134 stories from ronfassler.medium.com
Carol Channing and Sid Caesar in 1971's "Four on a Garden" (Photo by Martha Swope).November 18, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, By Ron Fassler
There used to be a certain subset of a…
Estelle Parsons as Violet Weston in "August: Osage Country" (2008).November 8, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
In New York City this week, an unseasonably warm Novemb…
The company of "Ragtime" at City Center (photo by Joan Marcus).November 4, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
Last June, as I exited the City Center Encores! production …
Advertising used throughout "Man of La Mancha's" six-year run (1965"1971).October 29, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
As a teenager and developing theatre nerd of the 19…
The incredibly photogenic Lee Remick (1935"91).October 24, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today by Ron Fassler
In 1982, when John Pielmeier's Agnes of God was trying out in Boston, the top b…
Richard Mulligan with his two leading ladies: Valerie Harper and Marlo Thomas in "Thieves" (1974).October 16, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
For those with a sense of …
Hunter Foster and Kerry Butler in "Little Shop of Horrors" (2003).October 9, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
Amongst the legendary stories of Broadway shows that have…
James Earl Jones (1931"2024).September 10, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
James Earl Jones, who died yesterday at ninety-three, was not only the first dramatic actor to…
August 9, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
Richard Nixon address the nation on August 8, 1974, the night he resigned the presidency."So it's really happening," smiled Wil…
July 13, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today
Forty-seven years ago tonight, on July 13, 1977 at exactly 9:29 p.m., New York City suffered an electrical blackout that lasted into afternoon t…
"Titanic" at City Center "Encores!" (photo by Joan Marcus).June 24, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
As someone who saw all fifteen Tony-eligible Broadway musicals thi…
A repurposed logo of David Byrd's original poster for "Follies" for the one-night only concert at Carnegie Hall, June 20, 2024.June 21, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassle…
Nina Hoss as Ranevskaya in "The Cherry Orchard." Photo by Johan Persson.May 19, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
The Cherry Orchard is one of my favorite plays. I was…
Robert Morse as Jerry/Daphne and Tony Roberts as Joe/Josephine in "Sugar" (1972). Photo by Martha Swope.April 9, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
Fifty-two years ago …
Chita Rivera (1933"2024). Photo by Gregg Delman for The New York Times from "The Visit" (2015).January 31, 2024: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
Chita Rivera first started…
2014 Revival of "On the Town" with Clyde Alves, Tony Yazbeck and Jay Armstrong Johnson in the front line.December 30, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
This week's two …
"On the Town" Playbill cover with photo by Chris Alexander, who played Chip. Later, he would go on to become a professional photographer.December 29, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ro…
Youth and work (and play): Leonard Bernstein at the piano, Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden and Adolph Green.December 28, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
It's hard to ima…
Frances Sternhagen (1930"2023).November 30, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
With fifty Broadway and off-Broadway shows to her credit over a career that spanned more than…
Modeling Raoul Pène Du Bois "76 Trombones" costume, built for Robert Preston in "The Music Man" in 1957.September 27, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
By chance last …
Cover of Alan Shayne's "The Star Dressing Room: Portrait of an Actor."September 16, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler.
There are not a whole lot of people around today …
Barnard Hughes in Murray Schisgal's "All Over Town" (1974). Photo by Martha Swope. "There wasn't a basement in New York I didn't work in."July 17, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ro…
Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin in "1776" (1969). Photo by Martha Swope.July 4, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
I've been writing 1776-themed columns on July 4th…
Alan Arkin in "Enter Laughing" (1963).June 30, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
Not to be too emphatic about it, but Alan Arkin was among my most favorite actors. King of…
Sheldon Harnick (1924"2023). Photo by Carlo Allegri for the Washington Post.June 24, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler
News that Sheldon Harnick left us yesterday at age n…
