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

You’ve seen those classic detective films, the ones with the snappy dialogue recited by men in sharp trench coats. Nick Jones ’s Important Hats of the Twentieth Century is detective flick pastiche, complete with radio addresses and some mad-cap antics thrown in for good measure. We begin in the early twentieth century, just after the Great Depression. Fashion reporter T.B. Doyle ( John Behlmann ( Significant Other )) is investigating a theft (he’s been asked to cover more hard news). We don’t yet know what’s been stolen, but we know a scientist was the victim. Next we meet Doyle’s secret paramour, fashion designer Sam Greevy (a delightful Carson Elrod ( Peter and the Starcatcher )). He believes clothes should make women feel beautiful, and takes pride is being Savile Row-ready. His nemesis, Paul Roms (a deliciously zany Matthew Saldivar ( Honeymoon in Vegas )), was not a model student in design school, but is now working on a new fashion item: a sweatshirt. Greevy, of course, i...

Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients Announced 17 people will receive the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. The recipients will be presented with the honor by President Obama at a November 24 ceremony. Among those who will be honored are Barbra Streisand ; baseball greats Willie Mays and the late Yogi Berra ; Senator Barbara Mikulski ; Steven Spielberg ; Itzhak Perlman ; the late congresswoman Shirley Chisholm ; and James Taylor . Legendary songwriter Stephen Sondheim was selected for the honor last year, but was unable to attend the ceremony; he will celebrate the honor next week with Babs and the rest of the 2015 honorees. Broadway.com has more. Jesse Tyler Ferguson Returns to Broadway The Modern Family star and five-time Emmy nominee will return to Broadway in spring 2016. Though Ferguson has regularly appeared on stage in Shakespeare in the Park productions since hitting it big on Modern Family , this will mark the first time he's ...

Casting News Broadway —Additional casting has been announced for the Broadway bow of American Psycho . Next to Normal  co-stars Alice Ripley  and Jennifer Damiano  will reunite for the new musical. Helene Yorke  ( Masters of Sex ) also joins the company, which will be led by the previously announced Benjamin Walker. Opening night has not been set, but previews, at the Schoenfeld Theatre, begin March 24, 2016. Theater Mania has more. TV — Andrew Call  ( American Idiot , Brooklynite ) and Ana Gastayer ( A New Brain ) have joined the cast of the upcoming Fox telecast of Grease . Call will play T-Bird Sonny, and Gastayer will delight as Principal McGee. They join a cast that is led by Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuko. Broadwayworld.com has more about Call and Deadline has the report on Gastayer. Off-Broadway —The Vineyard Theatre production of Colman Domingo's Dot  will be led by Leslie Uggams . Directed by Susan Stroman, previews begin February 4, 20...

Taylor Mac 's Hir  (pronounced "here"), finds Isaac ( Cameron Scoggins ( Pocatello )) returning home from war to a family and home he doesn't recognize. His first clue that things aren't the way he left them is that he can't get in the front door; it's blocked. When he enters through the back door, he sees the place in disarray. Clothes, clean and dirty, are strewn about; furniture is wherever it was last used; cupboards are empty, with food and dishes anywhere but where they are "supposed" to be. His father, Arnold ( Daniel Oreskes ) has been dressed up in a dress, make up and a clown wig. Paige ( Tony nominee Kristine Nielsen ( Vanya... , You Can't... ), Isaac's mother, appears carefree and possessed by a manic energy, and, oh, Isaac's sister is now his brother, Max ( Tom Phelan ). It's a little disorienting, especially for a veteran who had been with Mortuary Affairs, meaning his job was to literally pick up the pieces o...

Casting News Mahershala Ali ( House of Cards ) and Joshua Jackson ( The Affair , The Mighty Ducks ) will lead the cast of Smart People , the Lydia R. Diamond play that will bow off-Broadway in the winter. Previews for the Second Stage production, directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon ( A Raisin in the Sun , Holler If Ya Hear Me ) begin January 26, 2016, with opening night of the limited engagement set for February 11. Broadway.com has more. Christopher Fitzgerald  ( Wicked , Finian's Rainbow ) and Keala Settla  ( Hands on a Hardbody , Les Miserables ) have joined the cast of the Broadway-bound Waitress . They join the previously announce Jessie Mueller. Previews begin March 25, 2016, with opening night set for April 24. Visit Playbill for the full cast list. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The annual Thanksgiving morning tradition will feature a slew of sure-to-be-great performances. Among those scheduled to perform are the casts of Fiddler on the Roof ; School of ...