All stories by Charles McNulty on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Review: An offbeat comedy takes a brutal turn in Echo Theater's 'Dido of Idaho' by Charles McNulty

Romance goes afoul in Abby Rosebrock's 'Dido of Idaho' at Echo Theater Company as offbeat comedy takes a brutal turn.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Friday, July 19, 2024

Review: 'Tartuffe: Born Again' in the American South kicks up its heels at Theatricum Botanicum by Charles McNulty

Freyda Thomas adapts Moliere's 'Tartuffe' with an American twist in a winning production at Topanga's beloved Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Review: Rob Morrow and Marcia Cross relight 'The Substance of Fire' in uneven production by Charles McNulty

Rob Morrow and Marcia Cross star in an uneven revival of Jon Robin Baitz's 'The Substance of Fire' at Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Dreading four more months of the presidential campaign? Our critic turned to the classics by Charles McNulty

With the first presidential debate of the 2024 election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden set for Thursday, a critic calls on Homer and psychoanalysis to survive till November and beyond.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Review: 'Janet Planet,' the luminous film debut of playwright Annie Baker, is a poem of childhood by Charles McNulty

Julianne Nicholson stars as a mother with boundary problems raising a precocious, strong-minded 11-year old daughter in playwright Annie Baker's A24 release.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:00AM
Monday, June 24, 2024

Review: 'tiny father,' a new play about unexpected parenthood, is disappointingly minor key by Charles McNulty

The West Coast premiere of a play by Mike Lew, 'tiny father' tells the story of an accidental father thrust into a neonatal ICU in this Geffen Playhouse production directed by Moritz von Stu…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Monday, June 17, 2024

A 2024 Tony Awards lesson for regional theaters nationwide: Be fearless by Charles McNulty

Wins for "Stereophonic," "The Outsiders" and others prove that nonprofit and regional theaters can succeed by prioritizing ambitious work and giving it time to develop.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Thursday, June 6, 2024

Why the Tony-winning author of 'A Strange Loop' wants to upend the American musical by Charles McNulty

A conversation with Michael R. Jackson, whose Tony-winning musical "A Strange Loop" is having its Los Angeles premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Review: Imperfect, yes, but 'Jelly's Last Jam' is still wildly entertaining in Pasadena revival by Charles McNulty

Directed by Kent Gash, a new revival of 'Jelly's Last Jam' at Pasadena Playhouse makes the almost classic musical worth another look.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:48PM
Sunday, June 2, 2024

Danny Feldman: The man who saved L.A. theater by Charles McNulty

At a time of widespread retrenchment in American theater, Danny Feldman is boldly experimenting in real time at Pasadena Playhouse.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Thursday, May 30, 2024

Jessica Lange on playing 'wildly emotional characters' and finding roles that still fit by Charles McNulty

An interview with Jessica Lange, who received a Tony nomination for her performance in Paula Vogel's "Mother Play" and stars in the new HBO film "The Great Lillian Hall."

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Wednesday, May 29, 2024

How Maria Friedman and Jonathan Groff cracked the riddle of Sondheim's 'Merrily' by Charles McNulty

Jonathan Groff, star of the Broadway revival of 'Merrily We Roll Along,' and director Maria Friedman explain how they cracked Stephen Sondheim's problematic musical.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Thursday, May 23, 2024

Review: A brilliant chat fest at A Noise Within, courtesy of George Bernard Shaw by Charles McNulty

Guillermo Cienfuegos directs George Bernard Shaw's cunning sociopolitical drama "Misalliance" at Pasadena's A Noise Within.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Friday, May 17, 2024

Review: 'Girl From the North Country' blows into the Pantages on a Bob Dylan wind by Charles McNulty

'Girl From the North Country,' now having its L.A. premiere at the Hollywood Pantages, stitches together Bob Dylan classics in a play by Irish playwright Conor McPherson.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Thursday, May 9, 2024

Commentary: What's missing in two starry new productions of Ibsen and Chekhov on Broadway by Charles McNulty

Steve Carell in Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' and Jeremy Strong in Ibsen's 'An Enemy of the People' lend excitement to new Broadway revivals that struggle to update these plays for a contemporary …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:30AM
Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Review: Ralph Fiennes, an older Macbeth, builds sympathy for a killer with soulful weariness by Charles McNulty

A cinematic presentation of a London production of "Macbeth" starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma has a limited engagement in movie theaters.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:17PM
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Tony nominations reflect a Broadway year in which long shots eclipsed safe bets by Charles McNulty

