Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

With the 2011 Oscars come and gone, we have yet another award show season behind us. Unlike any other year, this year I've seen all ten Best Picture nominees and a majority of the acting, directing and screenwriting nominees. (The count: All directors; all screenplay nominees except Original Screenplay nominee Mike Leigh's Anther Year ; all supporting acting nominees except Best Supporting Actress nominee Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom ; all Best Actor nominees except Javier Bardem in Biutiful ; and all Best Actress nominees except Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole . Not a bad record, huh?) This is all to say that, like the 2010 Tony Awards , I have a justified opinion of the winners and nominees, which I happily express below in the list of winners. Of course, we'll wait to get to the winners after we discuss the more important part: the fashion! A big trend this year seemed to be sparkles. And lots of them. Perhaps best exemplified by the lovely ladies above, Michelle Williams

This weekend marked the closing of New York City Ballet’s 2011 Winter season. On Friday night’s program were three pieces, all by contemporary choreographers. In fact, two of the three pieces are less than a year old! Playing at the State Theatre were Peter Martins’s Mirage , which premiered last spring as part of the Architecture of Dance celebration; Plainspoken , a new Benjamin Millepied work that premiered this August in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and a slightly older Peter Martins piece, Hallelujah Junction , set to a score by John Adams and which premiered at City Ballet in 2002 after enjoying its world premiere at the Royal Danish Ballet in March 2001. First up was Mirage . You may remember that I saw and thoroughly enjoyed this last June, when it was having its premiere run. It was beautiful and exciting then and it is beautiful and exciting now. I was struck once again by the sense of time and its power over us. The two dancers who appear at the beginning, in this case Chase Fi

American Idiot on Tour As announced a few weeks ago, American Idiot will hit the road this fall. Producers made the official announcement this week, though no dates or cities have been announced. But the exciting part is that producers are holding open casting call for all the roles for the touring production. According to the Playbill.com announcement , open calls will be held in LA on March 5; in Toronto on March 26; in Boston on April 9; and in Chicago on April 23. Thespians in their early to late 20s hoping to become an Idiot should visit the show's Facebook page, facebook.com/americanidiotbroadway to learn the specific locations and times of the calls. The show is still playing here in New York, so visit americanidiotonbroadway.com for more information and to purchase tickets. New Foo For You A brand new Foo Fighters song, "Rope," from their upcoming record, Wasting Light , is now available for streaming on foofighters.com ! It has a delicious opening guitar lick