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

There was no Week in Review last week. This week's post includes items from last week and this week. Coming to the Boards Broadway —The great stage and screen veteran and two-time Tony Award winner Kevin Kline will return to Broadway this spring in a revival of Noel Coward 's Present Laughter ! The play was last seen on Broadway in 2010. Deadline reports that the revival, which will be a limited engagement, will open on April 5, and will take up residency at the St. James Theatre, one of Broadway's largest venues. Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel ( Hand to God ) will direct. Off-Broadway —Additional productions have been added to Lincoln Center 's 2016-2017 season. How to Transcend a Happy Marriage , written by Sarah Ruhl ( Stage Kiss ) and directed by Rebecca Taichman ( Stage Kiss , Indecent ), will play the Newhouse Theater beginning February 23, 2017, with opening night set for March 20. Upstairs, at the Claire Tow Theatre, Bryna Turner 's Bull i...

Notes on the Stravinsky Festival/Balanchine Black + White program: Stravinsky Violin Concerto : Principal dancers Sterling Hyltin and Rebecca Krohn are so well-suited to this. Their long, sinewy limbs make particularly sharp and powerful angles, which is what this ballet is about. It's not about looking as graceful as possible; it's about exploring your joints and the ways you cam move. Hyltin's pas de deux with Robert Fairchild is more contentious than the Krohn- Amar Ramasar duet. You can hear it in the music, the violin sounds more violent, like it's being played with more verve. I like the moment in the final movement when Fairchild and Ramasar dance together—they look like brothers having a blast. Such a great score; a fabulous representation of what can happen when you stick to the basics. Good music, simple costumes (i.e., none), and deliberate choreography. I always like classic with a twist, a break from the tutu ballets. Monumentum pro Gesualdo : T...

The Emmys were handed out on Sunday, September 18, in a ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Herein, winners in select categories. Visit emmys.org for the full list of winners. (Note: winners are noted with an asterisk and bold typeface.) Comedy Series Outstanding Comedy Series Black-ish Master of None Modern Family Silicon Valley Transparent Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Veep* Outstanding Lead Actor Anthony Anderson, Black-ish Aziz Ansari, Master of None Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth William H. Macy, Shameless Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent*   Outstanding Lead Actress Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep* Laurie Metcalf, Getting On Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie   Outstanding Supporting Actor Louie Anderson, Baskets* Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Ty Burrell, Modern Famil...

Creative Arts Emmys The primetime Emmy Awards are this Sunday ( here's the list of nominees ), but this past Saturday and Sunday, the creative people who, for the most part, work behind the scenes to bring you your favorite shows were honored. Grease Live took home four awards: Outstanding Lighting for a Variety Special; Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special ( Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen 's David Korins ); Outstanding Technical Director for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special; and Outstanding Special Class Program (this award goes to the producers, making Tony winner Thomas Kail an Emmy winner). Other winners included the writing staff for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series; recent Tony winner Paul Tazewell ( Hamilton ), for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety Special for The Wiz Live ; and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler , Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, for their SNL hosting appearance. Visit the Emmy...

I had never heard of gospel stars Sister Rosetta Tharpe or Marie Knight, and I'm not a churchgoer, but damn it if Kecia Lewis (Rosetta) and Rebecca Naomi Jones (Marie) aren't providing a magical, religious experience in George Brant 's play with (lots of) music, Marie and Rosetta . Set in 1946 Mississippi, Marie and Rosetta , directed by Neil Pepe , lets us in the room where Marie, a 23-year-old aspiring singer, comes under the tutelage and becomes a colleague of established gospel singer, Sister Rosetta. As the two women get to know each other and groove to the soul-shaking music we get treated to two vocal powerhouses raising the roof. Kecia Lewis ( Dreamgirls , Leap of Faith ) commands the stage as the swinging Sister Rosetta, a full-fledged diva in the most wonderful way. Rosetta is strong-willed, and passionate about her art (she insists that all the singing is in joy, it's all a celebration), and Lewis brings the bombast and puts her hips into the music. S...

Casting News Aaron Tveit ( Next to Normal , Brain Dead ) will star alongside Edy Ganem in the legal drama, Created Equal , now in production in New Orleans. The movie focuses on a woman (Ganem) who wants to become a Catholic priest and the lawyer (Tveit) who's fighting for her. Variety has more. Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald ( Waitres s ) is joining the cast of the upcoming Netflix series, Godless . Fitzgerald joins Jeff Daniels, Merritt Wever, and others. BroadwayWorld.com has more. Additional casting for Hairspray Live has been announced. Ephraim Sykes ( Hamilton ) will appear as Seaweed, and Shahadi Wright Joseph ( School of Rock ) will play Little Inez. The live telecast will air on NBC on December 7. Playbill has more. Jonathan Cake has joined the cast of The Affair for its third season, and will appear in a recurring role. The season premiere is set for November 20. TV Line has more. Danny DeVito  is joining the cast of Arthur Miller's  The Pr...

Casting News Phylicia Rashad ( Head of Passes ) will appear on Empire in a recurring role. Variety has more about the third season of the Fox show. Annie Parisse is making an early departure from The Layover in order film the recently announced Netflix series, Friends from College . She'll play her final performance September 4. Tony nominee Maria Dizzia ( Uncle Vanya , Horace and Pete ) will take over the role of Shellie beginning September 6. The Leslye Headland play continues through September 18. Broadway.com has more. Alison Brie ( Community ) will lead the cast of G.L.O.W. , a Netflix series about the "Glorious Ladies of Wrestling." The series is created by Weeds and Orange is the New Black creator, Jenji Kohan. Variety has more. According to Deadline, Betty Gilpin  ( Nurse Jackie , I'm Gonna Pray for You So Hard ) and comedian and WTF podcast host Marc Maron will star alongside Brie. ( Gilpin announcement ; Maron announcement .) Full casting ...