Theater (Broadway)

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      With This ‘Gypsy’ Song, Audra McDonald Makes You Rethink the Broadway Show

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      Eight times a week at the Majestic Theater in Manhattan, the entire, harrowing arc of a classic tragedy is delivered in 4½ minutes that are as exhilarating as they are upsetting. All the textbook components of tragedy according to Aristotle are vigorously at work here: self-delusion and self-knowledge, pity and terror, and the sense that what is happening is somehow both unexpected and inevitable.And all of this — right down to that climatic, rushing release called catharsis — is provided, near the end of a delectably tuneful show, by a lone woman performing a single song in what is generally regarded as the cheeriest of theatrical forms, the American musical. Yet by that number’s conclusion, Audra McDonald, the Tony-nominated star of George C. Wolfe’s Broadway revival of “Gypsy,” has the flayed-skinless appearance of a figure in a Francis Bacon portrait.And while most hardcore lovers of musicals have surely heard this song before, they are likely to sense that something new is happening here — something harsher, rawer, more wondering and ultimately more devastating. An old standard is providing fresh and unsettling revelations, while an unconventionally cast, mold-cracking performer is shedding surprising light and shadow on one of the best-known characters in the genre. No wonder that audience members leave the Majestic looking as if they had just been sucker punched.A visit to the show in late March inspired the Los Angeles Times theater critic Charles McNulty to call McDonald’s interpretation of the song “if not a religious experience, then a spiritually transfiguring one.” And a friend of mine, who is not generally a fan of musicals, emailed me after a Wednesday matinee that she “was so gutted by that number that when I walked out of the theater I really didn’t know where I was or which direction to turn.”“Rose’s Turn”Audra McDonald sings on the cast album for “Gypsy.”Such is the experience of watching McDonald sing “Rose’s Turn” in “Gypsy,” the 1959 story by Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne about one very determined stage mother named Rose in the dying days of vaudeville. It’s the kind of number that makes you entirely rethink both the show you’ve been watching — one you may have felt you knew all too well — and its central character.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Dead Outlaw’ Cancels Library of Congress Concert to Protest Firing

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      The Broadway musical, which earned seven Tony nominations, scrapped a performance after the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla D. Hayden, was fired by the Trump administration.The Broadway musical “Dead Outlaw” announced on Friday that it was canceling an upcoming concert performance at the Library of Congress, one day after the Trump administration fired its top librarian.A brief statement from the show, which earned seven Tony nominations this month, said that it had decided not to perform at the library “upon learning of the termination of Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress.”Dr. Hayden, the first African American and first woman to serve as head of the institution, was a “fierce advocate for preserving America’s cultural memory and a great champion of the Broadway community,” the statement said.No other details were given.The Library of Congress had planned to present a free concert on Monday afternoon featuring members of the cast and creative team of “Dead Outlaw” performing selections from the show at its Coolidge Auditorium.The cancellation is the latest indication of the growing tensions between some in the arts community and the Trump administration. President Trump has once again proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts, and last week the endowment began withdrawing grants from arts organizations around the country.This week some members of the cast of “Les Misérables” were said to be planning not to perform at a gala performance at the Kennedy Center that Mr. Trump, who took over the center, was planing to attend. Earlier this year, a string of artists and speakers canceled engagements at the Kennedy Center after Mr. Trump purged the historically bipartisan board of Biden appointees and made himself chairman.Dr. Hayden’s firing on Thursday drew swift outrage from Democrats, many of whom praised her work, including Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic minority leader, who said in a statement that Dr. Hayden was an “accomplished, principled and distinguished” leader of the library.She was appointed as the 14th librarian of Congress by President Barack Obama in 2016. She was fired a year before the end of her 10-year term.Cindy Hohl, the president of the American Library Association, condemned the firing in a statement, saying that Dr. Hayden’s “abrupt and unjust dismissal is an insult to the scope and breadth of work she has undertaken in her role leading the Library of Congress.”Dr. Hayden was fired in a two-sentence email from Trent Morse, the deputy director of White House personnel. The notice did not cite a cause.The Library of Congress is the latest federal cultural institution to come under fire from Mr. Trump. In February he abruptly fired Colleen Shogan, the head of the National Archives, who had been appointed by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., without citing any reason. And in an executive order in March, he criticized the Smithsonian Institution, and directed Vice President JD Vance to seek to influence its Board of Regents.Jennifer Schuessler More

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      Jeffrey Seller Produced ‘Hamilton.’ Now, in ‘Theater Kid,’ He’s Telling His Story.

