302 stories by "Ron Fassler"
Review by Ron Fassler . . . "I'm booked and blessed," shouted Stephanie Pope in a joyous moment during her autobiographical show at 54 Below Tuesday night. Having taken a self-im…
Review by Alex Eichholz . . . With no background reading on its subject matter or any expectations, Jordan Tannahill's new play Prince Faggot, which opened tonight at Playwrights Horizons…
Review by Samuel L. Leiter . . . No, Jean Smart, the star of Call Me Izzy, now at Broadway's Studio 54, does not portray a Borough Park yeshivah boy in this one-woman play. The Izzy she p…
Paul Deo Jr as Bertram and Anique Clements as Helena in "All's Well That Ends Well."June 12, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
This piece ran yesterday on the Theater P…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . The recently closed Broadway production of Othello, which starred Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, had been charging the record-breaking top ticket price…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . If someone was in the mood this week on June 9th to celebrate Cole Porter's birthdate, then if they headed to West 44th Street in Manhattan, their wish would have…
Photo taken from my seat in the Front Mezzanine at Radio City Music Hall last night.June 9, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
The Tony Awards have been broadcast on na…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . For more than forty years, playwright Donald Margulies has been delighting audiences with thought-provoking plays on a range of subjects and issues. The recipient…
By Ron Fassler . . . Satirical comedy has been around a long time (Plautus, anybody?) which often means contemporizing Golden Oldies is essential so we can be in on the jokes. Of late, playw…
Performing in a cabaret setting can be accomplished successfully in a variety of ways. With someone like Marilyn Maye, who's put in the hours and is still going strong at ninety-seven, you g…
By Ron Fassler . . . For someone who has put themselves front and center entertaining audiences for nearly fifty years, the question "Who is Richard Skipper?" still has an air of mystery abo…
Charles Strouse (1928"2026).May 16, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
Composer Charles Strouse died yesterday at the age of ninety-six, just shy of his ninety-seventh birt…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . For more than a few years now, scenic design on Broadway has been obsessed with video projections. And it's here to stay, too. Sometimes the effects are tacky, as…
Interview by Ron Fassler . . . Though Ann Kittredge is well known as a consummate cabaret singer, she is also a lifelong performing artist who has performed on Broadway and Off-Broa…
"Buena Vista Social Club" has reason to celebrate with its ten Tony nominations announced today.May 1, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
It's always a thrill for me to rea…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . On the wings of angels comes The Billy Stritch Trio for a six-performance engagement at Birdland Jazz Club. Joined by Michael O'Brien on bass and Eric Halvorson o…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . At the age of twelve, I began weekly sojourns into Manhattan from my home on Long Island with the mission of seeing every Broadway show possible. Keeping strict r…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . With the Tony Awards deadline fast upon us, two final shows are slipping in under the wire, Dead Outlaw and Real Women Have Curves, both opening tonight …
A pensive Al Pacino, circa the 1970's, his most defined decade as an actor.April 25, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
I've written about him before, but there's always…
By Ron Fassler . . . Having made her Broadway debut at the age of eight as a replacement in the title role of Matlida at the Shubert Theatre, actress Fina Strazza has returned to…
Donna McKechnie onstage at 54 Below in her new Sondheim show.April 22, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
In her current three-performance engagement at 54 Below, the am…
Chita Rivera and Dick Van Dyke perform "Rosie" in "Bye Bye Birdie"Â (1960).Producer Edward Padula was worried. He liked the show he was working hard to raise money for, but he was taking a…
Eleven of the twelve beauty contestant combatants in JR2 Spotlight Musical Theatre Company's production of "Smile" (Photo by Russ Roland).April 13, 2025: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by R…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . One time, at the finish of one of the gatherings in his honor that Stephen Sondheim received regularly in his later years, the master composer-lyricist took to th…
Review by Ron Fassler . . . When a truly old-fashioned musical like Boop! The Musical opens, offering a beatific heroine, dazzling choreography, and hummable tunes that send you out in…
