Bob Verini

With a rich, affecting score by Stephen Schwartz, 'The Queen of Versailles' offers Chenoweth a rich opportunity to flex her dramatic muscles.

For all its jaw-dropping spectacle, and the musical excitement of the tunes by Florence Welch (of Florence and the Machine) and Thomas Bartlett (a/k/a Doveman), the American Repertory Theater’s “Gatsby” never forgets that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus is a stinging rebuke of the American Dream. “The Great Gatsby” is obsessed with desire: It’s sickened […]

The embrace of “Barbie” at this year’s People’s Choice Awards — where it won six accolades, including movie of the year — is testament to one fact: Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie and the cast have created a work that speaks to everybody, not just to women and the doll-owning young girls they used to be. A […]

Champions from the sports world partner with experts to advance their entrepreneurial interests and secure financial longevity

Here’s a thought experiment. Imagine Jack Ryan or Jason Bourne as a cranky, retired septuagenarian, body all achin’ and racked with pain after a lifetime of dangerous missions. Now imagine he gets …

Hollywood, London, Rome and Mumbai may want to watch their backs. There’s a new player on the international production scene that is set to become one of the elite global media hubs. NEOM is …

Since Broadway’s earliest incarnation in the mid-1700s, the theater business’ dedicated workforce has earned a reputation for doing anything and everything in its power to ensure that the sho…

John Rigney, business manager to the stars and a founding partner of Level Four Business Management, belies the popular stereotype of the buttoned-down bean counter whose mind takes in only digits …

It’s always been true that in show business, the piper must be paid. And not just the piper, but everyone involved in the making of a show. Compensating the piper has never been m…

When the Tony-winning musical “1776” debuted on Broadway in 1969, it celebrated America’s ideals on the eve of its Bicentennial. Half a century later, a radical makeover brings critique front and c…

The ‘CODA’ casting team recounts finding the perfect actors to portray the Rossi family and the importance of deaf representation in film.

You’re a young performer who’s suddenly seeing the cash roll in, after years of toil and struggle. Or maybe you’re an experienced director or screenwriter, still smarting over bad choices in spendi…

The settings and scope of “Fargo’s” fourth installment are as variegated as America itself.

John Legend and "Sherman's Showcase" creators on how they layered social commentary, sharp jokes and great score into the TV spoof

When it comes to TV series chemistry, the old jazzman might say, “You either got it or you ain’t.” The stars of IFC’s “Brockmire,” Hank Azaria and Amanda Peet, most definitely got it. Their sizzling, sexy comic chemistry was a key factor in transforming an initial cult hit into a hilarious, time-jumping must-watch in its […]

U.S.-Ireland Alliance touts showbiz bridge

When is a standup routine not a standup routine, but a legitimate play? Partly when it comes with theatrical trappings like a thoughtful set, subtle lighting and sound effects. (Give a pass to the everyday button-down shirt and khakis.) But mostly it goes legit when it puts a singular character through an arc of experience, […]

When the 1990 movie comedy “Pretty Woman” catapulted Julia Roberts to stardom, it was widely reported that Disney and late director Garry Marshall had tweaked J.F. Lawton’s downbeat prostitute/john tale “Three Thousand” into a sumptuous rom-com, to the profit of all concerned. Its newest incarnation sanitizes the tale completely. With anything mature or sensual systematically […]

The story’s been strengthened in this splashy production, while expectations of cinema-inspired visual splendor are met and even exceeded. As for its song score, you can forget about your so-called jukebox shows and their dozen or so standards shoved into a narrative. With 70-odd pop smashes — from Piaf to Perry, from “Lady Marmalade” to […]

It’s a risky business, making a musical not from a story demanding to be told but from a set of songs merely available to be used. “Jagged Little Pill,” American Repertory Theater’s world premiere based on the 1995 Grammy-winning alt-rock smash, triumphantly avoids the pitfalls. , courtesy of director Diane Paulus (“Waitress,” “Pippin”), first-time librettist […]