All stories by Brittani Samuel on BroadwayStars

Monday, April 15, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Lempicka’ is a seductive unpolished musical about a groundbreaking Polish painter by Brittani Samuel

Co-writers Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould color outside the traditional lines, but are backed by enough talent to render a captivating portrait. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:47AM
Friday, April 12, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘The Outsiders,’ A rival-gang story void of any risk by Brittani Samuel

The Broadway adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s bestselling novel is a tame rendering of the American novel.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 01:07AM
Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Bathhouse.pptx’ Review: A Fever Dream, Both Poetic and Mystifying by Brittani Samuel

Jesús I. Valles’s prizewinning play gets a stage at the Flea, but the ambitious work about queer history proves too difficult to wrangle.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:12PM

‘The Who’s Tommy’: Maximum hertz, maximum heart by Brittani Samuel

Director Des McAnuff’s high-frequency revival pushes Broadway’s boundaries and possibly, its sound barriers.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 03:01AM
Friday, March 22, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘Water for Elephants’ explores familiar territory through novel theatrics by Brittani Samuel

Director Jessica Stone pitches an exciting circus tent on conventional musical theater grounds.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 08:30AM
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Broadway Review: In ‘Enemy of the People,’ a script brilliant as ever but a production begging for more bite by Brittani Samuel

Playwright Amy Herzog modernizes Ibsen’s original play while director Sam Gold pacifies it.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 02:35AM
Friday, March 15, 2024

The Broadway Review: ‘The Notebook,’ a swoonful new musical that conjures its former selves by Brittani Samuel

The theatrical adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ landmark novel keeps audiences laughing through the love and weeping through the grief.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 08:49AM
Friday, March 8, 2024

The Broadway Review: Under Scott Ellis’ direction, ‘Doubt’ is missing a tonal pulse by Brittani Samuel

Ellis’ staging of this tense drama begs for more traction, energy and, ultimately, direction.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:08AM
Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Camille A. Brown Is Bringing '90s New York Back to Broadway in Hell's Kitchen by Brittani Samuel

The choreographer used to dance on her way to school. Now she's bringing those same movements to the new Alicia Keys musical.

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:42AM
Monday, January 29, 2024

The Broadway Review: In ‘Days of Wine and Roses,’ bottomless booze and underbaked romance by Brittani Samuel

The new musical from “Light in the Piazza” creators Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas is a shallow exploration of intoxicating love.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 12:01AM
Friday, January 26, 2024

‘Zoomers’ Review: Just Don’t Kill the Vibes by Brittani Samuel

Gen Z’s reputation for conflict avoidance, and the way digital media abets it, is a recurring theme in the latest by the “Dimes Square” playwright Matthew Gasda.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:06AM
Wednesday, January 10, 2024

The Broadway Review: In the stately family epic ‘Prayer for the French Republic,’ history has some explaining to do by Brittani Samuel

Joshua Harmon’s mature, time-sweeping drama traces a French Jewish family’s decades-long search for an impregnable place to call home.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:28AM
Tuesday, December 19, 2023

The Broadway Review: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ ‘Appropriate’ is a paragon of Southern drama by Brittani Samuel

A relentless probe into the wickedness of one family’s history and the intoxication of their ignorance. 

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 07:50AM
Friday, December 15, 2023

Theater Review: In ‘White Gold,’ Rice Is a Sacred Starch by Brittani Samuel

The family-friendly circus troupe Phare highlights the richness of Cambodian culture with gravity-defying acrobatics, Indigenous music and rousing choreography.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:02AM
Monday, December 11, 2023

The Broadway Review: ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ is unable to resist relatability by Brittani Samuel

The heartwarming new Broadway musical offers insight into seven autistic young adults’ pursuit of self-determination.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:06AM
Friday, November 17, 2023

‘Arcadia’ Review: Artistic Ambition Gets Thrown Into Chaos by Brittani Samuel

Bedlam’s revival of Tom Stoppard’s time-traveling mind-bender of a play is a meditation on uncertainty.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:54PM

