Ferrell to Stump This Fall, But Only Onstage

(NEWSER) - It’s not quite a landslide, but critics mainly agree that Will Ferrell gets his mission accomplished in lampooning the 43rd president with his Broadway show, You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush. Though Saturday Night Live viewers will see the “retread” in Ferrell’s “loopy extrapolation” on Bush, Ben Brantley writes in the New York Times, “the show feels freshest when he goes off on surreal tangents that transport his blundering hero into the ether of pure absurdism.” More»

Show your appreciation by keeping your butt in the seat: Ben Brantley

(NEWSER) - At one time, a standing ovation may have meant something—but lately, you can hardly go to a Broadway show without being forced to join in one. Almost every show "ends with people jumping to their feet and beating their flippers together like captive sea lions when the zookeeper arrives with a bucket of fish," writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times . But offering that kind of appreciation every time is "like having sex with someone on the first date, whether you like the person or not, because you think it’s expected." More»

'Carrie' to open off-Broadway tomorrow

(AP) - When the musical Carrie had a sudden early death on Broadway in 1988, few were as unhappy as three men who worked hard to give it life. Lawrence D. Cohen, Michael Gore, and Dean Pitchford, who wrote the script, music, and lyrics, clearly were not happy with the final product, which closed after five regular performances, lost $8 million, and became the most expensive flop in Broadway history at the time. Despite offers to produce the show elsewhere, the trio refused—until now, 24 years later. More»

Julie Taymor says she's not being fairly compensated

(NEWSER) - More drama behind the curtains for Broadway’s Spider-Man: Former director Julie Taymor is suing the show’s producers over what she says is a lack of compensation for her creative work. “The producers' actions have left her no choice but to resort to legal recourse to protect her rights,” her attorney says. Taymor was fired following much-publicized trouble onstage and off, but she's the only director eligible for a Tony for the show. More»

Scarlett Johansson, VIola Davis, Catherine Zeta-Jones Prevail

(NEWSER) - Denzel Washington won his first Tony Award tonight for his performance in August Wilson's Fences, and Scarlett Johansson and Catherine Zeta-Jones joined the Hollywood-to-Tony parade by picking up statuettes of their own. Best play Red and best musical Memphis also enjoyed big nights, the AP reports . More»