The season's second David Mamet revival on Broadway, American Buffalo—which officially opened Monday on the heels of Speed the Plow, the playwright's Hollywood satire—is toast. Oh well, this is what happens to a show when its review in the Times begins: "Ssssssssst. That whooshing noise coming from the Belasco Theater is the sound of the air being let out of David Mamet’s dialogue. Robert Falls’s deflated revival...evokes the woeful image of a souped-up sports car’s......

A Queens woman who says a police officer used excessive force when he pepper sprayed her in the face during an arrest is suing the city for $3 million. According to the Daily News, Naeema Screven was rushing to catch the A train at the Broadway station in Brooklyn when she ducked under the yellow tape that divided the staircase into "up" and "down." That's a no-no. When she reached the bottom, she was stopped......

It was announced today that the upcoming Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls will star Gilmore Girls actress Lauren Graham! She'll be making her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide, the fiancée of Nathan Detroit, to be played by Oliver Platt. The Frank Loesser musical originally debuted in 1950; it'll be back in February. In other Broadway casting news, Michael Cerveris and the Off Broadway favorite Paul Sparks have joined the cast of Christopher Shinn's "new......

Third Avenue and Broadway in Manhattan are the deadliest streets for pedestrians in NYC, according to an analysis released today by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a policy watchdog group. The study found that between 2005 and 2007, ten pedestrians were killed by cars on Third Avenue and another ten died on Broadway. There were 128 pedestrians killed in all of Manhattan between 2005 and 2007, 147 killed on Brooklyn streets during the same time......

Photos courtesy of the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building started celebrating Halloween a little early today, as Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz and Kerry Ellis (aka Elphaba, pictured) came to light the ESB green. This is all in celebration of the show's 5th anniversary on Broadway. Variety recently noted that "after five years on the Gotham boards, the perennial top dog of Rialto sales has racked up the kind of numbers that make......

Yikes: A car somehow drove into a restaurant at West 100th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. At least nine people are injured--the FDNY says "two people suffered serious injuries and seven had minor injuries." It's unclear where the victims were originally, but we imagine some may have been pedestrians--it's a Sunday and a beautiful one at that. Related: Other incidents of cars jumping curbs--1, 2, 3, 4.......

The 1987 classic movie Dirty Dancing may be coming to Broadway, more specifically the Neil Simon theater (where Hairspray is set to end its run in January). Variety has an early report, saying "no official plans have been confirmed, but legiters are hearing the hit stage version of the pic" may be getting a Gotham run (it's already been opened in London and other areas). "Penned by Eleanor Bergstein based on her screenplay, hews closely......

Earlier this week, it was announced that 9 to 5: The Musical, adapted from the movie and eponymous Dolly Parton song, will open on Broadway April 30th, the last day that a show can open and still be eligible for a Tony award. Broadway g'nerds rejoiced, but according to the Times, there's just one problem: The Broadway production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, starring Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane, had already planned to open......

As expected, Scientology protesters turned out last night to demonstrate at the red carpet opening of Arthur Miller's tragedy All My Sons, which, you'll recall, features Katie Holmes, Scientological wife of big shot Operating Thetan Level VII Tom Cruise. The Risky Business star wasn't in the audience last night (he caught an earlier preview), but other boldface attendees included Patricia Clarkson, Barbara Walters, and Isabella Rossellini. One of the protesters told WPIX, "Our main focus......

After years of work, the Theater Development Fund unveiled the new TKTS Discount Booth in the heart of Times Square yesterday. A glowing red glass amphitheater-style staircase, designed by John Choi and Tai Ropiha, is the centerpiece of Father Duffy Square (Broadway & 47th Street). The rest of the structure is a fiberglass shell; the ticket booths, which are under the stairs, now take credit cards. There's also one booth for plays only, "where there......

While NYC continues its battle with Tom for Katie, All My Sons, the Arthur Miller play Holmes has been working so hard on, will soon open on Broadway. She may not have sold many tickets, but The Daily News reports that the anti-Scientology group Anonymous will be turning out in droves wearing their V for Vendetta masks (they should really look in to wearing the Tom Cruise Vanilla Sky masks). When the play had its......

Oh, these are colorful times down in the financial district! Reader JGNY snapped this photo yesterday, and it's up to you whether you want to see it a sign that the tanking economy is rapidly returning New York to a 1970s 'Drop Dead' state of mind. But since the Charging Bull got blue balls yesterday, we're hoping another reader can spot something else for the wacky trifecta. Surely there are some photos of traders......

Broadway insiders say Julie Taymor is out of control on the set—er, rehearsal studio—of the upcoming musical adaptation of Spider-Man. The projected budget has soared to $40 million so far, with sources telling the Posts's Michael Riedel, "She doesn't care what it costs. Does not care at all. Her attitude is: It's for the art, and you don't question artists." To be sure, with music by U2's Bono and the Edge and direction from the......

"Now your eyes are feeling heavy. You want to sleep, don't you?" That's the question posed by child psychiatrist Martin Dysart (Richard Griffiths) as he hypnotizes his 17-year-old patient Alan Strang (Daniel Radcliffe) in the current revival of Peter Shaffer's 1973 play Equus. But in that moment I could have sworn Griffiths was speaking directly to me. It was also the only point where I felt that any of the performers in this tedious, overwrought production were actually in the same room as the audience. ...

Looks like some of the local NYC graffiti artists have begun to object to Banksy's massive billboard project. When we walked by this morning, the piece on Howard and Broadway had been hit with this big "damn rats!!!" piece. Can the fire-extinguisher tags be far behind?......

