All stories by Bill Hirschman on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Rotterdam Captures Shattering Fallout From Gender Fluidity by Bill Hirschman

Jon Brittain’s prescient, abundantly insightful play Rotterdam at Island City Stage, captures the messy, shattering fallout from gender fluidity for the transgender person as well as their…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:07AM
Sunday, January 22, 2023

Bower Shines Like A Star in Tuneful, Witty Anything Goes by Bill Hirschman

If only for the opportunity to enjoy Aaron Bower inhabiting a role she was born to play, we’d urge you to see the Wick Theatre’s revival of the updated Cole Porter musical Anything Goes…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:53PM
Friday, January 20, 2023

Fiery Performance Powers Musical About Tina Turner by Bill Hirschman

Ever wondered what a blazing comet looks like a few yards from your face? Visit the Broward Center to catch the national tour of Tina, fa huge fireball smashing through the backwall powering…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 07:30PM
Thursday, January 19, 2023

Not Hamlet or Hamilton, But The Full Monty Eventually Wins Over by Bill Hirschman

True, there’s not particularly buff former factory workers stripping down to G-strings, pumping and grinding in a ladies’ bar, but The Full Monty is the kind of pleasant mainstream musi…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:45AM
Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Like the Country It Unravels, ‘American Rhapsody is Complicated, Ambitious & Flawed by Bill Hirschman

American Rhapsody, Michael McKeever’s sprawling premiere at Zoetic Stage, is a history play, a bildungsroman, a tribute to fluid families, a cautionary tale about where the zeitgeist might…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:55AM
Tuesday, January 17, 2023

FL Review: Cruz-Directed "Anna in the Tropics" at Miami New Drama Melds Prosaic and Poesy thru Feb 5th by Bill Hirschman

It’s really unfair to single out anyone in this outstanding ensemble, but Gabriell Salgado – the young local actor whose work over the past 15 months has been stunning — is terrific as…

SOURCE: cruz-directed-anna-in-the-tropics-melds-prosaic-and-poesy at 02:28PM
Monday, January 16, 2023

Cruz-Directed Anna in the Tropics Melds Prosaic and Poesy by Bill Hirschman

Miami New Drama’s triumphant 20-year-anniversary production of Nilo Cruz’s Pulitzer-winning Anna in the Tropics., directed by Cruz, enables us to see ourselves and all around us more cle…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 05:39PM
Saturday, January 14, 2023

Entertaining Sweet Charity Reflects Its Social Myopia by Bill Hirschman

The Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s Sweet Charity is a thorughly well-produced and inarguably entertaining time machine back to when the musical was created in 1966 and when the cutting-edge danc…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 03:17PM
Friday, January 13, 2023

Feature: Nilo Cruz Directs 20th Anniversary Anna in the Tropics by Bill Hirschman

The drama Anna in the Tropics, about a family of Cuban-American cigar makers in Ybor City near Tampa in 1929, has now turned 20, and Miami New Drama is presenting a production directed by i…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 10:59AM
Tuesday, January 10, 2023

The Banality of Evil Is At The Crux of GableStage’s Powerful We Will Not Be Silent by Bill Hirschman

Evil thrives when good people, normal people, do nothing. This banality of evil provides the crux of playwright David Meyers’ incisive play We Will Not Be Silent, receiving a bold, powerfu…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 05:07PM
Monday, January 9, 2023

Boca Stage’s Time Alone Examines Grief, Doubt Within Two Isolated People by Bill Hirschman

Time alone often brings out moments of self-doubt; of deep, endless grief; questions of what ifs and should haves that crop up in the middle of the night—so skillfully explored in Boca Sta…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 08:26AM
Saturday, January 7, 2023

Riverside Gifts Exquisite Voices, Bold Visuals To La Mancha by Bill Hirschman

With its soul-stirring theme ,” the musical Man of La Mancha is the ideal choice for Riverside Theatre to reflect on how it has triumphed over adversity.This abundantly satisfying producti…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 10:04PM
Monday, January 2, 2023

Book Review: New Sondheim Volume More About Interviewer by Bill Hirschman

D.T. Max got Stephen Sondheim to reveal glimpses of his work process in five "interviews" but clearly, Max is almost as crucial, at least to him, for what’s in this book as what Sondheim s…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:09PM
Tuesday, December 27, 2022

We’re Still Here: A Look Back at South Florida Theater 2022 by Bill Hirschman

Quite a come back year: World premieres, epic musicals, moving two-character dramas, you name it. Here's not so much a “best of the year” list – no such list can be reliable or complet…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 07:54PM
Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Report From New York: A Welcome Return Into The Woods by Bill Hirschman

It has been said that this New York production of Into the Woods merging heart, humor, energy and imagination is better than the original. But that’s not the case; it is it’s own vision …

