It says a lot about Harvey Fierstein's distinctiveness that it's almost impossible to even say the name 'Harvey' without thinking of that endearingly gravelly voice. Whether you know him as Homer Simpson's assistant Karl, Robin Williams's brother in Mrs. Doubtfire, or Hairspray's Edna Turnblad, the Brooklyn-born actor's uninhibited, self-assured persona is thoroughly his own. Now the four-time Tony winner is back on Broadway with A Catered Affair, the musical adaptation of the 1956 film......

The 2008 Tony Award nominees were just announced, and looking over the list we’ve got to admit that it was a pretty good year for Broadway, at least in terms of quality. The phenomenal rock musical Passing Strange picked up seven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Lead Actor (Stew, pictured). Also competing in the Best Musical category are the tepidly received Cry-Baby, the harmless Xanadu, and the underdog Latino musical In......

Photo courtesy Carol Rosegg. Elmer Rice's 1923 play The Adding Machine is an expressionist parable about a miserable bean counter named Mr. Zero who, after twenty five years at the same desk, is replaced by the titular technological marvel. For Rice, the roar of the twenties was the sound of capitalism crushing workers' souls; his play would go onto inspire Tennessee Williams and presage Death of a Salesman. Now a musical adaptation of Rice's play,......

Glory Days, the new musical written by a pair of twenty-somethings from Virginia, closed after its official opening night last night, joining such Broadway flops as Moose Murders and Teaneck Tanzi in the illustrious "Open/Close Club." The negative reviews proved too much for producers, who chose to pull the plug and eat their $2.5 million investment. In writing his delicate pan, Ben Brantley noted that the producers “have done this little, hopeful show no favors......

Forget the debate over whether Clinton should drop out; there’s a more divisive argument going on at Newsweek, where two critics are locking horns over whether “Seinfeld” (the TV series, not the car-crashing Bee Movie star) is still funny after all these years. The series went off the air ten years ago this month and reruns are broadcast on 200 stations nationwide. “Seinfeld” advocate David Noonan argues that the show’s enduring success is largely owed......

Though the show takes place here, Ugly Betty isn't actually filmed in New York; the first two seasons were filmed in Los Angeles. However, with Gov. Paterson's new tax credit program, the show may uproot and make a move east. Variety reports that the city may be cast in its own role as early as next season. But just as New York was unhappy about losing movie money to Connecticut, LA doesn't want to bid......

Photos via WireImage. Madonna, who recently stated that NYC gives her the zzz's, was stirring things up in town for an intimate performance last night. Her Madgesty took the Roseland Ballroom stage in front of 2,200 fans, for a show which demanded die-hards wait in line for what turned out to be 60 hours, just for a chance to get into. Fanatics? No. One of them, a Brooklynite, swears, “I’m not fanatical. But I......

In the past several years, writer and performer Mike Daisey has become widely known as one of the most compelling artists working in the solo monologue format first trailblazed by the late, great Spalding Gray. If you're not familiar with Gray's work, you'll be forgiven if the word 'monologist' makes your eyelids droop, but in the right hands the form is as riveting and rewarding as the best ensemble theater. And Daisey's hands are assuredly......

Here's the funniest Charlie Rose interview ever – even funnier than his ultra-awkward spat with Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman in 2003, when he was so "surprised" to hear that Dan Rather felt pressure to censor himself at CBS. The guest in this clip is Charlie Rose, which works out great because he doesn't have to let anyone else get a word in edgewise. Rose joins Rose at the table for the first time for......

If more NYU kids were like John Waters, the university’s downtown super-saturation would at least be a bit more colorful. In a recent interview with Details, Waters took a nostalgia trip back to his NYU days, when he, uh, did a lot of tripping: Back then you weren’t very interested in school. Who lasted at NYU longer, you or Woody Allen? I bet Woody went longer, because I think I was there from September to......

Several years ago writer/performer Christen Clifford, whose second child is due in November, wrote an essay called BabyLove that was named one of the “5 Most Shocking Personal Essays” in Nerve.com’s 10th Anniversary issue. The subsequent stage adaptation, in which Clifford stars, is a funny and unflinching look at love life after pregnancy, exploring everything from masturbating with an infant in earshot to postpartum sex and the "eroticism of breastfeeding." After performances at last year's......

Last night Rat Dog ended their three-night run at the Beacon Theater. The band is led by the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir, and is one of the few left that will bring the hippies out to the Upper West Side (pictured). As for the band, they blogged about their stay, saying, "We’ve gotten to New York City – ‘just like I pictured it’ – and things are getting seriously New Yorked." For those keeping......

Dating and eating converge in a new Brooklyn-based program called the Feed Me Show...and it looks like the producers need some Brooklyn singles to heat things up in their kitchen:We're looking for a few attractive Brooklyn singles who have it where it counts -- in the kitchen. No acting experience necessary, but you must have an exhibitionistic streak, cause we're going to get up close and personal on video, in a series that hits the......

(L to R): Melissa Paladino (E-V), Elena Chang (Mikah Monoch), Maureen Sebastian (J’an Jah), and Temar Underwood (General Dan’h Madrin). Photo by Jim Baldassare Theater geeks, comic book nerds and Sci-Fi aficionados, alert! You’ve got one week left to blast into a hyperspace of dorky delights: Fight Girl Battle World, a lighthearted romp through your favorite genres by the boisterous Vampire Cowboys theater group. The photo above speaks volumes about the breezy production, which......

Photo: Carol Rosegg I hate going to Broadway shows: fighting through the mobs in Times Square, being herded into the theater like livestock, cramming into a tiny seat while feedback from hearing aids and hacking coughs reverberate on all sides. Admittedly, I’m a world-class grouch when it comes to these things, so it’s no faint praise that I’d eagerly subject myself to it again for Passing Strange, the multidisciplinary rock musical that just blazed onto......

Photo: Courtesy Nordland Visual Theatre. Moritz Rabinowitz was a Norwegian Jewish tailor who, after emigrating from Poland in 1911 to escape pogroms, rose from near-poverty to operate one of the largest clothing empires in Norway. Settling in the small fishing village of Haugesund, Rabinowitz, the only Jew in town, spent his few off-hours feverishly writing columns that warned against the danger of an increasingly anti-Semitic Germany. His portents were largely dismissed by everyone except the......