Helen Gallagher, who won two Tony Awards on Broadway, has died. She was 98. Gallager passed away Sunday at a hospital in Manhattan. Her death was confirmed by Edith Meeks, the executive and artistic director at New York’s Herbert Berghof Studio, where Gallagher taught classes. A portrait of Helen Gallagher from 1957. Bettmann Archive Playbill … Read more
In 2000, the $15 million Disney musical “Aida” got a zero’s welcome to Broadway. The show starring Heather Headley and Sherie Rene Scott was slammed by theater critics (“a pompous bore,” said The Post’s Clive Barnes) and didn’t manage a coveted Tony Award nomination for Best Musical. But, as male lead Radames sings, fortune favors … Read more
Theater review DEATH BECOMES HER Two hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission. At the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th Street. There is a miracle elixir in the campy musical “Death Becomes Her,” which opened Thursday night at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. I don’t mean the nuclear-pink liquid that offers eternal youth in exchange for becoming … Read more
As I entered a sold-out cinema for a “Wicked: Part One” preview event in Sydney this week, I had a terrifying thought: What if people started to sing along? Moments into the film and just seconds into the first song, my worst fear was realized. A group of musical theater kids, who fancied themselves more talented than … Read more
“Tammy Faye” has fallen harder than, well, Tammy Faye. Elton John’s dreadful new Broadway musical about 1970s and ‘80s televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker posted its closing notice on Tuesday — just five days after it opened at the Palace Theatre. “Tammy Faye” was reportedly capitalized at $25 million, and will lose every penny. When the … Read more
Theater review SWEPT AWAY 90 minutes, with no intermission. At the Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th Street. Something I won’t be saying on my death bed: “I wish I would’ve watched more shows about boats.” Yet another crew of singing seafarers sets off in the Avett Brothers’ uneven “Swept Away,” which opened Tuesday night at … Read more
Theater review TAMMY FAYE Two hours and 35 minutes, with one intermission. At the Palace Theatre, 160 W 47th Street. The Bitch is Back at the Palace Theatre, the storied house that holds decades of memories for Elton John — both happy and miserable. Twenty-four years ago, his “Aida,” a Disneyfied take on Verdi, opened … Read more
Theater review MAYBE HAPPY ENDING One hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission. At the Belasco Theatre, 111 W. 44th Street. The sublime start of “Maybe Happy Ending” is the closest I have ever come to experiencing a Pixar movie on Broadway. Oliver, a lonely robot played by Darren Criss, goes through his usual daily … Read more
Theater review A WONDERFUL WORLD: THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG MUSICAL Two hours and 45 minutes, with one intermission. At Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St. Come for the music in “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical,” the Satchmo show that opened Monday night at Studio 54. As for the throaty crooner’s life story, read a … Read more
Broadway battle. Broadway star Kecia Lewis has a bone to pick with legend Patti LuPone. Lewis, 59, released a six-minute Instagram video on Saturday where she called out LuPone, 75, for how she’s allegedly treated the production of “Hell’s Kitchen,” which Lewis stars in as Miss Liza Jane. The Tony Award winner said her “open … Read more
With the help of some red-hot comics, the late great Joan Rivers is still asking “Can we talk?” a decade after she died. A Nov. 7 tribute show at the Apollo Theater, brutally titled “Dead Funny,” is the opening-night event of the upcoming New York Comedy Festival, and will feature the barbs of Nikki Glaser, … Read more
“Oh, stop it!” Sutton Foster was “convinced” she would get fired from “The Music Man,” the Broadway musical she starred in alongside her rumored new beau, Hugh Jackman. Foster, 49, made her confession during an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” that she and Jackman, 56, did to promote their 2022 production. A clip … Read more
Broadway is being inundated with stars. It’s an impressive list. Robert Downey Jr., George Clooney, Mia Farrow, Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianna Margulies, Sarah Snook, Katie Holmes, Shailene Woodley, Jim Parsons and Nicole Scherzinger are all appearing in shows this season. Between them are five Academy Awards, eight Emmys and 15 Golden Globes. And, most … Read more
Theater review ROMEO + JULIET Two hours, with one intermission. At the Circle in the Square Theatre, 235 West 50th Street. Through February 16. Over on 43rd Street, the Broadway musical comedy “& Juliet” has been running for two years. And on Thursday night, seven blocks away at Circle in the Square Theatre opened its … Read more
There is no doubt as to what the new play “Left on Tenth,” which opened at the James Earl Jones Theatre Wednesday night, wants to be: A romantic, funny and harrowing tale of a woman’s rebirth. Theater review LEFT ON TENTH One hour and 40 minutes, with no intermission. At the James Earl Jones Theatre, … Read more
What a joy it is to see “Something Rotten” transformed into something terrific. The caffeinated comedy, which played New York back in 2015, is the marquee musical of the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, an easy trip for New Yorkers. And before this year, one would have had to search far and wide to find … Read more
Stevie Nicks once sang, “Thunder only happens when it’s raining.” Well, there’s a downpour of drama over at the Golden Theatre on Broadway. The playwright and producers of “Stereophonic,” this year’s Tony Award winner for Best Play, and its landlord, the Shubert Organization, are being sued by writers Steven Stiefel and Ken Caillat, the Fleetwood … Read more
The new Broadway revival of “Our Town,” which opened Thursday night at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, puts all its chips on “Our.” Theater review OUR TOWN One hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission. At the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W 47th Street. Its cast is more diverse than any production of Thornton Wilder’s classic … Read more
This show strikes a chord. A radical feminist opera is causing major controversy and causing disturbed attendees to require medical treatment — and it’s coming to the US this month. “Sancta Susanna” tells the story of a suppressed nun’s journey of self-discovery and sexuality, featuring shocking elements including explicit lesbian scenes, real injuries and nudity. … Read more
All of Broadway’s marquees will dim to honor the life of Gavin Creel following an outcry by theater fans when only a partial dimming was proposed after the 48-year-old Tony Award-winner’s death last month. The Committee of Theatre Owners on Wednesday said all 41 Broadway theaters would dim their lights on separate nights for Creel, … Read more