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:48PM
Monday, December 19, 2022

Cut Loose With Slow Burn Theatre’s Rousing Footloose by Bill Hirschman

A hallmark of Slow Burn Theatre Company is its knack in finding new, mostly young talent and shaping those performers’ creativity. That approach—and this current round of talent—are on…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:18AM
Saturday, December 17, 2022

Report From New York: Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt Questions Assimilation by Bill Hirschman

Leopoldstadt's breathtaking scene of a family's debate whether to flee the Third Reich -- ended by a knock on the door -- is only one facet in Tom Stoppard's borderline masterpiece that trac…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 05:48PM
Thursday, December 15, 2022

Aesop’s Fable-ous Xmas Tree Gifts Tales To Celebrate by Bill Hirschman

In Aesop’s Fable-ous Christmas Tree at Main Street Players, Aesop’s fables receive a holiday spin in vignettes illuminating important life lessons by reinventing the classic fables. Humo…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 10:06AM
Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Wick Cinderella Is a 21st Century Reboot of the Classic by Bill Hirschman

Charm bubbles throughout the Wick Theatre’s lush production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, a very 21st Century riff on the classic musical that can legitimately be promoted as …

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 10:54PM

Cast of Region’s Top Actors Triumph in 12 Angry Men by Bill Hirschman

A baker’s dozen actors we’ve seen in myriad roles over the past decade or more submerge themselves so deeply in their characters that they are nearly unrecognizable. An unequalled assemb…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 01:06PM
Sunday, December 11, 2022

Ethics, People Are Dispensable In Hnath’s Scathing Red Speedo by Bill Hirschman

A tattoo of a sea serpent is playwright Lucas Hnath’s damning metaphor for the grip of ambition to the point that betrayal of anyone is an accepted expedient in the scathing Red Speedo fr…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 03:18PM
Friday, December 9, 2022

Misfit Nerds Spell ‘Winning” In MNM’s Putnam Spelling Bee by Bill Hirschman

That every hero and heroine in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a misfit we secretly recognize from the bathroom mirror explains how this musical has thrived 17 years. Add to su…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:24AM
Thursday, December 8, 2022

New City Players’ It’s A Wonderful Life Is Indeed by Bill Hirschman

In the 21st Century, the adjective “merry” has fallen out of use except in conjunction with a holiday. But “merry” is precisely the right word to describe the brew of warmth and humo…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 06:03PM
Tuesday, December 6, 2022

City Theatre’s Constitution May Be Season’s Most Important Play by Bill Hirschman

The contradictions of what we say the Constitution is, what we want it to be, and what it really is, what it really does are at the heart of one of the most timely and important pieces of t…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 12:06PM
Saturday, December 3, 2022

Welcome the Circus at Maltz Theater’s Funny Thing Happened by Bill Hirschman

The circus has come to town with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. In this time of upheaval and uncertainty, sometimes what you need is a dose of s…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 01:54PM
Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Report From New York: & Juliet Lands Even If You Don’t Know Any Katy Perry Hit Songs by Bill Hirschman

While the younger audience at & Juliet is beyond delighted how more than 30 beloved 21st Century standards were slipped into the plot, you don’t have to have a scintilla of familiarity…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 08:36PM
Monday, November 28, 2022

Justice Is Only Part of the Goal in Dramaworks’ 12 Angry Men by Bill Hirschman

Actors and other artists are huddling at Palm Beach Dramaworks in preparation for a timely revival of 12 Angry Men that looks at interpersonal interplay as well as justice. The post Justice…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:36AM
Saturday, November 26, 2022

Report From New York: Race Expands Death of a Salesman by Bill Hirschman

The newest edition of Death of a Salesman emanates an unique vibe, not simply because the Loman family is African-American. Racial overtones inarguably add an extra topspin on the socio-econ…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 02:32PM
Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Hamilton Rises Up at Broward Center Even Better Than Before by Bill Hirschman

Has the mega-hit musical Hamilton lost its sheen since it opened in 2015 before embarking on tours? It has not. Now playing at the Broward Center, this rendition actually is a stronger produ…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 05:32PM
Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Dorothy’s Dictionary at Theatre Lab Is Entry Worth Looking Up by Bill Hirschman

In a time when so much theater and film seem dependent on sling-shots of unexpected left turns there’s a quiet life-affirming pleasure in a work that follows precisely the arc you expect …

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 12:12PM
Monday, November 21, 2022

Brinin’ Back The Quartet With Holiday Holly and Spangles by Bill Hirschman

Elvis, Carl, Johnny and Jerry Lee return for the Million Dollar Quartet Christmas at Actors' Playhouse with the same virtues and flaws as the previous editions: impressive musicians with wi…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 12:12AM

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