In its downtown incarnation, the script included a joke about the “Titanic” set being ripped off from some third-rate production of “Anything Goes.” At the St. James, that joke has been cut because the musical’s boat deck, designed by Gabriel Hainer Evansohn and Grace Laubacher, looks high-tech and very first-class lux. As a result, this 90-minute musical takes way too much time to kick into high gear despite the inspired humble-brag performance of Marla Mindelle, the show’s Céline Dion narrator.

Also, there’s now a new skit near the top of the show that parodies the musical “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).” It’s an odd choice because, week after week, “Two Strangers” clocks in the lowest box office receipts of any musical on Broadway. I’m probably one of the few theatergoers sitting in the St. James who had actually seen “Two Strangers” and I didn’t get the joke.

Back in 2022, I wrote a rave review for the Off Broadway version of “Titaníque.” Had I gotten it completely wrong?

Whew! Despite a slow start, “Titaníque” retains its status as the “Oh, Mary!” of musicals. Director Tye Blue keeps most of the best bits, as well as the tackiest of props. When Jake (Constantine Rousouli) and Rose (Melissa Barrera) make love in a limo, they steam up a little piece of Plexiglas. When it’s revealed that there are only two – count ’em two — lifeboats, a contest is waged to decide who’s being saved and who’s drowning. Alejo Vietti’s costumes define “Auf Wiedersehen” as spoken on “Project Runway.” As for the iceberg itself, that villain is portrayed by the furious Layton Williams, who convincingly mimics a guest star whose identity will not be revealed here. This extended showstopper, choreographed by Ellenore Scott, is far wilder, funnier and gender-bending than anything in “Cats: The Jellicle Ball.”

“Titaníque,” like “Oh, Mary!,” is an equal-opportunity offender. In the world of camp, heterosexuality has always been the biggest joke of all. These two new shows eschew that rule to ridicule their LGBTQ characters with equal relish. In recent musical theater, lavender characters too often serve as objects to be beatified (think “Jagged Little Pill,” “Some Like It Hot” and “& Juliet”). “Titaníque” takes no such pathetic prisoners.

The best running joke in this “Titanic” parody is how everyone tries to save Rose from ending up with her rich in-the-closet fiancé, Cal (John Riddle in great singing voice). In fact, it is Rousouli’s hot stud Jack who, from the get-go, unloads far more helium into his loafers.

The show’s book by Mindelle, Rousouli and Blue delivers lots of great skits. Many of the one-liners, however, are merely smile-worthy. What makes them laugh-out-loud funny is the cast’s gifted delivery. When Barrera’s Rose says her favorite color is “burnt sienna,” Rousouli’s silent reaction deserves a Tony. In fact, that award’s nominators for best featured actor in a musical can round out that entire category with not only Rousouli but Riddle, Williams and Frankie Grande, who delivers a devastating impersonation of Victor Garber that I wouldn’t wish on the Orange President.

Which leaves one more Tony slot open. Jim Parsons joins this distinctly downtown cast, and his drag take on Rose’s money-grubbing mother sets back transvestites to a pre-Dame Edna era. Parsons makes no attempt to appear female, scoring major comic points with his baritone and often butch delivery. He’s so awesomely ugly, complete with two white doves above his receding hairline, that his character screams for a big solo entrance. It’s a major missed comic opportunity that Parsons enters the stage as simply part of the ensemble.

The post ‘Titanique’ Broadway Review: Jim Parsons Jumps Aboard the Sinking-Ship Musical appeared first on TheWrap.

The reference to that famous 1950s family sitcom applies here because, boy, are the performances big, broad and occasionally very funny. Led by Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf, the ensemble in this Joe Mantello-directed production acts up a storm of category 6 proportions. There’s more acting going on at the Winter Garden than the rest of Broadway combined, and that includes “Oh, Mary!”

That very vivid approach to performance makes sense for Nathan Lane, who plays Willy Loman, the King Lear of the American theater. It’s an assignment that left the indefatigable Lee J. Cobb, who created the role, physically and emotionally exhausted, by his own admission. What immediately becomes apparent in this “Salesman” is that many of the other actors deliver performances just as big, if not even bigger, than Lane’s.

