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Broadway Review: JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE (Barrymore Theatre)
FINDING YOUR SONG Debbie Allen’s revival honors Wilson’s depth with a richly realized production The Barrymore Theatre’s revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, directed by the very talented Debbie Allen, is an exquisitely crafted classic production brought to life by a thoughtfully assembled cast and creative team. Set in 1911, the story…
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Theater Review: BOTH (Teatro Vista Productions at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater, Chicago)
TRAUMA, TRUTH, AND THE STORIES WE SELL A taut psychological thriller that cuts deep and lingers “Look at this place. Just how rich did our trauma make you?” Of all the devastating zingers hurled about the posh living room of Xochi’s lake house in Both, the brilliant new play by Paloma Nozicka, that’s the one…
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Theater Review: ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME (Coachella Valley Repertory, Cathedral City)
ICE, LOVE, AND LOOP PEDALS A technically dazzling two-hander that charms with ingenuity Coachella Valley Repertory closes its season with the inventive two-hander Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, a production that reflects the company’s recent pivot toward more musical offerings; it’s a shift that’s paying off. On the surface, the show—with a book by Joe DiPietro—seems…
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Theater Commentary: THE PRICE OF NOT PERFORMING EMPATHY
CRITICISM VS CONFESSION When analysis starts to look like refusal Editor’s note: Jesse Green was reassigned from his role as chief theatre critic at The New York Times in 2025 and now serves as a culture correspondent, continuing to write about theatre alongside broader arts coverage. This commentary reflects on the larger critical and cultural…
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Theater Review: FENCES (The Old Globe, San Diego)
FENCED IN AND LASHING OUT A powerful touring revival of August Wilson’s enduring drama The Old Globe Theatre is presenting August Wilson’s 1987 drama Fences, part of his cycle of plays about African American life in the industrial United States during the 20th century. Each play explores Black life in a different decade, in an…
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Theater Review: TEEN BEAT LIVE | 80s MOVIE MIXTAPE (CineVita, Inglewood)
I LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE A high-energy 80s mixtape that actually leaves you wanting more For The Record has built a reputation on remixing cinematic nostalgia into immersive, high-octane theatrical events—but with Teen Beat Live | 80s Movie Mixtape, they may have finally cracked the code. Easily one of the most successful entries in their long…
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Opera Review: DIE KLUGE (THE WISE WOMAN) (Independent Opera Company, Los Angeles)
A GEM FINDS ITS VOICE A charming, rarely staged Orff opera gets a smart, scrappy revival Did you know that composer Carl Orff wrote more than Carmina Burana? It’s true. While most audiences know “O Fortuna” and its bombastic spectacle, Orff also composed lighter fare such as Die Kluge, a fairy-tale opera that Independent Opera…
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Theater Review: THE PRICE (Pacific Resident Theatre, Venice)
THE COST OF LOOKING BACK With a soaring first act, I’m willing to pay the price for a second that can’t quite keep up Arthur Miller’s The Price has always been a talky, introspective piece—more excavation than action—but when it works, it’s quietly devastating. At Pacific Resident Theatre, director Elina de Santos delivers a production…
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Broadway Review: PROOF (Booth Theatre)
THE MATH DOESN’T ADD UP A starry revival that struggles to convince All the action in the Broadway revival of David Auburn’s Proof takes place on the porch of Robert and Catherine’s home in Hyde Park, Chicago. Teresa L. Williams’s set and Amanda Zieve’s lighting emphasize the sloping lines of the house’s double gables, the…
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Event Preview: FUNDRAISER FOR SENATOR JON OSSOFF (Lin-Manuel Miranda Hosts Virtual Fundraiser)
BROADWAY GOES POLITICAL A starry virtual event blends music, activism, and marquee names If you’re going to tune into a political fundraiser, it might as well come with a Broadway-caliber lineup. On Thursday, May 7, Lin-Manuel Miranda hosts a one-night-only virtual event supporting Senator Jon Ossoff’s re-election campaign—bringing together an eclectic mix of performers and…
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Music Review: BACK TO OZ (MUSE/IQUE at Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles)
FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD—AGAIN A richly curated concert that celebrates Oz across generations MUSE/IQUE’s Back to Oz concert event, presented in partnership with Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum, brings together music spanning more than a century of storytelling inspired by L. Frank Baum’s beloved world. Led by Artistic & Music Director…
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Theater Review: HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN SON (New Conservatory Theatre Center, SF)
PRIVILEGE, PRESSURE, AND GROWING UP A timely coming-of-age story about identity, class, and consequence Even in troubled times, California is still seen by many as the land of opportunity—a place where dreams can come true for those willing to work hard. But in how to make an American Son, playwright christopher oscar peña explores how that promise plays out unevenly,…
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Off-Broadway Review: THREE WOMEN (Frog & Peach Theatre Company at Theater for the New City)
THREE LOVES, ONE ROAD A gritty, intriguing country-western musical with more implied than explained COMPOSER-LYRICIST/GUITARIST/PROTAGONISTA musician with three younger ladies to romance,two deaths to deal with,and one rough life on the road It’s a little confusing, more than a bit intriguing, and plenty gritty and gutsy. Not everything is spelled out in crystal-clear ways in…
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Broadway Review: FALLEN ANGELS (Roundabout Theatre Company at Todd Haimes Theatre)
A LITTLE SIN, A LOT OF GIN A fizzy Noël Coward comedy where anticipation —and alcohol—do the heavy lifting There is a particular kind of overupholstered, well-mannered, and suffocating living room that exists primarily so that someone may eventually misbehave in it. In Fallen Angels, now at the Roundabout’s newly renovated Todd Haimes Theatre, writer…
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Theater Review: “MASTER HAROLD” …AND THE BOYS (Geffen Playhouse)
MASTER PRODUCTION During the last half-hour of the exquisitely produced “Master Harold”…and the boys, the Geffen Playhouse becomes theatre as a temple: a transcendental, spiritual, empowering and uplifting theatrical experience that only a playwriting craftsman like Athol Fugard could create. For what was up to then a lyrical examination of a white seventeen year-old school boy,…
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Theater Review: EAT ME (South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa)
A HUNGER THAT DOESN’T QUITE NAME ITSELF A sharp new play still discovering its center Lewis Carroll understood that eating is never just eating. When Alice stands before the small cake and weighs the risk, she is doing what everyone in Talene Monahon’s Eat Me does across this hundred-minute production: measuring the cost of wanting…
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Off-Broadway Review: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Theater 2020)
COMEDY TONIGHT— AND PLENTY OF IT A zippy, low-budget romp that lands big laughs When in ancient Rome,do as the ancient Romans—and moderns—would do:enjoy the kind of humor that never feels ancient.This musical confection from 1962 has ageless funny flavors and farcical fun. If Theater 2020 charged its audience a dime for every laugh-out-loud moment…
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Theater Preview: A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (The Bent, Palm Springs Cultural Center)
SMALL MUSICAL, BIG HEART An intimate Irish story about courage, community, and the quiet power of living truthfully There’s a certain kind of musical that doesn’t announce itself with spectacle, but sneaks up on you—softly, gently—and then leaves you wrecked. A Man of No Importance is that kind of show. Opening May 8 at the…
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Theater Review: AMERIKA OR, THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED (Open Fist Theatre / Circle X Theatre, Atwater Village Theatre)
KAFKA IN AMERICA— AND LOST AT SEA Striking visuals adrift in an overlong adaptation Who isn’t familiar with Franz Kafka (1883–1924), the tormented Czech writer? Or The Metamorphosis, Kafka’s most notable tale chronicling Gregor Samsa’s angst when he wakes one morning to discover he’s transformed into a “monstrous vermin”? While Kafka wrote a good deal…
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Theater Preview: CREATIVE STAGE COLLECTIVE – MUSICAL MAD LIBS! (Symphony Space, NYC)
MIX, MATCH, AND MAKE IT UP An intergenerational troupe turns audience ideas into live musical theater Here’s a special recipe for success and entertainment. It’s all in the mixing and blending and combining of diverse ingredients. The people participating are of different ages and experiences and talents. The elements of the production are acting, music,…
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