Around Broadway

Brian Dennehy, the burly actor who has won Tony awards for both his Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” and his James Tyrone in “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” is making a return visit to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario this summer. He’s appearing in two shows running through October, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming.” New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood tells Jeff Spurgeon about what makes him a singular actor.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario is one of North America’s preeminent theater festivals. Founded in 1953 under the leadership of the legendary director Tyrone Guthrie and now under the direction of Des McAnuff of “Jersey Boys” and "The Who’s Tommy" fame, it presents performances from May through early November. New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood joins Jeff Spurgeon in the studio to discuss this season's productions of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Camelot."

While New Yorkers have been immersed in the Bard courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s visit to the Park Avenue Armory, the highlight of the summer theater season in Washington has been a visiting troupe from Down Under. The Sydney Theater Company production of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” starring Cate Blanchett as Yelena, plays the Kennedy Center through Aug. 28. Charles Isherwood joins Jeff Spurgeon in the studio to find out more about how the creative team and the big name star jive with the script.

Just a few months after his last play “The Divine Sister” closed Off-Broadway, the playwright and performer Charles Busch has a new play on the boards. "Olive and the Bitter Herbs," presented by Primary Stages at the 59E59 Theaters, is a comedy about a cranky former actress whose apartment is haunted by a mysterious ghost who turns out to have strange connections with more than one of the play’s characters. New York Times critic Charles Isherwood tells Jeff Spurgeon about the production and Busch's career.

Zach Braff and David Greenspan, two very different actors, are busy writing for the stage this season. Braff (“Scrubs,” “Garden State”), tries his hand at playwriting with "All New People." Greenspan's latest play, Go Back to Where You Are, received its premiere at Playwrights Horizons in the spring. He plays the whole cast of characters in "The Patsy," a revival of a forgotten 1925 comedy by Barry Conners. New York Times critic Charles Isherwood joins Jeff Spurgeon to talk about the new productions.  Listen to the piece above and enter our trivia contest below to win tickets to the production of David Greenspan's The Patsy.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s ambitious repertory season at the Park Avenue Armory is entering its final stages. All five of the Shakespeare plays the company is presenting have now officially opened. In the last two weeks of the season, which runs through August 14th, viewers could potentially see all the productions in succession. Charles Isherwood of the New York Times joins Jeff Spurgeon in the studio to find out what stood out from the residency. 

The Public Theater’s Tony-winning production of “Hair,” directed by Diane Paulus, has returned to New York this summer for a ten-week run at the St. James Theater. This unusual summer run features the national touring company and the London and Broadway versions. Charles Isherwood of the New York Times tells Jeff Spurgeon about why it has returned so quickly and whether this production holds up to the previous incarnations. Listen to the piece above and enter our trivia contest below to win tickets to the current production of Hair.

The theatrical event of the summer in New York is the arrival of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It's performing five plays in repertory as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. The British company is not traveling light: in addition to the 41 actors and 21 musicians performing the plays, the RSC has brought a 975-seat replica of its mainstage theater to the Park Avenue Armory. Charles Isherwood of the New York Times speaks with Elliott Forrest about how the theatrical space affects the quality of the productions.

The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park is an annual New York summer rite. This season the company is presenting two late comedies in repertory at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park: "All’s Well That Ends Well,” directed by Daniel Sullivan, and “Measure for Measure,” directed by David Esbjornson. New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood joins Elliott Forrest in the studio to weigh in on the season.

The San Francisco Chronicle's fictional serial "Tales of the City" about social life in the city spawned a series of popular novels, a television show, and now a new stage musical based on the first two novels. "Tales of the City" opened at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater and runs through July 24. Jeff Spurgeon finds out why the material is so appealing in any form from Charles Isherwood of the New York Times.

After a record-breaking number of preview performances, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has finally opened on Broadway. Jeff Spurgeon finds out if the show's long incubation improved the final product from Charles Isherwood of the New York Times.

The live broadcast of this year's Tony Awards begins this Sunday at 8pm on CBS, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Jeff Spurgeon speaks with Charles Isherwood, theater critic of The New York Times, to get his predictions on who will take home the top prizes.

The Punchdrunk Theater Company, known for producing offbeat adaptations, has taken on Shakespeare's Macbeth in their new play Sleep No More. Jeff Spurgeon gets the skinny on immersive experience from Charles Isherwood of The New York Times.

Two classic plays are in featured in new Off-Broadway productions. New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood looks at how a new English adaptation of Moliere’s “The Misanthrope” at the Classic Stage Company called "The School for Lies" and a musical version of Shaw’s “Candida” at the Lincoln Center Theater called “A Minister’s Wife” stack up against the originals. 

The Tony Award nominations were announced yesterday in advance of the telecast of the awards ceremony on June 12th. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times joins Jeff Spurgeon to discuss the nominations: who was snubbed, who cleaned up, and what it all means for the success of the shows and the direction of future productions.

The Whoopi Goldberg movie Sister Act has been made into a new Broadway musical. Rossini's Le Comte Ory, now being performed at the Met Opera, features a group of men disguised as nuns. And nuns get spoofed in every imaginable fashion in Charles Busch's new comedy The Divine Sister. Does this trend represent a new sensibility for portraying religion on the great white way or is it merely a coincidence? Charles Isherwood of the New York Times joins Jeff Spurgeon in the studio to find out why so many are getting back in the habit. 

The British-born actor Mark Rylance has spent much of the current theater season in New York, recreating two acclaimed performances originally seen in London. Last fall, he starred in a revival of David Hirson’s period comedy La Bête at the Music Box Theater and this spring he is appearing at the same theater in a new play, Jerusalem, by Jez Butterworth. Reflecting on these two performances, Charles Isherwood wonders whether Mark Rylance might just be the best actor of his generation.  Listen to the conversation to find the answer to our trivia question, then login in the top right corner and enter our contest before Wednesday night at midnight to win two tickets to see Jerusalem. The question: For what play did Mark Rylance win the 2008 Tony Award?

In the first installment of our new show Around Broadway, Jeff Spurgeon discusses the new Broadway play “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” with The New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood. The show addresses the Iraq war and the more general repercussions of unleashing violence through the moral conscience of a tiger, played by Robin Williams. Listen to the conversation to find the answer to our trivia question, then login in the top right corner and enter our contest before Wednesday night at midnight to win two tickets to see the show.