Jonathan Mandell

Below: an explanation of major New York theater awards. And before that, a calendar of this year’s nominations and award announcements/ceremonies

I might go a great distance to watch Ben Whishaw strip off his suit and turn into Helen of Troy and Marilyn Monroe before our eyes. But I only had to travel to 30thStreet and 10thAvenue, in between the High Line and Hudson Yards, to the Griffin Theater on the sixth floor of The Shed, a new $500 million performing arts center

I’m grateful for having first seen Daniel Fish’s dark, hip and homey production of “Oklahoma!” at St. Ann’s Warehouse last year, because I can see how much improved it is now that it has transferred to Broadway

In a city with 1,200 cultural institutions, how do you create a new one that stands out? That was the question – and the charge — that then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg put 14 years ago to Dan Doctoroff, according to an opening ceremony speech by Doctoroff, the chairman of the board of The Shed, the $500 million performing arts center that officially opened on Friday at 545 West 30thStreet, between 10th and 11th Avenues, just north of the end of the High Line, as part of the $20 billion Hudson Yards development. Here’s how they want you to picture The Shed: Here’s how I first experienced The Shed (I had to get off the High Line for the street-level entrance, the only way to get into the building