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Theater Review: THE SUGAR WIFE (The Artistic Home at Theater Wit, Chicago)
THIS SLOW-BURNING, DEVASTATING DRAMA REFUSES EASY ANSWERS The Sugar Wife is a gripping and complex examination of morality and the individual’s responsibility towards society The Sugar Wife is set in Ireland in 1850. That year is very important; the middle-class and poor were right in the midst of the Great Famine, while across the Atlantic,…
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Theater Review: DEATH OF A SALESMAN (A Noise Within, Pasadena)
THE DREAM ON CREDIT A clear-eyed, unsentimental staging that lets Miller’s argument land with full force Arthur Miller finished Act I of Death of a Salesman in a single day and the rest in six weeks, which tells you something about the pressure behind it. He had been watching his uncle Manny Newman for years,…
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Theater Review: MARIETTE IN ECSTASY (Treehouse Collective, Boston)
NO ECSTASY TO BE FOUND An effort to portray religious transcendence lacks focus and context Treehouse Collective describes itself as an ensemble-based theater company “dedicated to producing rarely performed works.” In the case of Mariette in Ecstasy, I suspect there is a reason the work is rarely performed. The play takes place in a convent,…
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Theater Review: THE ALLY (Theater Wit, Chicago)
ARGUMENTS WITHIN ARGUMENTS A fiercely intelligent play that challenges ideas more than it deepens character A large, welcoming room lined with stained wood bookshelves greets you when you walk into Theater #2 at Theater Wit’s home on Belmont Avenue in Lakeview. There are three study tables with lamps emitting a soft light. The shelves are…
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Opera Review: GILGAMESH: THE OPERA (Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts)
EPIC SOURCE, EPIC SCORE, EPIC PRODUCTION An ambitious new opera that struggles to connect its spectacle to a coherent narrative Want to know the quickest way to make me hesitate seeing a new musical? Append “: The Musical” to the title. So, here we have Gilgamesh: The Opera (which seems oblivious to at least seven…
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Theater Review: FLEX (San Francisco Playhouse)
HOOPS, HOPE, AND HARD TRUTHS Candrice Jones’s coming-of-age sports drama scores with energy, authenticity, and ensemble fire San Francisco Playhouse has a strong track record with ensemble-driven work, and this West Coast premiere of Candrice Jones’s Flex continues that tradition with vigor. Set in 1998 in rural Arkansas, the play follows a group of high…
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Off-Broadway Review: SEXUAL MISCONDUCT OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES (Minetta Lane Theatre)
A DANGEROUS STORY, TOLD FROM THE OTHER SIDE A provocative two-hander that shifts the lens onto the older man in a fraught relationship Teacher-student affairs are a classic subject of drama for novels, stage, screen, and beyond, from works like The History Boys to Parallel Lines to Notes on a Scandal. First staged in 2020…
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Off-Broadway Review: TITUS ANDRONICUS (Red Bull Theater at Pershing Square Signature Center)
FEAST ON THIS: BLOOD, REVENGE, AND A SHOCKINGLY GOOD TIME A ferocious, darkly funny take that makes Shakespeare’s grisliest play thrillingly alive (Back) Anthony Michael Martinez, Zack Lopez Roa, Howard W. Overshown, Blair Baker, (front) Enid Graham, Anthony Michael Lopez, Matthew Amendt, Patrick Page, and Francesca Faridany The new Titus Andronicus from Red Bull Theater makes…
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Theater Review: NO SINGING IN THE NAVY (Playwrights Horizons, NYC)
SAILORS, SILLINESS, AND A SHADOW ON THE HORIZON Quirky musical comedy drifts between charm and fatigue before finding a quietly haunting final note When it comes to musical theater, writer Milo Cramer seems to have a particular affinity for sailors—think On the Town, where three sailors spend a 24-hour leave in New York City, singing…
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Theater Review: THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Idle Muse Theatre Company, Chicago)
ALL FOR ONE—AND A WHOLE LOT OF MEANWHILES A rollicking, cleverly staged adventure that balances spectacle with comic flair Xavier Lagunas, Jack Sharkey and Boomer Lusink Swash your buckler and brandish your sword! Idle Muse Theatre opens its 20th year with a new production of The Three Musketeers, adapted by local playwright Robert Kauzlaric from…
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Theater Review: THEATER OF THE MIND (Goodman Theatre at the Reid Murdoch Building)