Scott Rudin, the show’s lead producer, gave us a “King Lear” starring Glenda Jackson. Watching Laurie Metcalf play Linda Loman, it’s apparent that she could play Willy — and probably wants to. Arthur Miller’s female roles tend to be reactive, and none is more reactive than Willy Loman’s wife. There’s almost nothing reactive or backseat about Metcalf. When Willy runs into trouble making sales, it’s surprising that this Mrs. Loman doesn’t take over his accounts and hit the road herself. Metcalf even gives herself a Lady Macbeth moment when Uncle Ben (Jonathan Cake, being one of the few reserved actors on stage) offers his brother a great job in Alaska. Metcalf drips venom to talk Willy out of a gig that could have averted his tragedy.

In the play’s epilogue, at Willy’s gravesite, Linda Loman tells us she “can’t cry.” Which is a shocker because Metcalf has had a hankie to her nose for the last 15 minutes.

She’s not the only one in competition with Lane. Playing Biff Loman, the much-favored son, Christopher Abbott delivers an 11th-hour sobbing meltdown that screams, “Please, give me a Tony nomination!” He might very well win the Tony, since those awards always favor the most acting over the best acting.

Abbott can’t deliver a sentence – no, make that a word — without puncturing it with a major hand gesture. His arms never stop waving. He’s reaching for Al Pacino but ends up being Sylvester Stallone.

What happens when Linda and Biff are bigger blowhards and glad-handers than Willy? Metcalf and Abbott’s performances are so over the top they rob Lane’s of any tragedy. Listening to this trio go after each other for nearly three hours, you just want them to shut up.

One of the creakier aspects of this Miller classic is the role of Happy Loman. Poor Happy. When he says he’s getting married, his parents tell him to go to bed. (Lane and Metcalf milk their back-to-back zingers to receive gales of laughter for their great comic timing.) The name Biff is repeated dozens of time, while Happy gets his mentioned only twice. This younger brother also calls himself Howard and Hap, both of which are huge improvements on Happy. Is that why Willy and Linda so aggressively ignore their second son? They don’t like his nickname? In a truly bizarre bit of casting, Ben Ahlers plays the shunted, stepped over, disregarded and totally unacknowledged Happy despite this actor looking like the lead singer for the world’s hottest new boy band. Ahlers manages to take inappropriate focus in other ways: He walks around bare-chested for the play’s first half-hour. It’s easy to tell who’s getting the most selfie requests at the Winter Garden stage door.

We’re told the Lomans are a family, but Lane & Co. don’t create one on stage. They’re physically unalike to the extreme. And why do Abbott and Ahlers speak with thick Brooklyn accents, and Lane and Metcalf do not?

In a recent New York Times interview, Joe Mantello discusses his major directorial flourish of having young doppelgängers for the characters Biff (Joaquin Consuelos), Happy (Jake Termine) and their friend Bernard (Karl Green and Michael Benjamin Washington). Both Mantello and the Times reporter treat this double-casting as a novel masterstroke, perhaps unaware that no fewer than three new productions of opera warhorses (“I Puritani,” “La Sonnambula” and “Tristan und Isolde”) at the old fuddy-duddy Met Opera feature doppelgängers for the lead singers. It is this theater season’s big cliché, just as video-cam operators on stage was last season’s (and a few seasons before that) most overworked gimmick.

The double-casting does work to provide a surreal fluidity to the proceedings, greatly enhanced by Chloe Lamford’s stark scenic design (dominated by Willy’s much-beloved car) and Jack Knowles’ truly dramatic lighting. As with his direction of the actors, however, Mantello likes to pour it on gooey. Each act is introduced with Caroline Shaw’s overly somber music, reaching for but failing to achieve Philip Glass profundity. The fog machine never stops. The overkill begins even before you enter the Winter Garden. Black-and-white photos by Thea Traff (doing her Brigitte Lacombe best) feature the lead actors in stiff poses, trying hard to look terribly serious and appearing really ridiculous.

The post ‘Death of a Salesman’ Broadway Review: Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf Beg Us to Pay Attention appeared first on TheWrap.

Pink announced the hosting gig through a skit she posted on Instagram on Thursday. In the video, she sneakily steps a single toe onto the stage of “The Great Gatsby Musical” from the wings while the cast takes their bows.

“Now I’ve been on Broadway,” she says. “Now I can host the Tonys.” You can watch the video below.

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In the official announcement from the Tonys, Pink shared a more earnest message for her first hosting gig.

“It is the honor of an entire lifetime to host a night celebrating the literal hardest working people in showbiz,” Pink said in a statement. “Broadway has shaped my life and how I put my own shows together – it is a community that is supportive, and inclusive, and full of talent and love. These people give magic every single day, and I cannot wait to celebrate them with the entire world.”

