Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Hurry, Sylvia To Close On B'way January 3; Holiday Schedule Announced


SYLVIA, the Broadway revival of the play by two-time Pulitzer Prize-nominee A.R. Gurney (The Dining RoomLove Letters) will end its limited-engagement on Sunday, January 3, 2016.  SYLVIA began previews on Friday, October 2nd and opened on Tuesday, October 27, 2015.  When it closes, SYLVIA will have played 79 performances and 27 previews.  SYLVIA is currently playing at The Cort Theatre (138 W. 48th Street). Tickets for SYLVIA are available online at www.telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200, or in-person at The Cort Theatre box office (138 W. 48th St.).

Directed by Tony Award-winner Daniel Sullivan (Proof), SYLVIA stars two-time Tony-winner Matthew Broderick (It’s Only a Play, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Producers, How to Succeed . . ., Brighton Beach Memoirs) as Greg, 2015 Tony-winner Annaleigh Ashford (You Can’t Take It With You, Tony-nominee for Kinky Boots, Hair) as Sylvia, Tony Award winner Julie White (The Little Dog Laughed, 2015 Tony-nominee for Airline Highway, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as Kate, and Drama Desk Award winner Robert Sella (Stuff Happens, Sleepy Hollow, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Tom/Phyllis/Leslie.

Funny and heartwarming, SYLVIA is about what happens when a smart, sassy, captivating canine befriends a New Yorker in Central Park and changes his life - and his wife’s life - forever. This wonderful look into the complexities of love and commitment asks what does it truly mean to be devoted to your partner . . . and how do you choose between the love of your life and man’s best friend?

Presented by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Daryl Roth, SYLVIA has scenic design by Tony Award-nominee David Rockwell (You Can’t Take It With You, On the Twentieth Century), costume design by Academy Award-winner Ann Roth (The English Patient), lighting design by Tony Award-nominee Japhy Weideman (The Visit, Airline Highway), sound design by Peter Fitzgerald (All the Way, Movin’ Out), and music by Greg PliskaSYLVIA has wig and makeup design by Campbell Young AssociatesJames Fitzsimmons is the Production Stage Manager.  Casting by Telsey + Company/William Cantler, CSA.

The regular performance schedule for SYLVIA is Tuesday at 7 pm, Wednesday at 2 pm and 7 pm, Thursday at 7 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm.

Holiday Schedules:

Thanksgiving Week – Tuesday, 11/24 at 7 pm, Wednesday, 11/25 at 2 pm and 7 pm, Friday, 11/27 at 2 pm and 8 pm, Saturday, 11/28 at 2 pm and 8 pm, Sunday, 11/29 at 3 pm.

Christmas Week – Monday, 12/21 at 7 pm, Tuesday, 12/22 at 7 pm, Wednesday, 12/23 at 2 pm, Saturday, 12/26 at 2 pm and 8 pm, Sunday, 12/27 at 2 pm and 7 pm.

New Years Week (final week): Monday, 12/28 at 7 pm, Tuesday, 12/29 at 7 pm, Wednesday, 12/20 at 2 pm and 7 pm, Friday, 1/1 at 8 pm, Saturday, 1/2 at 2 pm and 8 pm, Sunday, 1/3 at 2 pm and 7 pm.

The running time for SYLVIA is 2 hours with an intermission.

Tickets for SYLVIA are priced from $67 - $147 and are now available online at www.telecharge.com, by phone at (212) 239-6200, or in-person at the Cort Theatre box office (138 W. 48th St.).

A limited number of rush tickets for SYLVIA are available for purchase in-person at The Cort Theatre box office beginning at 10am Monday - Saturday (12pm on Sundays) for that day's performance(s) only. Rush tickets cost $32 with a maximum of two tickets per person. Rush tickets are subject to availability and may not be offered at all performances. Rush seating locations will be determined at the discretion of the box office.


