New York Theatre is Back!

New York Theatre is reopening! Here are the shows that were running when the pandemic shut us down that are returning: Hadestown From September 2 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Waitress From September 2 (for a limited run through January 9) at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Chicago From September 14 at the Ambassador. Hamilton From September 14 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. The Lion King From September 14 at the Minskoff Theatre. Wicked From September 14 at the Gershwin Theatre. Come From Away From September 21 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Moulin Rouge! The Musical From September 24 at the Al Hirschfield Theatre. Aladdin From September 28 at the

Adapting a Theater to the New Normal

This letter arrived in my email inbox late last week, and I think it bears sharing with the readers of Stagebiz.com. Erez Ziv is in charge of both the Kraine Theater and Under St. Mark's as well as being the managing artistic director of the Frigid New York festival. He has undertaken significant and expensive changes to the physical layout of the Kraine, and it is the kind of thing most theater and performance spaces need to do. Remember, performances in New York City are coming back April 2. After a year of shuttered venues, streaming performances, and lots of planning

“The Motherf**ker with the Hat” — Denizens Theater Company

The premise of the play is simple enough. Jackie (David Feliz) is a former drug dealer freshly out of prison and determined to go straight. His girlfriend Veronica (Jillian K. Waters) is thrilled about this, but she is still using. Just before they get into bed to celebrate his successful job search, he sees a hat that doesn't belong to him. He suspects her of cheating; he goes off to meet his parole officer and AA sponsor Ralph D (Gregory Marlow), who is having trouble with his own wife Victoria (Lara Ruth Smith). Jackie gets a gun, is convinced to

Journey Around My Bedroom – New Ohio Theatre for Young Minds

This little puppet show concerns Xavi, a little girl who has been sentenced like the rest of us to spending the pandemic in our homes. Her mom orders her off the video games and tells her to go to sleep. And that is when the fun begins. As she waits for sleep to come, her imagination takes over. Enter Xavier de Maistre (who wrote a book called Journey Around My Bedroom while under house arrest a couple of centuries ago). He is a great explorer; something Xavi aspires to be. She challenges him to a duel, assists in the

Now Playing — A “Playhouse 90” for the 21st Century

The Pandemic has shuttered New York Theatre, and London is operating with limited capacity. Live entertainment is on hold. Yet the desire for story-telling, the urge to see something new is greater because we are all in various stages of lockdown. Artists are a bit like nature in that they abhor a vacuum, and where there is a theatrical void, artists will try to fill it. That brings us to a new venture by Jay Michaels and Mary Elizabeth Micari -- “Now Playing” will be a new theatre streaming service on “CHANNEL I”. StageBiz: First off, tell us about CHANNEL

Dracula — Resounding Live Immersive Audio

There is something deliciously lovely about turning off all the lights in the house and listening to a horror tale on a rainy autumn night. So with the mood set, I accessed Resounding Live Immersive Audio's “Dracula” on my smartphone with my headphones plugged in. The result was radio theatre for the 21st century. The script was an hour-long edit of the Bram Stoker novel, and so a great deal had to be left out. Fortunately, one can leave out Renfield and the asylum and lose nothing much of the real tale. The truth is Stoker wrote more than he needed

Casey York is New Off-Broadway League President

The Off Broadway League today announced the election of Casey York as its new President. The organization also announced two new officers, Evan O’Brient as 2nd VP, and Steven Chaikelson as Treasurer and four new board members: Emily Currie, Toni Davis, Teresa Gozzo, and Kyle Provost. York replaces Terry Byrne who served in the role of President for two years and was on the Board of directors since 1993. The leadership transition at the volunteer-led organization occurs six months into an unprecedented and historic shutdown that has resulted in the suspension or cancellation of countless Off-Broadway productions to date, with

“Democracy Sucks” – Online Free Fringe Fest

Churchill said, among a great many other things, that democracy is the worst for of government except for all the others. Playwright and doctor of political science Monica Bauer appears largely to agree in her new work “Democracy Sucks.” The show is a little over half an hour and is a perfect imitation of a remote-learning college class, poli sci 101. Professor B has reached the end of the semester and his wits (but not quite his wine). He has given the same lecture all semester consisting of Plato's indictment of democracy in “The Republic.” If that sounds a bit

Snowdrops and Chlorine – Theatre and Breast Cancer

Although the pandemic has shuttered our theaters, the work of theatre goes on. Thanks to Zoom, YouTube and other platforms, digital delivery of theatrical works has blossomed. The National Theatre in the UK has given us weekly streaming productions. Disney+ has brought us “Hamilton.” Less commercial theatre, however, appears to be the biggest winner because digital delivery spares shoe-string budgets numerous expenses. Catalina Florina Florescu, the New Play Development Curator and Dramaturg at Jersey City Theater Center, has just started the streaming presentation of her work “Snowdrops and Chlorine.” It is the second part of the “Staging Breast Cancer” trilogy and

Helping Theatre Survive the Current Unpleasantness

Stagebiz.com has been the beneficiary of a lot of support and plain affection from the NY theatre industry in the last few years. From the big Broadway shows to the black-box theatres to the press agents large and small, each has been more than generous to our reviewers and by extension our readers. In order to keep as many afloat as possible, we are going to provide you links that will allow you to give what you can to aid these artists and entrepreneurs during the pandemic. One of my personal favorites is Frigid New York in my old neighborhood -- the

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