Ticket giveaway: Golden Boy
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Lincoln Center Theater vets Seth Numrich and Danny Burstein are back in a revival of Clifford Odets’ drama Golden Boy. Numerich stars as Joe Bonaparte, a gifted violinist who sacrifices his music talents for stardom in the boxing ring during Depression-era America. Tony Shalhoub co-stars in the Barlett Sher-directed drama. Stage Rush is giving away a pair of tickets to two lucky readers to see the show at the Belasco Theatre.
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Only one entry per person will be counted. Read more 
Ticket giveaway: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
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It’s been 5 years since Amy Morton first screamed, “I’m running things now!” on Broadway in August: Osage County. Now the Tony nominee is back on the boards and mad as ever in the 50th anniversary revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. As if that wasn’t reason enough to see it, August playwright Tracy Letts joins her onstage as her embittered husband. Stage Rush is giving a lucky reader a pair of tickets to see these two powerhouses duke it out at the Booth Theatre.
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Only one entry per person will be counted. Read more
Ghost‘s Jennifer Sanchez displays ‘model behavior’ on Broadway and as a single mom
“What was the name of that cheese that I like?” It’s the seventh voicemail Candela leaves for her MIA friend Pepa in the song “Model Behavior” in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. While Laura Benanti was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the role, this line (and her rendition of the whole song) highlighted understudy Jennifer Sanchez as an unsung comedic gem at a 2011 At This Performance concert. Sanchez went on twice for the part and still beams at the memory of it, calling it “the best time” she’s ever had on stage. Having made her Broadway debut in West Side Story in 2009, she’s now appearing in Ghost the Musical as an ensemble member and Rosa Santiago, the first client of the faux psychic Oda Mae Brown. Sanchez sat down with Stage Rush to discuss playing a 64 year old, the challenges faced by an understudy, and being a single mom on Broadway.
This is your third Broadway show. What’s it like to work on Broadway? Was this always the dream?
I didn’t see a Broadway show until I was in college. I had never been to New York. The first time I acted in a show was when I was 7 years old. It was a community theater production of Annie in New Mexico. I thought that was everything. I had so much fun. I got to wear lip gloss and hairspray. I thought my life was complete. That was the start of it all.
You are playing an old widow in Ghost. How did that happen?
Well, she’s 64. Her age isn’t specified in the script, but she’s 64. When I auditioned for Rosa Santiago, I honestly thought she was 27. I thought she was young, fun, and beautiful. When I auditioned, I wore my usual outfit—these huge earrings, bangles over my tight dance top, and heels. There was nothing in the script that said she’s older and has a cane. When the producers flew the cast to London to see the show, I saw her come out and I thought, ‘Well that must just be the London version.’ [laughs] I had seen the movie, but I didn’t think it’d be the same. I thought, ‘That’s just for London.’ We came back to New York and on the first day of rehearsals, they gave me my cane. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’
It seems that you prefer playing a character role rather than the pretty young woman that you are.
That’s the most fun for me, when I’m lucky enough to make people laugh. Read more
NYMF Preview: Graham Skipper draws a blood bath in Re-Animator the Musical
For over 20 years, Blue Man Group has been the only show in New York to require the ‘You may get wet’ disclaimer. Now, theatergoers can go from blue to red as they get sprayed with blood from the undead. After two sold-out, extended runs in Los Angeles, Re-Animator the Musical is being presented at the New York Musical Theatre Festival from July 17 through July 22. Based on the H.P. Lovecraft story and 1985 camp film, the musical centers on Herbert West, a young medical student who invents a serum to reawake the dead; naturally, the potion has some unintended side effects. As the stage becomes more populated with West’s killer creations, the carnage reaches the first rows of audience members in the “splash zone.”
The actor charged with the most blood splatter is Graham Skipper, who plays West. A life-long fan of all things cult horror, Skipper feels at home with the plays aesthetics of gore and blood spatter. “When you need an extra push to get you to the end of a show, how could a geyser of red in your face not wake you up?” Skipper said of the on-stage bloodbath.
There are two concoctions used to make the blood in the show. The kind the audience gets sprayed with is a mixture of laundry detergent, baby shampoo, and food coloring, so it’s “easy to wash out,” Skipper explained. The actors get a less forgiving blend, which includes tomato juice. While harder to get out, it also “shows up really well under the stage lights,” Skipper said, who also admitted to often receiving strange looks as he makes his way home from the theater, covered in stage blood.
While the stains are merely an occupational hazard for the cast taken in stride, Skipper said no one in the audience has ever seemed to mind. However, Skipper offers a word of caution for anyone who sees the show. “If I see somebody that’s actively avoiding trying to get wet in the splash zone, of course I’m going to target you.” Skipper recalled a performance in which he locked his aim on a man who repeatedly made futile efforts to hide behind other audience members’ seats. “I got him so bloody and soaking wet,” Skipper said, chuckling. “At the end of the show, I bowed and waved to him; he only seemed a little perturbed.” Read more
Straight Shootin’ with the cast of The Bad and the Better: Clyde Baldo
The streets are filled with shady politicians and rebel-rousing anarchists in Derek Ahonen’s new play, The Bad and the Better, which plays at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater through July 21. In honor of the new detective noir, Stage Rush asked some of the fearless cast members about rolling with The Amoralists, admiring rebels, and shooting firearms. Here’s what they had to say!
