Magazines

Magazines, Newsletters and Reviews

Here are some of the best sources for online information about musicals. The magazines here range from electronic presences of major print publications to journals produced especially for the World Wide Web. Newsletters cover shows, composers, actors and genres. The reviews links are for professional reviews only.

Magazines Newsletters Reviews Only

Aisle Say: Lots of reviews, of both plays and recordings.
Back Stage: The online version of the popular print magazine, this site combines Back Stage and Back Stage West, its California counterpart. Best known for its listing of casting notices, this site also features news, features and reviews.
Cabaret Hotline: Schedules, reviews and more.
Curtain Up: Reviews of current and recent shows on and off Broadway, by Elyse Sommer. This New York-based e-zine also contains news and features, and covers the Berkshires (in summer), Washington, D.C., Toronto and London. It's updated twice a week, so there's always something new to discover on your next visit! The site is a fast-loader, too, so it's universally browser-friendly.
Happy Talk: Newsletter of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.
JAM! Theatre: A Canadian Web publication, with lots of stuff about musical theatre. Lots of Canadian news, and covers the US and UK in small but significant quantities.
London Theatre Newsletter: Closely mirrors what is found on the London Theatre website, but is sent via e-mail to subscribers.
New York Theatre Experience: Martin Denton's thorough and very up-to-date guide to what's on in New York. The best place to find information about theatregoing itself--Martin leads you through the whole process, with directions, seating plans, nearby restaurants and the whole bit. Once you've seen the show of your choice, send Martin your review, and he'll add it to his ever-expanding list of them--great just to read through. A fun site to explore!
New York Times Reviews: Current Broadway and Off-Broadway reviews by the extremely powerful NY Times critics. You will have to register to get to these, but it's free.
POTO: The Phantom of the Opera Magazine: Submission guidelines and information about subscribing to this quarterly, non-electronic magazine about the show can be found here. The site also has some information about various productions of POTO, and links to related pages.
Playbill Online: The place for Broadway theatre news on the WWW, with updates on London and Canada, as well. Lots of good information and gossip. Includes a listing of winners for the latest Obies as well as the Tonys.
Richard Gist's Reviews: Reviews of present and past productions in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. Gist also has reviews in Aisle Say.
Show Music Magazine: Subscription and back issue information, plus a partial index
Done by myself and Warren Seamans, this will hopefully eventually be an index to all the reviews in Show Music Magazine.
The Sondheim Review: Excerpts from the print version of this excellent magazine.
Stagebill: An attractive magazine site covering both musicals and straight plays on Broadway. Also featured are interviews with some major players, including Hal Prince and David Henry Hwang (so far). The quiz is fun, but the Performance Finder, designed to help you find where shows are playing in the US and selected cities in Canada, is a bit lacking at the moment. A quick search for CATS (any city, any date) only turned up the Broadway listing. Searching for POTO brought up, among other things, a listing for Candlelight Theatre in Chicago, which I'm pretty sure is the K/Y Phantom, not ALW's show.
Suite101: Suite101 is an interesting site that seeks to present a guide to "what's out there" on the WWW. It's arranged by topic, and is pretty easy to navigate, once you get used to the interface. Their theatre site is edited by Steve Alper, who should be well known to musical theatre aficionados for his work in other media (including writing musicals!). Steve's reviews of a variety of theatre sites should help you keep track of what's available, and how to use a variety of resources.
Talkin' Broadway: Hosted by the wise and witty V.J. (for some a first name will suffice--the true elite need only initials), Talkin' Broadway is the home of V.J.'s entertaining essays about life on Broadway, and the adventures of the inhabitants of that magic place. Check the Rialto for news and views. Put a cast album on the CD player and stay awhile.
Theater Mirror: A fun and informative guide to the Boston theatre scene. Larry Stark has put together a fabulous site, with much to entertain and edify all who visit, even if you're not in the Boston area. One of several regional sites that offer great content to those of us beyond their target area, and this one is one of the best on the Web in general!

Various non-electronic newsletters:

Michael Ball Fan Club: Follow the "Info" link for an address for this actor's UK-based fan club newsletter "On the Ball." (International subscriptions welcome)
BURKE BACKSTAGE. c/o Rebecca-Anne Do Rozario, 80 Amy St, Hawthorne Brisbane QLD 4171 AUSTRALIA.: Newsletter for fans of Simon Burke. Submissions and readers needed. Send a SASE or IRC for information.
Dear Reader: The Jane Eyre Quarterly: A quarterly newsletter dedicated to the broadway bound musical - Jane Eyre. If you would like to receive this publication, please send your postal address (not e-mail address) to SpotlghtLS@aol.com
John Barrowman Quarterly Newsletter: An official publication. People interested should email the newsletter at JohnNews@aol.com or write JBQN, c/o Steven Warner, 293 Villas Road, Plumstead, London, SE18 7PR, United Kingdom.
THE LARKS, same address as BURKE BACKSTAGE.: Informal "support group" for fans of Cosette. Send 2 IRCs to become a member.
Peter Karrie: There are addresses for a Canadian and a UK version of his fan club here.
SO YOU WANT TO BE A MUSICAL FAN? same address as BURKE BACKSTAGE.: The editor of BURKE BACKSTAGE is compiling a directory of fan clubs, societies and newsletters. Send a SASE or IRC for the informational flyer.
SECOND COUSENS is the Peter Cousens Fan Association. It's address is: GPO Box 2636, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia.: Peter Cousens has played Marius, Alex and Raoul in Australia. He recently released his first solo album, as well. When writing the club for more information, send a business-sized self-addressed stamped envelope (if you're in Australia) or an IRC (if you're not) for more information.

Problems? Comments? Mail me at: jhobgood@saintmarys.edu

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