All tagged Jack Viertel

REVIEW: Jerry Herman’s “Mack and Mabel” at Encores!

REVIEW: Jerry Herman’s “Mack and Mabel” at Encores!

Robert Russo
Review, Concert, Musical, Critic's Pick

After 46 years away from New York, audiences at City Center finally have a chance to see what Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s 1974 flop “Mack and Mabel” is all about thanks to a new Encores! production. The result is bittersweet—both thrilling and sad. Jerry Herman’s score shines, alongside performances by Douglas Sills, Alexandra Socha, Lilli Cooper, and a top-notch ensemble, and the atmosphere of old Hollywood is superbly spun. Still, this is not a musical masterpiece, but a beloved curiosity—a good musical that almost works. Perhaps someday, it might.

tl;dr for November 8th

Robert Russo
tl;dr

Jessie Mueller, Tracy Letts, Armie Hammer, and Austin Pendleton will star in Letts' "The Minutes" on Broadway; Donmar Warehouse's ​"City of Angels" will transfer to the West End; Lear deBessonet will replace Jack Viertel as artistic director of City Center Encores!; Katharine McPhee will return to close "Waitress" on Broadway; Ariana DeBose will play Alyssa Greene in the Netflix film adaptation of "The Prom"; Andrew Garfield will star in "Tick, Tick ... Boom!" film; Spencer Liff will direct and choreograph the premiere of "Spring Awakening" in China; "Jagged Little Pill" to release a cast album on December 6th; "Wicked" is now the fifth longest running show in Broadway history; RIP Andile Gumbi and Ann Crumb

tl;dr for July 25th

Robert Russo
tl;dr

"Frankie and Johnny" closing a month early; "Beautiful" will close on October 27th and "Waitress" will close on January 5th; Jeremy O. Harris' "Slave Play" will play a 17 week run at the Golden Theatre; Robert Schenkkan's "The Great Society" will play a 12 week run at Broadway's Vivian Beaumont Theatre; starry productions of "Little Shop of Horrors" slated for Off-Broadway and Pasadena Playhouse; cast announced for Ivo van Hove's upcoming "West Side Story"; "Fairview" extends to August 11th; "What the Constitution Means to Me" recoups; Jack Viertel will retire as artistic director of the annual Encores! at City Center; Paul McCartney has written a musical adaptation of "It's a Wonderful Life"; RIPHugh Southern, former executive director of TDF and co-conceiver of the TKTS booth in 1973

REVIEW: “The Prom” is pure musical comedy gold

REVIEW: “The Prom” is pure musical comedy gold

Robert Russo
Review, Broadway, Musical, Critic's Pick

“The Prom”, a sweet and subversive original new musical, is a delicious gift from the musical comedy gods.  This tale of four Broadway performers descending on rural Indiana to help a lesbian teenager take her girlfriend to the prom packs non-stop laughs and high energy dance numbers alongside an important message of inclusion.  A good, old-fashioned musical, you can’t go wrong with a visit to “The Prom”.

REVIEW: Encores! “Hey, Look Me Over!”

REVIEW: Encores! “Hey, Look Me Over!”

Robert Russo
Review, Musical, Concert

Two songs from "Mack & Mabel" steal the show at Encores! 25th anniversary concert “Hey, Look Me Over!”—an original concert pulling overtures, songs, and scenes from nine different, lesser-known musicals—overshadowing middling material from the other eight musicals celebrated. A fun experiment after 25 years, hopefully Encores! sticks to full concerts of single shows at a time in the future.