Honeymoon is Over. April Avalanche Begins. Bowie! The Week in New York Theater

Of the 14 shows opening on Broadway in April, the most anticipated, according to my poll so far, are

1. Fun Home

2. Something Rotten

3. The King and I

Last week, Skylight opened. This week, it’ll be:

Hand to God

Gigi

Wolf Hall, Parts 1 and 2

And we’re only getting started. I’ll be reviewing them all, which makes me a theater critic, although I don’t say things like the critic depicted in Birdman:

Confrontation between Broadway director Riggan Thomas (Michael Keaton) and New York Times theatre critic Tabitha Dickinson (Lindsay Duncan) in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman
Confrontation between Broadway director Riggan Thomas (Michael Keaton) and New York Times theatre critic Tabitha Dickinson (Lindsay Duncan) in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman

Why are critics villains? — which links to my larger piece in Howlround:

Are Theatre Critics Critical? An Update

Below, news about a new musical by David Bowie, a new play about Maya Angelou, a stage adaptation of a Bill Murray movie

The Week in New York Theater News

Rob McClure: But I LOVE Betsy
Rob McClure: But I LOVE Betsy

Honeymoon in Vegas ends its run today, Sunday April 5, less than three months after it opened

gene-saks

Gene Saks, actor and director of 33 Broadway shows, best-known as Neil Simon’s director, has died at age 93.

NiegelSmith

New artistic director at the Flea Theater, replacing founder Jim Simpson: Niegel Smith, long Taylor Mac’s director. (I went on one of his unorthodox “Elastic City” walking tours.)

Cory-finleyCory FinleAR Gurney By Gregory Costanzoy is the first playwright to be awarded the Flea Theater’s new Gurney Playwrights Fund, a $100,000 annual prize funded by playwright A.R. Gurney, who has a longstanding relationship with the theater. (He is also one of this season’s Signature Theater playwrights.)

3c

“3C, ” playwright David Adjmi’s parody of the sitcom “Three’s Company”, does not violate copyright, a federal judge rules, permitting any and all future productions.

TheWiz

The Wiz” will be the next NBC live musical (December 3), in partnership with Cirque de Soleil, and directed by Kenny Leon.  Then it’s on to Broadway! This is not normal. (Cinderella did that, sort of, but different productions 56 years apart) Harvey Fierstein will create new material for the production, which originated on Broadway in 1975, winning seven Tonys, including best musical, then was turned into an all-star, widely ridiculed movie in 1978 (pictured.)maya-angelou-stamp

Kenny Leon is also working on a play about Maya Angelou, a stage adaptation of Tavis Smiley’s new book, My Journey with Maya

 

themanwhofelltoearth

 

Lazarus,by David Bowie and Enda Walsh (Once), inspired by The Man Who Fell to Earth,  and directed by Ivo van Hove, will be presented by the New York Theatre Workshop sometime before the end of 2015.  Bowie played the lead character in the 1976 movie director Nicholas Roeg made of the novel by Walter Tevis, a humanoid alien who comes to Earth to get water for his dying planet. Lazarus will feature new songs composed by David Bowie as well as new arrangements of his old songs.

Actors Equity has created a new website to determine if a “Broadway tour” employs the cast under the Broadway Equity contract. The website is: AskIfItsEquity.com

groundhog-day

Groundhog Day, a musical based on the Bill Murray movie, put together by the Matilda team, including Tim Minchin, is heading to Broadway in 2017

 Week in Theater-Related Developments

2015 Lucille Lortel Award Nominations

New reality series on Discovery Family to feature animal trainer William Berloni, whose animals have been in 19 Broadway productions

Week in Theater Arguments

It’s time for a better Sound of Music, writes Lawrence Downes, which emphasizes its cruelty and carnality.

March2015Quiz

March New York Theater Quiz

 

Author: New York Theater

Jonathan Mandell is a 3rd generation NYC journalist, who sees shows, reads plays, writes reviews and sometimes talks with people.

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