MEMORY PLAYS TRICKS— AND SO DOES EVERYTHING ELSE An immersive maze where perception falters and certainty slips through your fingers Unreliable narrators everywhere—but not the ones you think. The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí is one of the most famous paintings in the world, so iconic that even if you do not know its…
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Off-Broadway Review: SEAGULL: TRUE STORY (The Public Theater)
CHEKHOV IN EXILE—AND IN REVOLT A vivid, self-reflexive journey where art, politics, and survival collide Developed by En Garde Arts prior to its premiere at La MaMa ETC in May 2025, Seagull: True Story returns in a well-deserved encore production from The Public Theater and the Mart Foundation. Created and directed by Alexander Molochnikov, the…
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Theater Review: THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET (International Tour at Shakespeare Theatre Co, DC)
ONE ACTOR, A KINGDOM OF SOULS Eddie Izzard’s virtuosic solo turn reframes Shakespeare with clarity and control Eddie Izzard’s Hamlet is far from a traditional staging of William Shakespeare’s tragedy. Instead, it becomes a riveting solo performance—an exercise in precision, imagination, and endurance. Portraying every role alone, Izzard crafts a theatrical experience that feels both…
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Off-Broadway Review: HEARTBREAK HOTEL (DR2)
LOVE, LOSS, AND LOOPING PATTERNS A quirky, performance-art breakup tale that charms before it overstays its welcome Created by New Zealand’s EBKM, Karin McCracken investigates the pangs of romantic grief as both playwright and performer in the two-hander Heartbreak Hotel, now at Off-Broadway’s DR2 Theatre. Part performance art, part play, the piece begins with Karin…
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Theater Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Nocturne Theatre in Glendale)
SUPERSTAR STILL RISES Nocturne Theatre’s high-concept staging proves that even a familiar rock opera can still feel fresh, fierce, and electrifying First, a Biblical passage…“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8 It is confounding when you learn that Jesus Christ Superstar, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim…
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Off-Broadway Review: IVANOV (New American Ensemble at West End Theater)
CHEKHOV BEFORE THE MASTERPIECES A lean, lucid revival reveals Ivanov as an early, electric study of burnout, longing, and emotional paralysis Zachary Desmond, Paul Niebank, Casey Worthington, Maya Shoham, Maude Mitchell, Alexandra Pearl, Mike Labbadia, Ilia Volok, Mary Bacon In Anton Chekhov’s greatest hits album, Ivanov is the track you usually skip to get back…
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Theater Review: BEETLEJUICE (North American Tour at McCallum Theatre)
SAY HIS NAME—AND HOLD ON A neon-charged national tour delivers irreverent spectacle, sharp performances, and just enough heart to make the afterlife feel alive Any doubts that the Netherworld could thrive in the Coachella Valley heat were laid to rest at the McCallum Theatre’s opening night. The North American tour of Beetlejuice has officially haunted…
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Off-Broadway Review: PUBLIC CHARGE (The Public)
FROM SANTO DOMINGO TO STATE DEPARTMENT An ambitious portrait of Julissa Reynoso’s rise spans continents, though its cool staging keeps emotion at a distance At The Public Theater, the world premiere of Public Charge arrives with the weight of history and the urgency of lived experience. Inspired by the real-life journey of former U.S. Ambassador…
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Theater Review: KIM’S CONVENIENCE (Ahmanson)
A SMALL SHOP WITH A BIG HEART A delightful, tender surprise arrives at the Ahmanson—and quietly wins you over Sometimes the most unassuming shows sneak up and steal your heart. Kim’s Convenience, the stage original that inspired the Netflix series, arrives at the Ahmanson not with fanfare but with warmth, humor, and a disarming sincerity…
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Theater Review: YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (Morgan-Wixon Theatre in Santa Monica)
BIG CAST, BIG LAUGHS, BIG HEART A joyful Morgan-Wixson production proves this classic still delivers the goods Community theatre rarely aims this big—or lands this charmingly. The Morgan-Wixson Theatre’s You Can’t Take It With You is that happy reminder of why this 1936 chestnut still works: a huge, game cast, a director who understands rhythm,…
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