All stories by Charles McNulty on BroadwayStars

Friday, February 17, 2023

Review: Kristina Wong assembled 'aunties' to sew masks. Her pandemic mission is now a must-see show by Charles McNulty

Kristina Wong's performance piece on a pandemic mask-making project opens at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:22PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Review: Why the new intergalactic musical 'Come Get Maggie' is light-years from being ready by Charles McNulty

With the premiere of Diane Frolov and Susan Justin's 'Come Get Maggie,' Rogue Machine Theatre produces its first musical.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 13, 2023

Review: A graceful 'Much Ado About Nothing' " in all its madcap zeal " shines at A Noise Within by Charles McNulty

Guillermo Cienfuegos directs a vivid and vivacious production of Shakespeare's comedy at A Noise Within, accomplishing what some starrier productions have failed to do.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:04PM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 11, 2023

Review: Conflict, intrigue and family dysfunction converge in 'The First Deep Breath' by Charles McNulty

The Geffen Playhouse presents Lee Edward Colston II's epic family drama, about the secrets and unresolved traumas of a Black family in Philadelphia.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 9, 2023

Review: In Wooster Group's staging of Brecht's 'The Mother,' techno postmodernism turns political by Charles McNulty

The Wooster Group's first foray into the work of Bertolt Brecht brings "The Mother," a "learning play," to postmodern life at REDCAT.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:19PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Review: 'The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci' is more impressively acrobatic than it is exciting by Charles McNulty

Tony winner Mary Zimmerman's performance collage based on the notebooks of the Italian Renaissance polymath arrives at the Old Globe in San Diego.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:09PM[SHARE]
Monday, January 30, 2023

Review: Empathy coach hits a brick wall in the wild, weird workplace comedy 'Do You Feel Anger?' by Charles McNulty

Circle X Theatre Co. presents the West Coast premiere of Mara Nelson-Greenberg's comedy at the Atwater Village Theatre in a production directed by Halena Kays.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:48PM[SHARE]
Monday, January 23, 2023

Commentary: Oscar or not, Paul Mescal makes screen acting look natural again by Charles McNulty

The most authentic performance of the year may not get an Oscar nomination. But if you care about acting, you should see Paul Mescal in 'Aftersun.'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:00PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Review: The play 'Home Front' confronts the bitter realities of post-WWII racism, homophobia by Charles McNulty

The West Coast premiere of Warren Leight's "Home Front" stars C. J. Lindsey as a World War II Black naval officer whose union with a white woman tests the tolerance of postwar America.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:13PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 13, 2023

Review: The main reason to see "Eisenhower"? Actor John Rubinstein's earnest portrayal of Ike by Charles McNulty

Tony winner John Rubinstein stars in Richard Hellesen's biographical drama "Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground," a Theatre West and New L.A. Repertory presentation at the Hudson MainStage Thea…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 12, 2023

Commentary: A critic does therapy with Phil Stutz, go-to shrink for Jonah Hill and other stars by Charles McNulty

An encounter with Dr. Phil Stutz, the subject of 'Stutz,' the Netflix documentary Jonah Hill made about his beloved Hollywood therapist.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:45PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 6, 2023

Review: Audra McDonald's brilliant performance in 'Ohio State Murders' is a must-see on Broadway before it closes by Charles McNulty

The Broadway debut of 91-year-old playwright Adrienne Kennedy is supercharged by Audra McDonald's seismic performance in 'Ohio State Murders,' which will close on Jan. 15.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:27PM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 5, 2023

Commentary: What a difference a revival makes: Two famously tricky Sondheim musicals shine in new outings by Charles McNulty

The Broadway revival of 'Into the Woods' and the new off-Broadway revival of 'Merrily We Roll Along' bring new life to challenging Stephen Sondheim musicals.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:15PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Review: The engrossing 'Little Theatre' spills the tea on L.A.'s 99-seat theater scene by Charles McNulty

Rogue Machine presents the world premiere of Justin Tanner's 'Little Theatre,' a snapshot of one L.A. writer's beginnings.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:17PM[SHARE]
Monday, December 12, 2022

Review: An icon forever, the magnetic Chita Rivera delivered sparks of magic at Segerstrom by Charles McNulty

