Too Soon for Iraq Dramas?

Why isn’t George Packer’s terrific little play Betrayed — about the three pro-American Iraqis who don’t quite get what they need from America – not doing better? (It opened in February at the Culture Project in Soho, extended its run for a bit, but is slated to close on June 16.) Maybe because he’s too good at his day job: Betrayed is based on one of Packer’s lengthy Iraq dispatches for the New Yorker, and his natural audience might have simply said goodbye to all that after the original piece appeared in March 2007. But is it still “too soon” to render Iraq as anything other than journalism? Yep. For starters, the war has to be over first. More »

'Beat It' Performance: Dance Like You've Never Danced Before!

You know what's awesome? When you can justify a self-promoting rehash of your favorite early 1980s dance moves as an exercise in the interpretation of popular culture and theories of shared memory. Not unlike your senior thesis on the Caine-Hackman theory, choreographer Erin McMonagle is using her community drop-in "Beat It" classes as a socio-intellectual attempt at, um, teaching all of the dance moves from Michael Jackson's 1983 video to anyone interested. More »

Reshingler on the Roof: Martha Stewart, the Musical!

Because you're totally tired of dragging your visiting family to see the Lion King, there's a new musical in town, sure to be loved equally by both your apron-bedecked mother and your closeted gay brother: More »

Heaven Holds A Place For Those Who Pray

Tonight, Broadway will dim its lights in honor of Anne Bancroft. More »

Tonys: Spamalot, Doubt Win "Awards"

The Tonys were last night, and "Spamalot" and "Doubt" were the big winners. Early overnight ratings are not in yet, though, like all Tonys shows, it was likely viewed by a few thousand people in New York, and four people in Tennessee who thought they were watching Van Helsing. More »

Heilpern: Yank Me!

Born in England, I came to New York to escape mother. Was ever a sentence crafted that was both so evocative and indicative of its writer s profession? Yes, kids, the author in question could only be a theater critic. It s The Observer s John Heilpern, and this week he takes on his former countrymen, three of whom are currently represented in New York by classic American plays they ve directed: Anthony Page withWho s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, David Leveaux with The Glass Menagerie and Edward Hall with A Streetcar Named Desire. (For what it s worth, we caught Streetcar the other night and, in the words of a classic New Yorker cartoon, just getting the hell out of there was worth the price of admission. Hall s dereliction of directorial duty started the moment he neglected to purchase a membership at Crunch for John C. Reilly.) Heilpern claims that Broadway is in thrall to Anglophilia and suffers from an insecurity about its own past, and avers that If the American theater has any future, it will come from nurturing exciting young American talent not from imports. Strong words that should be followed by immediate action: Where s the revival of Good Vibrations already? —AB More »

Tony Awards: Youre Going Out a Girl Who Was Outacted by Both David Faustino and the Family Dog, But Youve Got To Come Back a Star

We're not exactly theatergoers, so we can't pretend that we were able to greet the list of Tony nominees with any more enthusiasm that we could muster up for, say, the Sirius Satellite Network People's Choice Awards, but we do have to admit to feeling a little flutter in our hearts when we realized that, for the rest of her life, she'll be introduced as Tony Award-nominee Christina Appelgate. One can only hope that Jack Palance is handing out the statuettes. —AB More »

Coming Soon to Broadway: More Backward White Hats

Just what Broadway needs: another show for straight dudes. According to The New York Times: More »

Victoria Gotti Takes Her Golden Mane Off-Broadway

There is a God, and He/She lives Off-Broadway. It's the only way to explain the marvelous announcement that reality television mom, Star columnist, and mafia princess Victoria Gotti will be bringing her supernatural talents to the production of We're Still Hot (it's a Canadian musical, be nice). On April 9th, Victoria will make her debut as one of "four women rediscovering what they loved — and didn't — about each other as they put together a show for their 35th high school reunion." That's one helluva role: compelling and challenging. But Victoria doesn't like things easy, oh no. More »

'Spam-more-than-a lot'

Man, is it possible to kill a show with hype before it even really opens? Apparently: More »

Stiller Off-Broadway: Where We Stopped Reading

Sometimes articles—even short ones—have speed bumps too abrupt for us to get beyond. A perfect example of this is today's New York Times' Arts 'Listings' item on the new Neil LaBute/Ben Stiller show, This is How It Goes: More »

LOTR: To Become Marginally Gayer, Canadian

One more reason our neighbors to the north are nerdier than we are: According to Playbill, the Lord of the Rings musical (yes, the Lord of the Rings musical) will debut in Toronto, which you may have seen in a number of movies playing "New York." More »

What About Blogs?

From today's New York Times review of The Name of This Play is Talking Heads: More »

Housewives: Still Angry After All These Years

With all due respect to our West Coast brother site's repeated declaration that "Hollywood is Out of Ideas," we took great interest in a recent spec script sale listed on Done Deal (aka, the bitter would-be screenwriter's homepage). More »

Miller's Glossing: Let the Bad Headlines Begin

Here we go: More »

Update: Arthur Miller's Curtain Call

We guess Michael Riedel is glad he pushed his story through. We, however, are sad. More »

Ailing Miller: 'Post' Shows Its Sensitive Side

The buzzards at The New York Post are circling above the head of Arthur Miller, speculating on the legendary playwright's health and practically calling the reaper on speed dial. More »

An Open Letter To 'NYT' Theater Critic Charles Isherwood

Dear Charles Isherwood, More »

Remainders: 'Queer Eye' Jai Breaks Into Song And Dance

· Because you just can't keep a gay man away from the theater, Queer Eye's Jai Rodriguez will be taking his musical autobiography Xposed to the stage. "It's like the US Weekly version of my life," he says. [NYDN] More »