'Stereophonic,' 'Merrily We Roll Along,' 'Illinoise,' Alicia Keys' 'Hell's Kitchen,' Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, Rachel McAdams, Jeremy Strong: This year even known quantities had to stret…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:07PM
Friday, April 26, 2024

Review: 'Illinoise,' based on Sufjan Stevens' concept album, clears a fresh Broadway path by Charles McNulty

Choreographer and director Justin Peck brings an athletic grace to a new, category-defying Broadway musical spun from a Sufjan Stevens' album. The singing? It's gorgeous

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:47PM
Sunday, April 21, 2024

Review: 'Cabaret' with a kinetic Eddie Redmayne can't redeem a faltering Broadway revival by Charles McNulty

The Olivier Award-winning revival of "Cabaret," starring a physically precise and theatrically audacious Eddie Redmayne, comes to Broadway but misses his London co-star, Jesse Buckley

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:30PM
Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Review: 'Monsters of the American Cinema' confronts the horror in grief by Charles McNulty

Christian St. Croix's 'Monsters of the American Cinema' has its Los Angeles premiere at the Matrix Theatre in a Rogue Machine production directed by John Perrin Flynn.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:10AM
Thursday, April 11, 2024

Review: An August Wilson master class in acting at Pasadena's A Noise Within by Charles McNulty

Gregg T. Daniel directs a muscular revival of 'King Hedley II," a difficult play done well. Veralyn Jones' performance is extraordinary.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:05PM
Monday, April 8, 2024

Review: 'Fat Ham' at the Geffen Playhouse slathers barbecue sauce on 'Hamlet" for delicious comedy by Charles McNulty

The Broadway production of 'Fat Ham,' James Ijames' Pulitzer Prize-winning riff on 'Hamlet,' has its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in L.A. It's gripping, outrageous fun.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:28PM
Thursday, April 4, 2024

Review: A dazzling Katerina McCrimmon makes for an authentic Fanny Brice in 'Funny Girl' by Charles McNulty

The Broadway touring production of Michael Mayer's 2022 revival of "Funny Girl" arrives at the Ahmanson Theatre with a star-making lead performance from Katerina McCrimmon.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:32PM
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Review: Guess who's coming to dinner. 'One of the Good Ones,' an updated comedy of representation by Charles McNulty

'One of the Good Ones,' by Gloria Calderón Kellett, co-creator of the rebooted 'One Day at a Time,' has its world premiere at Pasadena Playhouse, directed by Kimberly Senior and starring La…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:48PM

The Village Voice gets the rollicking, rebellious oral history it deserves by Charles McNulty

An exchange with Tricia Romano, author of 'The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture,' with one of her former…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

'Enemy of the People' is the 19th century drama that still resonates with our pandemic-scarred society by Charles McNulty

A new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 'An Enemy of the People," written by Amy Herzog and directed by Sam Gold, is on Broadway this season in a production starring Jeremy Strong and Michael Imp…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Stephen Sachs documents an American family torn apart by Jan. 6 in his new play by Charles McNulty

The Fountain Theatre's founding artistic director, Stephen Sachs, reflects on his new play, "Fatherland," and new adventures as he prepares to step down at the end of the year.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Monday, March 4, 2024

Review: Anatomy of a theatrical train wreck: Nick Ullett recounts an ill-fated Pinter revival by Charles McNulty

In "The Birthday Party: A Theatrical Catastrophe," actor Nick Ullett, a cast member in William Friedkin's 2014 Harold Pinter revival, tells the tale of the madness that upended the productio…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 05:03PM
Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Review: History haunts the characters of 'Black Cypress Bayou' at the Geffen Playhouse by Charles McNulty

Kristen Adele Calhoun's haunting "Black Cypress Bayou" wrestles with history and reparations in its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:52PM
Thursday, February 15, 2024

Review: 'The Wiz' revival wobbles more than eases down the road to Broadway by Charles McNulty

A new revival of "The Wiz," featuring Wayne Brady and the hits "Ease on Down the Road" and "Home," opens at the Hollywood Pantages before its Broadway run.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:07PM
Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Commentary: For better or worse, two new plays reveal their writers' TV backgrounds by Charles McNulty

'Mercury,' by Steve Yockey, the creator/showrunner of HBO Max's 'The Flight Attendant,' and 'Middle of the World' by TV executive Juan José Alfonso spin yarns designed to hook restless audi…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre