Jarvis Derrell and Rob Morean are figures well-known in two distinct, but not entirely separate, New York social spheres: theatre and queer nightlife. The two friends are lifelong performers and personalities—Morean was an understudy in the Broadway revival of Torch Song Trilogy, and Derrell is perhaps best known for his “She Has Had It!” Instagram account—who can often be seen toasting each others’ theatrical nature around the NYC queer scene.They’ve now partnered up to host Backstage Tea, a weekly Broadway-themed cabaret at Motel 23, a gay cocktail lounge which opened last year in Chelsea. The show promises well-known stars and up-and-coming performers “singing their favorite songs, answering your burning questions, and spilling all the tea,” with their first lineup featuring J. Harrison Ghee (Mrs. Doubtfire, Kinky Boots) and Danny Peter Smith, and future guests including Jelani Remy (Ain’t Too Proud, The Lion King) and Sojourner Brown.The Monday night residency at first seems unlikely programming for the revelrous club perhaps best known for hosting Lil Nas X’s SNL after-party, so I spoke with Derrell and Morean ahead of their first performance to get the scoop on their ambitious plan. 

At a first glance, it may not seem like the worker at your local Sweetgreen has much in common with the Vice President of the United States. But a theatrical installation with New York Theatre Workshop is looking to challenge that idea. Written and directed by Whitney White, “Semblance” explores how Black women are perceived in society and challenges audiences to think about how they encounter Black women in everyday life. Nikiya Mathis, who stars in “Semblance,” says the show is a portrait of Black women, examining how Black women are perceived by others and how these perceptions line up with who these women really are. 

It was fitting that I had to brave a superstorm to get to the theatre to see Sun & Sea, an opera about the impending climate disaster at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. After a critically acclaimed run in Europe, the piece has made its way to the shores of America. “Sun & Sea” plays its final performance at BAM on September 26. Following that, it will embark on a nationwide tour including stops in Philadelphia, Bentonville, AR, and Los Angeles.

Earlier this evening, the future of Broadway congregated on the main stage of Curtain Up! as alumni of the Jimmy Awards returned to perform classics of Broadway old and new. Host Jelani Alladin of Hercules and Frozen fame welcomed fans and ushered in a new era for the Great White Way. The concert featured performances from Bryson Battle, John Clay III, Sofia Deler, Caitlin Finnie, Elena Holder, Lily Kaufmann, McKenzie Kurtz, Sam Primack, Josh Strobl, and Ekele Ukegbu.

Situated in the McKittrick’s Club Car, a dark and hazy locale with dim lights and alcohol flowing, guests are sat at tables with half a dozen or so chairs and might I add some delicious popcorn at Speakeasy Magick. Our review.

The beloved theatre convention BroadwayCon will return to New York City at The Manhattan Center & The New Yorker Hotel on February 18 through February 20 of next year. 

This past Thursday evening, Broadway Plus celebrated their 5th anniversary with a star-studded party atop Manhattan’s Skylark rooftop lounge. The night began with a lively red carpet session, where attendees posed cheerfully together at what is likely one of their first red carpets of the past year-and-a-half. Beloved Broadway actors Tamar Greene of Hamilton, Andrea Macasaet of Six, and Max von Essen of Anastasia, are just some of the many stars that posed for photos before eventually making their way to the main floor for an endless array of drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

I had not seen a micro-play before this afternoon, but let me tell you, after experiencing the sextet of micro-plays at Theatre for One: Here is Future at Brookfield Properties’ Manhattan West Plaza, I can confidently say I’m a micro-play stan.

New York City Center today announced the first set of casting for the 2022 Encores! season and the Spring Gala | Encores! Into the Woods on the opening night of the production, May 4.

We spoke the 2021 Jimmy Award Winners Elena Holder and Bryson Battle all about their experience and what comes next!

Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black is headed back to the McKittrick Hotel, home of Sleep No More. Performances are set to begin October 21, with an opening night set for October 24. This production had a previous run at the McKittrick back in January of 2020. 

On Monday evening, the Majestic Theatre opened its doors for the first time since March 12, 2020 for the premiere of The Show Must Go On, a new documentary from theater director Sammi Cannold. See the stars arrive on the red carpet.

About midway through the first night of her Feinstein’s/54 Below residency, Amber Iman, a performer perhaps best known for her roles in Shuffle Along and Hamilton, said she “hates musical theatre, but loves not being homeless.” She was (sort of) kidding but, with a setlist that barely even touched the Broadway songbook, proved her talents brighter than a midtown marquee.

