Jeff Lunden

'Matilda' Brings Beloved Book To Broadway

Jeff Lunden — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:32:00 +0000

Matilda is a well-loved book by Roald Dahl, who's been called the greatest children's storyteller of the 20th century. It's about a much-put-upon little girl with tremendous gifts.

Nora Ephron's 'Lucky Guy' And Tom Hanks Make Their Broadway Debuts

Jeff Lunden — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:50:00 +0000

Several years ago, when Nora Ephron handed Tom Hanks an early draft of Lucky Guy, her play about tabloid journalist Mike McAlary, he had a pretty strong reaction.

"I said, 'Well, that guy's sure a jerk!' I used another word besides jerk — I know what you can say on NPR," he says. "And she laughed and she said, 'Well, he kinda was.

For This Pair Of Clowns, 'Old Hats' Mean New Laughs

Jeff Lunden — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 23:20:00 +0000

Twenty years ago, theatrical clowns Bill Irwin and David Shiner collaborated on a Broadway show called Fool Moon — a giddy mixture of slapstick, improv and audience participation that proved such a success that it came back to Broadway for two more runs and toured both the U.S. and Europe.

Grand Central, A Cathedral For Commuters, Celebrates 100

Jeff Lunden — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:28:00 +0000

Friday marks the day that 100 years ago, Grand Central Terminal opened its doors for business for the very first time. The largest railroad terminal in the world, the magnificent Beaux-Arts building is in the heart of New York City on 42nd St.

During Lockout Season, Orchestra Musicians Grapple With Their Future

Jeff Lunden — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:06:00 +0000

It's been a tumultuous time for American orchestras. Labor disputes have shut down the Minnesota Orchestra and Indianapolis Symphony, and strikes and lockouts have affected orchestras in Chicago, Atlanta and Louisville in the past year.

Whether Mozart is on the bill or Mahler, it's an expensive proposition to present a symphony orchestra. To do the music justice, you need between 80 and 100 musicians to play it, and their salaries and health care benefits make up most of an orchestra's budget.

Shorts Inspire Music In 'Sounding Beckett' Trilogy

Jeff Lunden — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 19:33:00 +0000

It all began last year, when the Library of Congress presented Samuel Beckett's Ohio Impromptu alongside a piece of music by composer Dina Koston, which responded to the text. A New York group, the Cygnus Ensemble, played the music, while Washington, D.C., director Joy Zinoman staged the play, for one night only.

"And when it was over, Bill Anderson, the head of the Cygnus Ensemble, said to me, 'Might you be interested in taking this to New York?' " Zinoman recalls. "And I said, 'An 11-minute play in New York?

'Oklahoma!' Actress Celeste Holm Dies At 95

Jeff Lunden — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 17:47:00 +0000

Academy Award-winning actress Celeste Holm has died. A star on both stage and screen, Holm was best known for roles in Gentleman's Agreement, All About Eve and Oklahoma! She was 95.

Holm died early Sunday morning in her Manhattan apartment with her husband, family and close friends by her side.

London Smash 'Two Guvnors' Comes To Broadway

Jeff Lunden — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:12:00 +0000

If you weren't a college theater major, you can be forgiven for not knowing much about commedia dell'arte, the 500-year-old theatrical tradition that Carlo Goldoni used for his comedy The Servant of Two Masters in 1743. Contemporary playwright Richard Bean has adapted that play into the decidedly British laugh riot One Man, Two Guvnors -- and he says all you really need to know about commedia is ... well, it's funny.

"Commedia dell'arte," Bean says, "is very physical comedy, and there's a lot of clowning in it. ... You won't find much irony in this play.

In Broadway's 'Wit,' A Documentary Of Our Demise

Jeff Lunden — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:33:00 +0000

In her dressing room at the Friedman Theatre, Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon has a nightly ritual: She rubs Nivea cream all over her scalp to soothe the razor burns.

Being completely bald is just one of the many demands of the character she plays in Wit -- a brilliant college professor named Vivian Bearing, who's battling ovarian cancer.

"She talks so much; she's verbose," Nixon says. "She talks in such an erudite and complicated way. She's bald, she's naked and she's dying in a slow, excruciating way. There's a lot!

Hugh Jackman, Back On Broadway And Having A Blast

Jeff Lunden — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:26:00 +0000

Hugh Jackman has had one of the most bifurcated showbiz careers imaginable. He leapt to superstardom as the mutton-chopped mutant Wolverine in the X-Men movies and won a Tony Award as the gay Australian entertainer Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz.