Saving the Arts – Broadway Style

By Ilana Angel
Published on November 29, 2012

Nov. 22-29, 2012

By Ryan Torok
Published on November 21, 2012

Pulitzer Prize finalist Jon Robin Baitz’s first Broadway play unfolds in Palm Springs on Erev Christmas.

Henry Jaglom discusses ‘Just 45 Minutes from Broadway’ [VIDEO]

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 10, 2012

‘Rock Of Ages’ Review

By Joan Alperin-Schwartz
Published on June 15, 2012

‘Modigliani’ paints moving portrait of tormented artist

Published on April 25, 2012

An artist’s angst over personal demons and the vicissitudes of the marketplace is depicted with a mixture of humor and pathos in the upcoming revival of “Modigliani” at the Open Fist Theatre in Hollywood.

Could Katy Perry play Marilyn Monroe?

By Lauren Bottner
Published on November 30, 2011

No laughs for ‘Funny Girl’

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 4, 2011

Dancing With The Stars – Broadway Week - UPDATE

By Ilana Angel
Published on October 25, 2011

“Spiderman” spine-tingling for all the wrong reasons

By Melanie Chartoff
Published on January 6, 2011

Laud the Life of Grauman, Hollywood’s Gold Standard

By Tom Teicholz
Published on March 11, 2009

Ever wonder how the movie industry went from five-cent nickelodeons in New York to the glamour of Hollywood with red carpet premieres and the highest of artistic aspirations? Or why a certain pagoda-like Hollywood movie theater in whose courtyard rest footprints of actors is one of the most beloved and frequented tourist sites on the planet?

‘Chorus Line’ composer’s music still has a kick

By Shoshana Lewin Fischer
Published on June 12, 2008

The characters reveal their stories through a mixture of singing and dancing -- with some pantomime thrown in. Hamlisch said that from the beginning the creators felt that certain stories were best told through song, others through dance.

Pilar Millhollen puts it all on the ‘Line’

By Shoshana Lewin Fischer
Published on June 12, 2008

"When I was 14, I saw the first national tour of 'Crazy For You,' she said. "I saw that show and that's what made me want to be a dancer. It was the most wonderful thing I've every seen."

A Musical Odyssey, Comic Con at the Shrine, Two’s Company, Man Ray

By Dikla Kadosh
Published on November 1, 2007

Arts and entertainment briefs.

‘Hairspray’ style holds up

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on July 19, 2007

There must be something in the water. How else can Hollywood explain the screen-to-stage-to-screen adaptations of "The Producers," the recently announced "Footloose" and, hitting theaters July 20, "Hairspray"?

The ‘Show’ behind the show

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on May 24, 2007

The documentary, "ShowBusiness," captures the behind-the-curtain drama of the 2003-2004 Broadway season, illustrating the ups and downs the public isn't privy to - from blockbusters that shine to "turkeys" that crash and burn.

Composer’s hit musical spells success ‘B-E-E’

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on May 24, 2007

William Finn, composer, lyricist and creator of the hit musical, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," says his own surname is the result of a misspelling. "When my great-uncle came from Russia, he kept saying he was looking for someone named Fein, so the genius at Ellis Island gave him the name Finn," he breezily explains from his Manhattan apartment.

Composer Draws Show Inspiration From Failure

Published on July 13, 2006

Jason Robert Brown began his musical, "The Last Five Years," about a doomed relationship, while in the midst of his own messy divorce seven years ago. Back then, Brown, like the show's fictional husband, was a "young, ambitious Jewish kid from New York" with a non-Jewish actress wife, he said in a telephone interview from his New York home.

Tommywood - Crystal Clear

By Tom Teicholz
Published on December 8, 2005

Billy Crystal has something he wants to share with you.

Spectator - Movie for ‘Rent’

By Keren Engelberg
Published on November 17, 2005

The sound and feel of Broadway's "Rent" are intact, even while the music assumes a slightly edgier rock core, and some dialogue is spoken rather than sung.

Senior Moments - Proudly Jewish in ‘Sunset’

By Ellie Kahn
Published on November 17, 2005

Within the first moments of the comedy/drama "Sunset Park," I wanted to get to know Sheila Oaks, who plays widowed mother.

Hello Jacobowsky!

By Susan Josephs
Published on November 3, 2005

Jerry Herman doesn't play favorites with his musicals. Ask him to rank "Mame," "Hello, Dolly!" or "La Cage aux Folles" and he'll tell you, "I love them all."

7 Days in the Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on October 14, 2004

7 Days in the Arts.

Partying With the Many Faces of ‘Alma’

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 23, 2004

Alma Mahler-Gropius-Werfel, who married and bedded a string of the 20th century's most creative geniuses, is celebrating her 125th birthday -- and what a party it's going to be.

7 Days In Arts

Published on August 12, 2004

Chug on down to the Getty today or tomorrow, as they present Sharon Katz and the Peace Train as part of their Garden Concerts for Kids series.

Odets Revival Hits Venice, Long Beach

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 24, 2004

Clifford Odets burst onto Broadway in 1935, when three plays by the 29-year-old actor-writer -- "Waiting for Lefty," "Awake and Sing" and "Paradise Lost" -- opened in the same year.

7 Days In Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on June 24, 2004

Bite off a rose, scoop up your honey and dance on down to the New JCC at Milken.

The Passion of the Tovah

By Amy Klein
Published on June 3, 2004

In a life-imitating art moment, Tovah Feldshuh sits in her Broadway dressing room animatedly discussing politics. Feldshuh -- the one-woman star of the play "Golda's Balcony" -- has already transformed herself from an old, disheveled Golda Meir and is reviewing her day in Albany, where she lobbied the state government for more funding for the arts.

She is amazed that the senators gave her a standing ovation.

"Because they have me confused with Golda Meir, I suppose," she muses.

Tradition Falls Flat on Broadway

By Keren Engelberg
Published on May 20, 2004

Molina, and his fellow cast members hit all the notes well, and meet the demands of Jerome Robbins' original choreography. For the most part, that is enough. It is easy to be charmed by Joseph Stein's book, Sheldon Harnick's lyrics and Jerry Bock's music, and some 40 years later, charm they still do.

Screen Scribe

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 13, 2004

Norman Hudis is a patient man, not by temperament but by necessity. It took the ex-Londoner and current Woodland Hills resident some 30 years to see his play produced on stage, and if the venue is Santa Ana rather than Manhattan, he is as pleased as any playwright savoring his name on a Broadway marquee.

7 Days In Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on May 8, 2003

7 Days in Arts

Nell Carter

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on January 30, 2003

Nell Carter, the African American Jew best known for bawdy turns in the Broadway musical "Ain't Misbehavin'" and the 1980s sitcom "Gimme A Break!" died Jan. 23 of uncertain causes.

Wendy Wasserstein to Give a Little Peek

By Andrea Adelson
Published on January 2, 2003

Fertility therapy, Jewish identity, pressure to marry, single parenting. All are themes that flow through both the personal life and creative work of playwright Wendy Wasserstein, who won a Pulitzer Prize and Tony in 1998 for "The Heidi Chronicles."

In a rare peek behind the curtains on Broadway, Wasserstein will share some scenes out of her own theater experience at the Newport Beach Public Library on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. The $36 cost per person includes a complimentary copy of Wasserstein's latest book, "Shiksa Goddess (Or How I Spent My Forties)," essays chronicling challenges facing contemporary women in America.

Mr. ‘Saturday Night’

By Michael Aushenker
Published on May 24, 2001

If there are two blockbuster motion pictures that stand as the defining pop-cultural phenomena of the 1970s, they are, arguably, "Star Wars" and "Saturday Night Fever." And while "Star Wars -- the Broadway Musical" is probably not as far-off as we may think, "Saturday Night Fever -- The Broadway Musical" is already here. As in here ... in Los Angeles.

the Spectator     With Reprise, Marcia Seligson banks on the public’s desire for the return of the

By Diane Arieff
Published on May 15, 1997

Marcia Seligson is the prime mover and shaker behind Reprise, a new theater organization determined to mount local, first-class revival productions of Broadway musicals.