Theater

How Jonathan Larson Taught Me to Become a Better Critic

I watched “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” Netflix’s film adaptation of the Jonathan Larson musical, four and a half times in the span of three weeks. I’ve listened to the soundtrack three times, with the exception of the opening song, “30/90.” That I’ve listened to at least a dozen times. When you replay a song that […]

Augmented Reality Theater Takes a Bow. In Your Kitchen.

When the pandemic shut down British performing venues in March 2020, Coffey accelerated plans to turn “All Kinds of Limbo” into an at-home experience. The retooled version can be watched via A.R. on a mobile device, via a V.R. headset, or on a regular computer. Brandon’s performance stays the same, but, depending on the device […]

One Indelible Scene: When the Show Must Go on in ‘Drive My Car’

I’m going to talk about how the movie ends, but I’m not going to spoil it. The plot of “Drive My Car” doesn’t really work that way in any case. Adapted by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (working with Takamasa Oe) from a novella by Haruki Murakami, the film is an adventure of gentle turns and an occasional […]

When Axel Webber Was Rejected from Juilliard, TikTok Stepped In

Mr. Petrou confirmed that Mr. Webber is not part of the Hype House and has never been affiliated with the group. He is, however, already represented by Diomi Cordero, a talent manager in Los Angeles who brought Mr. Webber to the NFT party and also represents Angus Cloud, an actor on “Euphoria.” Mr. Harris is […]

Sardi’s Is Back After 648 Days, Its Fortunes Tied to Broadway

Early in the pandemic, Mr. Klimavicius, like many, had his doubts — theater was dark, Midtown was dead, everything seemed uncertain. But this June, buoyed by $4.5 million from the federal government’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund, he began overhauling the space — redoing the kitchen, the gas lines, the ventilation, and the wiring, among other things […]

‘West Side Story’ Review: In Love and War, 1957 Might Be Tonight

The Jets and the Sharks, a white teenage gang and their Puerto Rican antagonists, aren’t mirror images of each other. Ostensibly contending for control over a few battered blocks in the West 60s, they collide like taxis speeding toward each other on a one-way street. The Sharks are children of an upwardly striving, migrant working […]

Stephen Sondheim Reflected on ‘Company’ and ‘West Side Story’ in Final Interview

ROXBURY, Conn. — Stephen Sondheim stood by the gleaming piano in his study, surrounded by posters of international productions of his many famous musicals, and smiled as he inquired whether a visitor might be interested in hearing songs from a show he had been working on for years, but hadn’t finished yet. “And now would […]

Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, Is Dead at 91

An afternoon-long tutorial followed, teaching him, by Mr. Sondheim’s account, more about the craft than most songwriters learn in a lifetime. Hammerstein laid out a path of writing exercises for him: Adapt a good play into a musical; adapt a flawed play into a musical; adapt a story from another medium into a musical; and, […]