have been controversial or startling. Certainly that was the case 30 years ago when …Read more
By now, everyone associated with musical theater has written a tribute to legend Stephen Sondheim who died Nov. 26, 2021 at age 91. Productive until the end, Sondheim died while working on another musical. Every season, even truncated ones like 2021, …Read more
When Lady Sandra Abbott’s (Imelda Staunton) marriage of forty years falls apart, she finds new hope when her sister (Celia Imrie) takes her to a community dance class where she finds new friends, and even the potential for a new romance. Richard Lonc …Read more
Even though French actor Lambert Wilson is known for his indelible performances in films by Alain Resnais, Raul Ruiz and The Wachowskis among others, his career as an accomplished stage performer and singer is less known outside of France. Not only h …Read more
As part of their 90th Anniversary season, the St. Bart’s Players presents Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. New York’s longest running community theater group infuses new energy into this classic musical centered around the complexity of human relatio …Read more
Maria Friedman calls me from a landline in Saks Fifth Avenue in Boston (where she is directing Merrily We Roll Along), where a saleswoman (thank you, Paige!) has kindly let her use the phone so we can talk about her upcoming shows at Feinstein’s/54 B …Read more
Midtown isn’t New York’s only neighborhood for great theater. In this installment of thEATer, we interviewed John-Michael Lyles, who is currently starring as Tobias in Sweeney Todd. Check out John-Michael’s favorite eats in and around the West Villag …Read more
Sweeney Todd, arguably one of the most loved shows in the musical theater canon, has returned to New York this season in a completely revamped, immersive production, helmed by UK based Tooting Arts Club and directed by Bill Buckhurst. We got the chan …Read more
Sweeney Todd, arguably one of the darkest pieces in the musical theater canon, becomes darker yet in the fantastically staged new production from the UK’s Tooting Arts Club, performed at Greenwich Village’s Barrow Street Theater. The entire space has …Read more
Is artistic creation more important than a romantic relationship? Are children or art the only things of value a human being can leave behind when they cease to exist? Is creativity hereditary? The questions at the center of Stephen Sondheim and Jame …Read more