JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
In his recent article “Billy Crystal’s fake Yiddish was a Jewish standout at the Tonys — but how should Jews feel about it?,” P.J. Grisar asks his readers if there is a “deleterious effect of humor like this.” As a proud Jewish actor and member of the cast of Broadway’s “Mr. Saturday Night,” I hope…
When Billy Crystal took the stage at the 2022 Tony Awards, I was briefly horrified by his opening line. “Do you guys like jazz scat-singing?” the 74-year-old actor asked the audience, on a night that saw wins for Jewish fare like “The Lehman Trilogy” (written by non-Jews, but directed by Sam Mendes and starring Adam…
The nominations for the 75th annual Tony Awards are giving us Jewish bankers. They’re giving us SNL alums. They’re giving us Billy Crystal, Paula Vogel and Bob Dylan – but not Beanie Feldstein or Fanny Brice. In a season packed with what feels like an above-average quotient of revivals, the nominees include a mix of…
The 2020 Tony Awards, like weddings, vacations, work commutes and so much of the other stuff of life, went missing this summer. But, the show must go on — however belatedly. The nominees for this year’s ceremony were announced Thursday and like so much else in this strange new normal, they are incomplete but also…
It’s time you learned the name Rachel Chavkin. She’s promising to have your back as you walk through hell. On Sunday night, Chavkin nabbed the Tony Award for Best Director in a Musical for her work on Broadway’s “Hadestown.” The director, who previously received a nod for “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,”…
What to do about Aaron Sorkin? The writer and director was once a voice of liberal America. We swooned over the grand ideals and political savvy of President Bartlett and his coterie of advisors on “The West Wing.” A 2012 clip from “The Newsroom” in which Jeff Daniels, as news anchor Will McAvoy, tears down…
Mein damen und herren. Citizens of River City. Momsies and popsicles. And all people who want to succeed in business without really trying. Attend this tale — Sunday night was the 72nd annual Tony Awards ceremony. The Schmooze has carefully tabulated every single Jewish moment that occurred during the three hour awards ceremony at Radio…
After a particularly boring season on Broadway, there are few surprises among this season’s nominees for the Tony Awards. “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Mean Girls” predictably mopped up nominations, scoring 12 apiece in a season in which new musicals were scarce. Equally predictably, “Escape to Margaritaville,” the Jimmy Buffet musical, won no Tony love; somewhat more…