“When I was asked to host the Tonys, I immediately thought, ‘I have to get permission from my daughter.’ I’ve never been on Broadway, and shouldn’t you have to have been on Broadway in order to host? That seems fair and right,” Pink continued. “But when I asked my daughter, she was really excited about being able to have a ticket to go to the Tonys, so I’m hosting the Tonys and I’m really, really excited and very nervous because that girl is a tough crowd!”

Pink hasn’t won a Tony herself, though she does have three Grammys to her name. Two were for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (one for “Lady Marmalade” with Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim and Mýa in 2002, the other for Imagine” with Herbie Hancock, India.Arie, Seal, Konono Nº1, Jeff Beck and Oumou Sangaré in 2011), while the other was for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (for “Trouble” in 2004).

“Pink is an extraordinary artist, and her fearless creativity makes her an inspired choice to host this year’s Tony Awards on CBS,” said Mackenzie Mitchell, senior vice president of specials at CBS. “Her dynamic presence and deep respect for live performance will undoubtedly shape a powerful and memorable broadcast that celebrates the remarkable achievements of this Broadway season.”

Pink follows in the hosting footsteps of Cynthia Erivo, who hosted last year’s ceremony, and Ariana DeBose, who hosted the three before that. In 2021, Audra McDonald hosted the proper ceremony, while Leslie Odom Jr. hosted a special “Broadway’s Back!” post-Covid concert.

“Each year, the Tony Awards creates new theater fans around the world, expanding Broadway’s reach and shaping its future,” said Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, and Jason Laks, president of The Broadway League. “Over the course of her extraordinary career, Pink has built one of the most passionate and enduring fan communities in the history of popular music, giving her a unique ability to bring even more people into this growing family. Simply put: we could not be more excited to get this party started.”

The post Pink to Host 2026 Tony Awards appeared first on TheWrap.

The new “Cats” carries the subhead “The Jellicle Ball,” and that colorful but ultimately exhausting version opened Monday at the Broadhurst Theatre, after a stint last year at the Perelman Performing Arts Center. Gone are the feline costumes with long whiskers and the artfully torn leg warmers, those cute outfits now resting in a dumpster somewhere in the show’s original junkyard locale. Set at a ballroom competition in Harlem, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” features two dozen performers wearing Qween Jean’s extravagant diva outfits and Nikiya Mathis’ enormous Day-Glow wigs. These wild costumes don’t stop the show; they keep it moving when the original score stalls and sputters.

“Appropriate” is the dirtiest word in the arts today, and one might feel sorry for Lloyd Webber for having his material spayed in this way by directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch. In fact, the only thing that makes this “Cats” worth watching is the ballroom environment of high-and-low drag that gets dropped like a bottle of Pooph onto Lloyd Webber’s litter box of a musical.

I’ll get to “Memory” in a moment, but every other song in “Cats” is rinky-tink to the extreme. Only when William Waldrop’s orchestrations riff by imposing a bump, stomp and grind rhythm to the original score does this “Cats” spring alive to grow painted claws. When there’s dancing, the musical soars. When there’s singing, the musical shows it age. Fortunately, the cast really knows how to wear clothes and strut, with Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons’ choreography giving the dancers ample room to show off their incredible extension and flexibility. More stripping and display of bare skin would have been nice. Curiously, this “Cats” comes off as a PG-rated “Broadway Bares,” the exceptions being Baby Byrne’s slinkier-than-thou White Cat and Sydney James Harcourt’s hot-hot-hot Rum Tum Tugger, who’s more than ready for a Grindr hook-up. A shout-out also has to go to Primo Thee Ballerino, playing Tumblebrutus, the most beguiling dancer now on Broadway.

Andre De Shields is Old Deuteronomy, and to show his seniority among the voguers, he wears a wig snatched from Sam Jaffe’s head in “Lost Horizon” and walks with all the aplomb of President Cankles.

In the role of Grizabella, “Tempress” Chastity Moore, sounding off-pitch and tired, gets to sing “Memory” a lot. Has any song even been more reprised than this tear-jerker? Levingston and Rauch powder the profiterole by having Grizabella come back in Act 2 as her younger, glamorous self, where she’s courted by Teddy Wilson Jr.’s Sillabub, who wears a crown of sunflowers, and strews Grizabella’s path with glitter and sings “Memory” in a weepy falsetto.

