By ALAN SMASON Call it a sign of the times or call it the end of an era, but The Fantasticks, the world’s longest-running musical, has announced its closing date of June 4, 2017. The show with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics and book by Tom Jones had originally opened in Greenwich Village in […]
Brian d’Arcy James, the Tony Award-nominated actor behind the title role of Shrek and as Nick Bottom in Something’s Rotten!, is finally getting the opportunity to play the role of British King George III in Hamilton: An American Musical on Broadway, starting on April 14. It just took a few years. James originated the role […]
By ALAN SMASON, Theatre critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out“) In 2014 when “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York, critics and pundits were applauding Jessie Mueller for what seemed an impossible role to fill. Not only did the actress have to emulate the singing style of an iconic American […]
By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out”) By all things reasonable, Waitress, the Broadway musical currently serving its fare at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York, should have never made it to Broadway. It is a story of improbabilities. The musical was based on an independent film directed by Adrienne Shelly, a striking […]