Once upon a time Broadway was (really!) the source of major radio hits. Similarly, once upon a time politicians campaigned with actual campaign songs with personalized lyrics rather than just using an existing song. And, tipped off by Stephen Sondheim's second book of annotated lyrics (Look, I Made A Hat) we've got our hands on a mashup of those two historical facts that is going to blow the minds of a certain subset of Broadway geeks and NYC history nerds. Ladies and gentleman, we present you "With Lindsay It's Coming Up Roses," a mayoral campaign song for John Lindsay performed by no less than Ethel freaking Merman! They don't make 'em like this anymore, kids: more ›

A 76-year-old Brooklyn man was taken for a $300,000 ride when two women convinced him to invest his money in gold coins, but there was never any gold involved: According to the Post, "drifters...married to brothers in a gypsy clan" Reeva Johnson, 24, and Holly Mitchell, 23, were busted on charges including grand larceny when one of the elderly man's friend got suspicious. more ›

The Great White Way is a little dimmer today as it mourns Arthur Laurents, the 93-year-old Brooklyn-born playwright and director who helped bring the world such classics as West Side Story, Gypsy, Rope, The Turning Point and The Way We Were. He died of complications of pneumonia in his Manhattan home. more ›

Have the Bronx gypsies made their way over to Long Island? A troupe of thieves disguised as fence contractors is traveling through the North Shore of Nassau County targeting elderly homeowners. Once they get inside they swipe cash, jewelry and anything else worth getting their hands on, according to CBS 2, who spotted two thieves and got a sketch of the ringleader (spoiler alert: sadly he does not look like Johnny Depp's gypsy character in Chocolat). The police—who call the Eastern Europeans "gypsies" because they drive cars with out-of-state plates—say, "These guys are heartless. They are ruthless." more ›

Pirates are so over... now it's all about the comeback of the gypsy. The NY Post reports that a troupe of gypsies has been posing as utility workers to scam their way into Bronx apartments. In September they sweet talked their way into six — and once making their way inside, they robbed their victims clean of thousands in cash and jewelry. Two suspects have been identified as John George and Steven Demetro, though no arrests have been made. Authorities say, "These two individuals are part of a team of gypsies that target elderly homeowners with the ruse that there is a leak in the home." more ›

Over a dozen Broadway musicals and plays will close this month, and Charles Isherwood at the Times is getting a little verklempt about it. The number of productions bowing out amounts to almost half the total number of shows currently on Broadway! According to Crain's, box office grosses increased during the holiday season, but were still 10.6% less than the same time period in 2007. more ›

Times health writer Tara Parker-Pope got some unexpected thrills during last night’s performance of Gypsy, which stars Patti Lupone at Broadway’s St. James Theater:

Toward the end of the show, as Ms. LuPone’s Mama Rose was about to launch into her show-stopping number, there was a crash in the balcony. A huge metal plate, about 30 inches in diameter and used to cover a diffuser, came crashing down from the ceiling. It hit a young woman in the head and ricocheted into the back of my friend’s neck before rolling into my seat.