Your wish for discount theater tickets really can come true. (Kristin Chenoweth in the original Broadway production of "Wicked." Photo: Joan Marcus)

Even the most die-hard theatergoer cannot afford to see a show as often as he or she would like. With the top ticket price clocking in at $135.50, and premium seats soaring even higher, being a Broadway fan may be the best fad diet in town. Nobody should have to choose between a classic New York pizza and slice of cheesecake and a chorus of svelte dancers spinning triple pirouettes.

Fortunately, nycgo.com has come to the rescue, offering 2-for-1 Broadway seats from Jan. 22 – Feb. 7. While not every show is available (those boys at Book of Mormon are still at capacity,) there are a surprising number of great shows participating, including “Wicked”, “Jersey Boys” and the much talked about production of “Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella”.

You can also upgrade your ticket for an additional $20 per person, which will get you out of the rear balcony and into orchestra or mezzanine.

The Great White Way isn’t the only place where bargains can be found. Off Broadway is offering the same 2-for-1 deal from Jan. 28 – Feb. 10. Seeing an Off Broadway show is a great way to have a more intimate theatrical experience. And these days, some productions that originated on Broadway, like the Tony award-winning “Avenue Q,” are now in Off Broadway theaters. You can also catch edgier works like “BARE: The Musical,” “My Name is Asher Lev,” and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Water by the Spoonful.”

The cast of "Water by the Spoonful." (Photo: Richard Termine)

If you can’t make up your mind or pull it together in time to order tickets in advance, I’ve got one more option for you: 20at20. From Jan. 22 – Feb. 10, simply show up at the box office 20 minutes before curtain at a participating Off Broadway theater and request a “20at20” ticket. If available (yes, these shows will sell out so there is a risk factor to save a few bucks) you’ll have a good chance of snagging a $20 seat.

Whichever option you choose, winter can be the best time to enjoy live theater in New York City. And I want to know what you’re seeing! Visit The Broadway Blog’s Facebook page and tell us if the show you saw belongs on the discount rack or if you’ve discovered a hidden gem.

Happy New Year and greetings from The Broadway Blog! We hope your holiday season was packed with show tunes. The curtain rises on some exciting changes as our founding editor, Tom Mizer, graciously passes the torch to pursue his own theatrical endeavors. Have no fear, though — we’ll be hearing more from Tom as he continues to contribute reviews and commentary on the New York theater scene as well as discover the sexiest guys on Broadway for our Theater Buff column.

So what will become of us? Will we be like Charles Dickens’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood — damned to an unfinished eternity? Uh… no. Enter Peggy Sawyer (aka Matthew Wexler). I’ll be stepping into Tom’s character shoes as The Broadway Blog’s new editor to bring you the latest dish on what’s happening on Broadway (and off). I’ll be raiding dressing rooms, going global to discover the best international theater, and revealing some real-life drama with guest contributors from the entertainment industry.

As a special throwback, I thought I’d offer up a clip from the year I moved to New York City to make my own way on the Great White Way. I pounded the pavement for a few years and trust me kids, it ain’t easy. I didn’t resort to “The Life,” but after seeing this gritty musicalization of New York City in the 80s, I was ready to don fishnets and hit Times Square. Lillias White and Chuck Cooper snagged Tony Awards for their performances and I filed away the  first of many playbills to come. Stay tuned… 2013 is going to be filled with high drama!

“My Body” from The Life, performed at the 51st Annual Tony Awards.

Bertie Carvel & Lauren Ward in "Matilda: The Musical". Photo by Tristram Kenton.

Announcements about famous faces coming to Broadway have been coming fast and furious over the last few weeks, so let’s try to catch up by playing a little six-degrees of the casting couch…

• Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Wall Street 2), whose name loosely translates as “The Beefy Gift of God,” will be making his Broadway debut in a revival of Orphans opposite Alec Baldwin.  Mr. Baldwin appeared in the 1990 Woody Allen film Alice, which also featured…

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  Blythe Danner. Image via PlaybillVault.com.

  Blythe Danner, who this weekend began a 12-week run as the deus ex machina Mother in Nice Work If You Can Get It. The Tony and Emmy-winning Danner last appeared on Broadway in the cast of the 2001 revival of Follies as Phyllis, which also included…

• Lauren Ward, who will be making the transfer to Broadway from the West End production of Matilda  alongside the Olivier-winning Bertie Carvel. Familiar to New York audiences for her acclaimed work in the revival of 1776 and off-Broadway’s Violet, Ms. Ward had a small role in the film comedy In and Out featuring Bob Newhart, whose self-titled sitcom also starred…

• Peter Scolari, who will reunite with his Bosom Buddies co-star Tom Hanks in the new Nora Ephron play Lucky Guy. For Newhart, Mr. Scolari competed for the 1987-1989 Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy against…

• George Wendt (Cheers), who will be joining the wonderful Cory Michael Smith (C*ck) and Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) in the upcoming adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  No word on how Kevin Bacon fits into any of this.

In his continuing series, Andrew Glaszek pays tribute to music theater greats deserving of diva status. Today, he looks at an actress who has been in some of the biggest hits of the last few decades but still isn’t a household name…

Judy Kuhn "Just in Time". Image via Amazon.

To some, life would just be bland and banal without The Broadway Album, It’s Better with a Band, Way Back To Paradise, or Matters of The Heart. And though I respect Barbra, love Barbara, Audra, and worship at the altar of Patti, my life (and repertoire) wouldn’t be the same without the album Just In Time: Judy Kuhn Sings Jule Styne. It’s a recording that is, start to finish, fantastic.

