The Me Nobody Knows

This is one of the reasons we choose to be New Yorkers.

Brian Wilson, musical genius and founder of the Beach Boys, died today (Wednesday, June 11, 2025), so in honor of him, here is an article of the 40 greatest Beach Boys songs that I wrote for Broadway World two years ago.  Love & Mercy, Brian!

The NANCE is currently enjoying a succesful and critically aclaimed run at Elmwood Playhouse in Nyack, NY.  We caught up with the play's director Alan Demovsky to chat a bit about the play's message and its extraordinary significance in today's increasingly repressive political climate.

Some of the shows that the Orpheum has been best known for are Stomp, which ran there for an astounding 29 years, from 1994 to 2023, and the original production of Little Shop of Horrors which spent over five years at the theater from 1982 to 1987. 

Cindy Fee—the voice of The Golden Girls theme song, “Thank You for Being a Friend”—will perform at the opening weekend of The Golden Girls Live: The Christmas Episodes at BroadwaySF's Curran Theatre. Patrons attending performances on December 6, 7, and 8 will get the opportunity to see Fee perform the iconic theme song live from the Curran Theatre stage.

A COLLECTIVE CY is a gorgeous dream album of a recording that shows off Jeff Harnar's mad skills at cabaret storytelling and music making, both at the same time.

'Good Vibrations'? 'California Girls'? 'I Get Around'? See where your favorite Beach Boys songs land on the list!

Audiences today may know her best as Mrs. Brice, but Broadway has known Tovah Feldshuh by many other names. She made her Broadway debut on May 13, 1973 in Cyrano alongside Christopher Plummer at the Palace Theatre. Since then, she has gone on to play some of Broadway's most iconic characters. In this video, chats more about her epic career on stage and screen!

Have you ever wondered what was the most dramatic night in Broadway history? Well, boy, do I have a story for you! The year: 1980. The show: 42nd Street. I sat down with the show’s lead, the iconic and peerless Lee Roy Reams to get the true story straight from someone who was actually there that momentous evening.

The criteria are that these shows have been nominated for Best Musical from the 3rd Tony Awards (the ceremony that started the Best Musical category) in 1949 to the nominations of what will now be the 74th Tony Awards in 2021. I will be determining their signs based upon their Broadway premiere date. With those rules in mind, here we go!

Happy Gay Pride! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest LGBTQ songs and anthems from 1920-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest protest songs from 1939-2020. See if your favorite songs or artists made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest scenes in cinema from 1901 to 2020. See if your favorite movie moments made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best TV episodes from the 1950's to 2020; see if your favorites made the list!

The Beatles! Rihanna! Michael Jackson! Johnny Cash! Kanye West! The Rolling Stones! Aretha Franklin! Bob Dylan! Miles Davis! Nirvana! BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest albums from the rock and rap era (1950-2020); see if your favorites made the grade!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best film musicals since the sound era began; see if your favorites made the list!

How do we make a list of the 101 greatest show tunes from the past 100 years? Well, we did the near-impossible task.  Check out our full list here! 

The 2017 Tony nominations were announced this morning. If you haven't checked them out yet, what are you waiting for?! CLICK HERE to check out a full list of this year's nominees, and HERE for reactions from the lucky few!

Actress/LA theatre inaugurator, Penny Fuller has embarked on a new leg of her career as a cabaret artiste. Ms. Fuller will be bringing her solo musical play 13 THINGS ABOUT ED CARPOLOTTI to the Broad Stage beginning January 11. I had the most delightful opportunity to chat with the vibrant, vivacious Ms. Fuller. She possesses a memory of an elephant, effortlessly listing off names of cast compatriots and retelling intriguing incidents of her theatre highlights.

Leonard Bernstein's CANDIDE has had more lives than that proverbial cat--the latest being New York City Opera's new take on it, opening on January 6 for a ten-performance run at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theatre. It is, once again, helmed by director Hal Prince and choreographer Pat Birch, who were responsible--with librettist Hugh Wheeler and conductor John Mauceri--for the resuscitation and renovation of the once-considered unproducible work, more than 40 years ago.

What the cast and director are doing here is offering a solid, slick, and oh so faithful rendition of ROCKY HORROR. Director Mitchell Greco relies on the strength of the fortysomething year-old material, and lets his vision grow gorgeous images and sumptuous arrangements.

Powerful, moving and ripe for revival, Inge's drama is not simply a breezy summer romance. Set in small town Kansas, this is a sexy world, dangerous and cruel, where residents keep each other in their place while longing to break free. At once sensual, passionate and delightfully funny, Picnic probes the sometimes tenuous line between restraint and desire.

Today, BroadwayWorld kicks off a brand new interview series titled HOW I GOT THE JOB shining a special solo spotlight on a performer in which they share candid recollections and revisit the point at which they became involved with a particular project on their resume, whether it be stage piece, film or TV project... To kick off the series, we are talking to an internationally recognized stage and screen star CELEBRATED for her iconic originating role in the popular stage musical and subsequent feature film adaptation of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, the fiercely idiosyncratic Ellen Greene. Opening up about her experiences in landing that unforgettable part, Greene also previews what audiences can expect from her return to the stage as art of the hotly anticipated Encores! Off-Center mounting of the musical co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal at City Center later this week. Additionally, Greene reflects on some of her other standout appearances over the years, such as the acclaimed 1976 New York Shakespeare Festival production of THE THREEPENNY OPERA and David Rabe's IN THE BOOM BOOM ROOM at the Public Theater, not to mention the legendary cult musical RACHAEL LILY ROSENBLOOM (AND DON'T YOU EVER FORGET IT), plus her notable ongoing collaboration with TV mastermind Bryan Fuller on HEROES, PUSHING DAISIES and HANNIBAL and much more.

Powerful, moving and ripe for revival, Inge's drama is not simply a breezy summer romance. Set in small town Kansas, this is a sexy world, dangerous and cruel, where residents keep each other in their place while longing to break free. At once sensual, passionate and delightfully funny, Picnic probes the sometimes tenuous line between restraint and desire.

Ray Wylie Hubbard will perform today, May 16 at 9 p.m. at Brooklyn's Hill Country Live.