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News: Glenn Close, Jeremy O Harris, Patti LuPone and more perform scenes from Angels in America

The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America streams October 8, featuring Tony winners Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Nikki M. James, and more Broadway stars performing scenes from Tony Kushner’s Tony- and Pulitzer Prize–winning play.

Multiple performers share the roles of some characters, with Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Rannells, and Paul Dano as Prior Walter; Lois Smith and Vella Lovell as Harper Pitt; and Jeremy O. Harris, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Larry Owens as Belize. The cast also includes Glenn Close as Roy Cohn, Brandon Uranowitz as Louis Ironson, Laura Linney as Hannah Pitt, and Nikki M. James, Patti LuPone, Linda Emond, and Daphne Rubin-Vega as the angels Lumen, Fluor, Phosphor, and Candle, respectively.

Continue reading “News: Glenn Close, Jeremy O Harris, Patti LuPone and more perform scenes from Angels in America”

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TV Review: The Good Fight Series 4

Covid meant we sadly only got 7 episodes of Series 4 of The Good Fight, that’s just not enough Christine Baranski, Audra McDonald and Cush Jumbo

“We need evidence, no conspiracy theories”

Just a quickie for this as the truncated fourth season of The Good Fight meant that it had a rather abrupt finish that cheated the creators out of the fullness of the stories they wanted to tell. What we did get was the customary tackling of huge up-to-the-minute issues – racism in the workplace, political parties trying to reach marginalised communities and in the daring final episode, Jeffrey Epstein.

Baranski’s Diane Lockhart remains one of the great TV characters but I’m not sure anyone was particularly well served by the larger themes of the show. The ramifications of the buyout were tiresome, Memo 618 didn’t get the resolution it needed and Lucca’s plot strand smacked of them not knowing what to do with the character, given how little she ended up interacting with the rest of the main cast. Continue reading “TV Review: The Good Fight Series 4”

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TV Review: The Split Series 1 / The Good Fight Series 2

If female-fronted lawyer shows are your bag (and why wouldn’t they be!), the twin joys of The Split and The Good Fight have marvellous to behold

“Kill all the lawyers”

If I’m completely honest, Abi Morgan’s The Split did leave me a tad disappointed as it veered away from its legal beginnings to something considerably more soapy over its six episodes. The personal lives of the Defoe clan well and truly took over at the expense of any of the cases they were looking after and even if that family includes Nicola Walker, Annabel Scholey and Deborah Findlay, it’s still a bit of a shame that it ended up so schlocky. Continue reading “TV Review: The Split Series 1 / The Good Fight Series 2”

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Album Reviews: Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project / Mamma Mia / Il Divo – A Musical Affair

This trio of album reviews covers Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project, Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack and Il Divo – A Musical Affair

“You know I’ve got
So much that I wanna do”

Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project has an amazing list of performers, composers, and musicians behind it, all coming together to create a 2-CD set and 48-page children’s book to benefit breast cancer research, support and education. And rather wonderfully, it is an utterly gorgeous record. Brilliant jazz musicians accompany writers like Michael John LaChiusa, Adam Gwon and Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez in indulging their gentler side to create the prettiest tunes. And then a cast of dreams sing them – just listen to Raúl Esparza’s aching tenderness on ‘This Little World’, or Donna Murphy’s crystal clear ‘Lucky’ (by Stephen  Schwartz) – we should all be so lucky to be lulled to sleep this way. Continue reading “Album Reviews: Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project / Mamma Mia / Il Divo – A Musical Affair”

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Album Review: Frozen (soundtrack)

 

“It’s time to see what I can do”

Disney’s Frozen is as close to a stone-cold classic as they’ve produced in many a year, a loose retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen with a delightfully forward-thinking approach to gender roles and adorned with a cracking score by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. This last fact means it is as well-conceived a musical as one could hope for, something confirmed by the Oscar nomination for Best Song received by its lead song ‘Let It Go’, and the Broadway production that has now been confirmed to be under discussion.

Its theatrical credentials are further confirmed by the voice cast that was assembled for the film, erring to Broadway performers rather than established film stars and creating a wonderful mix that nails the quirky characterisations of the film. So Idina Menzel takes on the fierce Elsa, emotionally intense due to her enforced solitude but breaking free in the most glorious of ways as she finally embraces her powers in the epic number that is ‘Let It Go’, an instant classic that has me delivering all kinds of armography whenever it plays on the stereo. Continue reading “Album Review: Frozen (soundtrack)”

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65th Tony Award winners

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play 
Mark Rylance – Jerusalem as Johnny “Rooster” Byron
Brian Bedford – The Importance of Being Earnest as Lady Bracknell
Bobby Cannavale – The Motherfucker With the Hat as Jackie
Joe Mantello – The Normal Heart as Ned Weeks
Al Pacino – The Merchant of Venice as Shylock

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Frances McDormand – Good People as Margie Walsh
Nina Arianda – Born Yesterday as Emma ‘Billie’ Dawn
Lily Rabe – The Merchant of Venice as Portia
Vanessa Redgrave – Driving Miss Daisy as Daisy Werthan
Hannah Yelland – Brief Encounter as Laura Jesson

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 
Norbert Leo Butz – Catch Me If You Can as Carl Hanratty
Josh Gad – The Book of Mormon as Elder Cunningham
Joshua Henry – The Scottsboro Boys as Haywood Patterson
Andrew Rannells – The Book of Mormon as Elder Price
Tony Sheldon – Priscilla Queen of the Desert as Bernadette Continue reading “65th Tony Award winners”

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65th Tony Award nominations

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play 
Brian Bedford – The Importance of Being Earnest as Lady Bracknell
Bobby Cannavale – The Motherfucker With the Hat as Jackie
Joe Mantello – The Normal Heart as Ned Weeks
Al Pacino – The Merchant of Venice as Shylock
Mark Rylance – Jerusalem as Johnny “Rooster” Byron

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Nina Arianda – Born Yesterday as Emma ‘Billie’ Dawn
Frances McDormand – Good People as Margie Walsh
Lily Rabe – The Merchant of Venice as Portia
Vanessa Redgrave – Driving Miss Daisy as Daisy Werthan
Hannah Yelland – Brief Encounter as Laura Jesson

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 
Norbert Leo Butz – Catch Me If You Can as Carl Hanratty
Josh Gad – The Book of Mormon as Elder Cunningham
Joshua Henry – The Scottsboro Boys as Haywood Patterson
Andrew Rannells – The Book of Mormon as Elder Price
Tony Sheldon – Priscilla Queen of the Desert as Bernadette Continue reading “65th Tony Award nominations”

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Nominations for the 2011 Drama Desk Awards

Outstanding Play
Jon Robin Baitz, Other Desert Cities
Adam Bock, A Small Fire
Stephen Adly Guirgis, The Motherf**ker With the Hat
Samuel D. Hunter, A Bright New Boise
Rajiv Joseph, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
David Lindsay-Abaire, Good People
Nick Stafford, War Horse

Outstanding Musical
In Transit
Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical
See Rock City & Other Destinations
Sister Act
The Book of Mormon
The Kid Continue reading “Nominations for the 2011 Drama Desk Awards”

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Nominations for 2010-2011 Outer Critics Circle Awards

John Gassner Playwriting Award
Matthew López, After the Revolution
Matthew López, The Whipping Man
Kim Rosenstock, Tigers Be Still
David West Read, The Dream of the Burning Boy

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can
Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Daniel Radcliffe, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Aaron Tveit, Catch Me If You Can
Continue reading “Nominations for 2010-2011 Outer Critics Circle Awards”