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Here are our thoughts on this season’s inadvertent (and possibly advertent) snubs, delightful (or mystifying) surprises and other notable anomalies. A melancholy morning for ‘Vanya.’Television stars are considered good box office but not always good Tony bait. This year’s crop, including Sarah Paulson, Jeremy Strong, Steve Carell and William Jackson Harper, complicates that wisdom. Spreading all that love helped take the show to Number One with a Bullet — the most nominated play in Broadway history. On the other hand, the superb ensemble casts of “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” and “Illinoise” were skunked.

Persons: “, ‘ Vanya, ’, Tony, Sarah Paulson, Jeremy Strong, Steve Carell, William Jackson Harper, Paulson, Carell, Harper, Uncle Vanya, ”, Chekhov, David Adjmi’s, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon, Juliana Canfield, Will Brill, Eli Gelb, Illinoise Organizations: Broadway, Lincoln Center Theater

☆ A Starry Cast Navigates ‘Uncle Vanya’ and ‘Every Emotion Under the Sun’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Laura Collins-Hughes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Broadway shows usually come with a back story about the yearslong slog it took to get them there. Not so with Heidi Schreck’s new translation of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” which arrived at Lincoln Center Theater’s Vivian Beaumont Theater not even 12 months after its inception. Directed by Lila Neugebauer, it is Schreck’s first Broadway show since “What the Constitution Means to Me,” in 2019, and the ensemble is a starry one. William Jackson Harper, best known for “The Good Place,” plays Astrov, the eco-nerd doctor whom Sonia loves. Anika Noni Rose, a Tony Award winner for “Caroline, or Change,” is the glamorous Elena, Sonia’s stepmother, for whom both Vanya and Astrov yearn.

Persons: Heidi Schreck’s, Uncle Vanya, ”, Vivian Beaumont, Lila Neugebauer, Steve Carell, Vanya, Sonia, Alison Pill, Alfred Molina, William Jackson Harper, Anika Noni Rose, “ Caroline, Elena, Sonia’s, Astrov Organizations: Broadway, Lincoln Center

NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Opera has scrapped plans for the world premiere of Mason Bates' “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” this fall because of finances. The work will instead open with a student cast at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. Cremo sent an email last month to Abra K. Bush, dean of the Jacobs School, suggesting the shift. Bates, 47, won a Grammy Award in 2019 for “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” which premiered at the Santa Fe Opera in 2017 and was coproduced with the Jacobs School. “It's a story about Jewish immigrants changing American culture and certainly that resonates in LA,” Bates said.

Persons: Mason Bates, Clay, Bates, Michael Chabon's Pulitzer, Dorothy Chandler, Christopher Koelsch, Koelsch, “, ” Peter Gelb, Gelb, Jeanine Tesori, George Brandt, Evans Mirageas, Paul Cremo, Cremo, Bush, ” Bush, ‘, ’ ” Bush, Bartlett Sher, Michael Christie, Yannick Nézet, Mark Grimmer, Steve Jobs, Gene Scheer, ” Bates, ” Organizations: Los Angeles Opera, Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, Metropolitan Opera, Musical Arts Center, LA, Met, Washington National Opera, Cincinnati, Jacobs School, Jacobs, Lincoln Center Theater, Santa Fe Opera Locations: Bloomington , Indiana, America, Abra K, Indiana, New York, LA

☆ 10 Performances That Pushed Emotional Limits
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Maya Phillips | More About Maya Phillips | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’Even if the hairstyles in this play weren’t as fabulous as they were, Jocelyn Bioh’s “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” about a day in the life of African immigrants working in a Harlem hair-braiding shop, would still be a sparkling Broadway delight. That’s thanks to Bioh’s colorful characters and brisk, playful dialogue. I didn’t know until I saw David Adjmi’s “Stereophonic,” which kept me fully engaged through its full three-hour running time. We learn about the characters through the parts they play in making and performing this music — which, by the way, is amazing, and written by Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire. (Read our review of “Flex.”)

