Cruise to Mediterranean, Pt. 3: Corfu, Katakolon, Olympia, Catania

Day 6: Korfu

Eating gelato in Korfu

We had no excursion today, so we took one of those hop-on, hop-off red tour buses at 11 am after a leisurely breakfast (When we had excursions, we'd have to wake up at 6:45 am and order breakfast from room service.) The bus was 22 Euros per person and we figured it would at least give us an overview of the island which is lovely and relaxed. Jerry wanted to go to the Archeological Museum, but after finally finding it near a bus stop at the obligatory old fort, we discovered the Museum was closed that day. Instead, we went shopping in the charming old city with winding, narrow streets like everywhere else we'd been. We had a light lunch and indulged in gelato--cookies and cream and cheese cake flavors combined. In addition to postcard and magnets, we bought belts and a wooden mixing spoon.

Day 7: Katakolon, Olympia
For our last excursion, we got a bus from the port of Katakolon and drove for about 30 mins. to the site of the ancient Olympic games. A lot of ruins. I guess the highlight was standing in the open stadium where the races were held thousands of years ago. We were rushed into the arched entrance by our guide, looked around--it just a wide open field--and then we had had to rush to get back to the bus. It was interesting to see the remains of the temples to Zeus and Hera and the spot where the Olympic torch is lit every four years. 

Helmets at the Archeological Museum
at Olympia 

On the way back to the bus, I squeezed in the site's archeological museum. I had to run through it in order to make it back to the bus on time. There were several fascinating exhibits including hundreds of little clay animals which the ancient Greeks made and placed in the ground in front of the temples as offerings to the gods instead of real animals. 

After the bus ride back to Katakolon, I wandered around the tiny seafront town before reboarding. I found a tiny beach where I dipped my toes in the cool water and got sand in my shoes. I had lunch at a waterfront cafe.

Day 8: Catania, Sicily

There was a huge Norwegian cruise liner parked next to our medium-sized Oceania ship in Catania with a water slide on one side descending several stories. That would be kinda scary. As in Korfu, we took a Hop-on, Hop-Off bus to get to know the city on the coast of Sicily. Unfortunately, we did not get a good view of Mt. Etna, the city's volcano which keeps turning up in crossword puzzles. The clouds obscured the mountain entirely. The narration on the bus did inform us that some believed the volcano was inhabited by the spirit of England's Queen Elizabeth I because she made a deal with the devil for her kingdom and it erupted not long after her death.

St. Agnes in Catania, Sicily

We got off the bus in Bellini Square, saw a statue of the composer with figures from his operas Norma, etc, an ancient ruin, and the church of St. Agnes who was martyred with hot coals. She is beloved of the city because they are constantly under threat of fiery destruction because of the volcano, just as she was.

Lunch was at a Chinese restuarant (not bad). The bathroom door said "Thinking Room." We strolled to Piazza Duomo which was quite lovely and took the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus back to the port. The tourist shops sold trinkets referencing The Godfather since the Corleones were from Sicily.

Cruise to the Mediterranean, Pt. 2: Kotor, Split, Bari, Otsuni

Day 3: Kotor, Montenegro

One of the many cats of
Kotor, Montenegro

I started the day on the outdoor deck of the buffet, sprawled in my chair like that photograph of Faye Dunaway the morning after she won the Oscar for Network (and it should have been Liv Ullman for Face to Face). I was so relaxed because today there would be no excursions, no agenda. I just took the tender into the port of Kotor, Montenegro with no particular plan. Like Dubrovnik, there was a walled fortification enclosing a quaint old town center. I wandered around, bought postcards and refrigerator magnets. There were cats everywhere. I was tempted to go into the Cat Museum for 1 Euro, but it looked cheap even at the ridiculously low admission price, plus the second floor was closed for renovations. It probably would have consisted of kitschy kitty art with felines assuming human activities like shopping or commuting to work. So I went into a church for free and made an Instagram reel with the photos, set to Madonna's Like a Prayer. (I recently discovered how to make reels with musical accompaniment.)

Dinner at Red Ginger was wonderful. I had salmon with scallop ceviche, lobster and avocado salad, and bay Scallop trio with lobster pad thai. Peach tea and fruit salad for dessert. The entertainment was decent with the ship's singers and dancers performing a pop music revue featuring the hits of artists of my generation like The Pointer Sisters, The Bee Gees, Cher, Rod Stewart, Celine Dion and Tina Turner. They ended with "River Deep, Mountain High."