Juan A. Ramirez reviews Jocelyn Bioh's adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor currently playing at the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park — a celebratino of the joyful pan-African spirit.

After over three decades of producing thought-provoking and politically aware theatre that delves into topical and timely issues, Potomac Theatre Project continues its work with three virtual productions as part of its 34th year. Founded in Washington, D.C., in 1987, PTP was created with the primary goal of creating a theatre company that focused on politically charged pieces and allowed theatre to be used as a place to have deeper conversations about the human condition. Jim Petosa, PTP’s co-founder and co-artistic director, said that PTP’s early productions focused on issues such as Social Darwinism, the AIDS epidemic and corporate greed, all of which were hot-button issues around the time of PTP’s founding. While the themes and focuses of PTP productions have changed over time, PTP’s dedication to exploring timely issues has remained the same.

Tomorrow, actor Larry Owens will take the final (for now) bow for his sold-out one-man cabaret, Sondheimia, at Feinstein’s/54 Below, where it premiered last month. An intimate blend of personal history and finely-tuned musical performance he began developing in July 2020, it is the logical outlet for a lifelong obsession with the work of Stephen Sondheim.

Performances of Theatre for One, the sensational and intimate theatrical experience that brings together one actor and one audience member will be presented by Arts Brookfield at New York City’s newest dynamic destination for food, culture, retail, and hospitality Manhattan West, located at 9th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Street.

It was announced today that the Costume Industry Coalition’s new exhibition, Showstoppers! Spectacular Costumes from Stage & Screen, has added both extraordinary costumes and exciting partners to their summer spectacle, running from August 5 – September 26 at 234 West 42nd Street. Tickets are on sale now and are available at ShowstoppersNYC.com.

E. Dale Smith is a true theatre lover. The New Jerseyan playwright has had works produced around the country and is now back in New York with Fruma-Sarah (Waiting In The Wings), a comedic look at an aging community theater star waiting for her big entrance in Fiddler on the Roof.

Lincoln Center Theater will inaugurate its concert/cabaret series as part of Restart Stages, Lincoln Center’s initiative to bring back the performing arts to New York, this week when it presents Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell in his new concert Out with the Old, In with the New beginning this Wednesday, July 21 through Friday, July 23 at 8pm at the Restart Stage at Damrosch Park. LCT’s concert/cabaret series will continue the week of August 15 with LCT Summersongs, intimate performances at the Isabel and Peter Malkin Stage at Hearst Plaza, which will feature Tony Award winner John Gallagher, Jr., the married composing and performing couple The Bengsons, singer-songwriter-playwright Grace McLean and her band Grace McLean & Them Apples, and Michael R. Jackson, Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of A Strange Loop.

According to The Public Theater’s Twitter account and notice online, earlier today a member of the production of Merry Wives from Shakespeare in the Park tested positive for Covid-19.

As you descend the stairs into Bond 45’s cellar, you are immediately handed a rather delicious craft cocktail (the first of five) and shown to your seats for an unforgettable evening of burlesque and belting at Speakeasy: Times Square

In E. Dale Smith’s new one-act play Fruma-Sarah (Waiting in the Wings), Jackie Hoffman stars as Ariana Russo, an embittered actor playing the ghost Fruma-Sarah in a community theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof.

New York City Center President & CEO Arlene Shuler today announced a full calendar of programming for the 2021 – 2022 season, reopening the landmark theater to the public in October 2021.

Last Thursday, Playbill held their first-ever concert in celebration of Pride month, Glimmer of Light. The event was also one of the first large gatherings associated with the return of New York City’s theatre industry since the onset of the pandemic over a year ago.

The New York City-based organization dedicated to providing individuals with developmental disabilities a space in the theatre arts celebrated its 10th anniversary with a virtual festival and benefit. The 10th anniversary celebrations focused on honoring CO/LAB’s past and present accomplishments as well as looking into the future.

New York is all abuzz with Pride festivities this June. We sat down with Alex Birsh, Vice President and COO of Playbill, to talk about their first live, in-person production at Radial Park.

Earlier today, hundreds took to the streets of New York to demand accountability within the theatre industry. Organized by Courtney Daniels and Nattalyee Randall, the march advocated for change and greater protection from Actor’s Equity as well as to protest producer Scott Rudin’s actions and call for his removal from the Broadway League.

