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Theater Review: AN INSPECTOR CALLS (Theatre 40 / 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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Theater Review: HELL’S KITCHEN (National Tour)
HELL’S ON FIRE Hell’s Kitchen, a jukebox musical featuring the music of R&B superstar Alicia Keys (with several new songs) and a book by Kristoffer Diaz, took Broadway by storm in 2024, racking up thirteen Tony nominations. And now, a little over a year later, its first national touring production has arrived in Chicago at…
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Theater Review: THE ROOMMATE (Desert Ensemble Theatre)
TWO WOMEN, ONE MATCH— STRIKE CAREFULLY Jen Silverman’s combustible roommate saga kicks off Desert Ensemble Theatre’s last lap Jen Silverman’s The Roommate is a stunning opener for Desert Ensemble Theatre’s 15th and final season. Directed by Kudra Wagner, this darkly comedic exploration of second chances, self-discovery, and unlikely friendship captivates from the start. With powerhouse…
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Theater Review: MASTER CLASS (A Joint Venture between Roustabouts and Scripps Ranch Theatre in San Diego)
CALLOUS CALLAS CASTS A CAPTIVATING CHARACTER Maria Callas (1923-1977) was unquestionably one of the finest opera singers of the twentieth century. The mix of her great talent with her being difficult, petulant, and opinionated only served to heighten people’s interest in her and boost her fame, as did her very public love life, including a…
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Broadway Review: LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD (Booth)
WHERE LONELINESS ECHOES AND CONSTELLATIONS ARE CALLING She gets up at dawn and is asleep by eight. She lives alone and doesn’t like people. Nobody at the hospital (where she’s worked for forty years) likes her. She watches TV and complains non-stop. In short, she’s thoroughly disagreeable. But what can you do if she’s your…
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Theater Review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (North American Premiere Tour at The Ahmanson Theatre)
CAN HORROR WORK ONSTAGE? PARANORMAL ACTIVITY MAKES ITS CASE I imagine most people’s response to hearing that Paranormal Activity has been turned into a stage play is a raised eyebrow—doubt mixed with intrigue. How is that going to work? Horror—especially supernatural horror—isn’t a genre you often find in theatre. It thrives in film, where the…
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Theater Review: SUMMER, 1976 (Central Square Theater)
WOMEN ON THE VERGE Central Square Theater’s lovely production of playwright David Auburn’s (Proof) Summer, 1976 offers a story of two women who find an unexpected friendship at a tipping point in both their lives. It’s an especially fitting choice for Central Square Theater, the oldest female-led theater company in Boston. Central Square’s mission includes…
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Theater Review: DEATHTRAP (MadKap Productions at Skokie Theatre)
MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A MANUSCRIPT TO DIE FOR Sometimes uncontrollable forces work in your favor. How fortunate then for MadKap productions that on the opening night of their production of Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, Chicago was plunged with little warning into its first winter storm of the season, with sub-zero temperatures, gale-force winds, and heavy snow….
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Off-Broadway Review: RICHARD II (Red Bull Theater at Astor Place Theater)
GLAMOUR BEFORE THE FALL A pansexual Richard II struts through power, pleasure, and ruin in the 1980s In its current staging at the Astor Place Theatre, Red Bull Theater serves up a Richard II for 2025 with lots of flash and style (some over substance). Director Craig Baldwin, who also adapted Shakespeare’s history play, leans…
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