Sondheim killed as Broadway showed a taste for butchery—not to mention molestation. Cherry Jones flew high as a nun, while Ethan Hawke wallowed in self-destruction. Amid revivals and nostalgic musicals, some playwrights proved they could smartly tackle current events. And Doug Hughes directed everything.

Jennifer Jason Leigh plays an extroverted striver in Abigail’s Party. Now, that’s a stretch.

Right now, I’m deeply enamored of a really bad show called That ’70s Show.

Fiona Apple is peaking, Didion’s backlash-proof Magical Thinking rides high, and The Squid and the Whale and Curb Your Enthusiasm suffer the cranky judgments of the very characters they themselves satirize.

"I’ve always loved Mannerism, non-naturalist aesthetics. My favorite painting in the world is The Scream. When The Winter’s Tale works well, it takes you into that arena."

"My dad showed me so much of himself, it's almost like there's a chip in my mind where I can access his memory."

"I think she's doing a good job. Well, I mean, you can pick up her little Rosie O'Donnell accent, for sure."

Sultry Idina Menzel heads back downtown and leaves her teenybopper fans behind.

In his first play, ex-con and country singer Steve Earle channels the voice of a famous woman on death row.

After a season of shows based on the back catalogues of Elvis and John Lennon, this year’s musical-makers are borrowing from the greatest stories ever told.