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      In “Theater Kid,” Jeffrey Seller reflects on his Broadway career.The Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller is, by any measure, enormously successful. He’s produced (always in collaboration with others) about 10 shows that have, collectively, grossed $4.74 billion, approximately one-third of which was profit for producers, investors and others.You’ve probably heard of several of those shows. His first big hit was “Rent.” His most recent: “Hamilton.” In between were “Avenue Q” and “In the Heights,” but also plenty of others that didn’t flourish.For a long time, Seller, now 60 and the winner of four best-musical Tony Awards, had complicated feelings about how he fit in. He was adopted as an infant and grew up in a downwardly mobile and fractious family in a Detroit suburb.Seller accepting the Tony Award for “Hamilton,” which won best musical in 2016.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesTheater was where he found pleasure, and meaning — a way out, and a way up. Now he’s written a memoir, “Theater Kid,” that is being published on May 6. It is a combination coming-of-age and rags-to-riches story that is unsparing in its description of his colorfully challenged-and-challenging father, unabashed in its description of his sexual awakening, and packed with behind-the-scenes detail, especially about the birth of “Rent.”In an interview at his office in the theater district, Seller spoke about his life, his career and his book. These are edited excerpts from the interview.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Ragtime’ Is Returning to Broadway

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      A revival of the sweeping musical will open at Lincoln Center Theater in October, starring Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz.“Ragtime,” an epic musical that explores early 20th-century American aspirations through three fictional families whose lives intersect with historical figures and events, is returning to Broadway.The musical, based on a 1975 E.L. Doctorow novel and set mostly in New Rochelle and other locations in and around New York, first opened on Broadway in 1998, won Tony Awards for best score and best book, and ran for two years. There was a short-lived revival in 2009.This new production will be staged at Lincoln Center Theater, which is one of four nonprofit organizations that operate Broadway houses. It will be the first production during the tenure of Lear deBessonet, who is taking over as the nonprofit’s new artistic director; deBessonet will direct the production.This revival, scheduled to begin previews Sept. 26 and to open Oct. 16 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, began its life with a 12-day run last fall in a New York City Center gala presentation, also directed by deBessonet. The new production is scheduled to run for just 14 weeks.The Broadway production, like the City Center production, will star Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker Jr., an African American pianist; Caissie Levy as Mother, the matriarch of an affluent white family; and Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh, a Jewish immigrant. The intersection of those individuals and their communities, with each other and with the history of the United States, drives a complex plot of intertwined narratives that touch on North Pole exploration, early filmmaking, the labor movement, Houdini’s escapades, and, of course, ragtime music.The musical is among the best-known and most acclaimed works from the longtime collaborators Lynn Ahrens, who wrote the lyrics, and Stephen Flaherty, who wrote the music. The book is by Terrence McNally, an acclaimed playwright who died in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      An Actress of Many Passions, Now Making History in ‘Wicked’

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      The last time Lencia Kebede lived in New York, in 2015, she was a 21-year-old college intern at the United Nations, taking and translating notes for the ambassador from Guatemala, who was working on an anti-poverty initiative.What a difference a decade can make. Instead of pursuing a career as a human rights lawyer, Kebede is now a working actress in New York defying gravity eight times as week as the first Black actress to play Elphaba full time in “Wicked” on Broadway.It’s a dream role that is also allowing her to tend to her two passions. “The place where Elphaba and I meet,” she said, “is empathy and advocacy for justice.”After her internship, she returned to college and graduated from Occidental with a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and world affairs. But she knew that she had to follow her musical theater ambitions instead of going to law school.In “Wicked,” a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” Elphaba, born with green skin and preternatural sorcery skills, is the young adult version of the Wicked Witch of the West. But the story reveals that she is neither evil nor envious, and instead is a consummate outsider who uses her powers to protect herself and others from the authoritarian rule in Oz.Kebede, whose parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1970s to escape a military coup in Ethiopia, said her own back story is helping her bring a fresh global and political perspective to Elphaba’s heroism.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on Winning a Pulitzer for ‘Purpose’