Follow SYLVIA online at:

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

How 'Hamilton' Revolutionizes Broadway

About midway through the first act of the new Broadway musical Hamilton you may begin to ask yourself: Will the stomping and the rapping and the snapping and the hip-hopping and the leaping and the bopping ever cease?
And then you remember: This is a musical about a revolution. Revolutions are big, raucous, messy things.
But what's going on onstage is more than that. It's also a musical theater revolution in and of itself. It rips the lid off our traditional notions of showbiz -- of theater and music and movement and dance and razzle-dazzle.
Hamilton is big (no question about that) but it's also spare. The sets are minimal. The costumes are authentic but still relatively simple. There are no pyrotechnics, no special effects, no ascending or descending stage platforms, no glitter, no sequins, no stars, no streamers.
We're in an atmosphere of weathered wood, of ropes and docks, of brick and mortar, of barrels and casings.
This is the American revolution and we're moving from the 1770s into the mid 1780s as the story of Alexander Hamilton, his life and legacy unfolds.
The naturally-gifted and brilliant Hamilton was a propagandist, a patriot and a zealot.
His boundless energy and passionate convictions kept him moving onward and upward no matter what.
His accomplishments take your breath away: He was a Founding Father of the United States, chief staff aide to General George Washington, one of the most influential interpreters and promoters of the U.S. Constitution, the founder of the nation's financial system, the founder of the Federalist Party (the world's first voter-based political party) the Father of the United States Coast Guard, and the founder of The New York Post.
As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was the primary author of the economic policies of the George Washington administration. Hamilton took the lead in the funding of the states' debts by the Federal government, the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. He led the Federalist Party, created largely in support of his views. He was opposed by the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, which despised Britain and feared that Hamilton's policies of a strong central government would weaken the American commitment to republicanism.
Yes, Hamilton was a Very Important Person, indeed.
But he was also an outcast and a masterful provocateur. Born out of wedlock, raised in the West Indies, and orphaned as a child, Hamilton pursued a college education through the help of local wealthy men. He was an American immigrant who at once admired and despised his benefactors -- those who were born and raised under more fortunate circumstances. He not only married up himself but he also clawed his way up through a combination of street smarts, guts, conviction, self-promotion and good timing.
But Hamilton had fatal flaws.
So, this musical is a complete Greek tragedy.
So much is contained in the experience, personality and accomplishments of this one man. And though Hamilton's is a unique story, it's also a uniquely Americanstory -- an instructive story parts of which are told over and over again in the lives of so many Americans.
And, thanks to Hamilton's young, energetic cast, inventive direction and groundbreaking book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who also stars in the show) this is an exhilarating experience -- a celebration of the human spirit that sends us soaring out of our comfort zone and into a realm that makes us think anew about what it means to be "We the people . . . "
There are moments in this show that will touch your heart, that will make you angry, that will make you wonder about "the course of human events" and that will cause you to question what your learned about our founders and our founding. But you will also feel pride both in Hamilton's journey and the journey of our nation.
This is daring, adventurous theater. And it's nothing short of astonishing.
Sung through with moments of grandeur and pathos, triumph and tragedy it is at once a landmark American musical and a modern-day rap opera.
Get in the hunt for tickets now.
You'll have to wait, but it's worth it -- worth the wait and worth the price of admission.

Monday, November 9, 2015

A Broadway Show For $32? Yes, Tickets Are Available!

SYLVIA, the acclaimed comedy by two-time Pulitzer Prize-nominee A.R. Gurney (The Dining Room, Love Letters) announces that beginning Tuesday, November 9th a limited number of digital lottery tickets - specially priced at $32 - will be available daily for purchase online at sylvialottery.com. 

 The SYLVIA Digital Lottery is powered by Shubert Ticketing through the new Telecharge Digital Lottery platform, which provides theatre-goers wide access to affordable tickets through multiple social media networks.

Directed by Tony Award-winner Daniel Sullivan (Proof) and starring two-time Tony-winnerMatthew Broderick (It’s Only a Play, The Producers, How to Succeed…, Brighton Beach Memoirs), 2015 Tony-winner Annaleigh Ashford (You Can’t Take It With You, Kinky Boots), Tony Award winner Julie White (The Little Dog Laughed, 2015 Tony-nominee forAirline Highway), and Drama Desk Award winner Robert Sella (Stuff Happens, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), SYLVIA is currently playing a strictly limited, engagement through January 24th, 2016 on Broadway at The Cort Theatre (138 W. 48th Street).

The Telecharge Daily Lottery allows eligible entrants who are members of the Telecharge Daily Lottery or an individual show's Fan Program to enter a daily lottery for a chance to purchase same day rush tickets for participating Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. Available performances will be posted at sylvialottery.com andhttp://sylvialottery.socialtoaster.com/ by 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on the day of the available performance(s), along with the total number of tickets available for each performance. 

