All stories by Terry Byrne on BroadwayStars

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Fuse Theater Review: “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” — Middle-aged Angst and Broad Humor by Terry Byrne

While worth a look for its inspired performances, this Huntington Theatre Company production does not give us Christopher Durang at his madcap best.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 01:04PM
Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: “The Christmas Revels” — Charming English Music Hall Edition by Terry Byrne

In classic Revels style, the unexpected mix of talents results in a wonderful mash-up of comic schtick and classical performance.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 03:57PM
Sunday, November 23, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: “The Trip to Bountiful” — A Testament to the Enduring Power of the Human Spirit by Terry Byrne

Horton Foote’s dialogue often dances on the edge of sentimentality, but, because of these performers, moments that might be sappy are instead deeply moving.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 08:27AM
Saturday, November 15, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: “Awake and Sing!”? Too Much Bickering by Terry Byrne

In this production the aching tension of intractable conflicts -- freedom versus responsibility, money versus morality -- occasionally bubble to the surface, but too often they are buried be…

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:10AM
Monday, October 27, 2014

‘Sylvia’ at NextStop Theatre Company by Terry Byrne

Overheard at intermission of NextStop Theatre Company’s production of A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia, a guy whispers to his female companion: “I thought it was gonna be a real dog onstage.” Sh…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:59AM
Monday, October 13, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: New Rep Comes up With a Sly and Loose Version of “Assassins” by Terry Byrne

The fine efforts of the New Rep performers and Jim Petosa’s thoughtful staging can’t solve this musical’s central flaw.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 06:24PM
Friday, August 1, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: Double Edge Theatre’s “Shahrazad” — A Feast for Our Imaginations by Terry Byrne

Shahrazad is the latest in Double Edge’s summer spectacles, and with this piece, director and designer Stacy Klein has found the perfect balance between story and visuals.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 09:19AM
Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: Richard Snee and Paula Plum Make for a Rewarding “Auld Lang Syne” by Terry Byrne

Local playwright Jack Neary always captures the frisson of nostalgia and resentment familiar to Catholic school graduates of a certain era, teasing gently without ever offending.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 03:37PM
Monday, July 21, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: Company One’s “Astro Boy” Rockets into an Eye-Popping Adventure by Terry Byrne

Company One’s production treats audiences to a seamless, eight-member ensemble who perform with a complicated bevy of multimedia effects that are so smoothly integrated into the action the…

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 11:27AM
Monday, July 14, 2014

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Breast in Show’ by Terry Byrne

(Best of the Capital Fringe) At last. A show that has taken the Capital Fringe Festival 2014 theme to heart: Move Me. Breast in Show, conceived and produced by Eileen Mitchard, is arguably t…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:33PM

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Tango, Cabaret, Love!’ by Terry Byrne

Tango, Cabaret, Love! is not for the faint of heart nor lack of appetite. Conceived, directed by and starring Cecilia De Feo, Laura Quiroga and Lorena Sabogal, the show is a bilingual escapa…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:25AM
Saturday, July 12, 2014

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ’13 Men – Cabaret’ by Terry Byrne

(Best of the Capital Fringe 2014) If by 13 Men — A Cabaret you were expecting a beefy crop of men in tights traipsing in and out of the followspot, that ain’t it, kid. The “it” here:…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:03PM
Tuesday, June 17, 2014

‘Cloak and Dagger’ at Signature Theatre by Terry Byrne

You know you’re in the presence of a legend when the material doesn’t matter as much as the immaterial. With the world premiere of Cloak and Dagger: Or the Case of the Golden Venus �…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:00PM
Sunday, June 15, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: “Apt. 4D” — Beau Jest’s Sly, Comic Ode to Film Noir by Terry Byrne

Beau Jest’s playful Apt 4D offers a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the creativity and imagination of the truly extraordinary theater troupe.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 04:56PM
Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: “Carrie” — Stephen King Horror Story Morphed into a Ho-Hum Musical by Terry Byrne

The trio of writers has flattened Stephen King’s gaggle of high school teens into two-dimensional clichés, devoid of any adolescent intensity.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 04:27PM
Saturday, May 17, 2014

Neil Sedaka at The Music Center at Strathmore by Terry Byrne

“If Carole King can do it, I can do it,” Neil Sedaka told an indulgent, golden-oldies crowd at the Music Center at Strathmore on Friday night. And with that, the 75-year-old pop songwrit…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:38PM
Tuesday, May 6, 2014

