Ron Fassler – Medium

3 days ago

REPLACEMENTS: PART THREE

Theatre Yesterday and Today, February 1, 2023, by Ron Fassler. To continue with more on replacements, the story of how Larry Kert has remained the only actor to earn a Tony nomination for a role he didn’t create on Broadway is a less-than-routine place to start. To my knowledge, how…

9 min read

REPLACEMENTS: PART THREE

9 min read

5 days ago

REPLACEMENTS: PART TWO

Theatre Yesterday and Today, January 30, 2023, by Ron Fassler. Due to a warm response to the column posted Saturday on replacementsin Broadway shows, a Part Two feels warranted (as well as a Part Three) due to how many prime examples there are from which to choose. For more than…

7 min read

REPLACEMENTS: PART TWO

7 min read

Jan 28

REPLACEMENTS: GUTS & GLORY

Theatre Yesterday and Today, January 28, 2023, by Ron Fassler. When an original cast member of a Broadway show exits a production, the term “replacement” is applied to the actor or actress who takes over. When a run is as long as the record-breaking Phantom of the Opera(thirty-five years this…

9 min read

REPLACEMENTS: GUTS & GLORY

9 min read

Jan 17

HAPPY 92nd TO JAMES EARL JONES

January 17, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler James Earl Jones, who turns ninety-two today, was the first dramatic actor I ever saw on the Broadway stage that took my breath away. Seeing him as boxer Jack Jefferson in Howard Sackler’s The Great White Hope was one of…

7 min read

HAPPY 92nd TO JAMES EARL JONES

7 min read

Jan 10

“IT’S AN HONOR JUST TO BE NOMINATED”

January 10, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler Though the Tony Awards have been handed out since 1948, the citing of nominees didn’t enter the mix until 1956. Since then, as many as two, three, four, five or six have rounded out a single category, or just one…

9 min read

“IT’S AN HONOR JUST TO BE NOMINATED”

9 min read

Jan 6

A COUPLE OF “ODD COUPLE” STORIES

January 6, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler “Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?” Because the feature film of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple opened in 1968 more than half-a-century ago in, it is conceivable there are some who believe it was…

11 min read

A COUPLE OF “ODD COUPLE” STORIES

11 min read

Jan 2

THE STORY OF “THE PHILADELPHIA STORY”

January 2, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler Turning on Turner Classic Movies New Year’s Day, I was struck by the coincidence of The Philadelphia Story being on the schedule. Only hours before, I had posted a column on a short-lived musical titled Happy New Year, composed of…

8 min read

THE STORY OF “THE PHILADELPHIA STORY”

8 min read

Jan 1

HAPPY NEW YEAR

January, 1, 2023: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler In the spirit of ringing in the new year, here’s a reprise of a column I previously wrote (with some 2022-like additions) about a short-lived Broadway musical titled Happy New Year. Utilizing Cole Porter songs (removed from their original sources)…

7 min read

HAPPY NEW YEAR

7 min read

Dec 27, 2022

SONDHEIM ON THE OTHER GUYS (AND A DOLL OR TWO).

December 27, 2022: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler In the year since Stephen Sondheim’s passing in November 2021, New York has been treated to new productions of three of his major works: Company, Into the Woods and Merrily We Roll Along, with Sweeney Todd (to star Josh Groban…

Stephen Sondheim

6 min read

SONDHEIM ON THE OTHER GUYS (AND A DOLL OR TWO).

Stephen Sondheim

6 min read

Dec 20, 2022

IF YOU DON’T MIND MY SAYING SO

December 20, 2022: Theatre Yesterday and Today, by Ron Fassler A day late, and a dollar short, I am paying tribute to Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, which opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre sixty-five years ago on December 19, 1957. Currently it is in its final weeks before…

7 min read

IF YOU DON’T MIND MY SAYING SO

7 min read

Ron Fassler
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Author, playwright, director, actor, theatre critic and historian, his book, “Up in the Cheap Seats,” is available at Amazon.com.
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