Actor: Clyde Baldo
Has the nature of the Amoralists’ work allowed you to take more risks on stage? Moreso than your experiences with other theater companies?
I was very drawn to the reputation of the Amoralists and their gritty, risk-taking spirit. I take risks on stage in different ways. My role as Richard Zorn really doesn’t allow me to be risky. But I hope in future Amoralists productions, I get more of a chance to be out there. Read more
The No. 1 Reason To See: The Bad and the Better
Get transported into a noir-ish New York City in Derek Ahonen’s twisty new crime thriller The Bad and the Better. The Lang Brothers, whose family tree is deeply rooted in the NYPD, both investigate New York’s murky underbelly from different sides. On their respective investigations into anarchist groups and mysterious suburban murders, each uncovers corrupt secrets that will change their lives forever.
The No. 1 Reason To See The Bad and the Better: The shocking plot twists Read more
Straight Shootin’ with the cast of The Bad and the Better: Regina Blandón
The streets are filled with shady politicians and rebel-rousing anarchists in Derek Ahonen’s new play, The Bad and the Better, which begins performances at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on June 14. In anticipation of the new detective noir, Stage Rush asked some of the fearless cast members about rolling with The Amoralists, admiring rebels, and shooting firearms. Here’s what they had to say!
Actor: Regina Blandón Read more
Straight Shootin’ with the cast of The Bad and the Better: Jordan Tisdale
The streets are filled with shady politicians and rebel-rousing anarchists in Derek Ahonen’s new play, The Bad and the Better, which begins performances at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on June 14. In anticipation of the new detective noir, Stage Rush asked some of the fearless cast members about rolling with The Amoralists, admiring rebels, and shooting firearms. Here’s what they had to say!
Actor: Jordan Tisdale
Has the nature of the Amoralists’ work allowed you to take more risks on stage? Moreso than your experiences with other theater companies?
They have allowed me to take more risks than I have before and probably ever will. It’s all in the writing. Although we are a breed of actors who go all the way and don’t consider anything but excellence as an option, we wouldn’t be able to do that without the allowance of the writing. Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and Sam Shepard to name a few, do the same when they give an actor crazy and plentiful circumstances to work through. Actors love to go all the way and push the boundaries. Read more
Ticket giveaway: The Amoralists present The Bad and the Better
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Now that the Broadway season has come to a close, summer is a a time for traveling off the Great White Way and exploring some riskier theater. Stage Rush is giving readers a head start by giving away a pair of tickets to the newest production from one of the most daring theater companies around—The Amoralists. A new play by Derek Ahonen, The Bad and the Better is a detective noir set in modern day New York in which political corruption leads to a street war between anarchists and the local government. The play, directed by 4,000 Miles‘ Daniel Aukin, begins performances on June 14 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater and runs through July 21, and Stage Rush is setting one winner up with a pair of tickets.
Answer the questions below to be entered into the contest.
Only one entry per person will be counted. Read more
Clybourne Park makes Tony nominee Jeremy Shamos racist proof
In two acts each taking place in different eras, the new play Clybourne Park demonstrates how race issues haven’t changed much in 50 years. Jeremy Shamos plays Karl in Act I during 1959 and Steve in Act II in the present day—two of the most foot-in-mouth characters to hit Broadway in years. Shamos’ hilarity has been recognized with a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play, along with three other nominations for Bruce Norris’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. This is quite a triumph for a play that nearly got the plug pulled on it when mega producer Scott Rudin abruptly withdrew from the production last February, due to a conflict with Norris. Stage Rush sat down with Shamos, before the Tony nominations were announced, to discuss breaking dozens of social norms on stage, Clybourne’s press-shy playwright, and almost not making it to Broadway.
Your Act I character, Karl Lindner, has stepped out of A Raisin in the Sun and into Clybourne Park. What’s it like to play that unique aspect?
I’ve made some effort to not over think the Raisin in the Sun connection. I haven’t poured over Karl Lindner’s part in that play. For Bruce Norris, it was a jumping-off point, and it’s the same for me. I’ve never seen the movie; Bruce told me that I shouldn’t. [laughs] When I first walk on stage in Act I, my character resonates with people and a lot of the work is done for me. Pretty late in the first act when I say “The community association made an offer to these people,” the people who are familiar with [A Raisin in the Sun] know what that means, because they’ve been in that living room and saw him make an offer to the Youngers. I get the advantage of my first act being the second act of something else.
How does it feel to play a character that breaks social norms and is hilariously bad?
That’s the pleasure of doing Bruce’s plays in general. He allows his characters to say things that we have probably all thought, but would never say. That’s a complete pleasure, especially within the context of a very smart theatrical event. I’ve been asked if it’s hard to say the things that my characters say. There are certain things that are offensive that would be hard to say if the play itself was offensive. Then yeah, I’d just be offensive in an irresponsible way. But because things are contextualized so well, I feel like it’s thrilling and the audience gets a real vicarious thrill. Read more