{"id":94970,"date":"2026-04-13T00:35:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=94970"},"modified":"2026-04-13T00:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:35:38","slug":"billys-box-office-babes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2026\/04\/13\/billys-box-office-babes\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy’s Box Office Babes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pintauro doesn\u2019t have the most unlikely gig.  That honor goes to Pink<\/strong> (or P!NK), who got an offer that even took her aback: \u201cWhen I was asked to host the Tonys<\/em>, I immediately thought, \u2018I have to get permission from my daughter.\u2019  I\u2019ve never been on Broadway<\/em>, and shouldn\u2019t you have to have been on Broadway <\/em>in order to host?  That seems fair and right.  But when I asked my daughter, she was really excited about being able to have a ticket to go to the Tonys<\/em>, so I\u2019m hosting the Tonys <\/em>and I\u2019m really, really, excited and very nervous because that girl is a tough crowd!\u201d<\/p>\n

I expect many awards for the recently-opened revival of Arthur Miller<\/strong>\u2019s Death of a Salesman<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 starring Nathan Lane<\/strong>.  Sure, it stars lots of other nifty folk (including Laurie Metcalf<\/strong>), but it is Lane who will likely reap the plaudits for a portrayal every critic is calling masterful.  It could also be his swan song.  When a reporter asked his future plans, Nathan said, \u201cOh, Jesus, who the hell knows?  This could be my farewell to Broadway<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I was in New York City for a workshop of Jenifer Lewis<\/strong>\u2019 latest one-woman show.  This was an invitation-only event with limited capacity, so I was told to pick my companion with care.  Actually, what Jenifer\u2019s message said was, \u201cThere Will Be No Riff Raff\u201d, which I propose would make a great title for the show!  I chose the perfect companion \u2013 Charles Busch<\/strong>.  Well, Jenifer and Charles have a mutual admiration society, and it was a convergence of almost Biblical proportions.  Jenifer was ably assisted on the keyboards by the incomparable Marc Shaiman <\/strong>(you have read his memoir, right?  Juicy!).  The story of Jenifer\u2019s near-death experience in Africa (and her miraculous recovery) is ripe for the stage.   I\u2019ll keep you posted.<\/p>\n

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I zipped back to Boston for the world premiere of Matthew Lombardo<\/strong>\u2019s new play, When Playwrights Kill<\/em><\/strong>, which takes its genesis from his experience with Faye Dunaway <\/strong>as Katharine Hepburn <\/strong>in his play, Tea at Five<\/em><\/strong>.  Lombardo has a knack for clever dialogue and peppers his script with bitchy quips alongside more introspective moments.  The cast could hardly be bettered.  As the titular playwright, Matt Doyle <\/strong>is an adorable and earnest lad pushed to the brink.  As the Faye surrogate, Beth Leavel <\/strong>leaves no inch of scenery un-chewed.  She also brings more humanity than one would expect.  Lots of well-deserved praise is going to scene-stealer Tom\u00e1s Matos<\/strong>.  But the cast\u2019s secret weapon is Marissa Jaret Winokur<\/strong>.  As the stage manager, she\u2019s almost the Greek chorus seeing everyone\u2019s truth (but not necessarily hearing it).  Marissa can get a laugh with a look that anticipates exactly what the audience is thinking.  Boston got every inside joke and gave the show a standing ovation.  It continues at the Huntington Theatre <\/em>through April 18th<\/sup>.  Check out WhenPlaywrightsKillBoston.com<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pintauro doesn\u2019t have the most unlikely gig.  That honor goes to Pink (or P!NK), who got an offer that even took her aback: \u201cWhen I was asked to host the Tonys, I immediately thought, \u2018I have to get permission from my daughter.\u2019  I\u2019ve never been on Broadway, and shouldn\u2019t you have to have been on Broadway<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94971,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94970\/revisions\/94971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}