Get an inside look at the new Drama Book Shop which opens to the public June 10 in New York City.

The Drama Book Shop—a storied purveyor of scripts and other theatre-related products—will open its doors in a new location on West 39th Street. Owners Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, lead producer Jeffrey Seller, and theatre-owner James L. Nederlander are excited to share it with New York once more.

The Broadway Cruise is pleased to welcome Kristin Chenoweth to the all-star line-up, performing a concert and doing a Q&A talk back during a stop in Norfolk. Join your favorite Broadway stars and creative luminaries for the inaugural sailing of The Broadway Cruise, a roundtrip cruise from NYC to Bermuda, April 9-14, 2022. 

The biggest day of the year for Broadway fans will return - in person - on Sunday, October 3, 2021, as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ much-anticipated Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction will once again take to the streets of New York City’s Theater District.

"Persou" is currently running at The Cell Theatre in Chelsea until June 12th.

The Public Theater announced today that Free Shakespeare in the Park will return this summer with the delightful comedy MERRY WIVES, adapted by award-winning Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director Saheem Ali.

As New York City enters its long anticipated reopening phase, it seems fitting that the first large-scale art attraction to welcome visitors is the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit at Pier 36 in Manhattan. 

Today, Tectonic Theater Project and Madison Wells Live announced casting for Seven Deadly Sins, the sexy and adventurous outdoor theatrical experience, coming to New York City’s Meatpacking District.

TodayTix Originals is bringing Broadway back to Tavern on the Green with Broadway at Tavern, a special series of live concerts from stars of the New York stage under the stars at New York’s most iconic eatery. Safely reuniting Broadway’s best artists with audiences, this exclusive TodayTix Originals concert series will launch on Tuesday, May 25 at 8:30pm ET with a one-night-only performance by original Hamilton cast member and star of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose, followed by performances on Tuesday, June 8 & Wednesday, June 9 at 8:30pm ET by Broadway star and recording artist, Shoshana Bean.

New Wave Arts in association with Salon Z announced today the latest installation in their “Inspired by Baroque” Series, a two-night-only premiere of My Cyrano, an improvisation featuring extracts from Edmond Rostand’s classic heroic comedy Cyrano de Bergerac and extracts from the poem “My Cyrano” by Tanya Lebedinskaya.

Immersive Van Gogh, the highly-anticipated art installation, today announced via a virtual press conference that it will open June 10 at Pier 36 (299 South St.) a 70,000-square-foot facility located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side with views of the East River, the Brooklyn skyline and the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. Recently announced Creative Director New York David Korins, the award-winning designer of numerous Broadway hits including Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, also released additional details about his plans for the exhibit. Scheduled to open on June 10, a new block of tickets will go on sale to the public Saturday, April 24 at 10 a.m. ET. The initial block of tickets sold out.

Immersive Everywhere’s critically acclaimed immersive production of The Great Gatsby, created and directed by Alexander Wright, will make its American debut this Fall in New York City. Venue and casting to be announced at a later date.

Radial Park Founder and CEO Jeremy Shepard (Stark Production Group), along with producing partner Marco Shalma (Round Seven Media), today announced the cast for this Spring’s iconic, blockbuster, fan-favorite film, The Blues Brothers, the latest “Broadway at the Drive-In” cinemersive experience at Radial Park as it continues its residency at Halletts Point Play, graciously provided by the Durst Organization.

“Much has been written about my history of troubling interactions with colleagues, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain my behavior caused to individuals, directly and indirectly,” wrote Scott Rudin in a statement.

Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s play shadow/land, presented as an audio production for the Public Theater, is a tremendous new work. As the first installment of an epic 10-play ‘Katrina cycle,’ it signals the beginning of what promises to be a staggering achievement in theatre which concerns itself with race, ecology, queer feminism, and human displacement.

The performance art piece Fragments, a live audio story will return this spring, playing three successive weekends in May. Featuring a stunning array of live dance, video projections, original composition, and a timeless story, Fragments has been adapted in accordance with current New York State health guidelines.

MCC Theater has announced part of the lineup for their upcoming Miscast 21, which will premiere on Saturday, May 16, 2021 on the theater’s YouTube channel.

