Jan Simpson
@broadwayandme.bsky.social
Theater journalist. Theater podcaster. Theater lover
You’ve probably noticed all the cheers for Helen Shaw’s appointment as the new New York Times chief theater critic. It’s not only cause Helen’s a great critic (which she is) but because she’s also such a great person. So big cheers from me too: www.nytco.com/press/helen-...
Helen Shaw Joins Culture | The New York Times Company
www.nytco.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:33 PM
You’ve probably noticed all the cheers for Helen Shaw’s appointment as the new New York Times chief theater critic. It’s not only cause Helen’s a great critic (which she is) but because she’s also such a great person. So big cheers from me too: www.nytco.com/press/helen-...
The fact that Talene Monahon’s new play “Meet the Cartozians,” which is opening tomorrow Second Stage, reminds me so much of Lynn Nottage’s “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” which I saw back in 2011 doesn’t make “the Cartozians” any less entertaining
November 16, 2025 at 10:51 PM
The fact that Talene Monahon’s new play “Meet the Cartozians,” which is opening tomorrow Second Stage, reminds me so much of Lynn Nottage’s “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” which I saw back in 2011 doesn’t make “the Cartozians” any less entertaining
One of the best things I've seen this summer is "Well, I'll Let You Go," so I was delighted to talk about the show with its playwright Bubba Weiler: bit.ly/stagecraft-b...
» Stagecraft: Bubba Weiler on “Well, I’ll Let You Go” BroadwayRadio
bit.ly
August 19, 2025 at 9:50 PM
One of the best things I've seen this summer is "Well, I'll Let You Go," so I was delighted to talk about the show with its playwright Bubba Weiler: bit.ly/stagecraft-b...
It makes sense for off-Broadway shows to perform in church spaces but they need to figure out how to deal with the unbalanced acoustics of those spaces, particularly when they have actors who haven’t been taught to project
August 7, 2025 at 4:15 AM
It makes sense for off-Broadway shows to perform in church spaces but they need to figure out how to deal with the unbalanced acoustics of those spaces, particularly when they have actors who haven’t been taught to project
Casting for the Broadway production of "The Notebook" was confusing with a young white Noah turning into an older black Noah and a young black Allie into an older white Allie but casting for the national tour sticks to one ethnicity for each character as they age through the stages of their lives
July 23, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Casting for the Broadway production of "The Notebook" was confusing with a young white Noah turning into an older black Noah and a young black Allie into an older white Allie but casting for the national tour sticks to one ethnicity for each character as they age through the stages of their lives
I’ve put together an archive of the episodes of my podcast series on Pulitzer Prize-winning plays and musicals on Substack; there's no fee and so I’ll hope you’ll subscribe: bit.ly/atd-substack
All the Drama | Substack
Behind-the-scenes stories about the plays and musicals that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Click to read All the Drama, a Substack publication.
bit.ly
July 14, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I’ve put together an archive of the episodes of my podcast series on Pulitzer Prize-winning plays and musicals on Substack; there's no fee and so I’ll hope you’ll subscribe: bit.ly/atd-substack
Just posted my annual summer reading list:
broadwayandme.blogspot.com/2025/06/thea...
broadwayandme.blogspot.com/2025/06/thea...
Theater Books for Summer Reading 2025
We’ve already had our first heat waves of the season—the temperature hit 101° in Central Park this past week!—which is a sure sign that summ...
broadwayandme.blogspot.com
June 28, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Just posted my annual summer reading list:
broadwayandme.blogspot.com/2025/06/thea...
broadwayandme.blogspot.com/2025/06/thea...
Really happy that I got to talk to my friend Kelundra Smith about her smart new play about a forgotten part of American history
broadwayradio.com/blog/2025/06...
broadwayradio.com/blog/2025/06...
Stagecraft: Kelundra Smith on "The Wash" - BroadwayRadio
The Stagecraft podcast is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of interviews with playwrights (and musical book writers) of shows opening on Broadway and off-Broadway. The Wash by Kelundra SmithDirec...
broadwayradio.com
June 18, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Really happy that I got to talk to my friend Kelundra Smith about her smart new play about a forgotten part of American history
broadwayradio.com/blog/2025/06...
broadwayradio.com/blog/2025/06...