Persons: ‘, Jocelyn Bioh’s “, Whitney, it’s, guiltily, Daisy Jones, ”, Fleetwood Mac, David Adjmi’s, Will Butler, David Zinn’s, Ryan, you’re, Erica Matthews, Mitzi E, Newhouse, “, Lileana Blain Organizations: Broadway, Center Theater Locations: Harlem, Arkansas

For 18 hours on a rainy Sunday this Halloween weekend, the Metropolitan Opera House was visited by the ghost of Malcolm X. Words made famous by the Black nationalist leader and civil rights figure in his classic autobiography, dictated to Alex Haley and posthumously published in 1965, could be heard echoing throughout the soaring lobby of the Lincoln Center theater. It was a welcomed haunting, conjured by the Met in conjunction with a new production of Anthony Davis’s opera “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” which premieres on Friday.

Persons: Malcolm X, Alex Haley, Anthony Davis’s Organizations: Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, Met

☆ Good Times and Bum Times Made These Theater Veterans Even Stronger
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Elisabeth Vincentelli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It’s challenging enough for an actor to portray someone who is alive and well. But can you imagine the extra scrutiny that comes when your model is sitting in the director’s chair? Or at least, Daniele pointed out in a recent conversation, it’s “a version of me. A better version.”When the two stage veterans sat together last week, a day after performances began at Lincoln Center Theater, they laughed continuously, and threw themselves into the conversation with the full-bodied gusto of born performers. They mimed pranks they once pulled on castmates, hummed tunes from long-forgotten shows, and punctuated their stories with enough sound effects to make a Foley artist jealous.

Persons: ” Priscilla Lopez, Graciela Daniele, Daniele, it’s, Foley Organizations: Lincoln Center Theater Locations: Anuncia

☆ André Bishop to Step Down After Three Decades Running Lincoln Center Theater
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Michael Paulson | More About Michael Paulson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

On Wednesday, Carole Rothman, the president and artistic director of Second Stage Theater, said that after 45 years she would be leaving that institution, which she co-founded; Second Stage operates the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway. And Roundabout Theater Company currently has an interim artistic director following the death in April of Todd Haimes, who led that organization for four decades; Roundabout operates three Broadway houses, including the American Airlines, the Stephen Sondheim and Studio 54. Lincoln Center Theater, which is a resident organization at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, has three stages of varying sizes, and has produced a wide variety of work. The company currently has an annual budget of $34.5 million and 55 full-time employees; Bishop received $783,191 in total compensation during fiscal 2022, according to an I.R.S. Lincoln Center Theater’s other Tony-winning productions during Bishop’s tenure include “Carousel,” “The Heiress,” “A Delicate Balance,” “Contact,” “Henry IV,” “Awake and Sing,” “South Pacific,” “War Horse,” “The King and I” and “Oslo.”

Persons: Carole Rothman, Helen Hayes, Todd Haimes, Stephen Sondheim, Bishop, Vivian Beaumont, ”, Tom Stoppard’s, Tony, ” “ Henry IV Organizations: Broadway, Nonprofit, Lincoln Center, Helen Hayes Theater, Roundabout Theater Company, American Airlines, Lincoln Center Theater, Performing Arts, Vivian Beaumont Theater, Radio City Music Hall, Metropolitan Opera Locations: New York, Utopia, “ Oslo

NEW YORK (AP) — A Ukrainian composer has been commissioned to write an opera about mothers from that country going into Russia to rescue their forcibly detained children. The Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater said Monday that 42-year-old Maxim Kolomiiets will compose the work to a libretto by George Brant, whose “Grounded” with composer Jeanine Tesori premieres at the Washington National Opera on Oct. 28 and travels to the Met in the autumn of 2024. Met general manager Peter Gelb hopes the company can present the new work by 2027 or '28. A piano-vocal score and libretto will be written in the next year or two and a workshop prepared. “It's my hope it will end up as a full-blown opera and hopefully on our stage,” Gelb said.

Persons: Maxim Kolomiiets, George Brant, Jeanine Tesori, Peter Gelb, Vladimir Putin, Maria Lvova, Gelb, Olena, Kolomiiets, Met dramaturg Paul Cremo, ” Gelb, Anna Netrebko, Keri, Lynn Wilson, “ Organizations: Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, Washington National Opera, Met, Orchestra, Lynn Wilson . Works Locations: Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, The Hague, Russian, New York

☆ Review: Is William Finn’s ‘A New Brain’ a Stroke of Genius?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Jesse Green | More About Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

First comes the piano, then the bed. In between, in Barrington Stage Company’s revival of “A New Brain,” a dejected man named Gordon Schwinn plunks out the first halting notes of a song he’s writing. In this musical, with songs by William Finn and a book by him and James Lapine, the prominence of the piano and the bed is no accident; they are the poles of Schwinn’s, or any artist’s, existence. For “A New Brain,” first seen at Lincoln Center Theater in 1998, Finn shaped the givens of his idiosyncratic songwriting style and of the stroke that nearly killed him in 1992 into a show that somehow transcends both. If you could never mistake its silliness and sadness for anyone else’s work, you could never miss, in its intimations of mortality, how it inevitably speaks to everyone.

Persons: ”, Gordon Schwinn plunks, William Finn, James Lapine, Finn, givens Organizations: Lincoln Center Theater Locations: Barrington

☆ Transmitting Shakespeare to the Next Generation
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Christopher Kuo | More About Christopher Kuo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a recent Wednesday, a dozen members of the cast of “Camelot” gathered in a circle in a rehearsal room in the basement of Lincoln Center Theater. As Philippe began speaking, Matthews squinted his eyes shut and silently mouthed the words. “Even now I curse the day——” Philippe said before he was quickly cut off by Matthews, who jabbed a finger in the air. “You went down on ‘day,’” Matthews said, referring to Philippe’s incorrect inflection. Over the next two hours, Matthews paced the room coaching the group through monologues from “Julius Caesar,” “Henry IV” and “Macbeth,” interrupting a performer to correct the pronunciation of “doth,” or to help find the “internal shape” in a text.

Persons: Camelot ”, Fergie Philippe, Sir Sagramore, King Arthur, quizzically, Shakespeare’s “ Titus Andronicus, ”, Dakin Matthews, Merlyn, Pellinore, Philippe, Matthews, — ” Philippe, ’ ” Matthews, “ Julius Caesar, ” “ Henry IV ” Organizations: Lincoln Center

☆ Broadway Musicians Object to David Byrne’s ‘Here Lies Love’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Michael Paulson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians says its contract with the Broadway League requires the use of 19 musicians for musicals at the Broadway Theater. (The number of musicians required under the contract varies based on theater size.) The union says it is seeking to preserve jobs for musicians and quality for theater lovers. “We’re not going to stand by and let this happen,” said Tino Gagliardi, the local’s president and executive director. The request is to be assessed by a panel that includes neutral observers as well as representatives of the Broadway League and the musicians’ union; it is not clear how long that process will take, and the ruling can be appealed to arbitration.

☆ The Broadway Star Phillipa Soo Sings Her Favorite Pop Song
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Nancy Coleman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Phillipa Soo enjoys fantasy stories: “Lord of the Rings,” “House of the Dragon,” anything magical with kings and queens involved. That’s partly why, she says, she was drawn to this season’s Broadway revival of “Camelot,” based on the Arthurian legend and opening April 13 at Lincoln Center Theater. Soo, 32, stars opposite Andrew Burnap as Guenevere, King Arthur’s wife and ally — a role that’s long been associated with Julie Andrews, who originated the role onstage in 1960. Soo’s goal, then, is to make Guenevere “a real person,” someone driven above all by a desire to be loved. But this past year, she joined the “Into the Woods” Broadway revival as Cinderella, and then did a brief run as Sarah in “Guys and Dolls” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

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