Writer
Journalist Deirdre Donovan has written for the Washington Post and the Boston Globe, among others. Her theater writing has been published in The Brooklyn Paper, Our Town, West Side Spirit, Curtainup, Theaterscene, and Offoffonline.
Playwright Henry David Hwang at BroadwayCon (Photo: Cameron Wilke Flowers) BroadwayCon By Deirdre Donovan Theatre lovers beat the mid-winter blues at the 10th Annual Broadway Convention (BroadwayCon) at the New York Marriott Marquis, joining the theater community in celebration of live stage performance. The three-day event was packed with performances, in-depth panel discussions, workshops, and…
Joy Woods, Audra McDonald (Photo: Julieta Cervantes) Gypsy By Deirdre Donovan Gypsy –that revered American musical–is back on Broadway! Led by six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, and directed by the legendary George C. Wolfe, this much-anticipated revival features three Black women in principal roles, bringing a whole new vibe to the classic. Suggested by…
Robert Downey, Jr(Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) McNeal By Deirdre Donovan Ayad Akhtar’s McNeal, a new play about artificial intelligence, is likely to please some theatergoers and leave others with deeply furrowed brows. Under the direction of Bartlett Sher, and starring Academy Award-winning actor Robert Downey, Jr., the drama investigates how authors use AI…
Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler (Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) Romeo + Juliet By Deirdre Donovan Thanks to Sam Gold, Generation Z now has an opportunity to get up close and personal with Romeo + Juliet, which recently opened at Circle in the Square. Although some may object to the production’s conspicuous courting of a…
Dick Scanlan (Photo: Richard Termine) Cockeyed Optimist: Where Hammerstein Found His Hope By Deirdre Donovan The Lyrics & Lyricists concert series at 92NY opened their 2024-2025 season with a tribute to the late-great Oscar Hammerstein II, titled Cockeyed Optimist: Where Hammerstein Found his Hope. Directed by Dick Scanlan, and co-written by Scanlan and Malcolm Gets,…
Jim Parsons and the cast of Our Town (Photo: Daniel Rader) Our Town By Deirdre Donovan Kenny Leon, director of the current streamlined revival of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, brings a fresh new interpretation to the classic. He takes the revered play and makes it into a multicultural theatrical statement…
Cole Escola (Photo: Emilio Madrid) Oh, Mary! By Deirdre Donovan Theatergoers can now rendezvous with Mary Todd Lincoln at the Lyceum Theatre as Cole Escola’s hit comedy Oh, Mary! transfers from its downtown digs to the Great White Way. Brilliantly directed by Sam Pinkleton, and starring Escola in the eponymous role, it is an uproariously…
Sutton Foster (Photo: Joan Marcus) Once Upon a Mattress By Deirdre Donovan The new Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress, starring Sutton Foster, stacks up to two hours of pure theatrical fun. Deftly directed by Lear deBessonet, this production arrives on the heels of its popular run at New York City Center’s Encores!, retaining…
The cast of Cats: The Jellicle Ball. (Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) Cats: The Jellicle Ball By Deirdre Donovan The competition of all competitions is underway at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC) this summer. Under the arrangement of the Really Useful Group, and the inspired direction of Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, a…
Musical director and host Ted Sperling at the 92nd Street Y. (Photo: Richard Termine) Wonder of Wonders: Celebrating Sheldon Harnick By Deirdre Donovan Wonder of Wonders: Celebrating Sheldon Harnick closed out the 2023-2024 Lyrics & Lyricists series on a glorious note. Written, directed, and genially hosted by Ted Sperling, it originally was planned to be…