Buffalo Theater Reviews

Review: ANNIE at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - December 19, 2023

That famed comic strip red head Little Orphan Annie has returned to town just in time to celebrate Christmas in Buffalo. Charles Strouse's blockbuster musical ANNIE is touring the country again and the show will play at Shea's through December 23rd....

Review: AIR HEART at Revelation Theatre
by Michael Rabice - December 08, 2023

Buffalo's Revelation Theatre has chosen a intriguing piece of theatrical performance art in presenting the one woman play AIR HEART. The 65 minute show examines the life of Amelia Earhart, leading to her disappearance while on her famed  flight over the Pacific Ocean in 1937....

Review: BRIGADOON at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - November 27, 2023

The golden age of Broadway found lilting infectious melodies melding with captivating, if often whimsical stories. Lerner and Loewe's 1947 BRIGADOON ticked all the boxes in a world fresh off of World War II. The Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake has revived it's 2019 production and this version s...

Review: 'MASTER HAROLD'...AND THE BOYS at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - November 20, 2023

As the audience grew restless awaiting the start of the play, the near twenty minute delay had me wondering if there would even be a production. Luckily, the play started and the wait, though unexplained, was worth it. Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre's production of Athol Fugard's riveting 'MASTER...

Review: ALL MY SONS at Road Less Traveled Theater
by Michael Rabice - November 17, 2023

How an American dream ends up as an American tragedy pretty much sums up the gut wrenching production of ALL MY SONS now playing at Road Less Traveled Theater. Arthur Miller's 1947 classic immerses the audience is post World War II Americana, where the pangs of the war are still felt and a quest for...

Review: ROCKY HORROR SHOW at Kavinoky Theatre
by Michael Rabice - October 29, 2023

The spooky transvestites have once again taken to the stage for the Halloween season. Happily, The Kavinoky Theatre’s stage production of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW ticks off almost all of the boxes for a fun night of laughs....

Review: MOULIN ROUGE: THE MUSICAL at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - October 26, 2023

A spectacle among spectacles takes to the Shea's Buffalo stage as MOULIN ROUGE: THE MUSICAL bedazzles it audiences. Settled in for a 2 week run, MOULIN ROUGE is the epitome of eye candy presented to be entertainment for the masses, just like the real Moulin Rouge,  which draws in tourists by the dro...

Review: THE GOLDEN GIRLS: THE LOST EPISODES VOLUME 4: THE HALLOWEEN EDITION at O'Connell And Company
by Michael Rabice - October 20, 2023

When you mix a gaggle of sassy drag queens with one of the most successful  sitcom female casts of the the last century, the alchemy that results seems like a no brainer.  And when Blanche, Dorothy, Sophia and Rose are those beloved ladies, audiences clamor for more  time with their favorite ladies....

Review: THE COLOR PURPLE at Shea's 710 Theatre
by Michael Rabice - September 16, 2023

Something magical is happening at Shea's 710 Theatre. And it's a joy to report that the local talent onstage is simply astounding. Along with the Ujima Theatre Company and Second Generation Theatre, Shea's is producing a spine-tingling production of the musical THE COLOR PURPLE....

Review: THE SHADOW OF A DOUBT At Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - September 12, 2023

Unearthing a hidden gem is always intriguing- whether it be a true fossil, pirates booty, discarded musical manuscript, or perhaps a virtually unknown play. The Shaw Festival is the lucky producer who gets to produce a never before seen mystery by the celebrated author Edith Wharton. For the first t...

Review: THE LIFE AND SLIMES OF MARC SUMMERS at Alleyway Theatre
by Michael Rabice - September 11, 2023

Everyone's life has a story. And when you start from birth, most can be pretty interesting, although not worthy of the stage. Such a story of  a young boy from  Indiana born in 1951 is being told, but is it really that stage worthy?  The answer is a resounding yes, if that guy is Marc Summers, that ...

Review: ON THE RAZZLE at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - August 03, 2023

A good story often bears repeating. Such is the case in Tom Stoppard's ON THE RAZZLE, currently playing on the Royal George stage of the Shaw Festival. It's storied provenance has beginnings dated back to the 1842 play  'Einen Jux will er sich machen'  by Johann Nestroy....

Review: CARMINA BURANA at Artpark
by Michael Rabice - July 30, 2023

Composer Carl Orff most certainly would never have imagined having his most beloved cantata Carmina Burana staged with costumes , actors, dancers, and scenery. As one of those most popular choral  pieces performed worldwide by Symphony Orchestras everywhere, the established tradition is to perform t...

Review: BLITHE SPIRIT at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - July 27, 2023

The  perennial festival favorite BLITHE SPIRIT is making a welcome to return to the Shaw Festival stage after 30 years. The result is a breezy romp that is sure to delight, thanks to the fine casting showcasing some of the company's best players....

Review: GYPSY at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - June 13, 2023

'A Musical Fable.' This is the subtitle that author Arthur Laurents chose when writing his script for the blockbuster musical 'GYPSY.' And after a  delay of almost 3 years due to covid, the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake is presenting their version of this famed musical fable at the Festival T...

Review: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - June 09, 2023

It's good to be reminded that there was a time when manners mattered, albeit at the expense of social end economic hierarchy. Oscar Wilde's delightful THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, now playing at Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre Company , is a gem of a production  worthy of it's own notoriety. ...

Review: JAGGED LITTLE PILL at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - June 07, 2023

When reality slaps you in the face and your personal problems seem unsurpassable, you may escape to the fantasy world of a Broadway musical. Unless the show's score is from Alanis Morissette, whose music peaked in the 90's with her unique Alternative  Rock style. And there emerges her musical JAGGED...

Review: KINKY BOOTS at Shea's 710 Theatre
by Michael Rabice - May 05, 2023

Everyone was raising the roof at Shea's 710 Theatre last night singing 'Yeah' as the little story of a drag queen who saves a failing English shoe shop captured the audience's heart in KINKY BOOTS...

Review: SIX at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - April 26, 2023

The Tudor Era meets the Girl Band as the six wives of Henry VIII take the stage in the flashy new musical SIX now playing at Shea's Buffalo. The girl singing groups of the last 70 years surely have paved the way for our regal queens, with the Spice Girls and K-Pop Girl Bands being more recent additi...

Review: THURGOOD at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - April 07, 2023

American History, Civil Rights, Black History and theatrical drama are magically melding on stage in the one act play THURGOOD that is playing at Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre....

Review: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at Kavinoky Theatre
by Michael Rabice - March 06, 2023

What did our critic think of Just how wrong can everything go so that it looks wrong in a perfect way? That should be the goal in any good  farce. And the farce du jour these days seems to be the ridiculously absurd but oh so perfectly titled, THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG now playing at the Kavinoky The...

Review: THE THIN PLACE at Road Less Traveled Productions
by Michael Rabice - February 26, 2023

The stage can bring you to places never dreamed of before, but what about places that are even beyond your dreams...or nightmares. Lucas Hnath's THE THIN PLACE, now playing at Road Less Traveled Theatre, brings the audience along for a fascinating ride in this interactive play. The result is nothing...

Review: HADESTOWN at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - February 22, 2023

Finding new ways to tell age old stories is as old as time.  Greek and Roman mythology, passion plays and Shakespearean tales are often updated or transformed from play to musical to opera or  even ballet.  Most recently the Broadway stage has found a new re-telling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth ...

Review: THE MAI at Irish Classical Theatre
by Michael Rabice - January 27, 2023

A modern day memory play  of sorts with influences of Greek mythology may be one way to describe THE MAI,  now playing at Irish Classical Theatre. Never a company to shy away from complex topics, the drama that is unfolding challenges the viewer in a myriad of ways....

Review: COME FROM AWAY at Shea's Buffalo Theatre
by Michael Rabice - December 14, 2022

The best uplifting evening of theatrical magic is happening again just in time for the Christmas season. And no, it's not the annual Christmas Pageant at your family church. It is the remarkable true story of goodness that came out of the unthinkable tragedy of 9/11. COME FROM AWAY has returned to t...