Broadway Show Reviews & Critics' Ratings

What did our critic think of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at The Gateway Playhouse?

'Million Dollar Quartet' is a must-see musical that transports audiences back in time to witness the genesis of rock 'n' roll and the seismic impact of Sun Records on popular music. With its stellar cast, electrifying performances, and unforgettable soundtrack, it's a celebration of creativity, innovation, and the enduring power of music to transcend boundaries and unite people across generations.

It is a chilling reminder of the hardships of life, the capricious nature of humankind and the cruelty to which people are still subjected today. And that, quite frankly, is why you should make it a point to see Nashville Repertory Theatre’s stunning production of Indecent, which is at once warmly amusing, heartbreakingly authentic and horrifically prescient more than a century after many of the events depicted took place.

What did our critic think of A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD at SpeakEasy Stage Company?

ADVENTURE SERIAL combines elements of adventure stories with audience suggestions to create a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience. With a quest, a hero, a sidekick, a lovely lady, and a villain, the foundation is laid for an adventure that can take many twists and turns. The quick-thinking team at Synergy Theater can pivot on a dime to explore a tangent subplot without losing focus on the end goal. With laughs aplenty both on and off stage, ADVENTURE SERIAL is a delightful romp through a beloved trope.

The Lehman Trilogy is a three-act play written by Italian playwright Stephano Massini. The story follows the lives of the Lehman immigrant brothers, from their arrival in America to the famous collapse of their company in 2008, after being in business for 158 years. At the time, this was the largest commercial bank collapse in history.

Under Diedra Celeste Miranda’s fast-paced, robust, and thoroughly entertaining direction, Don Bluth Front Row Theatre's production of JOHN LOVES MARY is a fun affair. The show runs through March 2nd.

The musical The Girl Who Became Legend showcases the strength and bravery of a young girl, the power of big dreams and even addresses the topical issue of book banning.

If you asked me about important works of twentieth century literature, I'll rattle off all the obvious ones like The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, but I'll also make a case for the first ten years of The Simpsons as an essential piece of American literature. Hyper-referential, joke dense, topical and infinitely quotable, so many of the idioms of the twentieth century began in The Simpsons that it's earned a place beside Mark Twain for its quotes alone. Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis's musical Urinetown may style itself as a satirical twist on Brecht and Blitzstein, but any media-savvy viewer will immediately recognize that Matt Groening and Conan O'Brien are its real artistic forefathers.

Last Friday, we attended the premiere of Lemi Ponifasio’s Love to Death, the anticipated third instalment of the Red Bridge Project. The show seeks to break our standard understanding of theatre, with a healthy and creative symbiosis between traditional dramatic elements and bits and pieces of the real world.

Almost four years after his COVID delayed Bay Area Cabaret appearance, Broadway star Max von Essen made it to the historic Venetian Room with selections from his 2019 CD of Broadway interpretations on which he was joined by Grammy winning composer and famed musical director, Billy Stritch who backs Essen for this show as well.

Leave it to a musical based on George Bernard Shaw to have audiences debating in the aisles after bows.

The UK can’t claim too many music groups with the impressive longevity or sheer depravity of Fascinating Aïda. Celebrating forty years of dropping jaws with a set of songs that still amuse, shock and titillate, they return for yet another tour up and down the country. 

The foray of the Met Orchestra under Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin into the concert hall the other night—Carnegie Hall to be specific, during its “Fall of the Weimar” series—was in some ways like a three-part meal that mixed the order of the courses. First came an appetizer (running less than 10 minutes) in the form of Bach’s “Fuga [Ricercata] a 6 voci” from Musical Offering, BWV 1079, a late work by the composer (1747) rethought by Anton Webern in the 20th century. Then there was dessert in the form of Wagner’s “Wesendonck Lieder,” gloriously sung by soprano Lise Davidsen to thunderous applause. Finally, there was the main course: Mahler’s 5th Symphony, which was greeted rapturously by concertgoers.  

If you are hungry for some tasty theater that is fresh, natural and with just enough sizzle to keep you satisfied, get yourself down to Syracuse Stage to see Clyde’s, a thoughtful and inspiring new play by Pulitzer Prize winner, Lynn Nottage. Set in a lonesome truck stop diner somewhere outside of Reading, Pennsylvania, what is on Clyde’s menu is a socially conscious parable, layered with an authentic slice of life and wrapped in a bittersweet quixotic adventure: the search for the perfect sandwich.   It all may sound like a strange scenario but as Rafael the fry cook exclaims, “It tastes like the truth!”

Sometimes art imitates life, and such was the case when both Britney Coleman (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Beetlejuice, Sunset Boulevard) and her character both celebrated their 35th birthdays at Tuesday night’s performance of Stephen Sondheim's Company at the Peace Center. In this fresh new production, the classic score shines in its full glory. That alone makes seeing this national tour of Company worth it, even without a meta-theatrical serenade of “Happy Birthday” at the curtain call.

Matthew Bourne has certainly crafted a “New Adventure” under the title Romeo and Juliet. Purists may come up empty-handed if they mine the kaleidoscopic geometry of the mesmerizing opening sequence for any semblance of “Two households, both alike in dignity”.

The World Premiere of Mina Lee’s At Home on the Moon is much more than a touching perspective on the love of one’s ethnic food which is handled lovingly. Lee taps the more disturbing issue of gentrification and neighborhood decimation to introduce an AI fantasy posing far more important concerns and elevating the play’s social import.

To celebrate the success of the music from the Netflix film, 'A Beautiful Life,' musician CHRISTOPHER embarked on a world tour to bring its music to his fans across the world. The “A Beautiful Live” world tour began last September and will continue its North American leg this year starting in San Diego, CA.

Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men is a 2014 Dramatic Comedy that premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in New York City on November 7, 2014. Directed by the playwright Lee, and featuring Austin Pendleton as “Ed”, Pete Simpson, James Stanely, and Gary Wilmes. Following its run off Broadway, the play was then produced by Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, opening in February 2017 and running until March 26, 2017. Young Jean Lee’s play made its transfer to Broadway with Previews beginning at the Hayes Theatre June 29,2018, with its official opening night on July 23. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, and featuring a cast of Armie Hammer as Drew, Josh Charles as Jake, Paul Schneider as Matt, Kate Bornstein and Ty Defoe as “Stagehands-in-Charge,” and Stephen Payne as Ed. Both Tom Skerritt and Denis Arndt had ties to the production but left before opening and during previews.