Entries must be received no later than 10:59 a.m. ET for matinees and 2:59 p.m. ET for evening performances. Winners will be notified by 11:30am for matinees and 3:30pm for evening performances. Digital lottery tickets cost $32.00 with a maximum of two tickets per person. The tickets are subject to availability and seating locations will be determined at the discretion of the box office. Winners must bring a photo ID to claim their tickets at the box office at least 30 minutes before the performance.

Funny and heartwarming, SYLVIA is about what happens when a smart, sassy, captivating canine befriends a New Yorker in Central Park and changes his life - and his wife’s life - forever. This wonderful look into the complexities of love and commitment asks what does it truly mean to be devoted to your partner . . . and how do you choose between the love of your life and man’s best friend?

Presented by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Daryl Roth, SYLVIA has scenic design by Tony Award-nominee David Rockwell (You Can’t Take It With You, On the Twentieth Century), costume design by Academy Award-winner Ann Roth (The English Patient), lighting design by Tony Award-nominee Japhy Weideman (The Visit, Airline Highway), sound design by Peter Fitzgerald (All the Way, Movin’ Out), and music by Greg Pliska. SYLVIA has wig and makeup design by Campbell Young Associates. James Fitzsimmons is the Production Stage Manager.

SYLVIA began previews on Friday, October 2nd and opened on Tuesday, October 27th. The limited engagement will end on Sunday, January 24th, 2016. The regular performance schedule is Tuesday at 7 pm, Wednesday at 2 pm and 7 pm, Thursday at 7 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm.

The running time for SYLVIA is 2 hours with an intermission.

Regularly priced tickets for SYLVIA (priced from $67 - $147) and also available online atwww.telecharge.com, by phone at (212) 239-6200, or in-person at the Cort Theatre box office (138 W. 48th St.).

Visit http://www.sylviabroadway.com/.

Follow SYLVIA online at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SylviaonBroadway
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sylviabroadway
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sylviabroadway

Mamet's 'China Doll' Pushes Back Official Opening


The producers of CHINA DOLL, the new play by David Mamet starring Tony, Emmy and Academy Award-winner Al Pacino, announce that the production’s press opening will be moved back two weeks.  Directed by Tony Award-winner Pam MacKinnon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) and co-starring Christopher Denham (“Master Harold”… and the Boys, Argo, “Manhattan”), CHINA DOLL, originally scheduled to open on Thursday, November 19th, will now open after the Thanksgiving holiday on Friday, December 4th.  The move allows the creative team additional time to work on the play before its world premiere.

Presented by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Steve Traxler, CHINA DOLL is currently in previews at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street).  CHINA DOLL marks the tenth presentation of a David Mamet work by Messrs Richards, Frankel and Treaxler on Broadway and in the West End.

CHINA DOLL tells the story of Mickey Ross, a man of means who is ready to walk away from it all to start a new life with his young fiancée. Then one phone call changes everything . . .

Al Pacino (Mickey Ross) was last seen on Broadway portraying the role of Shelly Levene in Mamet’s acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Glengarry Glen Ross and was also recently seen as Phil Spector in the HBO film written by David Mamet. Mr. Pacino is a two-time Tony Award winner who also starred in the 1983 revival of American Buffalo. He is also an Academy Award winner, four-time Golden Globe winner, and two-time Emmy Award winner. CHINA DOLL marks his twelfth time appearing on Broadway, including The Merchant of Venice, SalomĂ©, Hughie, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Camino Real, and Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie, among others.

Christopher Denham (Carson) made his Broadway debut opposite Danny Glover in “Master Harold”... and the boys, as was also seen on Broadway in The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Other New York stage credits include The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durin (Roundabout Theater Company), Kindness (Playwright’s Horizons), and Red Light Winter (Barrow Street/Steppenwolf), for which he won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor.  Denham also appeared on screen in films such as Argo (2013 Academy Award for Best Picture and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast), Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio, The Bay, Sound of My Voice, Duplicity, Charlie Wilson’s War, and the upcoming Money Monster opposite George Clooney and Julia Roberts, directed by Jodie Foster.  He is a series regular on WGN’s Emmy-nominated “Manhattan.”

David Mamet (Playwright) is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Glengarry Glen Ross. His other plays include Race, Oleanna, American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow, November and Sexual Perversity in Chicago, among others. Earlier this year, Mr. Mamet was represented on the West End by a production of American Buffalo starring Damian Lewis, John Goodman, and Tom Sturridge, at the Wyndham Theatre.