Call them crazy, but a group of producers are convinced that Bret Easton Ellis's violently satirical novel American Psycho will make a fabulous Broadway musical adaptation. Snicker if you must, but remember that naysayers also dismissed the novel as un-filmable, and that ended up getting a lot of critical acclaim. Of course, producers still need to contract a couple hacks to write the book and music, and they don't yet have the rights to those......

After twelve years, 5,124 performances and a haul of $280 million, Rent's Broadway run has come to an end. The musical closed yesterday after a final sold-out performance packed with diehard fans (the "Rentheads") and a smattering of celebrities (a couple Gossip Girl cast members). Just before the curtain came down for the final time, members of the show's original company joined the current cast on stage to "Seasons of Love," one of the show's most famous songs, the Associated Press reports....

Photo of Radiohole's Anger/Nation courtesy Radiohole. The Fringe, the Summer Play Festival, the Ice Factory—all that's behind us. With summer all but over, it's time for the big dogs of Broadway take center stage once again. Today the Times arts section is packed with ads and articles about the upcoming theater season, which critic Charles Isherwood has dubbed A Season of Men. That's mainly because there are two David Mamet plays set to open, Arthur......

That new Broadway pedestrian plaza, which reduced Broadway to two lanes to make room for tables, chairs, and new bike lanes, are "making city drivers miserable," the Post contends. But though two reporters were assigned to the story, they were hard-pressed get any comments from the allegedly miserable drivers in question. Oh, there is one Jason Silitsky, a New Jersey "commuter" (we bet he takes the PATH) who declares the esplanade "completely useless." On the......

Producers are increasingly reluctant to pour money into big Broadway spectacles, the Post's Michael Riedel reports. Investors are pulling out of new shows like Turn of the Century, advance sales are shaky for all but a few productions (Equus, starring Daniel Radcliffe, is doing quite well; Shrek the Musical is not) and raising money has become very difficult. A veteran producer tells Riedel, "The good times are over." And today it's being reported that the......

Work is well underway with the Department of Transportation plan to narrow Broadway in midtown Between 42nd Street and Herald Square, four lanes of Broadway will go down to two lanes--and a bicycle lane and pedestrian walkway, complete with seating, tables, umbrellas and flower-filled planters, will emerge by August 15. Reader carolita took this photograph of workers dusting off the pebbles on the esplanade-- exciting! Our theory is that if he can't have congestion......

Here’s an abbreviated list of show biz references that went completely over my head during [title of show], Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell’s audacious meta-musical about two theater “g’nerds” struggling to write a musical: Mary Stout getting hit by a hot dog cart; Dee Hoty; Henry, Sweet Henry; Betty Buckly, Dina Manoff, Ruthless: The Musical. I could go on – that’s just the first ten minutes. Suffice it to say, [title of show] is first and foremost a Broadway musical for people who adore Broadway as much for its dreadful flops as for its glittering triumphs. ...

Yesterday a Manhattan judge granted Philip Smith, head of the Shubert Organization, a divorce from his wife Tricia Walsh-Smith, who became an internet sensation after making a YouTube video that excoriated her prominent husband for his stash of “Viagra, porn movies, and condoms.” The video got over 3 million hits, but the judge was not a fan; yesterday he called it "a calculated and callous campaign to embarrass and humiliate her husband. She has attempted......

A Brooklyn TKTS – the discount Broadway and Off-Broadway ticket booth – was recently unveiled at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn at the corner of Jay Street and Myrtle Avenue. Though it won’t be open on weekends like the Manhattan TKTS locations, it will give Brooklyn playgoers the edge on weekdays, when it opens a full four hours ahead of the Times Square TKTS, which is currently operating at the Marriot Marquis while the new......

Forget The Dark Knight – the hype is already giving way to disappointment. It’s time to start getting really, really excited about Spider-Man the Musical, which will feature a score by U2’s Bono and the Edge and direction from Julie Taymor of Lion King fame. In May, Marvel Executive Peter Cuneo announced that the show could open as soon as next year, with Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood – Taymor’s stars in Across the......

The addition of Katie Holmes to the cast of the upcoming production of All My Sons has done zilch to boost advance ticket sales, according to the Post. "I bought 1,000 tickets to the show," says one broker. "I still have them." Another wonders, "Where are all the Scientologists? Don't they want to see her?" Sure they do, but who has money left for theater after all those expensive classes on the way to OT......

All My Sons, Arthur Miller’s tragedy about wartime profiteering, will be coming to an undetermined theater on Broadway at an unspecified date this fall. But nothing generates more buzz than when a Hollywood celebrity joins the cast – in this case that boldfaced name is Katie Holmes, who will try to inject a little integrity into her career by performing live onstage, just out of reach of her Scientology "chaperone." This year’s been tough on......

It says a lot about Harvey Fierstein's distinctiveness that it's almost impossible to even say the name 'Harvey' without thinking of that endearingly gravelly voice. Whether you know him as Homer Simpson's assistant Karl, Robin Williams's brother in Mrs. Doubtfire, or Hairspray's Edna Turnblad, the Brooklyn-born actor's uninhibited, self-assured persona is thoroughly his own. Now the four-time Tony winner is back on Broadway with A Catered Affair, the musical adaptation of the 1956 film......

The 2008 Tony Award nominees were just announced, and looking over the list we’ve got to admit that it was a pretty good year for Broadway, at least in terms of quality. The phenomenal rock musical Passing Strange picked up seven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Lead Actor (Stew, pictured). Also competing in the Best Musical category are the tepidly received Cry-Baby, the harmless Xanadu, and the underdog Latino musical In......

A performer in The Little Mermaid musical on Broadway broke both wrists after falling at least 20 feet through a trap door. Adrian Bailey, an ensemble performer who is also the understudy for King Triton, was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is in stable condition. The accident occurred before the 2 p.m. matinee performance. At the beginning of the show, the NY Times explains a boat "starts out high above the stage and descends," with......