Tony Award-winning legend Chita Rivera brings her concert 'Chita: The Rhythm of My Life' to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:56PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 9, 2022

Review: If the Razzies included theater, 'Invincible' would be one of 2022's big winners by Charles McNulty

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo bring their musical version of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. But the production can't escape the jukeb…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Commentary: The case of a mysterious Edward Albee play that has resurfaced in L.A. by Charles McNulty

Edward Albee's 'Fam and Yam,' a 1960 one-act inspired by the author's encounter with Broadway playwright William Inge, remerges at Venice's Pacific Resident Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:27PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 4, 2022

Best theater of 2022: So many L.A. bright spots in a challenging year by Charles McNulty

Theater critic Charles McNulty runs through his 2022 high points, including 'The Inheritance,' 'Slave Play' and, yes, a divisive 'Oklahoma!'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 3, 2022

Lynn Nottage on 'MJ' and 'sustaining the complexity' in her dramatic works by Charles McNulty

With an opera, a jukebox musical and a Broadway comedy running simultaneously this year, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage has never been busier or more determined to move A…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 28, 2022

Tom Stoppard's Jewish roots: Carey Perloff on Broadway's acclaimed play of the season by Charles McNulty

Ex-leader of A.C.T. talks about "Leopoldstadt" and the remarkable admission Stoppard makes about his relationship (or lack thereof) to his Jewish past.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 21, 2022

Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers, late Broadway greats, have brilliant last words by Charles McNulty

D.T. Max's "Finale," about Sondheim, and "Shy," by Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green, bring the singular Broadway personalities back to life.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:17PM[SHARE]
Friday, November 18, 2022

Review: Mentalist Vinny DePonto plays benevolent mind games at the Geffen Playhouse by Charles McNulty

Created and performed by theater artist and mentalist Vinny DePonto, 'Mindplay' probes the unreliable narrators of our minds in a Geffen Playhouse world premiere.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:00PM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 6, 2022

Review: In the Ahmanson's '2:22 - A Ghost Story,' poltergeists are more believable than people by Charles McNulty

The play's U.S. premiere brings the horror, but wastes the talents of Constance Wu, Finn Wittrock, Anna Camp and Adam Rothenberg on creaky characters.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:16PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 28, 2022

Review: 'To Kill a Mockingbird' arrives at the Hollywood Pantages with troubling timeliness by Charles McNulty

Aaron Sorkin's hit Broadway stage adaptation of Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' shapes the classic 1960 novel for a new era.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:29PM[SHARE]
Sunday, October 23, 2022

Commentary: Redemption, writ large, in L.A. Opera's divine 'Omar' by Charles McNulty

'Omar,' the new opera by singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens and film composer Michael Abels, gets its West Coast premiere by L.A. Opera.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:30PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Review: Tony-winning 'The Inheritance' is better in Los Angeles than on Broadway by Charles McNulty

The Geffen Playhouse production of 'The Inheritance' superbly realizes playwright Matthew López's vision. At 6½ hours long, it's worth every minute.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:27PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 13, 2022

Review: Samuel L. Jackson stars in a not-always-in-tune Broadway revival of 'The Piano Lesson' by Charles McNulty

The first Broadway revival of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning 'The Piano Lesson' stars Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks and John David Washington.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Review: I was skeptical of Lea Michele. Then I saw her deliver a tour de force in 'Funny Girl' by Charles McNulty

I wasn't particularly excited by sitting through another 'Funny Girl' revival. But I left understanding why tickets to see Lea Michele star as Fanny Brice in the musical are going for a king…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:37PM[SHARE]

Appreciation: Angela Lansbury, an instantly recognizable and readily transformable talent by Charles McNulty

Angela Lansbury, the star of stage and screen who died on Tuesday, put her talents at the service of story.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:29PM[SHARE]
Friday, September 30, 2022

Review: At the Taper, 'SNL's' Cecily Strong takes on Lily Tomlin's beloved one-woman show by Charles McNulty

Cecily Strong reprises her performance in an updated version of Jane Wagner's 'The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 05:17PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Commentary: Four veteran stage actors discuss taking on risky roles later in life by Charles McNulty

A conversation with four older cast members starring in Antaeus Theatre Company's production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' 'Everybody.' 'You learn simplicity, you learn economy.'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:02PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off