Day 4: Split, Croatia

We learned from the on-board lecture that Split was famous as the site of the retirement palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the only one to step down voluntarily. Most others were assassinated or died of natural causes. Diocletian reigned from 284-305 CE

Game of Thrones, Season 4,
filmed in Split, Croatia

and died in 311. He was considered a great ruler at the time with many public works to this credit, but because he mercilessly persecuted Christians and fed them to the lions in the coliseum, his reputation has stunk through the centuries and we hear very little about him today. Split is also famous as the filming location of several episodes of the HBO hit series Game of Thrones. I'd never watched a single episode, but we signed up for an excursion tour of a castle and the dungeons of Diocletian's palace where several scenes from GOT were filmed. The tour was titled Dungeons and Dragons or something catchy like that. Our guide gave us every detail about the episodes filmed at the castle called Klis. In Split where I later wandered around, there was a Games of Thrones shop and a museum. Now I will have to watch those segments so I can say, "I was there."

Day 5: Bari and Otsuni, Italy

Otsuni, the White Lady

From Bari, Italy, I took an excursion to a town called Otsuni in Brindisi. I had no idea what to expect, except that that brochure called the town "The White Lady." It was an hour's drive from the port and I thought, "I hope I didn't make a mistake." My fears were soon allayed when we walked from the bus to the town and I saw a gorgeous white-walled town with beautiful small squares, churches, and art galleries. Our guide walked us around the beautiful back streets into the town square with its statue devoted to St. Francis of Assisi. One interesting sight was a stylishly attired elegant woman walking her dog and picking up its leavings, never losing her poise or pose.

I had lunch at an open air cafe with fellow passengers and a swarm of flies. The waitress told us the insects were attracted by the wine-processing system which started in October. There was so many hanging around my prosciutto and mozzarella, I finally had to accept their presence and only occasionally swatted them away. 

We drove back along the sea. Right off the bus, I got on the shuttle to Bari and found a little trolley car thing for 15 Euros for a city tour. At first I thought it was a rip-off because we drove around along the seaside embankment and a little ways into the town and then back. But then a guide named Donnatella got off with me and two other ladies from the ship and said she would give us a brief tour of St. Nicholas' basilica. Outside the basilica was a statue of St. Nicholas (the inspiration for Santa Claus and Father Christmas) donated by Vladimir Putin because there is a large Russian population there. Donnatella gave us some info on the church and we went in. I asked her how Italy left about Putin. She diplomatically replied "We are divided." I responded so was America. Then the trolley took us back to the port, so it was worth 15 Euros. 

I decided to walk around a bit since I had time before the ship would leave. I found an artist's studio where she sold magnets made of clam shells for 2 Euros. Lately, I've bought a magnet from every country, city and town I've been to. The refrigerator is getting a bit crowded.

B'way Update: Good Night Sets Dates and Theater, Etc.

George Clooney in the 2005 film of
Good Night and Good Luck.

The spring sprint to the Tonys is almost totally set. The previously announced Good Night and Good Luck, starring and co-written by Oscar winner George Clooney has announced dates and a theater. The play about legendary broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow's battles against McCarthyism in the 1950s will begin previews at the Winter Garden Theater on March 12 with an April 3 opening. The script is based on the 2005 screenplay by Clooney and Grant Heslov. Clooney will play Murrow in the Broadway version but played a different role in the film. Tony winner David Cromer, currently represented Off-Broadway by The Counter at Roundabout's Laura Pels, directs.

The Winter Garden is an unusual choice for this straight play since it has mostly housed large-scale musicals such as Funny Girl, Mame, Pacific Overtures, Cats and most recently Rocky, The Music Man, and the current tenant Back to the Future which closes on Jan. 5, 2025. The last non-musical to play the Winter Garden was Wolf Hall, the two-evening stage version of Hilary Mandel's expansive novel of Thomas Cromwell and his role in the ill-fated marriage of King Henry VIII to Anne Boelyn.

This announcement means only one previously announced spring Broadway production has yet to find a home or performance dates--the latest revival of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.  