In “Paris Is Burning,” the ballrooms are populated with contestants fighting to get their moment in the spotlight. Downtown at the Perelman, Rachel Hauck’s warehouse set featured a far too spacious runway that worked to dilute the drama. At the Broadhurst, the stage now looks appropriately cramped and crowded. Less is more, and the tiny runway overflows with action and egos.

One inspired moment at the Perelman has been cut. When Grizabella ascended to her death, she opened a door at the top of the stairs and the theater suddenly filled with street noise. She hadn’t gone to heaven; she simply needed a breath of fresh early-morning air after being trapped in the hothouse world of ballroom competitions. At the Broadhurst, that comic irony is lost, replaced with a big clunky spiral staircase.

Many Broadway shows now run 90 minutes. At two and a half hours, this “Cats” could use a real demon barber. While Jamie Lloyd’s recent direction of “Sunset Blvd.” rendered the story incomprehensible, it was wise to cut some of the score. Any Lloyd Webber musical is improved when there are fewer songs.

The post ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ Broadway Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber Finally Discovers Drag appeared first on TheWrap.

On Friday evening, the musical theater stars shared the news after their one-night only performance of Jason Robert Brown’s beloved show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Calif.

“We just want to thank you all for coming out,” Platt shared from the Hollywood Bowl stage. “We’re musical theater nerds, and so, to do musical theater in an iconic place like this is amazing. And, I’m so honored to be back here at the Bowl. I grew up here and I love performing here.”

Platt took a moment to congratulate Zegler, who made a splash last fall in the West End production of “Evita” and made her big-screen debut in 2021’s “West Side Story,” for her “bowl debut.”

Yet, the pair had much more to share with the sold-out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl.

“This is a very short and wonderful kind of experience. We did just one week in London and we’ve got just two shows in New York,” Platt continued. “And we were all so sad to see it go, and really wanted to immortalize this amazing experience and this incredible score. And so, we’re very excited to announce right here, right now, available for pre-order today, there is a live album that we recorded at the London Palladium.”

As Zegler told the crowd, the new album will be available April 20. Watch their announcement below.

After their one night only performance of #TheLastFiveYears at the Hollywood Bowl, #BenPlatt and #RachelZegler announce they will release a live album of their songs from the show pic.twitter.com/IaUm7c0aPi

— TheWrap (@TheWrap) April 4, 2026

Platt and Zegler took on the roles of Jamie and Cathy for this special 25th anniversary staging of “The Last Five Years.” The musical tells the non-linear story of Cathy and Jamie’s relationship, all the highs and the lows, featuring hit songs like, “Still Hurting,” “Shiksa Goddess” and “A Summer In Ohio.”

Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren previously played the doomed couple in 2025’s Broadway production, resulting in Drama League Award nominations for both stars.

The post Ben Platt and Rachel Zegler Confirm ‘The Last Five Years’ Live Album Is Arriving Soon | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

In a statement to the media, the “Body” rapper’s rep confirmed that Megan “started feeling very ill” during Tuesday night’s production and was “promptly transported to a local hospital, where her symptoms are currently being evaluated.”

“We will share additional updates as more information becomes available,” the rep added, without disclosing anymore specifics regarding the Grammy winner’s condition.

Megan’s hairstylist, Kellon Deryck, also weighed in on the situation on X, writing, “Everyone say a prayer for Megan, we are all at the hospital.”

The update came after audience members from “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” shared that Megan had exited the show mid-performance. Specifically, “Breakfast Club” host Loren Lorosa saw her update go viral on X after she wrote, “Came to see Meg Thee Stallion on Broadway and that was short lived. The few opening scenes I saw her in she was great on stage! I was excited BUT … They just stopped ‘Moulin Rouge’ mid-show, apologized to the audience and said … ‘Stay inside and seated.” I asked security if we’re safe … they told us, ‘For now, we’ll update you if anything changes.’”

Came to see Meg The stallion on broadway and that was short lived.

The few opening scenes I saw her in she was great on stage! I was excited BUT…

They just stopped moulin rouge mid show apologized to the audience and said ..”stay inside and seated” I asked security if we’re… pic.twitter.com/rlqHTveHhc

— BROWN GIRL GRINDING (@LorenLorosa) April 1, 2026

She followed up her post, which has since been viewed over one million times, with word that Megan was replaced onstage by a different performer. Though, Lorosa’s noted that Megan’s replacement was “amazing.’