This should be no surprise to anyone who fell in love with Ms. Kuhn in the revival of She Loves Me  (TONY Nom), was blown away by her “Just Around The Riverbend“ as Disney’s Pocahontas, or found her Betty Schaefer better than the leading actress in the Broadway Sunset Boulevard. Choosing a favorite song or performance by her is a tough task since this is the same wonder woman who leaves people obsessed with her soprano in Les Miserables (TONY Nom) and her belt in Chess (Tony Nom)! This season, Judy hit the NY stage and filled the house in the Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s Fun Home at The Public and is sure to tear up the town as Fosca in Classic Stage Company’s upcoming revival of Sondheim’s Passion.

It’s also great to have the prospect of a new solo album on the horizon that should include songs by Sondheim and Porter amongst others. Without a record label backing this project, she’s taken to kickstarter for financing of this, her third solo recording after Just In Time… in ’95 and Serious Playground – The Songs of Laura Nyro from ’07. Check out her campaign for a video and incentives.

So while you get your tix for Passion and help kickstart her new album, get your Judy Kuhn fix with these clips (and go buy Just In Time: Judy Kuhn Sings Jule Styne on iTunes!)…

Read more…

The Cast of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". Photo by Joan Marcus.

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD

Rupert Holmes’s tongue-in-cheek, tongue-twisting, Tony-winning musical with an audience-voted ending (based on Charles Dicken’s unfinished novel of vengeful passions) gets a Broadway revival starring Chita Rivera, Stephanie J. Block and Will Chase.

“The machinations of the mystery plot dance in dizzying rhythmic counterpoint to the story framing the musical…even as [the cast of characters] bicker and mug and tell hoary jokes to cajole the audience into a state of happy delirium.”  New York Times

“…for a show doing triple duty as musical, choose-your-own-ending mystery and time-travel device, Drood is jolly good fun.”  New York Post

“…all the affectionately antiquated whimsy never quite adds up to robust entertainment.”  The Hollywood Reporter

“Drood, ultimately, is not a complete show so much as an expandable playspace, and with performers of this caliber, an evening of yeasty, nudge-nudge-wink-wink British good humor is more or less guaranteed.”  New York Magazine

Read more…

Lilla Crawford & Sunny in "Annie". Photo by Joan Marcus.

The bitch is back.

OK, technically speaking “Sandy” in Annie is a boy dog but…you get the point. And with a spanking new Broadway revival — which opened last night to solid and at times glowing reviews — the tail wagging charmer and the belting moppet are back to incite more girlish sighs and cynical eye rolls.  I mean, has there ever been a musical more beloved and simultaneously maligned (as everything horrible about relentlessly cheery, vocal chord popping musical theater) than this show? And yet…and yet the songs are damn solid — “Easy Street” is a truly dynamite number — and undeniably a part of our cultural fabric.

Who hasn’t sung “Tomorrow”–either in earnest or in jest? I’ll admit it, there are cassette tapes that exist of an eleven year old me belting out my boy soprano version in my bedroom. These recordings will remain under lock and key until 25 years after my death so don’t bother looking for them…and instead check out these amazing renditions:

Read more…

There were two big Broadway openings in the last week and just because I haven’t had a chance to see them, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t! Let’s see what the critics have to say:

Tracy Letts, Amy Morton, Madison Dirks & Carrie Coons in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". Photo by Michael Brosilow.

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF

In celebration of its fiftieth anniversary, the Edward Albee classic of marital gamesmanship returns to Broadway in a blistering Steppenwolf production starring Amy Morton (August: Osage County) and Tracy Letts (Pulitzer-winning playwright of August:Osage County).

“…the soul ache this superlative staging leaves behind is accompanied by a feeling far more emotionally enriching: the exhilaration of a fresh encounter with a great work of theater revitalized anew.” New York Times

“The story, in which two married couples share a boozy, increasingly unhinged night, has lost none of its power to keep an audience on edge.” New York Post

“These are both exciting, rich performances, and while they capture a different dynamic, they get the game-playing nature of Albee’s dialogue just right…” Variety

“In Letts’ and Morton’s capable hands, George and Martha emerge as historic icons, America’s first couple of passive-aggressive dysfunction.” Entertainment Weekly

Mizer’s Two Cents: I haven’t made it to the Broadway staging but I saw this production (with this same cast) when it was at the Arena Stage last year; I was astonished and riveted. Judging by the reviews, this sensational revival of a true American classic is still firing on all blazing cylinders.

Read more…

The Set for "King Kong". Image via kingkongliveonstage.com.

It’s not often theater news makes it on to the front page of major papers, but some recent Broadway stories have been seriously buzz-worthy. So let’s catch up by taking a quick scan of the headlines with links to the full story…

• Broadway’s Rebecca Flames Out:   The New York Times’ Patrick Healey has been doing extensive investigative work into the mysterious disappearing investor that hastened the collapse of the Broadway bound show — on the eve of its first rehearsal.

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  Audra McDonald. Image via PlaybillVault.com.

  Theatrical Power Duo Ties the Knot:  Five-time Tony-winner Audra McDonald and Tony-nominee Will Swenson were married over the weekend at a ceremony in Croton-on-Hudson, New York and People Magazine has the story.

• Star-Studded Cast Reads Into the Woods Film for Investors:  Nathaniel at The Film Experience has a picture of the program from last week’s invite only reading of the Sondheim masterpiece’s film adaptation, including info on which Oscar-laden lady is being circled as a possible “Witch”.

• King Kong Stomps Into Melbourne Theater:  Over the weekend, producers of the mega-musical, Australian adaptation of King Kong took over the internet for an unprecedented live-streaming, global introduction to the show, its cast and some of its songs.

• Bleep Magazine Goes Broadway:  The internet magazine released a full issue devoted to the stars of New York theater including Broadway Blog favorites Nick Adams, Julia Murney and more.