By Brian Scott Lipton   Writing a theatrical parody of a popular book, film or musical poses a particularly difficult challenge for its authors: how do you satisfy fans of the work in question without completely alienating those unfamiliar with it? As the current Off-Broadway hits...

  By Brian Scott Lipton   Throughout her decades as one of the world’s foremost cabaret artists, Betty Buckley has practically embodied the phrase “courage of her convictions.” It’s not only that she performs songs (or even theme shows) that are far from the norm for this art form,...

  by Brian Scott Lipton   It may not be a news flash that Andrea McArdle is all grown up; all you need to do is basic math to realize that her star-making debut in the title role of the Broadway megahit “Annie” was 40 years ago. But what you may not know unless you see her smashing...

    By Brian Scott Lipton   Despite his Broadway credentials (as composer of “Spring Awakening” and “American Psycho”), Duncan Sheik is anything but razzle-dazzle. In his low-key yet entertaining cabaret debut at the swanky Café Carlyle, we witness a soulful, sensitive pop-rock...

    By Brian Scott Lipton   Sixty years and one day after history was made at the Winter Garden Theatre with the opening of the “West Side Story,” history of another sort happened just a few blocks away at St Luke’s Theatre, as 11 original cast members of the show’s Broadway...

  by Brian Scott Lipton   There can be little dispute, if any, that Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim are the true twin titans of musical theater – the former, a composer equally suited to jazz, Broadway and classical music; the latter, a genius with a gift for a memorable (and...

    By Brian Scott Lipton     The Place: Here. The Time: Now. It takes mere minutes, maybe even less, to realize how accurate those words remain regarding Suzan-Lori Parks “In The Blood,” even if director Sarah Benson’s first-rate production at the Signature Theater is...

      By Brian Scott Lipton   In her 10 years on the New York stage, Lindsay Mendez has managed to make a strong impression on audiences whether she’s been the backup singer (“Everyday Rapture”) or the star attraction (“Wicked”). But your admiration of this spectacularly...

    By Brian Scott Lipton     If you simply heard the voice of Sierra Boggess, one of the purest, most crystalline sopranos to ever grace the stage, you might imagine it was attached to a grande dame of opera, all false mannerisms, big bosoms, and fluttery hands. In...

      By Brian Scott Lipton     While there is music and love and romance, why not just soak it all in? Sounds hard? Nah! It’s easy to do if you can make it to the stunning Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola where that divine diva, Ann Hampton Callaway, is premiering her superb...

    By Brian Scott Lipton     When it comes to Jerry Zaks’ ultra-exuberant revival of the classic 1964 musical, “Hello, Dolly!,” now at the Shubert Theatre, you can bet on Bette Midler to hand in one of the great star-making performances of all time: the ideal blending of...

  Review by Brian Scott Lipton   If aging is indeed optional, Tovah Feldshuh has clearly made the choice not to do so. Seeing her on the stage of 54 Below reprising her 2013 show of the same name (albeit in a revised version), the extraordinarily talented star – a multiple Emmy and...

    Review by Brian Scott Lipton     To use the lyric from her opening number, Natalie Douglas may not have “nursed and rehearsed” her new show “Sammy!,” the first of a set of four monthly tribute shows to be performed over four months at Birdland, as much as she may have...

    By Brian Scott Lipton     To paraphrase the title of one of the songs in her brilliant tribute to the 1960s, “The Beat Goes On,” no one owns Liz Callaway. More importantly, few vocalists own the stage with the same confidence, clarity and intelligence as this Broadway...

        by Brian Scott Lipton   Death may not usually be a laughing matter, but the yuks definitely outweigh the tears in Marvin’s Room, Scott McPherson’s award-winning 1991 play about two estranged sisters who reunite after nearly two decades when one of them is...

          by Brian Scott Lipton   They have over two dozen Broadway credits (and four Tony Award nominations) between them, but Norm Lewis and Carolee Carmello have found their respective roles of a lifetime in, of all places, a tiny Off-Broadway house—one that...

        by Brian Scott Lipton   Let’s be real: heading to City Center this weekend may be your only chance to ever take a bite out of The Golden Apple, John Latouche and Jerome Moross’ extremely ambitious and wildly uneven musical retelling of The Iliad (transplanted...

    MCC Theater’s annual Miscast gala, held at the Hammerstein Ballroom, has become one of the hottest tickets of the theatrical season. The reason: audiences get the chance to see of Broadway’s biggest stars take on roles and songs they’d never be offered in real life. This year’s...

            by Brian Scott Lipton   Not since Henry Higgins turned cockney flower-girl Eliza Doolittle into a proper Englishwoman has so much attention be lavished on a diamond in the rough. Alas, although the gang at City Center Encores! has given Cole...

    By Brian Scott Lipton     He was the first composer to win three Academy Awards; the first to receive the coveted “gold record” for selling one million copies; he worked for almost every movie studio, including Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, and MGM; and he wasn’t even...

        by Brian Scott Lipton   Both a celebration of her newest CD and a glorious retrospective of 30-plus year performing career in cabaret, Karen Mason’s It’s About Time showed, once again, why she is one of this singular art form’s greatest practitioners.  ...

  by Brian Scott Lipton     In his brilliant, if divisive, first play Bad Jews, Joshua Harmon created a neurotic, lonely, but ultimately sympathetic, lead character—one that also provided a bravura showcase for a talented performer. Well, lightning has struck twice in Harmon’s...

        by Brian Scott Lipton   Is there anything to really be learned from a 15th century Dutch morality play, possibly adapted from a Buddhist fable, and updated to the present-day by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, one of the 21st century’s most provocative and acclaimed...

    by Brian Scott Lipton   For veteran theatergoers considering seeing City Center Encores’ current production of “Big River,” the question on their minds may be: can the third time be as charming? After all, they most likely saw the original Broadway production in 1985 (which...

    By Brian Scott Lipton     2016 was a tough year for music lovers, as some of its greatest artists ascended into the eternal pantheon. But probably no two deaths were more deeply felt than those of English glam rocker David Bowie and American R&B superstar Prince....