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Theater Review: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (National Tour / Los Angeles)
THE ELEPHANT IN THE MUSICAL Circus artistry and inventive puppetry soar where the musical itself falls short Water for Elephants, based on Sara Gruen’s bestselling novel, with a book by Rick Elice and music and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co., opened Wednesday, September 9 at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. The musical follows Jacob Jankowski (Zachary…
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Theater Review: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (National Tour / San Diego)
OLD-SCHOOL PHANTOM, FIRST-RATE RESULTS This return to Phantom’s original theatrical roots delivers spectacle, superb singing, and one nagging sound problem Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera was first published as a French newspaper serial from 1909 to 1910, after which Leroux compiled it into a popular novel. His inspiration was the famed Parisian opera…
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Concert Review: JOSH GROBAN “Stage, Screen, and Symphony” Tour (NSO / Wolf Trap / Vienna, VA)
GROBAN WITH THE FLOW A soaring baritone meets the sweep of the National Symphony Orchestra There are singers who command a stage, and then there are artists who seem genuinely delighted to share it. On Saturday night at Wolf Trap, Josh Groban did both. Backed by the National Symphony Orchestra under conductor Sean O’Loughlin, Groban…
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Theater and Tour Preview: CIRQUE MUSICA HOLIDAY WONDERLAND (2026 National Tour)
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CIRQUE-MAS A high-flying holiday spectacle takes its acrobatic wonder on a 50-city tour If your holiday traditions could use a little more danger, Cirque Musica Holiday Wonderland has an answer: put some acrobats in the air. The family-friendly spectacle returns in an all-new production that combines favorite holiday…
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Film & Album Preview: SARA BAREILLES: GOOD GRIEF (Documentary directed by Josh Alexander)
GOOD GRIEF, SHE’S BACK Sara Bareilles opens the studio door for an intimate look at the music, friendships, and emotions behind her first album in seven years Sara Bareilles hasn’t made a studio album in seven years. When she finally returned to record one, she invited writer-director Josh Alexander into the room. What began as…
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Recommended Event: JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL: HEDWIG 25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR (Malibu / Los Angeles / Palm Springs)
WIGGING OUT WITH THE ORIGINAL HEDWIG Celebrating a quarter-century of the film with screenings, songs, and stories Twenty-five years after Hedwig and the Angry Inch hit movie screens in a blast of glam rock, heartbreak, bad wigs, and defiant individuality, John Cameron Mitchell is getting back on the road with the character who changed his…
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HOW TO PREPARE MENTALLY FOR ANNAPURNA CIRCUIT TREK CHALLENGES
The Annapurna Circuit Trek is one of the most classic Himalayan adventures in Nepal, with stunning scenic and cultural & landscape diversity that offers to make this outdoor mountain experience a dream come true. Yet, undertaking this fabled trekking route requires more than a decent fitness level and proper kit. You have to be prepared…
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Film: HUMP! FILM FESTIVAL (International Tour / Curated by Dan Savage)
SIT ON MY FACEBOOK Attending Dan Savage’s awesome HUMP! Film Festival is easy enough, but now you can take a stand against corporate fascism just by getting the word out. Then get yourself to a theater near you for the annual festival, which is on tour in dozens of cities across the United States, Canada,…
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Theater Review: THE OUTSIDERS (National Tour)
STAY GOLD, GREASERS This gripping musical adaptation honors its beloved source while finding an emotional life all its own S.E. Hinton’s first novel, The Outsiders, written while she was still in high school and published when she was just 18, has inspired artists across multiple mediums for nearly six decades. It became a cult film…
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Theater Preview: MYSTIC PIZZA (National Tour)
A FRESH SLICE OF NOSTALGIA The cross-country tour is ready to win over a whole new crowd When Mystic Pizza played La Mirada Theatre in 2024, Stage and Cinema found it charming, energetic, and heavy on laughs, buoyed by a terrific trio of leading ladies and a soundtrack packed with irresistible ’80s and ’90s hits….
