by Barbara and Scott Siegel   When the history of contemporary American theater is written, Nathan Lane will surely dominate in any chapters about our actors — and he’ll dominate in the chapter about musical theater actors just as much as he’ll soar above the competition in the...

Sending a Message: From The Band’s Visit to Jerry Springer: The Opera         By Barbara & Scott Siegel   There is a famous quote, usually attributed to the famous Hollywood film director Frank Capra, who said, “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.”...

  The Serious Side of Gerard Alessandrini (or) Why Did Our Most Hilarious Musical Theater Parodist Conceive and Direct a Show Devoted to the Music of Maury Yeston?     By Barbara & Scott Siegel   When you think of Gerard Alessndrini, you think comedy: he is the creator...

Songbook Summit, Charolais, Van Gogh’s Ear, and Prince of Broadway       By Barbara & Scott Siegel     In a new season that is, so far, more noteworthy for what is closing rather than for what is opening, we look to the mostly rare and unusual shows that have...

Some Tony Talk Plus A Look at The Inspector General   Come From Away (Jenn Colella) Photo: Matthew Murphy   By Barbara & Scott Siegel     The last thing you want to read is yet another column of Tony predictions by people who are no better at guessing than you are. So,...

    By Barbara & Scott Siegel       We’re now in that time period when it seems like almost everyone is obsessed with all the new Broadway shows that opened just in time to get in under the wire for the Tony cut-off date. But in the mad scramble for attention,...

  By Barbara & Scott Siegel   This Season’s Breakout Star Discovery…   Not every season boasts a breakout star, but when it happens, there is never any doubt about it. Watching Christy Altomare, who plays the title character in the big budget Broadway musical, Anastasia,...

A Welcome New Trend on Broadway: Homegrown Stars!       By Barbara & Scott Siegel     It wasn’t long ago when it was much remarked upon that the musical Memphis had become a hit Broadway show without using either TV or movie stars as its leads. When the show...

    By Barbara & Scott Siegel   At the elegantly produced Lortel Awards on Sunday night, it was noted that two of the four Broadway musicals competing for Outstanding Musical Tony Awards this season, and three of the four Broadway plays competing for Outstanding Play Tony...

  By Barbara & Scott Siegel   Some Things You Should Know About This Theater Award Season…   The crazy theater awards game of who was snubbed and what was over-praised is now in full swing after the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Tony Awards have announced their...

    By Barbara & Scott Siegel In 1964 Fiddler on the Roof opened the floodgates for Jewish related fare on Broadway. It’s not that there weren’t Jewish plays and musicals on Broadway before – consider shows as specific as Bagels & Yox (1951) and Milk and Honey (1961), but...

    By Barbara & Scott Siegel   Theatrical Elite: Patti LuPone, Christine Ebersole, John Leguizamo, Harvey Fierstein, Kevin Kline…They’re Back!   As we head toward the end of the 2016-17 theater season, never quite knowing if the waterfall of openings both on and Off...

    By Barbara & Scott Siegel   The power of expectations: Church & State and The Glass Menagerie   The way we react to a play depends a great deal upon our expectations. Lower the bar enough and a show can seem great compared to what you expected when the curtain...

    By Barbara & Scott Siegel   The Most Talented and Consistently Innovative, and Entertaining Director Working Off-Broadway: Jack Cummings, III   Play after play, and season after season, when you step back and look at the Off Broadway shows that receive critical...

  By Barbara & Scott Siegel   Sweat Might Give The Public Theater the Tony Trifecta   Back in the day, The Public Theater earned its place in the theatrical mainstream when, in 1968, Hair made its way from its downtown stage to Broadway. That could’ve been considered a...

When Truth Enhances Fiction: Theater Based on True Stories…     By Barbara & Scott Siegel     If the true story upon which the new Broadway musical Come From Away had been made up out of whole cloth, it would be consigned to the category of pure, wish-fulfilling...

Death in the Theater: Everybody & Wakey, Wakey         By Barbara & Scott Siegel     With the recent passing of the Signature Theatre’s James Houghton, the company he founded – and some of the people he left behind – have turned their artistic efforts...

    By Barbara & Scott Siegel       For all its awards, glowing reviews, and standing ovations at night, the secret truth about The Object Lesson at New York Theatre Workshop is that it is slow, tedious, and boring. At 100 minutes, it feels like an endless,...

By Barbara & Scott Siegel   The British called their working class theater “Kitchen Sink Drama.” One is tempted to call the new American play created by the Neo-Futurists, “Everything Except The Kitchen Sink Drama” because in a brisk 90 minutes of playful, often-times tongue-in-cheek...

  By Barbara & Scott Siegel     The theatrical season is well under way, and many of our colleagues are already in a big sweat over the plethora of plays they are obligated to see. So far, however, the Summer and early Fall have not yielded a big harvest of hits.   So...

  The Siegel Column By Barbara & Scott Siegel   Our Tony Award Predictions (plus who should win):     Best Play The Humans It will win. It should win – because it’s the best play of the year, by far! That it happens to be an American play makes us all, in the New York...

  By Barbara & Scott Siegel   Greatness? Two Plays: The Father & The Humans   While musicals have historically accounted for approximately ninety percent of theater ticket sales during the modern Broadway era, the theatrical drama (with rare exception) has usually been...

  By Barbara & Scott Siegel     It’s rather remarkable that in a season in which everyone knows that Hamilton is the odds-on favorite to sweep the Tony’s in most of the major creative categories, that there are so many other musicals choosing to open at the end of the...

      By Barbara & Scott Siegel     Whatever is ailing Hollywood in regard to race does not seem to be a problem for New York theater. On Broadway (and Off-Broadway), the number of shows that either star Afro-American actors and/or appeal to an Afro-American...

  NERDS: The Ripple Effect…       By Barbara & Scott Siegel     To coin a phrase, it takes a village to put on a Broadway musical. Apparently, it only takes one person who breaks his or her word to shut a Broadway musical down. The fiasco surrounding the...