Cruise to the Mediterranean, Part 1: Malta, Dubrovnik

For the second year in a row, we booked a cruise on Oceania to the Mediterranean, visiting many ports we have never been to before (Last year's cruise to Greece and Turkey was so wonderful we booked again on the same line.) We started in Valletta, Malta which we didn't see much of because we were both so exhausted and jet-lagged from the flight from NYC with a stop-over in Rome, we took a long nap in the hotel. There was a cute small beach club just for hotel guests, but we didn't have time to take advantage of it. But we did go to dinner at a local restaurant called Gululu with a lovely waterfront view. I had rabbit and thought of Bugs Bunny. We strolled around. Malta was very nice but we didn't get more than a glimpse of it. The only thing I knew about it was The Maltese Falcon and the fact that Popeye was filmed there. We'll have to go back. 

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Day 1-2: Day at Sea and Dubrovnik, Croatia: We got on board our ship the Marina the next day and headed for our first port Dubrovnik, Croatia. We had a day at sea before reaching Dubrovnik. There was a sumptuous brunch buffet in Grand Dining Room with caviar, lobster tails, chocolates, custards, fruit cups, croissants, and endless other goodies. It was so nice to get away from the madness of our current awful Presidential election, but the insanity intrudes on this serene scene. At a table near us, two couples were discussing Trump and a man stated the truth: he's a convicted felon. A Trump supporter at the next table, shouted "You don't know what you're talking about. That's not the whole story." The first man replied, "I'm talking about this with my friends. Not with you." The irate second gentleman bellowed, "You're talking loud enough for me to hear and I don't have to listen to this" and he stormed off , soon followed by his silent wife. The anti-Trumpers laughed the incident off and continued with their brunch. 

The sumptuous brunch buffet

That night I played Team Trivia with five other passengers and we dubbed ourselves the Can-Am team since two of of players were from Canada. The entertainment that night was a musical revue featuring four singers and seven dancers. It was okay. The cast was talented and the material was familiar. Later in the week, the shows were similarly safe with a comedian and a vocalist alternating with the ship's ensemble. The best show was a revue emphasizing dance with numbers reminiscent of Gene Kelly in An American in Paris and Bob Fosse's bowler hats and white gloves.

Once in Croatia, we booked a tasty wine-tasting excursion out in the countryside followed by a fun boat ride. After the boat ride, we took the shuttle bus from the port to the Dubrovnik town center where discovered the common theme of this cruise: walled cities surrounded a charming "old town." Many of the ports where points of defense for countries constantly at risk for invasion. The region was a shifting map of borders and warring ethnicities--Yugoslavia, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, etc. etc. The walls provided protection and the interior towns became quaint tourist attractions. We wandered around the tourist-choked narrow streets and broad squares.

On board ship, the meals were excellent. During the course of the cruise, we dined at the four specialty restaurants--Jacques (French), Red Ginger (Asian Fusion), Toscana (Italian), and Polo Grill (steakhouse). All were first-rate. I think I enjoyed Toscana best where I had seafood linguine and filet mignon with spinach and gorgonzola cheese. The dessert was peaches in brown sugar sauce. 

I like Oceania because they include almost everything upfront as opposed to other cruise lines which nickel and dime you to death. Our package included the four specialty restaurants, four shore excursions, a drinks package for wine and champagne (but not cocktails), and a concierge-level room with a balcony.

Our ship the Marina

B'way Update: Smash and Sondheim

Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee in
Smash, the NBC-TV series.

Two upcoming Broadway shows, Smash and Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, have announced specific details on dates, theaters and cast members. Smash, the musical based on the NBC-TV series, will begin previews at the Imperial Theater on March 11, 2025 prior to an April 10 opening. Robyn Hurder (A Beautiful Noise, Moulin Rogue) and Caroline Bowman will head the company as Ivy and Karen, two actresses vying for the lead in a musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Bowman will leave the company of Sunset Boulevard where she is standby for Norma Desmond. The cast will also feature Brooks Ashmanskas (The Prom) as Nigel, Krysta Rodriguez (Spring Awakening) as Tracy, John Behlmann  (Shucked) as Jerry, Kristine Nielsen (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as Susan, Jacqueline B. Arnold (Moulin Rouge!) as Anita, Bella Coppola (Six) as Chloe, and Casey Garvin (Some Like It Hot) as Charlie. Rodriguez is the only cast member to have also appeared in the NBC series as a recurring character, although in a different role. Nielsen did have a guest shot in one episode. 

Six-time Tony winner Susan Stroman directs with a book by Bob Martin (Drowsy Chaperone) and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray) which will comprise of tunes from the series as well as new ones.

Producer Robert Greenblatt said, “Neil, Steven, and I are elated to announce that Smash is definitely coming to Broadway this season, a dozen years after the series ended on NBC! We always knew Shaiman & Wittman’s fantastic score belonged on Broadway, and our show is a clever, funny adaptation of the series — with a few surprises — that we hope will delight die-hard fans as well as anyone who didn’t see the series.” 

Neil Meron said, “Working with our incomparable director, Susan Stroman, our first-class bookwriters, Rick Elice and Bob Martin, and our original series choreographer, Josh Bergasse, has been a joy. This dream team has created the quintessential new musical about the rollercoaster ride of creating a new musical. (Very meta!) And it not only sends Broadway up, but sends Broadway a big love letter at the same time.”

Manhattan Theater Club announced that its production of the revue Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, presented in association with Cameron Mackintosh and Daryl Roth will begin previews at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater on March 25, 2025 with an opening set for April 8.

Bernadette Peters, Lea Salonga, Bonnie
Langford and the London company of
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends.

Joining previously announced Broadway Legends Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga will be Jasmine Forsberg, Kate Jennings Grant, David Harris, Bonnie Langford (Mel, companion of Doctor #6 and #7 from Doctor Who), Tony Award winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone), two-time Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk winner Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins, SpongeBob Squarepants), Ryan McCartan, multiple Olivier Award nominee Jason Pennycooke, two-time Olivier Award winner Joanna Riding, Jeremy Secomb, Maria Wirries, and Daniel Yearwood. Peters, Salonga, Langford, Lee and Secombe also appeared in the London production of the show. The company will also include Kevin Earley, Paige Faure, Alexa Lopez, and Peter Neureuther. The final co-star will be announced soon.

B'way Update: John Proctor Is the Villain

Sadie Sink

The spring Broadway season just got more crowded. We just learned Real Women Have Curves: The Musical will be added to the April 2025 roster. Today, there was the announcement for Sadie Sink (Stranger Things, The Whale) to star in Kimberly Belflower's John Proctor Is the Villain, a new play re-examining Arthur Miller's The Crucible about the Salem witchcraft trials. Previews begin March 20, 2025 with an opening set for April 14 at the Booth Theater. Tony winner Danya Taymor (The Outsiders) directs. Additional casting will be announced. Sink previously appeared on Broadway as a child in Annie and The Audience.

B'way Update: Real Women Sets Dates

Satya Chávez and Lucy Godínez in
Real Women Have Curves
at the American Repertory Theater
(Photo: Nile Hawver/Maggie Hall)

Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, previously announced for Broadway sometime in 2025, has landed on specific dates and will be a part of what is becoming a very crowded 2024-25 season. Previews for the show based on the play by Josefina López and HBO’s Real Women Have Curves, (Screenplay by Josefina López and George LaVoo) will begin April 1 with an opening set for April 27 at a Shubert theater to be announced. Music and lyrics are by Grammy Award-winning artist Joy Huerta of the Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy and composer/lyricist Benjamin Velez, book by Lisa Loomer with Nell Benjamin, music supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo, and direction and choreography by Tony and Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys). American Repertory Theater at Harvard University presented the show's world premiere in 2023.

In 1987, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, Ana is ready to spread her wings. Her dreams of college and a career in New York City are bursting at the seams, but her family’s expectations would keep her home, working at their garment factory. Should Ana pursue her own dreams at the expense of her family’s? 