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      “It’s the most surreal day ever,” the playwright said as he learned the news while getting ready to attend his first Met Gala.Branden Jacobs-Jenkins was getting ready for his first Met Gala on Monday afternoon when he got the news: his latest play, “Purpose,” which is now on Broadway, won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for drama.The Pulitzer board described “Purpose” as “a play about the complex dynamics and legacy of an upper middle class African-American family,” and praised it as “a skillful blend of drama and comedy that probes how different generations define heritage.”The other finalists were Cole Escola’s “Oh, Mary!,” which is also running on Broadway, and “The Ally,” by Itamar Moses, which had an Off Broadway run last year at the Public Theater.Jacobs-Jenkins, 40, has been a Pulitzer finalist twice before, for “Gloria” in 2016 and for “Everybody” in 2018, and last year he won a Tony Award for “Appropriate.” In 2016 he also won a so-called genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation.He grew up in Washington, D.C., and now lives in Brooklyn. “An Octoroon” and “The Comeuppance” are among his other well-received works.“Purpose,” directed by Phylicia Rashad, was first staged last year by Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, which had commissioned the play; Jacobs-Jenkins wrote it for the company’s actors. The Broadway production opened in March, and has been nominated for six Tonys, including best play.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Stephen Mo Hanan, Who Played Three Roles in ‘Cats,’ Dies at 78

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      He sang arias on the streets of San Francisco, performed on Broadway and collaborated on a musical about Al Jolson, which he also starred in.Stephen Mo Hanan, a vibrant performer who sang arias and other music as a busker in San Francisco before playing Kevin Kline’s lieutenant in the acclaimed 1981 Broadway production of “The Pirates of Penzance” and three felines in the original Broadway cast of “Cats,” died on April 3 at his home in Manhattan. He was 78.Gary Widlund, his husband and only immediate survivor, said the cause was a heart attack.At his audition for “Cats,” Mr. Hanan (pronounced HAN-un) told Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer, and Trevor Nunn, the director, that he had spent several years singing and accompanying himself on a concertina at a ferry terminal at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco.“As a matter of fact, I’ve brought my concertina,” he recalled telling Mr. Nunn in an interview with The Washington Post in 1982. “He said, ‘Give me something in Italian.’ Well, I’ve never had a problem with shyness. I sang ‘Funiculi, Funicula.’”Mr. Hanan was ultimately cast in three parts: Bustopher Jones, a portly cat, and the dual role of Asparagus, an aging theater cat, who, while reminiscing, transforms (with help from an inflatable costume) into a former role, Growltiger, a tough pirate, and performs a parody of Puccini’s “Turandot.”During rehearsals, Mr. Hanan kept a detailed journal, which he published in 2002 as “A Cat’s Diary.”Mr. Hanan was cast in the original production of “Cats.” During rehearsals, he kept a detailed journal, which he later turned into a book.Smith & KrausIn an entry about the second day of rehearsal, he described an assignment from Mr. Nunn: to “pick a cartoon cat we know of, withdraw to ourselves and prepare a vignette of that cat, then return to the circle and each in turn will present.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Idina Menzel’s ‘Redwood’ to Close Following Tony Nominations Shutout

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      The Broadway musical will play its final performance at the Nederlander Theater on May 18.“Redwood,” a musical starring Idina Menzel, will end its Broadway run on May 18, an unexpectedly early closing announced just 24 hours after the show failed to garner any Tony Awards nominations.The show’s producers, Eva Price, Caroline Kaplan and Loudmouth Media, which is Menzel’s production company, announced the closing on Friday morning, acknowledging in a statement that “we had of course hoped for a longer run.” It had been scheduled to run at least until Aug. 17.“Redwood” was among 13 Tony-eligible shows that did not receive any nominations on Thursday. And although it had started off well at the box office, the show faced a worrisome decline in weekly grosses last month. It is the first production to decide to close following the Tony announcements, but it is not likely to be the last — several musicals are exhibiting signs of weakness at the box office at a very competitive and challenging time for Broadway shows, when it has become increasingly difficult for shows to become profitable because the costs of producing have risen.“Redwood” is a passion project for Menzel and her main collaborator, Tina Landau, who conceived the show with the actress and then wrote the book and directed the production. Kate Diaz wrote the music and collaborated with Landau on the lyrics. It had an initial production last year at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego.The musical is about a New York City gallerist, who, grieving the death of her son, drives cross-country and winds up in a redwood forest, seeking some kind of solace while tree-sitting. The set features enormous LED screens that are used to depict the landscape, and Menzel and several of her co-stars perform part of the show while climbing a large prop tree.The show was named a Critic’s Pick by Jesse Green of The New York Times, who wrote, “You have to admire the guts it takes to have put a deeply serious show about trauma and resilience on Broadway right now.” But other critics were less impressed; the reviews were mostly mixed to negative.The producers said that, during the production’s run, the show helped raise more than $2 million for charities, much of it in support of redwood forests.“Redwood” began previews at the Nederlander Theater on Jan. 24 and opened Feb. 13. At the time of its closing, it will have had 127 performances. It was capitalized for up to $16 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; that money has not been recouped. More