Decades Later, Hair Still Swings

Veteran theatergoers say manners are vanishing faster than ever

(NEWSER) - Boorish audience members have been around for longer than Shakespeare's plays but veteran theatergoers say bad behavior is definitely on the rise, the Wall Street Journal reports. Audience members have been spotted passing around buckets of chicken, putting their smelly bare feet on the seats in front of them, and even asking actors to delay their monologues while they get settled. More»

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.

Show lacking in 'inspiration'

(NEWSER) - Shrek the Musical has its moments, but in the end, it contradicts its own message that substance trumps what’s on the surface, writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times. The “leaden” show presents a “cavalcade of storybook effigies” that “feels like 40 blocks’ worth of a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” Brantley notes. Still, its romantic leads score, transforming “glowery friction into dewy-eyed romance.” More»

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»

Harry Potter star delivers 'intense' performance

(NEWSER) - Daniel Radcliffe takes on a “mothball-preserved, off-the-rack part” as a teenage stable boy who blinds horses in the Broadway debut of Equus, and “wears it like a tailor’s delight,” writes Ben Brantley of the New York Times. Radcliffe’s “beautifully understated” acting and his “luminously intense eyes" dominate the dark psychodrama about our inner madness, Clive Barnes agrees in the New York Post. More»