The Broadway Review: Monty Python’s ‘Spamalot’ serves broad hilarity at breakneck speed by Brittani Samuel

Goofiness is at an all-time high in director Josh Rhodes’ iteration of the time-cherished musical comedy.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 08:51AM
Tuesday, November 14, 2023

The Broadway Review: Broadway’s ‘Harmony,’ traditional but still on time by Brittani Samuel

Bruce Sussman and Barry Manilow’s conventional new musical does a rudimentary but essential job of reviving a dead historical act.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:40AM
Friday, November 3, 2023

The Broadway Review: In ‘I Need That,’ a home cluttered with rubbish and a play void of resonance by Brittani Samuel

Theresa Rebeck’s latest theatrical venture is one of her limpest — a frustratingly monotone, predictable and seasonless dose of comfort theater.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 07:50AM
Monday, October 30, 2023

How Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn Are Creating a New Pal Joey by Brittani Samuel

In this new version of the classic Rodgers and Hart musical, Joey is now a Black nightclub singer played by Ephraim Sykes.

SOURCE: Playbill at 02:07PM
Thursday, October 26, 2023

‘The Great Gatsby’ Review: A Musical Take on Tragic Desire by Brittani Samuel

This new version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic remains largely faithful to the novel, but it trades subtle prose for a straightforward production.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:55PM
Wednesday, October 4, 2023

The Broadway Review: In ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,’ micro braids and macro laughs by Brittani Samuel

Jocelyn Bioh’s latest slice-of-African-immigrant-life comedy invites audiences into the glorious maelstrom that is a Black woman’s braiding shop.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:06AM
Friday, September 29, 2023

The Broadway Review: Clearing the fog from ‘Melissa Etheridge: My Window’ by Brittani Samuel

Melissa Etheridge’s self-penned show is full of luster, vulnerability and pride — so full it almost aches for an editor.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:00AM
Thursday, September 28, 2023

The Broadway Review: ‘Purlie Victorious’ delivers a masterful sermon on satire by Brittani Samuel

The revival of Ossie Davis’ killingly funny and perceptive 1961 play is as close to Biblical scripture as Black theater gets.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:22AM
Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Four Theater Artists to Watch This Fall by Laura Collins-Hughes, Alexis Soloski, Brittani Samuel and Rhoda Feng

We spoke with two actors and two playwrights who will be in the spotlight this season.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:07AM
Thursday, August 3, 2023

Broadway’s dazzling ‘Back to the Future’ musical is a feast for the eyes — less so the ears by Brittani Samuel

Awe-inspiring visual effects and hilarious performances drive this theatrical adaptation of the iconic film

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:00PM
Monday, July 24, 2023

Review: Spending an eventful, but hackneyed evening at ‘The Cottage’ by Brittani Samuel

Sandy Rustin’s version of a drawing room farce falls short of both feminism and comedy.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:00PM
Thursday, July 20, 2023

Review: The memefication of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos in ‘Here Lies Love’ by Brittani Samuel

David Byrne’s immersive musical is a thrilling pageant of theatrics, but abstracts Filipino history better than enacting it.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:00PM
Tuesday, July 18, 2023

In Richard Hollman’s Play, the Back and Forth of a Friendship by Brittani Samuel

Richard Hollman’s tender, site-specific play explores the awkward resumption of a Covid-interrupted friendship over a deceptively innocent game of catch.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:04PM
Wednesday, June 28, 2023

‘Grief Hotel,’ an Absurdist Play With a Touch of Anemia by Brittani Samuel

Liza Birkenmeier’s abstract play is a unique exploration of romantic relationships but suffers from sleepy direction and a lack of character enrichment.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:37PM
Monday, June 26, 2023

Review: ‘Just For Us’ is an incisive comedy for everyone by Brittani Samuel

Alex Edelman’s solo show about his drop-into a white nationalist meeting entertains and illuminates.

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 09:00PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards