Broadway

“WAITING FOR GODOT IS A RUBBISH PLAY.” So declared Keith McNally in an Instagram post that caught my eye. “I urge you not to see Waiting for Godot.” Accompanying the statement was an image of the two stars who headlined this fall’s production at Broadway’s Hudson Theater, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. The play is the latest in what regular theatergoers and visiting tourists may have started to recognize as a recurring theme in New York’s theater scene: an overwhelming number of big-name Hollywood screen actors dotting their playbills. These players are here to make their bones and increase their prestige as “true” thespians, often by attaching themselves to tired

In the second act of Liberation the main cast quietly, and without fuss, starts to undress. By the time the lights go up, all six women are naked. In this masterful play by Bess Wohl, the moment does not feel shocking or gratuitous but somehow comforting. In 1970s Ohio, a group of women meet weekly to fight for equality through “consciousness-raising.” Mostly that consists of free-ranging conversation, of which the women have a lot and which is always smart, funny, vulnerable and eye-opening. But after reading an article about body positivity in Ms. magazine, they meet in the nude. As one group member, Dora, ostensibly the most beautiful, breaks down

Masquerade honors and innovates the legacy of Phantom of the Opera

The songs explode. The passion overwhelms. It’s opulent when it needs to be, fun when it needs to be, and intoxicating

The original cultural punch of the 1970s production has been replaced with gaudy, empty commercialism

The language itself — and the on-the-nose themes that Amy Herzog has unsubtly emphasized — feel like they could be sourced directly from Twitter/X

Director Maria Friedman has harnessed revelatory performances from her three leads to create a theatrical masterpiece

For theater aficionados, there is hope

In the year 2023, improbably as always, the musical proved a success

The musical is like the disco ball that spins above its audience: beautiful but fractured. And, at its core, hollow