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Concert Review: YOSHIKI: CLASSICAL 2026 WORLD TOUR (“Violet Night” / Disney Hall / LA)
PURPLE REIGN An evening of symphonic rock, devoted fans, and restless creativity celebrated an artist still refusing to slow down Under doctor’s orders to leave the drums behind following his third cervical-spine surgery in 2024, Yoshiki did what one might expect from a musician whose career has been built on grandeur, defiance, and theatrical risk:…
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Theater Review: & JULIET (North American Tour / Chicago)
POP GOES THE BARD A jukebox musical that thrilled its fans while leaving this critic wishing the story mattered as much as the songs As I was settling into my seat at the gorgeous Auditorium Theatre, awaiting the start of the touring production of & Juliet, I noticed the person next to me watching a…
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Theater Review: SUFFS (First National Tour)
VOTES FOR WOMEN… AND A VICTORY FOR MUSICAL THEATER History marches forward with intelligence, heart, and exhilarating conviction The national tour of Suffs, Shaina Taub‘s Tony Award-winning musical about the fight for women’s suffrage, arrives in Chicago with its urgency, humor, and emotional power fully intact. More than a history lesson, it presents the movement…
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Theater Review: CHAMPIONS OF MAGIC (Tour at Studebaker Theatre / Chicago)
TRICKS ARE FOR KIDS AND THEIR PARENTS A large-scale illusion show that never loses its personal touch Most of the magic shows I’ve been to have been small, intimate affairs, with an audience of fifty or less watching one magician perform an array of card tricks and sleights of hand. Champions of Magic, now on…
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Theater Review: HELL’S KITCHEN (North American Tour at Hollywood Pantages)
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND A rare jukebox musical that finds fresh life by letting the songs tell the story A jukebox musical is an inheritance. Someone else wrote the songs, lived the life, banked the meaning, and the show arrives to spend it. Most of them spend it badly, doling out hits like an allowance…
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Theater Review: THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Civic Theatre / Broadway in San Diego)
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE AND WELL This polished national tour reminds audiences why the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic still resonates The national touring production of The Sound of Music is playing through May 31 at the Civic Theatre, and what a joy it is! Name your pleasure—brilliant singing, dancing, or acting—and it’s served up with…
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Review: CHICAGO LINE CRUISES ARCHITECTURE TOUR (Chicago River)
A CITY BUILT TO BE SEEN FROM THE WATER Chicago’s celebrated architecture tour transforms familiar landmarks into a living history lesson For tourists, cruising the Chicago River on a top-rated architectural tour brings together history and the majesty of spectacular buildings to tell the story of a great city. For Chicago residents, the same tour…
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Highly Recommended Show: HOT COMBINATION: BRYCE EDWARDS, MIKE DAVIS & BAND (Sunday, June 7 at Birdland)
OLD SONGS GET NEW LIFE FROM TALENTED YOUNG GUYS WHO ARE OLD SOULS Zip and zing with musical fizz and sparkle Hooray! They’re back!! Bryce Edwards—the mercurial, merry multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist and sassy singer—reunites with brilliant brass player Mike Davis, debonair dazzler, along with some top-drawer colleagues for a repeat of the sensational show they premiered…
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Theater Review: PICASSO: LE MONSTRE SACRÉ (Odyssey Theatre Ensemble / Los Angeles)
THE MINOTAUR IN THE MIRROR A powerful performance anchors a portrait that never fully reveals its subject The journey of Picasso: Le Monstre Sacré to the Odyssey Theatre in L.A. is both convoluted and tragic. It began with Terri D’Alfonso (also spelled “Terry” in the program). An American with a long career in Italian Swiss…
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Theater Review: MJ THE MUSICAL (National Tour / San Diego)
MAN IN THE MIRROR, SHOW ON FIRE A dazzling tour delivers the spectacle and the moves, even if the storytelling stays surface-level The national touring production of MJ the Musical is completing its short run at the Civic Theatre through May 10. The show portrays episodes from the life and career of Michael Jackson and…
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