Stephen Sondheim

WOMEN COMPOSERS SHINE LIGHT ON B’WAY BOYS CLUB

May 16, 2019 by Philip Boroff

For female musical theater composers, this season has been a mixed bag. Of eight original Broadway scores, just one, Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown, was written by a woman. Yet with its standing-room-only audiences and 14 Tony Award nominations, the folk opera appears to be a hit, a sign that non-traditional work — by a man or woman — can defy conventional wisdom of what belongs on Broadway.

Amazingly, Hadestown is only the 38th Broadway musical composed by a woman since 1930, according to a new interactive timeline by Maestra Music Inc.Continue Reading

GENDER-BENDING ‘COMPANY’ IMPROVES ON PERFECTION: REVIEW

February 7, 2019 by James Feinberg

Editor’s note: There are talks to bring London’s ‘Company’ to Broadway, and last we heard nothing was set. For now, tickets appear to be plentiful for the run at the Gielgud Theatre through March 30.

LONDON — The show that changed everything may never be the same.Continue Reading

IT’S A HIT! (MAYBE) ‘SUNDAY IN THE PARK’ BUILDS AT BOX OFFICE

March 7, 2017 by Philip Boroff

Screen Shot 2017-03-06 at 7.29.40 PM — Photo: Matthew Murphy

Sunday in the Park with George, which began a more experimental phase for Stephen Sondheim when the musical debuted off-Broadway in 1983, is doing big business in its latest go-round.

Sales for the revival, with movie star Jake Gyllenhaal as pointillist painter Georges Seurat (and his fictional great-grandson in Act Two), jumped 18 percent to $1.1 million last week. The average ticket, at $140, was topped only by Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen.Continue Reading

‘BEAUTIFUL’ REAL ESTATE AIDS ROUNDABOUT REVIVAL

March 18, 2016 by Philip Boroff

Todd Haimes at the Tony Awards/Photo by Philip Boroff — Todd Haimes at the 2015 Tonys. Photo: Broadway Journal

EXCLUSIVE: On September 15, 2008, hours after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the Roundabout Theatre Co. signed a lease to take over a third Broadway house. Given the expense of producing and its thinning ranks of subscribers, some in the business questioned whether the company, founded in 1965, overextended itself.

Seven and a half years later, the Roundabout can make a convincing case that adding the Stephen Sondheim Theatre inside the Bank of America tower constituted shrewd investing in a downturn.

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