By Sandi Durell     The End of Longing, at MCC Theater, can best be described as the angst of four present day dysfunctional almost 40-somethings, drowning in their own dissatisfaction while struggling to survive and connect in the only way each can. This dark comedy,...

  Winners for the 62nd Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced at The Town Hall on June 5.  Sandi Durell with Mark Ryan Anderson (on camera) were on hand to hear what the winners had to say. Check out Parts 1 and 2 Interviews here! And take a look at more photos ‘On The Red...

    By Sandi Durell     Each time I have the opportunity to listen to Veronica Swift, young in years – old in soul, it reinforces the fact that this up and coming jazz star in the making has it all. She grows before my very eyes.   Now that she has a residency on...

      By Sandi Durell     You might quickly want to say ‘What? Another jukebox musical?’ . . . ah, but wait a minute this almost concert-like, hi-energy, non-stop musical, returning to the Bucks County Playhouse, featuring 27 songs of a young genius’ meteoric rise to...

  by Sandi Durell The stars came out to Sardi’s to accept their Awards from the Outer Critics Circle on May 25 . . . they already knew they were winners!  Over a delicious luncheon the journalists, critics, writers, press agents and  guests mixed and mingled and included: Bette...

      By Sandi Durell     Exposing a tradition and its rituals can be enlightening and horrifying. Such is bacha bazi – an underground illegal practice in the Muslim world condemned by the Quran, especially prevalent in Afghanistan, where wealthy men buy young pretty...

      By Sandi Durell   There is definitely a gene that morphs from parent to child that enables that child to absorb a talent. So it is with Tony Bennett’s daughter Antonia who grew up performing alongside her father when she was a wee one. Not only was she on the stage...

    By: Sandi Durell     Yes, in fact, the turntable stage revolves continuously as Hamish Linklater’s The Whirligig makes its points of intertwining the happy, sad and tragic lives of families and friends in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, currently ensconced by The New Group...

    By Sandi Durell     Taking place in the early 1920’s, The Lucky One (written by A. A. Milne) is a comedy that moves to more serious issues of emotional deprivation and brotherly resentment in the upper class English Farringdon family. Gerald (a cheery Robert David...

    By Sandi Durell   There aren’t many entertainers, or in this case icons who, at certain tender ages, can still transport their audiences back into great musical history that remains ever present and alive. Chita Rivera is one of the few and from her opening, there’s no...

    The press room was jammed with nominees in all the categories, along with their publicists and the various media outlets.  TheaterPizzazz was front and center with Sandi Durell doing interviews and Magda Katz on camera to hear what many of the nominees had to say, including...

    By Sandi Durell     Prepare yourself for a techno-music video comedy, written by multi award winning Joe DiPietro (Nice Work If You Can Get It, Memphis), as we take off on an escapade with Antarctica explorer Ernest Shackleton. Add two brilliant artists Brendan Milburn...

      By Sandi Durell     Playwright Lucas Hnath thinks he has the answers in this smarty pants sequel to the 1879 Ibsen classic A Doll’s House. After walking out, slamming the door, Nora Helmer, now 15 years later, has recreated herself as a wordly woman of...

    By Sandi Durell   Look at the old girl now fellas . . . an especially poignant line in the title song for the Divine Miss M who, with a wink and a nod, has the audience eating out of her hand with every step she takes and raspy note she sings in this remarkable revival of...

    By Sandi Durell   Pity the chocolate maker who gives you the scoop of what’s to happen at the very beginning letting you know it’s time to retire! Christian Borle, as Willie Wonka and as the Candy Man, isn’t even that perversely sinister a character – the one we knew...

    By Sandi Durell   This latest edition to Broadway musicals has a strong message along with a remarkably talented cast. With original big band style music by Richard Oberacker and book and lyrics by Rob Taylor and Oberacker, this throwback to the 40s and the end of WWII,...

    By Sandi Durell   City Center was packed to the rafters with fans of the iconic Diana Ross who opened last night, April 24, to unending cheers and a standing crowd throughout most of the night of ‘Endless Memories.’   With flashing lights, video backdrop and a...

        By Sandi Durell     Veronica Swift is on a fast track to stardom in the jazz world now that she’s been taken under the wing of Gianni Valenti at Birdland. The 22 year old plays to oversold houses at the legendary venue scoring her own slot on Saturdays at...

      By Sandi Durell     Groundhog Day was temporarily stuck (not in a time warp) but due to its lead Andy Karl’s leg injury pre-opening when understudy Andrew Call went on April 15 until Karl managed to hobble back on stage with a cane in hand and tears in his eyes,...

    By Sandi Durell     Spring is just fooling around because with all the flowers blooming and budding trees, it’s here. The talent, however, in the New York City cabarets and clubs is not fooling at all. Some of the best are slated to appear and you’ll have your pick of many shows. Here’s a...

      By Sandi Durell     I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the star of A Bronx Tale, Bobby Conte Thornton who plays the pivotal role of Calogero. It’s based on the life story of Chazz Palminteri (who wrote the original film and the book for Broadway),...

    By Sandi Durell     This is the story that dreams are made of. And so let us give thanks to two extraordinary performers with extraordinary presence and voices that literally blow you away in bringing this ferocious competition between Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth...

      By Sandi Durell     And that torch is shining ever so bright and brilliantly as the doyenne of Jazz, lyric interpretation and storyteller extraordinaire, dressed in a favorite Bob Mackie, once again, makes her appearance at Broadway’s Supper Club, 54 Below....

          by Sandi Durell   Who is Derek DelGaudio? A magician, an illusionist . . . a storyteller who has mastered the art of unique unpredictability. DelGaudio moves and speaks slowly, at first, causing me to wonder what’s really going on here. I’m waiting for...

    Theater Pizzazz loves having two writer reviews on the same show.  Here’s one!     By Sandi Durell   Murder, mayhem, and Mischief – the Mischief Theatre company straight from three years on the West End and an Olivier Award, has found it’s way into the...