Catching Up with Robot Dreams and Elsbeth

Robot Dreams

We're now in Malta about to start our Mediterranean cruise (and getting away from the US presidential election at exactly the right time.) We flew Delta from JFK to Rome and then transferred to Malta Airlines to Valetta, Malta where our Oceania Cruise begins. The seven and a half-hour flight provided an opportunity to finally catch up with Robot Dreams, one of the few 2023 Oscar-nominated films I did not see before the awards. The charming Best Animated Feature nominee had very few if any screenings in NYC. This beautiful and touching film about friendship features colorful, eye popping drawings and deep characterizations. Totally silent, the film is set in an anthropomorphic NYC in the 1980s with robot technology. Single and lonely Dog orders a DIY robot for companionship. Their immediate connection could be a metaphor for gay relationships. The canine and mechanical man tentatively hold hands as they walk down the street and lay on the beach. Dog appears to be bisexual as well as interspecies-amorous since he later dates an adventurous female duck. It looks like all the intelligent, human-like animals in this version of Gotham will go out with any other species. Robot and Dog are separated and their separate adventures make up the bulk of the plot. Both search for nurturing friends but long for each other. It's a surprisingly moving plea for acceptance of love in all its forms.

Carra Patterson and Carrie Preston in
Elsbeth. Credit: Elizabeth Fisher/CBS

I also caught up with CBS' quirky crime series Elsbeth with falls into the kooky sleuth genre. Elsbeth (a delightful Carrie Preston) and her pals on the police force solve murders committed by upper-class Manhattanites who are involved in TV, the arts, sports or fashion. She's sort of a low-key, less annoying Columbo. I like that it's filmed in NYC and uses lots of theater actors. On the flight I caught the episode where Linda Lavin falls out her co-op balcony. Jane Krakowski is the prime suspect or is she? Last week I enjoyed the episode with Laura Benanti and Andre De Shields. (All Tony winners, BTW.) Also viewed: two episodes of I Love Lucy, the one where she stages an operetta (The Pleasant Peasant) and the one where she dressed up like a hep cat musician.

Binging on John Ford, Part 6: Gay Rumors and an Alleged Affair w/Hepburn

Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne and 
John Ford during the filming of
The Quiet Man in Ireland

The more I learn about John Ford, the more twisted, fascinating and complex the legendary director becomes. I originally set out to watch all of his movies and read about him because so many film scholars have said he was the greatest director of Hollywood's Golden Era and perhaps even of all movie history. He also reminds me of my late dad who enjoyed his works tremendously and had a similar individualistic streak. But as I read books and articles on Ford, he emerges as a deeply troubled, fickle, jealous man who could be extremely manipulative, abusive and vindictive, if you got on his wrong side, even unintentionally. 

Maureen O'Hara starred in five Ford films--How Green Was My Valley, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Long Grey Line and The Wings of Eagles. In her autobiography, Tis Herself, she reveals an early connection with Ford over their shared Irish heritage. O'Hara was born in Ireland and came to Hollywood to star in The Hunchback of Notre Dame under the tutelage of Charles Laughton who discovered her as a teenager in Great Britain. Ford developed an affection for O'Hara and her family many of whom later emigrated to the US and got into the picture business. 

Book Review: Tis Herself

(Borrowed from the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts) "What a story! It's got everything but the bloodhounds nipping at her rear end." That's how Thelma Ritter's character Birdie described Eve Harrington's history when she first enters Margo Channing's dressing room in All About Eve. She could also be encapsulating Maureen O'Hara's action-packed autobiography. O'Hara went from acting on the Irish stage to Hollywood stardom while still in her teens, survived two horrific marriages and the mysterious, possibly CIA-related death of her third beloved husband, sexual harassment from the top movie execs, bizarre advances and physical abuse from John Ford, and a legal battle with Walt Disney. The prose is vital and full-blooded, though how much can be credited to her co-author John Nicoletti?

I love O'Hara's honesty and settling of old scores. She loves the words "rubbish" and "stinkeroo" when describing some of the papblum she was forced to act in. She doesn't hold back in her assessment of her leading men. Co-starring with Jeff Chandler was like acting opposite a "broomstick." Jimmy Stewart was a nice guy, but not generous with sharing scenes. He insisted on one of their scene being reshot when it was clear O'Hara got the better of it. A great, fast read full of Hollywood backstage stories.

B'way Update: Groff as Bobby Darren in Just in Time

Tony winner Jonathan Groff (Merrily We Roll Along) will return to Broadway playing pop singer Bobby Darin in Just in Time, a new bio-musical employing Darin's songbook. The Circle in the Square Theater will be converted into an intimate nightclub of the 50s and 60s with a big band for a total immersive experience. Previews begin Match 28, 2025 for an April 23 opening. The book is by Tony winner Warren Leight (Side Man, Law and Order: CI) and Isaac Oliver (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). Tony winner Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge) directs and developed the show. Groff leads a cast of 16, TBA. In addition to his Tony for Merrily, Groff was nominated for Hamilton and Spring Awakening. His TV and film credits include Mindhunter, The Matrix Resurrections, Frozen, Glee, and Doctor Who.

“Bobby Darin worked across many genres of music, but he was most alive performing in intimate nightclubs,” says director Alex Timbers.  “And so, it was vital to Jonathan and myself that we stage Just In Time at Circle in the Square.  This is where we could build an environmental nightclub setting including a live, onstage big band that will allow the same sort of intimacy and electrifying audience connection that both Bobby and Jonathan are known for.”

Bobby Darin

“Bobby Darin was a supernova. He blazed his way through every corner of the entertainment industry, but his enormous talent, charisma, and pure genius were most on display when he was letting it rip in front of a crowd. This primal passionate love affair he had with the audience was the inspiration for our show's conceit,” says Groff, who is also serving as a producer on the project. “Alex Timber's distinctive ability to make going to the theater an unforgettable event and Bobby's signature musicality and explosive fleeting life make Broadway the perfect place to experience the story and essence of this once in a lifetime talent.”

Darin was an acclaimed singer, songwriter and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock, folk and country. His hits included "Splish Splash," Dream Lover," "Beyond the Sea" and "Mack the Knife." He was nominated for an Oscar for Captain Newman, MD. Kevin Spacey, using his own singing voice, played him in the 2004 biopic Beyond the Sea.

Book Review: Some Time in the Sun: The Hollywood Years of F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Nathaniel West, Aldous Huxley, and James Agee

(Bought at a used-book store in upstate NY for 50 cents.) Tom Dardis' scholarly study of five distinguished authors who tried their hand at screenwriting during Hollywood's Golden Age is informative if a trifle dry. There's little juice in his chronicling of the quintet's struggles with studio bosses, directors, and, in some cases, alcoholism and depression. It's a scholarly book and also a study of the conflict between art and commerce. All of the authors, to one degree or another, were dependent on their movie money for survival. It's somewhat astonishing to read that literary giants like Fitzgerald and Faulkner had to scramble for cinema dollars in order to pay their bills because the sales of their books, now regarded as classics, were so meager. Though Dardis offers plentiful details such as salary figures and specific studio assignments, he misses the essence of his subjects. I didn't feel I knew any of them any better once I'd finished the book. 

B'way Update: Sarah Snook as Dorian Gray

Sarah Snook in the Sydney Theatre Company
production of 
The Picture of Dorian Gray,
adapted and directed by Kip Williams.
Credit: Marc Brenner

Emmy and Olivier Award winner Sarah Snook (Succession) will make her Broadway debut playing 26 characters in the dazzling production of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The breathtaking stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s only novel is adapted and directed by Kip Williams, the Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company, where the production originated. The Picture of Dorian Gray will open at a Shubert theatre in March for a strictly limited engagement. Snook won an Olivier Award for her performance playing 26 characters including the titular Dorian Gray whose portrait ages while he remains eternally young, leading a debauched, immoral existence.

“It was a singular privilege to bring The Picture of Dorian Gray to life in London and I am thrilled we will be able to share this astonishing production with audiences in New York,” Snook said. “From Oscar Wilde’s timeless words to the masterful reinterpretation Kip Williams has created, this tale of virtue, corruption, vanity and repercussion is an electrifying journey for me as much as for the audiences and I am filled with anticipation as we continue on this ambitious creative endeavor.”

B'way Update: Mincemeat Official

From left: Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson,
David Cumming, Zoe Roberts, Jak Malone
of 'Operation Mincemeat'
Credit: Matt Crockett

It's official. As reported yesterday, the Olivier Award-winning musical Operation Mincemeat will open on Broadway this spring. Preview performances begin Feb. 15, 2025 at the Golden Theater with an opening scheduled for March 20. Mincemeat, which opened in London's West End in May 0f 2023, is written by four of the original cast members David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoe Roberts. The plot is based on the actual Operation Mincemeat, a British intelligence scheme to deceive the Nazis by planting fake documents on a corpse.