Legend Has Broadway Cred

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- Happy 78^th birthday, Elizabeth Taylor! The icon was born on February 27, 1932 in London, England. Ms. Taylor first appeared on Broadway in Mr. Wonderful with Sammy Davis Junior. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in The Little Foxes, and famously appeared on Broadway with sometime husband Richard Burton in Noel Coward’s Private Lives.

Of course, Elizabeth Taylor did her part to bring great playwrights to the big screen too. She won an Oscar for her role as Martha in the film adaptation of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, as well as a nomination for playing Maggie in the film version of Tennessee Williams’s
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

- Schuyler Velasco, Broadway Magazine

Celebrate the Birthday of Broadway’s Elizabeth Taylor with us on Twitter. No cake, but some singing.

Harry Potter Star Meets Critics

Tonight’s the night that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe meets the critics. It is the opening night of Equus, and once again we will have our live review update scorecard in full swing. Visit us throughout the night for a Broadway.tv celebration of Daniel Radcliffe’s Broadway opening. The show is about to begin tonight, and we’ll be here. Check back to this spot  through the night for updates on Daniel Radcliffe’s opening night on Broadway…and to see what the mighty New York Theater Critics make of the star on Broadway. According to Erin Carson from AP celebs on hand include:  Lili Taylor, Judith Light, Glenn Close, Dominic Cooper, Haley Joel Osment and James Lipton, host of Bravo’s “Inside the Actor’s Studio.”

Review clips in real time, and it is all only here on Broadway.tv. Can’t be here live, then enjoy our Daniel Radcliffe Harry Potter Gallery, right here. Let the critics weigh in:

“Radcliffe’s Alan is compelling proof that there is life after wizardry: he quells and quakes, adores horses and provokes humans with equal proficiency and looks great disrobed. Ditto for Anna Camp, fine actress and pert looker, who plays Jill, the girl who tries to seduce Alan, with disastrous results.” -John Simon, Bloomberg 

“His (Radcliffe’s) acting, beautifully understated and withdrawn, has just the right manner for this horribly mixed-up adolescent, at the prey of a wayward religiosity and a twisted sexuality cemented together with suburban hypocrisy.” -Clive Barnes, New York Post

“London critics complained during the revival’s West End run that Radcliffe lacked vocal control, but time in the role and an extra year-and-a-half of maturity may have helped. His delivery here is as confident and compelling as his febrile physicality — whether fully clothed and wary or naked and defenseless.”- David Rooney, Variety

“Bolstered by co-star Richard Griffiths’ easy expertise, Radcliffe peels away the emotional levels of the tormented yet ultimately touching stableboy, Alan Strang, with skill and unmistakable stage presence.” -Michael Sommers, Star-Ledger

“Playing Alan Strang, the tormented 17-year-old who commits the horrific crime of blinding six horses, the young actor displays a confident physical presence — all too necessary, considering the length of his Act 2 nude scene — and intensity. But he doesn’t quite manage to fully plumb the disturbed depths of the character, as Peter Firth did so brilliantly in the original production and 1977 film version.” -Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

“Radcliffe, the big draw in this revival, demonstrates that he’s moved beyond his “Harry Potter” adolescence into a serious theater career. Playing a deeply neurotic, desperate teen with no prospects, he stays focused on his therapist, moving from terrified indifference to deep respect.” -Elizabeth Zimmer, Metro

“Daniel Radcliffe’s fresh and moving Broadway debut in Peter Shaffer’s “Equus” reveals at least two things about the handsome teenage movie star known throughout the world as Harry Potter. He has some promising stage-acting chops. And he’s a brave young man.” -Chris Jones, Theater Loop 

“The young wizard has chosen wisely. Making his Broadway debut in Thea Sharrock’s oddly arid revival of Peter Shaffer’s “Equus,” which opened Thursday night at the Broadhurst Theater, the 19-year-old film star Daniel Radcliffe steps into a mothball-preserved, off-the-rack part and wears it like a tailor’s delight - that is, a natural fit that allows room to stretch.” -Ben Brantley, New York Times

“The first Broadway revival of Equus opened Thursday, a production that played last year in London with Radcliffe and Griffiths, by now old colleagues from Harry Potter films - as the title character and the odious Uncle Vernon, respectively. On stage, they work together beautifully as the tormented boy and the personally scarred doctor, like the clasped but knotty fingers of two hands, folded.” -Howard Shapiro, Philadelphia Inquirer

“Both actors reprise roles they played last year in London, and their scenes together demand your attention, unlike the doc’s lengthy monologues. They anchor Thea Sharrock’s otherwise uneven and gimmicky production. There’s more dry-ice mist than in a monster movie, and as blocks are forever being shoved around the stage, it’s as if the set was inspired by a sectional sofa.” -Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News

“In general, however, Mr. Radcliffe accentuates the strains of evasion and scorn common to all adolescents without slighting the deeper veins of unrest. And even though Mr. Griffiths falls back on rumpled-academic shtick here and there - with much rubbing of the eyes and scratching of the head as he ruminates - he also gives Dysart a welcome burst of energy whenever his assumptions are jostled.” -Eric Grode, New York Sun

“The good and bad news about the new Broadway revival of Equus with Daniel Radcliffe is that the actor is aging a lot more gracefully than the play.” -USA TODAY

“Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe, I’m happy to report, is not merely the stunt casting gimmick you might have expected. Making his stage debut, the 19-year-old movie star works some fine acting magic in the central role of Alan Strang, a seemingly gentle stable boy who viciously blinds six horses in his care.” -Roma Torre, NY1 News

“Radcliffe is a shockingly good serious actor, and delivers what is perhaps the best celebrity Broadway debut in recent memory. He manages to capture Alan’s internal and external conflicts convincingly and checks his “celebrity” at the door to become one of the ensemble. It’s a shame that he’s not served very well by Sharrock’s production.” -David Gordon, Hofstra Chronicle

Radcliffe highlights the surmounting pain and agony behind his character’s confessional monologues, including his orgasmic horseback ride, the humiliation of his first failed sexual experience, and the infamous climax where he takes a metal spike and vengefully blinds the horses. -Matt Windman, am New York

The screen star of all those Harry Potter movies brings a disarming vulnerability and touching desperation to the role of Alan Strang, the tormented stable boy who blinds horses in “Equus,” Peter Shaffer’s hit of more than three decades ago.–Michael Kuchwara, AP

-Broadway.tv, Broadway Magazine

Broadway Potty For Potter

In a new interview in Details Magazine, Daniel Radcliffe talks more about the life of being one of the world’s biggest stars. While his stage acting has earned praise from London critics, his off-stage antics echo the British tradition of Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole. In the article, Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter films, talks about drinking vodka and diet coke, losing his virginity, and his dream to play a drag queen…”just because it would be an excuse to wear loads of eye makeup.” We imagine Oedipus might afford the same opportunity as well…minus the pumps. Radcliffe’s candid talk is refreshing, and his star turn in Equus is the hottest ticket on Broadway this season. Keep ‘em coming, D.R.! Photo for Equus by Carol Rosegg.

-Broadway Magazine, Broadway.tv