A secret centre of the musical theatre universe lies almost 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) from Broadway in a modestly grand house in Toluca Lake, in the US city of Los Angeles. Pop singer Ariana Grande, who plays Galinda in the film adaptation of Wicked, has spoken often and at length about how long and how … Read more
The Outsiders, a gritty adaptation of the classic young adult novel, became the essence of a Broadway insider on Sunday, winning the Tony Award for best new musical on a night when theatre history was made for women as Broadway directors and score writers. The musical, an adaptation of the beloved S. E. Hinton novel, is about … Read more
Richard M. Sherman, one half of the prolific, award-winning pair of brothers who helped form millions of childhoods by penning the instantly memorable songs for Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang — as well as the most-played tune on Earth, It’s a Small World (After All) — has died. He was 95. Sherman, together with … Read more
The prime success of the new movie version of “The Color Purple” is its tone: it plays like legend, filtered through the pleasure and the pain of the telling. It’s a musical, adapted from Alice Walker’s novel and from Marsha Norman’s book for the stage play (which is also a musical and provides the new … Read more
Although Danielle Brooks has become most known for her role as Taystee, on the television show “Orange Is the New Black,” she is a creation of the stage. Our generation’s yen for Black-theatre revivalism is rooted in her gift for externalized performance: she is the kind of actor who interprets the monologue as she delivers … Read more
