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Theater Review: BEFORE I FORGET (World Premiere at The Marsh in San Francisco)
MISERY LOVES COMPANY — BUT WE DIDN’T BUY TICKETS FOR THAT A solo show so full of angst it forgets to entertain. I mean, there’s baring your soul… and then there’s burying the comedy Since 1989, The Marsh has hosted hundreds of performance artists launching their personal stories, usually through spoken word. The small stages…
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FROM THE ARCHIVES — Theater Review: JEWTOPIA (Greenway Court Theatre in West Hollywood)
DON’T JEW HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO? {From the Archives — Back in 2010, when Facebook was still fun and Broadway still flirted with stereotypes like they were going out of style (which they were), Stage and Cinema took a trip to Jewtopia. We survived to tell the tale — and we’re not even charging…
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Theater Review: SMOKEFALL (Wild Door Theater)
A FAMILY IN FLUX, A PLAY IN FREEFALL Wild Door’s debut digs deep into love and legacy, even when Haidle’s sprawling story gets in its own way Chicago’s robust theater community got even stronger several days ago when Wild Door Theater made its debut in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. By “embracing bold theatrical storytelling to…
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Theater Review: FUN HOME (The Huntington)
THE KEYS OF KNOWLEDGE What can I say about a show that offers one moment of delight after another while holding the anguish of parental narcissism, the joy of discovering one’s own identity, and the power of creative expression to transform grief? One thing I can say is this: anyone within commuting distance of downtown…
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Theater Review: BLOOD BROTHERS (Theater UnCorked, Boston Center for the Arts)
A TRAGEDY FORETOLD — AND STILL SHOCKING Blood Brothers exposes the cruel divide of class and destiny I walked into the BCA Plaza Theatre in the South End neighborhood of Boston — and left shaken. To start, the lights come up to reveal two bodies lying before me, so close I could reach out and…
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Theater Review: MOTHER OF EXILES (Berkeley Repertory)
MOTHER OF EXILES BAFFLES AT BERKELEY REP Jessica Huang’s world premiere Mother of Exiles has posted a closing date of December 21. The lengthy run may not be a blessing for a disjointed production said to have been in re-writes up to the night before the opener. Michele Selene Ang On a simple two-level set that takes advantage…
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Theater Review: PERIL IN THE ALPS (Austin Playhouse)
POIROT TRIES STANDUP — CAN HE FIND THE LAUGHS? Hercule Poirot, Belgium’s preeminent detective, makes a bold and comic appearance at Austin Playhouse in Steven Dietz’s Peril in the Alps, a follow-up to his Murder on the Links, both theatrical reimaginings drawn loosely from Poirot Investigates, Agatha Christie’s 1924 collection of short stories, and the…
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Theater Review: SPACEBRIDGE (ArtsEmerson)
A BRIDGE TO UNDERSTANDING There may have been, at some point in human history, an evolutionary advantage to sorting other people into “us” and “them.” But with modern weapons technology, whatever benefit that old reflex once offered has long vanished. Since the development of nuclear arms, in fact, that instinct to classify entire groups as…
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Theater Review: AN INSPECTOR CALLS (Theatre 40 at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills)
THE PAST IS NEVER DEAD — IT RINGS THE DOORBELL Priestley’s prophetic 1945 masterpiece glows with fierce clarity at Theatre 40 Masquerading as one of those staid drawing room mysteries Agatha Christie would knock off during Afternoon Tea while nibbling on scones with clotted cream and crustless cucumber sandwiches, An Inspector Calls by British playwright…
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Off-Broadway Review: NUTCRACKER ROUGE (Company XIV at at Théâtre XIV in Bushwick, Brooklyn)
THE NUTCRACKER: NOW WITH 69% MORE CRACK Because sometimes holiday spirit comes in fishnets and a martini glass While The Nutcracker graces stages worldwide, Brooklyn’s Company XIV continues to reinvent tradition with its famous Nutcracker Rouge, New York’s most sumptuous and indulgent winter holiday treat, at Théâtre XIV in Bushwick’s Graffiti Alley. Combining dance, music, acrobatic…
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Theater Review: AMADEUS (Steppenwolf Theatre Company)
Steppenwolf strips the masterpiece to its beautifully costumed bones with gains, losses, and a lingering ache for Mozart’s full glory Steppenwolf’s in-the-round production of Amadeus, directed by Robert Falls, takes a sparse approach to design, perhaps by necessity, or perhaps to highlight the juxtaposition between the court’s stiff opulence and Mozart’s descent into poverty —…
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Theater Review: ANNIE (Berkeley Playhouse)
THE RED-HEADED OPTIMIST IS BACK Just in time to nudge everyone into the holiday spirit, The Berkeley Playhouse is presenting Annie through most of December. This classic musical has been part of American pop culture for nearly half a century. Since the 1977 Broadway debut, the irrepressible redhead and her fellow orphans have marched through…
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Theater Review: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (Rainbow Entertainment at Palm Springs Cultural Center)
Rainbow Entertainment Group’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch opened with a bang at the Palm Springs Cultural Center tonight, delivering a performance that left the audience on their feet, buzzing with energy. This raw, unapologetic, and fiercely theatrical show, which runs for just two more performances through November 22, is a must-see for…
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Theater Review: BEAUTY’S DAUGHTER (OnWord Theatre at Diversionary Theatre in San Diego)
BEAUTY GETS MORE THAN SKIN DEEP Beauty’s Daughter is a one-woman play by Dael Orlandersmith that centers on Diane, a young Black woman growing up in East Harlem, as she navigates a world marked by violence, beauty, trauma, and resilience. Marti Gobel portrays six different characters consecutively before returning to the first one, Diane. No…
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Off-Broadway Review: PRACTICE (Playwrights Horizon)
THE MARATHON OF MAKING ART A process piece that asks as much of the audience as the ensemble Perhaps the title of Nazareth Hassan’s new play Practice, which opened at Playwrights Horizons tonight, was inspired by the old joke: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.” Fittingly enough, the play follows a…
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Theater Review: TABLE 17 (Geffen Playhouse)
CUTE MEETS CUTE, AGAIN Rendered with a rom-com frame around a night of emotional archaeology, Douglas Lyons’s Table 17, briskly staged by Zhailon Levingston, wants to be irresistible, and for the most part it is. The premise is simple but well-served: two years after their breakup, previously engaged Jada (Gail Bean) and Dallas (Biko Eisen-Martin)…
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Theater Review: A SHERLOCK CAROL (Lyric Stage)
A HOLIDAY CAROL THAT HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES If you’re looking for a holiday treat, look no further than the delightful production of A Sherlock Carol at the Lyric Stage. Brilliantly directed by Ilyse Robbins, this mash-up of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes combines wonderful performances with…
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Theater Review: HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD (National Tour, Emerson Colonial Theater)
SPECTACULARLY CONFUSING You don’t need me to tell you that J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has tapped into something deeply elemental for many people. Her stories about a young wizard and his education at Hogwarts, a school that teaches the magical arts while bearing a strong similarity to a traditional British public school, have…
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Theater Interview: RUTH STERNBERG (Currently playing Mr. Fitzpatrick, the Stage Manager in “The Seat of Our Pants” at the Public Theater)
FROM CALLING CUES TO TAKING THEM Ruth Sternberg on her unexpected return to The Public— this time as an actor For nearly two decades, Ruth Sternberg was one of the steady, unseen engines of The Public Theater—an institutional pillar whose work shaped everything from Hair in the Park to the explosive rise of Hamilton. After…
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Theater Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA)
A SHTETL REBUILT IN THE ROUND Douglas Sills leads Signature’s spare, deeply felt Fiddler on the Roof that puts Anatevka’s communal heartbeat at the center The beauty of tradition, Tevye the Milkman tells us, is that “everyone knows who they are.” At Signature Theatre, where Fiddler on the Roof unfolds in the round, that certainty…
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