Stage Shrek Is Lumbering but Lovable

'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»

(AP) - Billy Elliot, the British musical about a coal miner's son who burns to dance, won 10 Tony Awards tonight in New York, including best musical and a unique best actor prize for the three young performers who share the title role. David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish shyly thanked people associated with the show only by their first name. Finally, Kulish told the cheering crowd at Radio City Music Hall: "We want to say to all the kids out there who might want to dance, 'Never give up.'" More»

Critics love 'exuberant' revival

(NEWSER) - Bursting with energy, the Broadway revival of Hair, recently moved indoors from Central Park, has wowed critics—though there are a few gripes. What they had to say:

• “Hair, for all its references to hippies, Vietnam, free love and the revolution, feels utterly of the moment in its exuberance, its power to involve and, in Diane Paulus’s entrancing production, to move us,” writes Jeremy Gerard for Bloomberg.

Production can be uneven, but still enjoyable

(NEWSER) - The highly anticipated revival of West Side Story on Broadway opened last night to solid reviews, with critics applauding an unusually tender interpretation in which the women rule. Highlights:

• “Even when they’re flashing switchblades and kicking people in the ribs, the teenage hoodlums who maraud through Arthur Laurents’s startlingly sweet new revival of West Side Story seem like really nice kids,” writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times.

Supporting performer is center of attention in Broadway production of All My Sons

(NEWSER) - In a perfect world, stars John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest would be the center of attention in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. “In this world, however, Mrs. Tom Cruise is playing a supporting role,” writes Natalie Finn of E!. So with tabloid-lovers watching and Anonymous protesting outside, how did Katie Holmes do in her Broadway debut? Not bad, critics say, but not great. More»