Megan Thee Stallion officially joined the Broadway cast of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” where she made history as the first female-identifying performer to play the part of Zidler. Previous celebrities to portray Zidler on Broadway include Bob the Drag Queen, Boy George, Tituss Burgess and Wayne Brady, among others.

“I feel like this is going to be just new territory for me,” the chart topper told Blavity last week. “It’s different getting on stage, and I’m at a concert, or I’m at a Megan Thee Stallion show, and I’m being Megan Thee Stallion. This is not me being Megan Thee Stallion, this is me being Zidler. And then also, this is a role that is not a woman, so then now I have to make this character my own.”

She is set to act in the role at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in a limited run until May 17 — that is unless the current health incident derails this plan.

The post Megan Thee Stallion Hospitalized After ‘Feeling Very Ill’ Mid-Performance of Broadway’s ‘Moulin Rouge’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Although they didn’t have much else in common, Simon and Wilson were two of Broadway’s most prolific playwrights. Guirgus, not so much. His stage adaptation of Sidney Lumet’s 1975 bank-heist film starring Al Pacino and John Cazale is only Guirgus’ third outing on the Rialto. It’s also the first play by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (“Between Riverside and Crazy”) that has a lot more in common with the very popular Neil Simon than the far edgier August Wilson. 

Guirgus’ “Dog Day Afternoon” is a big, hugely entertaining and laugh-filled dramedy that’s crafted to delight the typical Broadway audience. “Dog Day,” set in a bank, has a bit in common with Wilson’s first play, “Jitney,” set in a taxi operation. The workers in those two establishments could not be more different, however. Wilson wrote vivid characters. Guirgus instead gives us easily recognizable types: the terrible boss-manager (Michael Kostroff), the no-nonsense bank teller (Jessica Hecht), the floozy bank teller (Elizabeth Canavan), the fiery bank teller (Paola Lazaro), etc. 

Amusing but casually delivered moments in Lumet’s film (Oscar-winning screenplay by Frank Pierson) have been blown up into comic set pieces in the new “Dog Day”: A bank teller’s need to pee now features the off-stage urination sounds of a horse; a bank teller’s discovery that there’s no money in the vault becomes an hysterical meltdown; the mere ordering of donuts brings back to life a near-comatose security guard (Danny Johnson). 

The comedy is so broad under Rupert Goold’s direction that the central drama — will any of these hostages, much less the two bank robbers, come out alive? — is almost beside the point. The film version is a thriller. Guirgus’ play, not so much.

There is suspense in the new “Dog Day,” but it has little to do with what’s going on between the hostages and the bank robbers (Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach) or between the bank robbers and the cop (John Ortiz, beautifully grounding every scene in which he appears).  

Playing those two incompetent criminals, Bernthal and Moss-Bachrach take over for Pacino and Cazale, respectively. Bernthal rarely leaves the stage, where he delivers a splashy, bravura and ultimately exhaustive performance. Pacino had the advantage of being able to go home after working a day on the movie set. Bernthal must deliver one big scene after another, often at full-throttle volume within two and a half hours. His Sonny is even more of a showoff than Pacino’s, which makes sense since Bernthal is literally standing on a stage. And this actor clearly relishes being there.

Moss-Bachrach’s Sal is a very different thief from Cazale’s. In fact, the only suspense in this new “Dog Day” incarnation is whether or not Moss-Bachrach’s Sal will finally break mentally, or not. He’s high on drugs, he’s a total psychotic. What this nutjob does next is anyone’s guess, and that includes his good friend Sonny’s.

Lumet turned the bank into a claustrophobic purgatory. David Korins’ set on Broadway is so huge it could house two, if not three, Citybanks.

Pierson’s “Dog Day Afternoon” screenplay came from a Life magazine article titled “The Boys in the Bank,” a cheap reference to “The Boys in the Band.” Clearly, the article puts Sonny’s homosexuality up on page one. Pierson’s screenplay delays that big reveal until well after the film’s halfway point. Guirgus’ play does the same, with the appearance of Sonny’s “wife” Leon (Esteban Andres Cruz) postponed until the second act.

Nothing on stage today can replicate the shock on-screen in 1975 of Pacino playing a gay man who has wedded a male partner, played by Chris Sarandon, in need of a sex-change operation.

