611 stories by "Richard Seff"
 If you happen to be passing the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on 46th Street any evening around 9:30 (some nights at 10:30), and you hear a roar emanate from the theatre's lobby, don't be a…
To get right to it"there is an anticipatory glow, even as we settle into our seats, that shouts at us from the house curtain with the musical's title splashed across it in all its gory glory…
There are actors who begin their careers with training and early professional outings in regional and stock theatres as understudies and bit players. Many use live theatre as training gr…
Broadway will soon have to change its name to "Revival City" for the number of new works (except for juke box musicals and seven hour "events") has narrowed down to two or three play entries…
Tracy Letts, who established himself as a playwright with "August: Osage County," is a gifted writer and actor who has an uncanny ear for the unique rhythms, accents, and insight…
"All the Way" by Robert Schenkkan dealt with Lyndon Johnson's efforts to influence the 88th U.S. congress to vote in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It first appeared in 2012 at the Oregon Sha…
Artists often prepare sketches to guide themselves through the process of creating a painting. Architects draw blueprints which are subject to change before committing to building. And P…
Master playwright Harold Pinter has left us a fistful of fascinating plays, and their highly original tales will be with us for many years to come. "The Birthday Party," "The Homecoming," an…
Top drawer producer-director Hal Prince died on July 31st in the unlikely city of Reykjavic, Iceland. In his case, come to think of it, nothing was unlikely, as he had spent his working life…
The Hudson Theatre on Broadway is playing host presently to two star actors with two playwrights (Simon Stephens and Nick Payne) delivering two acts of delicate magic. On a virtually bare st…
Let's take a moment to stroll down memory lane. For some of you it will be more of a history lesson, but join us anyway as we think about a time when New York had something called "café soc…
You can tell as you enter the Al Hirschfeld Theatre that you're going to be seeing a big show. The entire proscenium and a lot of the side walls are covered with gilt and glitter and a huge …
Top drawer producer-director Hal Prince died on July 31st in the unlikely city of Reikvik, Iceland, although, come to think of it, nothing was unlikely for this man who spent his working lif…
A young British playwright, Chris Urch, is making his Lincoln Center debut with this play"one written in white heat. It's fiction but is based on incidents that took pace in Uganda ten years…
Orpheus is once again descending into hell in search of his beloved Eurydice; Hermes is around to keep the plot spinning; and Hades, the King of the Underworld, is madly maneuvering …
Nathan Lane is enjoying one of theatre's longest running careers. He's been brightening stages ever since 1975 when at 19 he made his off-Broadway debut, and 1982 when he first bounced onto …
Playwright Lucas Hnath, has served his apprenticeship in theatre by having work produced at some of New York's most reputable off-Broadway venues and at many out of town spaces like the Huma…
I saw the original Broadway production of this, Arthur Miller's second Broadway outing, when I was 20 years old; and it struck me as a sober introduction to a playwright who clearly represen…
"Tootsie" is fun company. "She" is actor Michael Dorsey's one ally in finding him a job in a New York play or musical. For Michael is a hard-to-cast 40 year old who is unable to charm the ca…
Playwright Lanford Wilson began the story in the play, set in New York in 1987, on the day after the death of Robbie, a gay choreographer. His apartment mate Anna, who was a dancer who'd bec…
On occasion I marvel at the insight and wisdom shown by the Elizabethan lad Will Shakespeare, not to mention the poetry and imagination and drive that helped him create a basket of enduring …
I wasn't exactly sleeping through the 1960s and 70s, but I seem to have missed most of the pop tunes and great combos that found their place at the time. I blush to admit that I did not know…
Andréa Burns has been brightening several recent Broadway and off/Broadway seasons by supplying supporting performances of great variety and equal quality. They range from Daniela in "In Th…
With thanks to the Roundabout Theatre Company, Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate" is back on Broadway in a fresh and rousing re-examination by director Scott Ellis and choreographer Warren Carlyl…
Maddie Corman is an actress who has worked extensively in film, TV, and theater proving herself proficient in all of them. In my acting days, I had the pleasure of sharing a stage with her i…