Resounding, the immersive-audio entertainment company, announced today casting for the world premiere live outdoor performance and simulcast of Beyond the Veil, an original ghost thriller by Steve Wargo, as part of the month-long residency at the theatrical drive-in experience Radial Park at Halletts Point Play.

In Romeo y Julieta, the Public Theater’s latest foray into audio plays, she proves that a rose in any other medium (and language) smells and sounds as sweet. Unfortunately, her rose is surrounded by the thorns of misguided intentions.

A cavalcade of beloved Broadway, television and film stars have joined the roster of performers for the virtual edition of Broadway Backwards, the show where gender doesn’t matter but love does. The stream premieres at 8 pm Eastern on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

Producer Daryl Roth is thrilled to announce that Blindness, the acclaimed Donmar Warehouse production of Nobel Prize-winner José Saramago’s dystopian novel written by Tony Award winner Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and directed by Walter Meierjohann, will begin performances on Friday, April 2 at the Daryl Roth Theatre (101 East 15th Street at Union Square East) as one of the first performing arts events to open in New York City.

Level Forward, the story-driven, impact-minded entertainment company, has acquired the theatrical stage rights to Walter Tevis’ The Queen's Gambit, and is developing the novel as a musical.

Lincoln Center Theater’s LCT SPOTLIGHT SERIES, a free program of digital events, featuring LCT artists in performance, conversation and more, will continue on Thursday, March 25 at 7pm with “Looking Back at CONTACT,” LCT’s 2000 award-winning musical.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced today the long-awaited return of live indoor performance across New York State will commence April 2, 2021 with the reopening of a significant number of Flexible Venues (“Flex Venues”) as part of an ongoing systematic effort to help jumpstart New York’s struggling live entertainment sector.

NY PopsUp, an unprecedented and expansive festival featuring hundreds of pop-up performances (many of which are free of charge and all open to the public) that will intersect with the daily lives of New Yorkers, has been announced by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

Composer-lyricist Joey Contreras has released his single “Me and Mr. Popularity” that features Dear Evan Hansen star Andrew Barth Feldman. The song is the first single off of his upcoming album, In Pieces: A New Musical (Highlights) and can be found on digital streaming platforms, with a music video release on YouTube. The album is expected to be released later this year.

Scott Siegel, the producer behind the “Broadway by the Year” and “11 O’Clock” cabaret series in New York, has taken a turn towards the digital. His latest venture, a paid subscription service called “Nightclub New York,” streams select archival performances by dozens of singers taken from his past nightclub productions.

MCC Theater (Bob LuPone, Bernie Telsey, Will Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) announced today that they will re-air the benefit reading of Alan Bowne’s Beirut that took place this past April.

Lincoln Center Theater’s LCT Spotlight Series, a free program of digital events, featuring LCT artists in performance, conversation and more, will continue on Thursday, January 28 at 7pm with “Looking Back at THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA,” LCT’s 2005 award winning musical.

The production, part of The Public Theater’s 2021 Under the Radar Festival, reveals little to its two audience members before it begins. I was told to call a number at a certain time, where I would find a stranger on the other end.

The LCT SPOTLIGHT SERIES, Lincoln Center Theater’s free program of digital events which features LCT artists in performance, conversation and more, resumes on Thursday, January 14th at 8pm with TURNING THE PAGE: LCT Artists Read Their Own Poetry and Prose.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) begins performances for the 17th annual UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL, today Wednesday, January 6.

After revealing her ALS diagnosis this past February, Luker tirelessly advocated for the over 30,000 Americans living with ALS, taking part in fundraisers benefiting new drug treatments, and urging fans and followers to write their legislators to increase funding for these therapies.

Tony Award-winning actress, dancer, and choreographer Ann Reinking died on Saturday night at age 71.

After announcing the theater would be suspending programs, users took to Twitter to announce their displeasure.

Slave Play playwright Jeremy O. Harris and New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) have announced the inaugural Golden & Ruth Harris Commission, which offers two $50,000 commissions for a new theatrical work, allowing the recipients to “dream expansively and extensively about a theatrical creation while working to relieve them in part from the need to seek other income over the course of the commissioning year.”

The cast is set for Resounding’s immersive audio production of The Fantastical Tale of The Nutcracker and The Mouse King performed live for four performances only December 17th-19th. 

Michael Arden, the two-time Tony Award nominated director and actor, is using his COVID-19 self-isolation as an opportunity to devise a “socially distant” piece of immersive theatre in Philmont, New York