Pam MacKinnon (Director).  Recent credits include Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles (Broadway); Bruce Norris’ The Qualms (Playwrights Horizons, Steppenwolf); Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (Broadway); Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park (Broadway, Playwrights Horizons, and Mark Taper; Tony and Lortel nominations, Obie Award); Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Broadway, Steppenwolf, and Arena Stage; Tony and Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle nomination); and Sarah Teem’s When We Were Young and Unafraid (Manhattan Theatre Club). Pam is an alumna of the Drama League, the Women’s Project and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Labs; an associate artist of the Roundabout Theater Company; executive board member of Stage Directors and Choreographers; and board chair of the New York City downtown company Clubbed Thumb, dedicated to new American plays.

CHINA DOLL has scenic design by Tony Award-winner Derek McLane (33 Variations, Beautiful The Carol King Musical), costume design by Tony Award-winner Jess Goldstein (The Rivals, Jersey Boys), and lighting design by Russell H. Champa (In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)). The show was cast by Telsey & Company and Bialy/Thomas Associates.

Tickets for CHINA DOLL are available for purchase online at www.telecharge.com, or by calling (212) 239-6200.

The running time of CHINA DOLL is 1:55 with an intermission.

For performance schedule and other information visit:


Visit CHINA DOLL online at:


Twitter: @ChinaDollBway

Monday, November 2, 2015

Win Tickets To Paper Mill's 'Christmas Story' Musical!

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director) wants to know 'What is the One Thing You Want For Christmas?' and they will select a few respondents to win free tickets to their holiday show, A Christmas Story: The Musical.

Ralphie wants only one thing for Christmas: an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle. A Christmas Story: The Musical is the hilarious account of Ralphie’s desperate quest to ensure that this most perfect of gifts ends up under his tree this Christmas. The contest will run on Paper Mill Playhouse’s social media networks from November 2 through November 14 (see official rules below).

Winners will be announced the week of November 15, 2015. Participants must simply use the hashtag #PMPAChristmasStory and tell us what is the one thing they want for Christmas on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PaperMillPlayhouse/), Twitter (@Paper_Mill), or Instagram (www.Instagram.com/PaperMillPlayhouse).

Based on the popular 1983 film, A Christmas Story: The Musical has a book by Joseph Robinette with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. A Christmas Story: The Musical will be directed by Brandon Ivie and choreographed by Mara Newbery Greer. Straight from Broadway‚ this musical captures holiday wonder with such deliciously wicked wit that it is sure to delight children and grown-ups alike. The holiday movie that the whole world loves comes to musical life. A Christmas Story: The Musical will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater from November 25, 2015, through January 3, 2016. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2015-2016 Season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.

A Christmas Story: The Musical will be performed at Paper Mill Playhouse eight times a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Performance schedule: Wednesday at 7:00pm, Thursday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm, Friday at 7:00pm, Saturday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm and Sunday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm. Check Paper Mill Playhouse’s website for special holiday week schedules.

Tickets are on sale now starting at $29. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343, at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.PaperMill.org. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express accepted. Groups of 10 or more can receive up to a 40% discount on tickets and should call 973.315.1680. College students can order $20 rush tickets over the phone or in person at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office on the day of the performance.

OFFICAL CONTEST RULES: No purchase required. You must use hashtag #PMPAChristmasStory on your social media platforms (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) and have a free account with Paper Mill Playhouse to be considered. You can sign up for a free account at this link:http://tinyurl.com/PaperMillAccount. The contest begins at midnight on Monday, November 2, 2015 and ends at 11:59pm on Saturday, November 14, 2015. The theater will give out a minimum of five pairs of tickets (ten tickets) for the contest in form of a prize letter. Prize letters have no cash value and are subject to specific performances and rules.

Winners will be announced the week of November 15, 2015. Winners agree to allow Paper Mill Playhouse to use their name and image (still images or video) for promotional materials for the theater and its productions. Tickets do not include travel or parking. Paper Mill Playhouse gives out prizes at their own discretion and all decisions are final. Other conditions and restrictions may apply. Contest is sponsored by Paper Mill Playhouse, 22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ. Paper Mill Playhouse is a 501c3, not-for-profit arts charity.

PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE, a not-for-profit arts organization, is one of the country's leading regional theaters. Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.