Guirgus drops the movie’s scene where Sonny dictates his will to a bank teller. In its place, he offers an extended phone call between Sonny and Leon that achieves (and then some) the pathos that the dictated-will scene brings to the screen. In this conversation, Sonny softens considerably, and Bernthal turns it into yet another showstopping scene. The transition isn’t subtle, but it’s very effective. You won’t forget it.

On stage, “Dog Day” also can’t duplicate the crowd scenes outside the bank that distinguish the movie version, where Sonny becomes an instant folk hero to the bystanders. In a masterstroke of writing and direction, Guirgus and Goold turn the theater audience into those very willing enablers.

The post ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ Broadway Review: Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach Bring a Classic Movie to the Stage appeared first on TheWrap.

Woolley’s Whiteside has returned to the Music Box in the equally nasty, acerbic and very funny writer Roald Dahl, as performed by John Lithgow in Mark Rosenblatt’s new play, “Giant,” which opened Monday after a run on the West End. 

Unlike “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” Rosenblatt’s play is not a screwball comedy but, at its best, it is very funny, especially when Lithgow lets go with a Whiteside-zinger that lands with drone precision on its quickly decimated target. Roald Dahl, besides writing great children’s books that have sold over 300 million copies worldwide, was also a nasty and very acerbic antisemite, and “Giant” catches him in 1983, a year after Israel attacked Lebanon and right before the publication of Dahl’s “The Witches.”

What has complicated that publication, especially in the United States, is Dahl’s review of Tony Clifton’s photo book “God Cried,” about the siege of West Beirut by the Israeli army during the 1982 Lebanon War. Literary Review published Dahl’s rave critique, which opined that Jews had never “switched so rapidly from much-pitied victims to barbarous murderers.”

To perform damage control, Dahl’s book publisher sends its director of sales to England to convince Dahl to write an apology regarding his criticism of Israel.

Dahl isn’t having it.

In “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” Sheridan Whiteside terrorizes an entire family, and many of their neighbors, whose house he has appropriated for himself. In “Giant,” it is Dahl’s longtime family home that has been invaded by a pesky American and totally incompetent sales director, Jessie Stone (Aya Cash), from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

The secretary played by Bette Davis in the “Dinner” movie has been expanded to four characters in “Giant”: a loyal but put-upon cook (Stella Everett), a loyal but put-upon gardener (David Manis), Dahl’s loyal but put-upon British publisher, Tom (Elliot Levey), and Dahl’s loyal but put-upon fiancée, Felicity (Rachael Stirling), with whom the writer carried on a long extramarital affair before finally divorcing his first wife, the Oscar-winning Patricia Neal (“Hud”).

Only the gardener appears to have ever met Dahl before “Giant” begins. Bette Davis in “Dinner” delivers her only faceless performance. She knew that to create a character who could deal with a nutcase-boss she needed to ignore the tantrums, brush off the arrogance, be almost invisible. Davis should have given acting lessons to Levey and Stirling who react in outrage and horror to every mal mot delivered by Lithgow.

Some of this miscalculation can be blamed on Nicholas Hytner’s direction. People who have lived for a long time in the orbit of a bright egomaniac like Dahl know they cannot enter that glaring light without being incinerated. Rosenblatt has written one humdinger of a star turn for Lithgow. Unfortunately, Rosenblatt has also given every other character very long speeches that give the supporting actors the opportunity to over-emote in defiance of Dahl’s far wittier attacks. Hytner gives Levey and Stirling way too much space to compete with the one and only star.

Lithgow is very good at keeping us on Dahl’s side despite some clearly antisemitic howlers. He’s a man of principles, whether you agree with those principles or not. Of course, Rosenblatt’s timing could not be better, thanks to Israel’s much more recent bombings of Palestine, Iran and, again, Lebanon. In comparison, Israel’s 1982 war with Lebanon looks like a mere “excursion,” to borrow an expression. Ultimately, Rosenblatt pulls the fake moral righteous out from under Dahl to expose him for what he is: a hardened bigot. It’s not just Israel that Dahl hates.

What Rosenblatt does not do is implicate everyone from the gardener to the fiancée in that prejudice. They are his enablers, after all. The cook leaves in a huff, as if she’s never heard Dahl spew his venom before. That goes double for the publisher and the fiancée, who has only been sharing Dahl’s bed for over a decade. Did Felicity wear earplugs while making love with the guy?

To get his play going, Rosenblatt turns Jessica Stone – Dahl translates her name to “stein” complete with a German accent – into an incompetent. She’s there to get Farrar, Straus’ new author, to apologize publicly. Her son is a fan of “The Twits,” and she brings a copy for the author to sign. Oops! When Dahl opens the book, that offending review of “God Cried” slips out and Dahl reads Mrs. Stone’s crib notes that expose her real thoughts about him. Cheap, but that’s how you get a play going fast.

Rosenblatt doesn’t leave it there. A few minutes later, after Stone has apologized profusely for keeping that review, filled with her handwritten notes, she lets go with an offending review of her own: She reveals that  Dahl’s “The Witches” — the book she is there to promote and save from bookstore bans — is actually an allegory that falsely equates Jews to money-grubbing, child-eating sorceresses.

Rosenblatt is too good at his job. He’s only about 20 minutes into his play and he already delivers a great ending. Unfortunately, there’s no place for the drama to go for the next two hours. It’s clear that Dahl isn’t budging because he’s wealthy, old and not in good health. The lure of a possible knighthood lingers, however. To deliver a shocking conclusion to his play, Rosenblatt strongly suggests that Dahl might write an apology. Fact check: Dahl never did.

The Farrar, Straus sales director hangs around for Act 2. She repeatedly exits and enters the Dahl estate (sets and costumes by Bob Crowley) for no reason except, maybe, to delay her being fired at the publishing house.

How does antisemitism, or any kind of bigotry, coexist with such genius? Richard Wagner and George Bernard Shaw are other antisemites whose operas and plays continue to dazzle. Outside the world of art, the recently uncovered sexism of Cesar Chavez boggles the imagination in light of this great activist’s work for farm workers and social justice in general.

“Giant” does nothing to answer such questions, or even raise them.

Lithgow manages to keep our interest. He only stumbles occasionally — when his Dahl grows excessively weepy regarding his dead children. The creep has a heart after all. Fortunately, Lithgow gets back to being a very funny and clever bigot after each of these lapses. He’s admirable in his ability to X-ray a person’s psyche and cut out any tumor to eat for breakfast. Lithgow delivers a real feast for theatergoers.

The post ‘Giant’ Broadway Review: John Lithgow Devours Roald Dahl for Breakfast appeared first on TheWrap.

“I’ve been working [in live theater] for 30 years, and I’m just so grateful to have been a part of projects that have meaning and truth behind them,” Michele told TheWrap as part of a panel at Power Women New York on Thursday morning. The star nodded to “Ragtime,” which she starred in back in 1998, calling the musical about race in 20th century America “more important now than ever.” A revival of the show debuted last October.

“Even being in ‘Chess,’ we talk about some very intense issues — deportation, corrupt political leaders. Even thinking back to something like ‘Glee.’ Being a part of forms of art that are telling stories that are important and have a message behind them, we can only hope as artists to be able to do things that create impact and make people think,” the actor and producer of “Chess” said. “I always try to find material that’s challenging. I feel so fortunate to have played female characters that have really made an impact.”

Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, no one was prepared for “Glee” to be the hit that it became in 2009 . Yet, as the series evolved and became a certified cultural phenomenon, the Fox dramedy paved the way for boundary-pushing storytelling about sexuality, race, gender and a host of other societal issues. The series also had a perhaps surprising impact on musical theater itself, introducing a new generation of viewers to Broadway history.

“When I sang ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade,’ it went to — I think — No. 2 on the iTunes charts,” Michele said, referring to her in-show rendition of the “Funny Girl” vocal showcase that was originally performed by Barbra Streisand. “It was so unbelievable to have these songs brought into people’s homes and to have these amazing musicals now be a part of family discussions.”

Now Michele sits at the center of another unbelievable moment with “Chess.” At first glance, a Cold War musical seems like a wild bet. Originally written by Tim Rice with music by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, “Chess” first debuted in the West End in 1986. The play is loosely based on the life of Bobby Fischer as it tells the story of two chess grandmasters — one from America and one from the Soviet Union — whose game becomes integral to the fate of the Cold War. When the play first premiered on Broadway in 1988, the production didn’t last long, only running for 68 performances. But as time passed, “Chess” gained a cult following.

“It came out right towards the tail end of the Cold War. I think that, in an attempt to write about something that had just happened and speak about that time in history, for audiences then it was a little too soon,” Michele said.

That’s no longer the case. With a book that was rewritten by “Dopesick” creator Danny Strong and a cast that sees Michele starring alongside Aaron Tveit (“Moulin Rouge!,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) and Nicholas Christopher (“Sweeney Todd,” “Hamilton”), “Chess” has emerged as one of the buzziest shows of the season.

“Unfortunately, what we’re realizing are the parallels of then and now. My character deals with issues such as deportation, and we talk a lot about leaders being given extreme power,” Michele said. “The last line in the show is, ‘It just shows what happens when these decisions are being put in the hands of people who are reckless or totally insane.’ That one line gets a very strong response from our audience every night.”

Though Michele noted that the similarities between the Cold War and current issues today are “quite scary,” she praised the play for giving audiences a way to reckon with these themes.

“What we’re trying to do is do things in a way that is still entertaining and allows us to look at our world, but hopefully through a lens that does not feel too overwhelming,” Michele said. “We’re in a shared space, and we’re singing our faces off at the same time.” Watch the full conversation from Power Women New York above.

About Power Women New York:

TheWrap Foundation’s invite-only Power Women Breakfast returns to New York with an exclusive gathering of 100 leaders across entertainment, media and business, featuring intimate conversations with trailblazing women across the industry.

The event is sponsored by STARZ #TakeTheLead, the exclusive entertainment sponsor, and Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment. Table sponsors include Blank Rome LLP, Britbox, Disney Entertainment, Gersh, The Lede Company, NBCU, PMK Entertainment, Superconnector Studios, Versant and Whalar.

The post Lea Michele Unpacks the ‘Scary’ Parallels Between Cold War Musical ‘Chess’ and Now | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Now, it is Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s turn to play the troubled author of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood,” who died at age 59 from liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication. The vehicle is a revival of “Tru,” directed by Rob Ashford, which opened Thursday at House of the Redeemer. That Episcopal church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan is an odd venue for such a play, since “Tru” takes place in Capote’s New York City apartment at 870 United Nations Plaza.

That abode was far more modern a setting than the Victorian library at the church where massive oak tables, grand sofas and a lot of fake Tiffany lamps are meant to make the audience feel that they’ve been invited to Capote’s apartment on Christmas 1975, right after Esquire magazine published the “La Côte Basque, 1965” excerpt from his never-completed novel “Answered Prayers.” Allen’s play catches Capote shortly after the writer’s rich female friends – his so-called “swans” – stopped speaking to him.

Ferguson’s Capote drops the names of Babe Paley, Lee Radziwill, Slim Keith and C. Z. Guest, as if we’re supposed to be impressed that he knows such socialites. Nothing he says offers any insight into these former friendships. It’s just name-dropping, as is the mention of Ava Gardner, who throws a party that Capote attends during what used to be the intermission of the original 1989 Broadway production of “Tru.”

Jon Robin Baitz’s “Capote vs. the Swans” teleplay and Dan Futterman’s “Capote” screenplay fictionalized many scenes between Capote and his circle of friends. “Tru” is much more honest, while also being much duller.

Under Ashford’s direction, Charlotte d’Amboise plays a phantom from Capote’s famed Black and White Ball in 1966 at the Plaza Hotel. (Did we know that Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra made an appearance there, fresh off their honeymoon?) This ghost resembles a chorus girl from some touring production of “Follies,” but does keep us occupied while Ava drinks Truman under the table offstage.

When Capote finally does return to his apartment, it’s immediately clear that being drunk hasn’t made him any less small or petty in his incessant kvetching. “Tru” claims that it is “adapted from the words and works of Truman Capote,” but the play lacks any real wit. The biggest laughs come when Jay Presson Allen resorts to the familiar gimmicks of all second-rate Broadway comedies: The play trashes places that are not Manhattan, such as Staten Island and Los Angeles.

Ferguson’s performance seems off right from the beginning. His voice is a tenor’s. Capote’s, of course, was a soprano’s, something that everyone from Robert Morse to Thomas Hollander were able to replicate. The real Capote could disarm with that wisp of a high-pitched whine before he used it as a sling to fell any Goliath.

Spending an afternoon with this Capote is something you wouldn’t wish on his worst enemies — Jacqueline Susann and David Reuben, included. When Capote shakes his bottle of Tuinals, he gives us false hope that he’ll swallow its contents right there and then.

The post ‘Tru’ Off Broadway Review: Jesse Tyler Ferguson Works Hard to Make Truman Capote a Real Bore appeared first on TheWrap.