BroadwayStars

For Raul Esparza, a star of "Company," the drama is all too real.
For the players in this Broadway revival about matchmaking and marriage, there's romance on stage and off.
Tom Stoppard has made an art of cleverness, in the theater and in life.

At Peter Sellars's New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, a cross-pollination of human and artistic cultures has yielded wonderful results.
[ ] VIDEO: Meet the Final 3 Stars On the Line: Charlotte d'Amboise, Brad Anderson James T. Lane
[ ] PHOTO CALL: Jay Johnson, Captured in Ink
[ ] 'Candles on Bay Street,' Cast From A Familiar Mold By Tom Shales
Review of TV movie featuring a score by Marvin Hamlisch and a singing performance by Polly Bergen.

With Sally Struthers and Adrian Zmed.
[ ] A Vietnam Vet Comes Home, Meets Euripides by John Beer [ ] The Big Voice: God or Merman? Arrives Off-Broadway Nov.

25
[ ] Torch Song Trilogy - with Chatterbox's Seth Rudetsky - Begins Performances Nov. 25
[ ] Frank's Home, Richard Nelson's Blueprint of Architect's Life, Premieres in Chicago
[ ] The New Victory Theater Family Benefit Set for Dec. 3
[ ] OBITUARY: Betty Comden, 89; winner of 7 Tony Awards co-wrote many famous show tunes, screenplays By Mary Rourke
'Jersey Boy' a Thanksgiving hit at St.

Lucy's
[ ] Betty Comden, Half of Lyrics Team Behind Musicals of Grace and Wit, Dies at 89 By ROBERT BERKVIST
The lyricist, with her longtime collaborator Adolph Green, worked on some of the most celebrated musicals of the American stage and screen.
If ever a play required a reading list, Tom Stoppard's "Coast of Utopia" is it. So let's get started.

[ ] Cicadas be damned, the shows must go on BY HEDY WEISS
The first snow of the season has yet to fall, but the powers that be up at Highland Park's Ravinia Festival are thinking ahead to a sunny summer.
She just didn't think it would happen by the time she was 23.
It's been a long road from Beaverton, Ore.

, to the Emerald City. But Shoshana Bean has enjoyed every step of the journey ..

. even the sad ones.
[ ] Songs of joy praise (for L.

Ron Hubbard) By Christopher Muther
[ ] '80s Soap Stars, Still Making Sparks (and Fur) Fly By Bridget Byrne
Onstage and on TV, a Full House for Two Pairs
Film heartthrob Chris Pine has traded in his nice-guy persona from "The Princess Diaries 2" and "Just My Luck" to tackle a darker role.
[ ] As he gets older, life as a clown gets better By Catherine Foster
Avner Eisenberg believes that clowns get better with age.
[ ] Humbugs vs.

sugar plums BY MISHA DAVENPORT
Who's your holiday favorite: Dickens' classic or Tchaikovsky's masterpiece?
[ ] STAGE NOTES BLOG: Sneak a Peek at Some Snazzy New Broadway Signage!
[ ] PHOTO OP: At Sardi's, Liz Smith Presents Portrait of Jay Johnson Bob
Neve Campbell shot to fame as a terrorised teenager.

Maddy Costa hears how she graduated to playing a ballsy woman in the West End
[ ] Concert Preview: Shirley Jones, from the Playhouse to Hollywood By Christopher Rawson
[ ] PHOTO OP: Opening at City Center, MTC's American Pilot Takes Flight
[ ] A pilot crash lands, but his story soars BY LINDA WINER
One of the smartest new plays of the season crept in under the radar this week, when "The American Pilot" opened Tuesday without fanfare at Manhattan Theatre Club's tiny second stage.
THE Manhattan Theatre Club has delivered more than its share of misfires recently, but it makes a fine return to form with "The American Pilot," which opened Tuesday night.
Playwright Julia Cho keeps it in the family in the drama Durango.

Other than the fact that the characters are Korean-American, there's little in "Durango" that feels fresh. But the humanity of the characters, especially as conveyed by the highly affecting performances from the three leads (and Ross Bickell in a pair of supporting roles), goes a long way toward redeeming it.
[ ] Mom's Out Again.

Are Her Affairs Extramarital or Merely Extraterrestrial? By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
"Dark Matters" is a deeply silly play by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa that suggests the author has been watching too many M. Night Shyamalan movies.

Now, with Mary Poppins, comes a strange new beast for Uncle Walt's menagerie: the Integrated Musical That Adults Can Enjoy.
Gugino plays Tennessee Williams' gothic-nightmare music like an expert instrumentalist.
[ ] One thing Ricky Jay can't make disappear is the fun By F.

Kathleen Foley
[ ] Countryman, Daly, Roberts, et al. Added to Food for Thought Series
[ ] Cumpsty, Moore, Redgrave, Short, et al. Set for New York Times Arts and Leisure Weekend
[ ] Fuller, Jungr, LaGreca, MacRae, Sherman, et al.