‘Shout! The Mod Musical’ at Creative Cauldron by Terry Byrne

I attended Shout! The Mod Musical braless. TMI? Well, Creative Cauldron invited us to dress like something out of the Sixties-Seventies, so there we were, women in our 50s and 60s, grooving …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:10AM
Sunday, May 4, 2014

’4 Girls 4′ at The Music Center at Strathmore by Terry Byrne

For one night only, North Bethesda, MD., was Diva City. Four luminous songbirds swept in to The Music Center at Strathmore on Friday night to lead a largely snowbird audience on a mind-jog d…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:35AM
Tuesday, April 29, 2014

‘Ben Folds Solo’ at Lisner Auditorium by Terry Byrne

If piano men Elton John and Billy Joel got together to have a son, he might look and sound a lot like Ben Folds. Wait. That’s talkin’ ’bout my generation. Still, 47-year-old singer-son…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:19PM
Monday, April 28, 2014

Fuse Theater Review: “Snow White and the Seven Bottoms” — Smart, Stylish, Slick, and Hilarious by Terry Byrne

Ryan Landry has a sharp eye and ear for contemporary foibles, skewering stereotypes and pop culture icons with equal aplomb.

SOURCE: The Arts Fuse at 01:48PM
Monday, March 31, 2014

‘Brief Encounter’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Terry Byrne

Venerable plays get made into acclaimed movies (August: Osage County of recent note), and some movies translate successfully to the stage. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is that famous amalga…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:24PM
Saturday, March 8, 2014

‘Unrinetown’ at Act Two @ Levine’s Pre-Professional Program by Terry Byrne

Do you suppose composer Mark Hollamann and writer Greg Kotis got the loo-dicrous idea for Urinetown while waiting in line for the facilities during intermission at the theater? The campy, sa…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:01PM
Sunday, September 29, 2013

‘The 39 Steps’ at NextStop Theatre Company by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

Live theater is thrilling. How better, then, to celebrate the remaking of the volunteer-sown Elden Street Players into a major professional troupe than with a remake of a film from thrill ma…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:43AM
Monday, September 23, 2013

A Report on ‘A Fire in Water’ at Silver Finch Arts Collective’ by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

A Fire in Water, a modern, one-act chamber opera in Silver Finch Arts Collective’s cooker, has all the elements of a masterwork: timeless themes of love and war, a stunning score by Terran…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:37AM

‘Time Stands Still’ at McLean Community Players by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

As a working journalist who had spent the day sorting through graphic photos of a terror attack on shoppers in Kenya, I was in the right frame of mind to take in a performance of the Tony Aw…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:10AM
Sunday, August 25, 2013

‘Forever Plaid’ at Olney Theatre Center by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

In a week when the world’s buzzing about whether *N SYNC will stage a reunion at the VMAs and news of One Direction’s feature film has fans swooning, the stage is set for the ultimate bo…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:24PM
Tuesday, August 20, 2013

‘Chicago’ at Wolf Trap by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

  When you put horns in a rock band, everything else gets amped waaaay up. We know this because we sat behind the yo-yoing knobs of the sound board at the Chicago concert at Wolf Trap on Mo…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:32PM
Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Hello, You Assholes!’ by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

How liberating — while driving home from Hello, You Assholes! — to note how many times I referred to other drivers as assholes. We all do it, but few confess. Look out, here come…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:27AM
Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Capital Fringe Review: ‘How to Have It All: The Musical’ by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

Three good reasons to see How to Have It All: The Musical. 1. Freshly baked cookies. A nurturing, maternal figure will even warn you away from the chocolate chip if you have a peanut aller…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:05PM
Monday, July 15, 2013

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Young Wife’ by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

Imagine a world in which more women composed operas. Since Francesa Caccini unveiled what is considered the first opera by a female composer in 1625 (performed in Florence to celebrate the v…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:33AM
Monday, June 24, 2013

‘Caesar and Dada’ at WSC Avant Bard by Terry Byrne by Terry Byrne

“Shakespeare does not need your help,” barks Franz, the jaded, tyrannical director character in WSC Avant Bard’s world premiere of Caesar and Dada. The irony is that repackaging the ba…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:55PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime