“Whenever I see an all-white cast in a play, I kind of get taken out. ‘This is still a thing that's happening?’ It just feels more honest when there are more people of color.” I talk to Jon Norman Schneider who is leading a wonderful all Asian production of Henry VI playbill.com/article/jon-...

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce getting married in NYC at MSG during July 4th and the World Cup, disrupting New Yorkers' commutes in the process, using NYC taxpayer dollars for NYPD presence...we gotta tax these billionaires more.

“An excitement about a person of color in leadership … only then for those leaders to be handed a financial model that was unsustainable and really tough for them to succeed.” Really great analysis of why Hana Sharif left Arena Stage after just 3 years alheartley.substack.com/p/feature-no...

Considering that a vocal opposition party is essential in the fight against tyranny, it seems New Yorkers want leaders who will stand up to fascism. And the Democrats who are upset should ask themselves which side they are really on

My favorite genre of Jimmy Awards performers continues to be high schoolers channeling the souls of unhappily married middle aged people. Theater kids really grow up fast

Warriors vs Paddington, I'm already so stressed out about the 80th Tony Award

As an overachieving shortie, never thought I would relate to a 6'2'' basketball player. But seeing Jalen Brunson work so hard while being shorter than everyone else, I feel that. Love a (relatively) short king

On Monday, I spoke to Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Mark Sonnenblick about writing the Tonys opening number in 6 days, and whose demented brain came up with the line "Gitchie gitchie Laurie Metcalf." This really proves there's nothing like a good brainstorm

How did I spend my Tony Sunday? I went to dress rehearsal at Radio City at 9 AM, then oversaw Playbills Tony coverage in our office until 2AM. We published 31 articles yesterday (we did a lot of prep beforehand). And yes that means I did watch the Tonys in their entirety twice. Here’s my takeaway

Not only can Ali Louis Bourzgui rock a mullet, he is brave, to say that Palestinians “deserve to live a fruitful life, a free life, a full life without occupation” on TV. And considering the angry comments we’ve received for even reporting on it, Ali said the right thing playbill.com/article/ali-...

Impressed with the very diplomatic awards split between Cats and Ragtime at the Tonys. The former got direction, choreography, costuming while Ragtime got 2 acting awards, sound design, and revival. Really shows how both shows captured voters hearts seemingly equally

Did I cheer when this was announced? Hell yeah I did! 4 female Tony Award winners in 79 years is shameful, but it goes to show you how important it is to have producers who believe in representation—Liberation's lead producers are Daryl Roth (Indecent) and Rachel Sussman (Suffs).

There are concentration camps in the United States in the year 2026. There are CONCENTRATION CAMPS in the United States in the year 2026. THERE ARE CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE YEAR 2026.

Gotta take the small wins. playbill.com/article/kenn...

Did you know that only 3 women have won the Tony Award for Best Play? And the last one was in 2009? I talked to Bess Wohl, the only woman nominated in the Best Play category this year, on how wild it is to still be having a gender parity conversation playbill.com/article/a-wo...

Having finished rewatching Mad Men, it’s much more enjoyable when you stop hoping for Don to change and begin marveling at how much the female characters do. And they find inner peace because they are forced to face themselves and don’t have the privilege of running away. Metaphor for society really

Devil Wears Prada 2 filmed down the street from my office, which is pretty funny considering how honestly it tackles the state of media today: metrics, needing to appease advertisers, quantity instead of quality in terms of output. The continued devaluation of the written word in favor of slop

“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Dune (1965) Frank Herbert

The only people upset that Lupita Nyong’o is playing Helen of Troy are the same people taking away voting rights and support locking up immigrants. In other words, it’s not a good faith argument and should be ridiculed. Lupita being the most beautiful woman in the world is a fact

Stuck at jury duty, waiting to see if they call my name. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in this courthouse watching clips from Cats: The Jellicle Ball

A bit of cheerleading for you: Even some gerrymandered seats are not 100% certain to go the way the GOP wants in a wave election. In the last five midterm elections, the incumbent's party lost 9, 13, 30, 40, and 63 seats. Do you know how many turnovers Democrats need to flip the House? Three.

I need Cats: Jellicle Ball to release a cast album so I can run to "Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat: the remix" at the gym.

SCOTUS rules 6-3 against a majority Black district in LA represented by Black Rep Cleo Fields, holding that the district is a “racial gerrymander.” This is systemic white supremacy. Next Dem pres & Congress must expand the Court, impose term limits & prosecute corrupt justices. Complete overhaul.

Watching The Lost Boys on Broadway felt like watching an 80s megamusical: people belting their faces off, glam-rock wigs and costumes, a shirtless saxophonist, pure spectacle. Does it all make sense? Not really but it's thoroughly entertaining. Retro in a delightful way

Tony Kushner is in episode 1 of this season of Hacks, while Renee O'Connor of Xena: Warrior Princess is in episode 2. Those writers are really tapping into my special interests

I wonder if the mark of true adulthood is doing things to take care of your older self. So much of youth is spent living in the moment and wrecking your body and finances. Then one day, your brain shifts and you’re like “I need to open up a ROTH IRA and start eating more fiber.”

I saw Rheology last year while my dad was in the middle of his leukemia battle (he's fine now). So I was sobbing by the end of it. May we all be like Shayok and Bulbul, and get the gift of knowing our parents as adults, and having them know us

I feel like the current price of berries should be radicalizing more people, especially parents of young kids

Listening to the Chess revival cast album while working out, I want to make Hannah Cruz yelling “Liar!!” my entire personality

I’ve seen enough. God is 1) real 2) nonbinary 3) primarily motivated by a deep hatred of JD Vance

Had a very profound conversation with Adrien Brody about The Fear of 13, his grandfather who got fired from Zorba the musical, and how he uses art to make sense of “the things that torment me about the world around me.” Which...same

The older I get, the more fantastical SEX AND THE CITY. Staying out at the bars until 2 AM and wearing heels? Millennial New Yorkers are all about flat shoes, small dinner parties, sparkling water because we can’t process alcohol anymore, a midnight bedtime, quiet

What a time to be reminded of how small we are, how idiotic our conflicts are, and how we need to be better stewards of our planet BECAUSE THERES NOTHING ELSE!

A modern Cassandra

Rewatching the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, as I do when I need to feel something. The line “there’s some good in this world Mr Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for,” hits hard right now. Even harder when I remember that Philippa Boyens, not Tolkien, wrote that line.

I love Cats: The Jellicle Ball so much that I bought a cropped sweater. It’s my favorite thing this year. What a wonder—all you need are queer and BIPOC voices—to turn the musical that was a cultural punchline into an important piece of ART. Diversity makes everything better, especially CATS

WSJ ran an article about a writer who uses AI to rewrite press releases: "A Fortune editor has cranked out more than 600 stories using the technology." Fortune is admitting its producing AI slop en masse for clicks and expecting readers to pay to read it. Basically making a case for its irrelevance

Having seen Project Hail Mary right after seeing Anatomy of a Fall, Sandra Hüller has a gift for being so sympathetic even when she’s doing something terrible. She could ask me to hide a body and I would think the guy probably deserved it

As an editor, this is a nightmare of mine. But it's also a natural end product of this drive towards producing more "content" at hyperspeed, so much so that fact-checking goes out the window. If anyone knows of workshops on how to detect AI-generated articles, lemme know thelocal.to/investigatin...

I feel like death of the author doesn’t really apply when the author is still alive, financially benefits from consumption of their art, and can actively cause harm

If you loved Smash and Slings & Arrow, you need to watch American Classic on MGM+. Laura Linney and Kevin Kline run a community theater. It’s earnest and bright, like a theater kid come to life

As an Asian woman, Sophie's arc in season 4 of Bridgerton being that she realizes it's ok to after what she wants even if no one thinks it's a good idea, to voice what she truly feels, and to find the courage to talk back to her mother....relatable

Reading Liza Minnellis memoir, it occurs to me that her life resists dramatization because it defies typical narrative structures. The ups are followed by downs, sobriety with relapses. It’s a reminder that progress isn’t a straight line, and if you’re lucky to live a long life, it won’t be neat

It’s going to make the 2020 election celebration look like the pregame.

The world is on fire so how do I get away from it all? Reading books. Or listening to books. An unexpected benefit: you feel like doomscrolling less and you consume bad news at only a few points throughout the day. Protect your peace, put your phone in another room and read books again.

Maybe Timothée Chalamet is going Method since viewers aren’t supposed to like him in Dune 3

Cold War Choir Practice. Mother Russia. Chess. There's 3 shows running in New York now about the cold War, and they're all comedies and use music. Gee, I wonder if it's because we're all feeling existential dread playbill.com/article/ro-r...

Answering the important questions at Playbill, by musical theater and vampire expert @itsmargarethall.bsky.social playbill.com/article/is-s...

IMO: Whether or not the final moment in Hamnet works for you as a viewer depends on your familiarity with Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight." If you've heard it on Arrival, Last of Us, Shutter Island, it pulls you out of the film. This is why original scores are so important.

“I worry less about artificial intelligence than my friends who work in film might, since theater requires bodies, in a place, outside the algorithm.” Hear hear @helenshaw.bsky.social! Live arts has truly never been more important www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/i...