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Broadway

New York

30 Seconds With… Bruce Vilanch

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

Whew. We can finally settle down from all that Tony-Award madness. We only hope Neil Patrick Harris can take a breath or two. Greatest show opening ever? We’re going with “yes.” Let’s take a break this week and head to the ritzy speakeasy cellar that is Broadway’s cabaret: 54 Below. Jim Taylor is with our favorite double-chin blondie… … Read More

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New York

30 Seconds With… Tom Hanks and Other Tony Nominees

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

As we’re just days away from the Tony Awards, in the New York theatre community it’s one party after another. At a recent gathering we had the opportunity to chat up a few nominees, including Judith Light, Tom Hanks, and Rob McClure, who gave one of the most well-crafted performances of the year as Charlie Chaplin. He’s enjoying all the pre-Tony buzz and hype. … Read More

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New York

30 Seconds With… ‘Murder Ballad’ Composer Julianna Nash

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

Murder Ballad is the in-your-face rock opera about love and sex and the choices we make. And sometimes regret. We talk about it with composer Julianna Nash.  … Read More

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New York

30 Seconds With… Laura Benanti

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

Laura Benanti won a Tony a couple of years back for her inspired performance in Gypsy. You may know her more recently as the rather inept group therapy leader in the ill-fated Matthew Perry TV project Go On. All this week Benanti is performing at Broadway nightclub 54 Below. … Read More

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New York

30 Seconds With… Wendy Beckett

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

You may never think of your therapist in the same way again. We know We won’t! Love Therapy is the play. Wendy Beckett is the playwright. And the shrink?  … Read More

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Theatre

2013 Tony Nominations: The Theatre World Takes Broadway Back From Hollywood

By Tyler Coates on

Like any other award given to popular art, the Tonys can be divisive. The awards, handed out by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, honor a select number of American theatre performances — productions must take place within the eligibility period (roughly, the Broadway season that runs from June to April) and in a Broadway house, which is defined not by location but by size (a theatre must have 500 seats or more). Considering the limited number of eligible productions, the small nominating committee of 42 theatre professionals, and the continuous commercialization of Broadway productions, it’s understandable that many critics see the Tony not as a respectable award but rather as an internal marketing tactic. … Read More

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New York

2013 Tony Nomination Highlights and Snubs From Theatre Critic Jim Taylor

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, “30 Seconds With…,” WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

Today we’re talking Tonys: the 2013 Tony nominations. And for an incisive take on the recently announced nominees, we’re talking with theatre critic Jim Taylor. Yup, Jim is interviewing himself. … Read More

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New York

30 Seconds With… William Ivey Long

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

Remember the yellow dress in Contact? If you’re a theatre fan, you definitely do. Multiple Tony Award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long is the man responsible for that iconic dress, and it’s now on the wall of his underground design studio in the Village — along with about a thousand images that all became part of the costuming for Cinderella. … Read More

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New York

30 Seconds With… Kerry Butler

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

Kerry Butler was on roller skates in Xanadu, and on the run in Catch Me if You Can. Now she’s starring in the just-opened The Call. … Read More

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New York

30 Seconds With… Amy Herzog

By Leah Taylor on

In this weekly feature, WCBS culture critic Jim Taylor shares 30 seconds with the theatre stars and upstarts of NYC. From Broadway to Off-off, Jim tracks down the talent and gets them to spill just enough for our collectively shortened attention spans.

Amy Herzog is one of the hottest new playwrights of our time, but her latest is a real departure. Hitchcock-inspired Belleville is a thriller set in the eponymous Paris neighborhood. Truths and lies and sexual desire share the air with pot smoke and suspense. … Read More

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