201 stories from theculturalcritic.com
In these trying times (do I sound like a politician yet?), we could all use a good laugh. Broadway isn't always hospitable to farces, not since The Play That Goes Wrong opened in 2017 …
The playwright Martin McDonagh loves to make audiences uncomfortable, and he has succeeded yet again with his new play Hangmen. Set north of Manchester in Oldham, England during the 1960'…
It's been nearly 40 years since the premiere of Little Shop of Horrors, the breakthrough musical about a sentient plant that feeds on human blood. Since the 1986 film adaption directed by Fr…
At the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in September 2021, West End actress turned Ted Lasso star in her acceptance speech praised West End musical theatre performances, with the quote "give t…
The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, directed by Nell Bang-Jensen; streaming through December 20, 2020 at philadelphiatheatercompany.org. Â The Philadelphia Theater Company's production of The Wo…
My friend Walter Dallas has lost his battle with cancer. In loving tribute, we reprint here a profile that I originally wrote in 2005 about this gentle giant. Â Dallas told me, "I am an A…
Shakespeare in Love, adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, based on the screenplay by Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard. Matt Pfeiffer directs at Peoples Light, Malvern, PA through March 29. Â …
Hello, Dolly! Music & lyrics by Jerry Herman. Directed by Jerry Zaks. National tour at the Academt of Music, Philadelphia through March 1, 2020. Â She's back where she belongs " to pa…
Everything is Wonderful by Chelsea Marcantel. Philadelphia Theatre Company at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre through March 8, 2020. Â Good intentions do not guarantee a positive outcome. Tha…
Fool For Love by Sam Shepard. Directed by Brenna Geffers. EgoPo Classic Theater. Through February 23, 2020, at the Latvian Society Theater, 531 N. 7th Street, Philadelphia. (267) 273-1414 or…
The Children by Lucy Kirkwood. Directed by Abigail Adams, through February 9, 2020, at People's Light, Malvern, PA Â The Children is a beautifully written play that's receiving stunning p…
Originally published in The Opera Critic, the international website for professional musicians. Â Â The new production of Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera presents a stark contrast wi…
The Band's Visit, music and lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Itamar Moses. Philadelphia Academy of Music through January 19, 2019. Â The Band's Visit is a delicate, intimate show about the…
An Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, directed by Rebecca Wright at the Arden Theatre, Philadelphia, through December 15, 2019. Â One of Philadelphia's best actors, Mary Tuomanen, g…
Jagged Little Pill, music by Alanis Morissette. Broadhurst Theatre, New York City. Â Jukebox musicals are everywhere, but very few create original stories focused not on an entire catalog…
Upon entering the Booth Theater for a performance of Freestyle Love Supreme I overheard a passerby ask an employee what the show was about. The answer, or lack thereof, is one of the main dr…
Concept albums are having a moment. Hamilton was originally intended to be a concept album and Hadestown was recorded as a concept album nine years before the Broadway album. In a similar pa…
Mandy Patinkin in concert: Diaries, at Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, October 30, 2019. Â Mandy Patinkin began a 30-city national tour in Philadelphia on October 30. The…
Buried Child by Sam Shepard. EgoPo Classic Theater, through November 10, 2019 at the Latvian Society, 531 N 7th St, Philadelphia. Â What's happened to this family? That's what these chara…
The National Dog Show, the annual television tradition that airs on TV on Thanksgiving Day following the Macy's parade, will be live in the Philadelphia suburbs this weekend. The two-hour te…
A Small Fire by Adam Bock. Directed by Joanie Schultz. Philadelphia Theatre Company, through November 10, 2019, at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia. Â A sm…
Falsettos, music & lyrics by William Finn, presented by 11th Hour Theatre, October 2019 at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Philadelphia. Â When I recall that William Finn started …
Come from Away national touring production, at Philadelphia's Academy of Music through November 3, 2019. Â This unpretentious musical delighted me when it opened on Broadway early in 2017…
The Height of the Storm by Florian Zeller. Manhattan Theatre Club production at the Samuel Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th Street, New York. Â The essence of this play is ambiguity and unce…
In honor of the new production of Ragtime by Arden Theatre (with excellent cast, innovative staging and superb musical direction) we are reprinting this story about the making of Ragtime, fr…