One of the many things I loved about this year's Tonys is that the men came dressed to play just as much as the women: playbill.com/article/25-s...
25 Standout Looks at the 2025 Tony Awards Red Carpet
There were colorful suits, a Bernadette Peters tribute, and gloriously embellished gowns.
playbill.com
June 11, 2025 at 1:00 PM
One of the many things I loved about this year's Tonys is that the men came dressed to play just as much as the women: playbill.com/article/25-s...
I was so honored to have Neil Simon's longtime producer and good friend Manny Azenberg on the most recent episode of All The Drama, my podcast about the plays and musicals that have won the Pulitzer Prize, which this month focuses on Simon's 1991 winner "Lost in Yonkers": bit.ly/atd-lostinyo...
All the Drama: "Lost in Yonkers", 1991 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for Drama - BroadwayRadio
All The Drama is hosted by Jan Simpson. It is a series of deep dives into the plays that have won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama: “Lost in Yonkers“1991 Pulitzer winner “Los...
bit.ly
May 12, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I was so honored to have Neil Simon's longtime producer and good friend Manny Azenberg on the most recent episode of All The Drama, my podcast about the plays and musicals that have won the Pulitzer Prize, which this month focuses on Simon's 1991 winner "Lost in Yonkers": bit.ly/atd-lostinyo...
So happy that Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has finally won his Pulitzer Prize
May 5, 2025 at 7:29 PM
So happy that Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has finally won his Pulitzer Prize
Just back from the party celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Outer Critics Circle: free drinks, free food, lots and lots of great theater people. Who could ask for anything more...
April 28, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Just back from the party celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Outer Critics Circle: free drinks, free food, lots and lots of great theater people. Who could ask for anything more...
It’s obviously not new (the Greeks did it!) but it seems that more and more shows are relying on characters—the daughter in Liberation, the son in Purpose, the grandson in We Had a World—to provide the context for what’s going on onstage and I can’t decide if that’s efficient or lazy storytelling
March 30, 2025 at 8:29 PM
It’s obviously not new (the Greeks did it!) but it seems that more and more shows are relying on characters—the daughter in Liberation, the son in Purpose, the grandson in We Had a World—to provide the context for what’s going on onstage and I can’t decide if that’s efficient or lazy storytelling
This piece is London-based but “stage dooring” is becoming a big problem on Broadway too. And I fear it’s going to get even worse with all the movie and TV stars scheduled to do shows this spring:
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/m...
‘Just to see Tom Hiddleston would be enough!’ My eye-popping night with the fans who mob stage doors
With London’s West End chockful of Hollywood A-listers, crowds are thronging stage doors. But do some fans go too far? We uncover a shadowy story of joyful adulation, gobby putdowns – and endless TikT...
www.theguardian.com
March 5, 2025 at 4:24 PM
This piece is London-based but “stage dooring” is becoming a big problem on Broadway too. And I fear it’s going to get even worse with all the movie and TV stars scheduled to do shows this spring:
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/m...
Delighted to be starting off the month by looking ahead to the spring theater season on my pal Patrick Pacheco's show: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_jc...
2025 Spring Theater Preview | THEATER: All the Moving Parts
YouTube video by CUNY TV
www.youtube.com
March 1, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Delighted to be starting off the month by looking ahead to the spring theater season on my pal Patrick Pacheco's show: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_jc...
Hoping that more theaters have the courage to do this:
bringmethenews.com/minnesota-li...
bringmethenews.com/minnesota-li...
Minneapolis theater group doubles down on DEI initiatives as federal funding is threatened
The theater organization says it recently received orders from the National Endowment for the Arts to stop promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion or be denied federal funding.
bringmethenews.com
February 20, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Hoping that more theaters have the courage to do this:
bringmethenews.com/minnesota-li...
bringmethenews.com/minnesota-li...
It's so encouraging to see these young people standing up for art and free speech and being rewarded for doing so: www.kqed.org/arts/1397192...
After Censorship, Santa Rosa Students Write Their Own Play — and Take the Gold | KQED
A state festival awarded top honors to ‘REDACTED,’ which ruthlessly lampooned district officials.
www.kqed.org
February 19, 2025 at 2:16 PM
It's so encouraging to see these young people standing up for art and free speech and being rewarded for doing so: www.kqed.org/arts/1397192...
I’ve nothing against Jimmy Fallon but I’m baffled by why he's getting a Sardi’s caricature after doing just one Broadway show (All In) for only five weeks when it used to take years to earn that honor.
February 17, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I’ve nothing against Jimmy Fallon but I’m baffled by why he's getting a Sardi’s caricature after doing just one Broadway show (All In) for only five weeks when it used to take years to earn that honor.
Delighted to see the Brits doing the Greeks, which tend to have more central female characters than Shakespeare does but I don't know what to think of the post-modern directorial flourishes. I'm not advocating actors in bedsheets but isn't there anything in between:
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/t...
Can Movie Stars Handle Greek Classics? London Is Finding Out.
Sophocles is suddenly everywhere on the city’s stages. In concurrent shows, Rami Malek is playing Oedipus and Brie Larson is taking on Elektra.
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Delighted to see the Brits doing the Greeks, which tend to have more central female characters than Shakespeare does but I don't know what to think of the post-modern directorial flourishes. I'm not advocating actors in bedsheets but isn't there anything in between:
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/t...
I come from a strong pro-union family, making me naturally inclined to support the workers who are currently striking against the Atlantic Theater Company but this is a truly tough time for off-Broadway theaters. So I don't know who to root for here
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/t...
As Off Broadway Crews Unionize, Workers See Hope, Producers Peril (Gift Article)
Workers say the move is overdue, but theater companies fear it will drive up costs in a wounded sector that has yet to recover from the pandemic.
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I come from a strong pro-union family, making me naturally inclined to support the workers who are currently striking against the Atlantic Theater Company but this is a truly tough time for off-Broadway theaters. So I don't know who to root for here
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/t...
Had dinner last night at the West Bank Café and am so happy and relieved to have it back, looking—and tasting—even better than it has in a long time and doing so at still reasonably affordable prices. BIG thanks to Tom and Michael D’Angora for rescuing it.
January 31, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Had dinner last night at the West Bank Café and am so happy and relieved to have it back, looking—and tasting—even better than it has in a long time and doing so at still reasonably affordable prices. BIG thanks to Tom and Michael D’Angora for rescuing it.
This fun piece almost makes me want to see CHICAGO yet again:
apnews.com/behind-the-i...
apnews.com/behind-the-i...
How the Roxies are made: Behind the iconic role in Broadway's megahit 'Chicago'
The Broadway revival of “Chicago” has lasted for decades, in part thanks to casting celebrities in the top spots of a show about the venality of celebrity.
apnews.com
December 18, 2024 at 12:20 AM
This fun piece almost makes me want to see CHICAGO yet again:
apnews.com/behind-the-i...
apnews.com/behind-the-i...
Stunned and saddened by the news of this coming Sunday’s abrupt closing of THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA
December 17, 2024 at 2:14 PM
Stunned and saddened by the news of this coming Sunday’s abrupt closing of THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA
When my friend canceled at the last minute to see MCC’s SHIT. MEET. FAN. the person at the box office gave me a little slip of paper saying “Life Happens” that explained the company's policy of honoring the ticket at another performance if they have room. So thoughtful!
December 8, 2024 at 8:37 PM
When my friend canceled at the last minute to see MCC’s SHIT. MEET. FAN. the person at the box office gave me a little slip of paper saying “Life Happens” that explained the company's policy of honoring the ticket at another performance if they have room. So thoughtful!
Really enjoyed talking to playwright Jessica Goldberg about her play “Babe,” which the New Group is currently doing at the Signature Center: bit.ly/babeinterview
November 24, 2024 at 1:56 PM
Really enjoyed talking to playwright Jessica Goldberg about her play “Babe,” which the New Group is currently doing at the Signature Center: bit.ly/babeinterview