All stories by Charles McNulty on BroadwayStars

Friday, May 22, 2015

Keeping the faith in Tarell Alvin McCraney's 'Head of Passes' by Charles McNulty

Tarell Alvin McCraney, the prodigiously talented author of "The Brother/Sister Plays," has called August Wilson a mentor, though Wilson's stylistic influence hasn't been conspicuous.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:57PM
Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Lily Knight sets 'A Small Fire' aglow with her performance by Charles McNulty

Emily, the hands-on owner of a construction firm in Adam Bock's "A Small Fire," is never more at home than when barking orders to her workers at a building site.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00PM
Thursday, May 14, 2015

Take note of these four musicals for a Tony, then vote for 'Fun Home' by Charles McNulty

Sometimes a musical finds its ideal home away from home.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:00AM
Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Amusing, sensitive 'Immediate Family' tackles sexual orientation, race by Charles McNulty

Phylicia Rashad-directed 'Immediate Family' is often touching, amusing and means to do some good; review

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Thursday, April 30, 2015

Family history upended in 'After the Revolution' by Charles McNulty

Vera, the old Greenwich Village lefty with bad hearing and some trouble remembering words, was the main attraction of "4000 Miles," Amy Herzog's critically acclaimed drama about progressive …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:50PM
Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Tony nominations 2015: Patterns in a chaotic Broadway season by Charles McNulty

The Tony Awards are a time for taking stock, but let’s not put an undue burden on this year’s nominations. To sort out the enigma of the 2014-15 Broadway season would require dusting off…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:19PM
Thursday, April 23, 2015

In 99-seat tussle, don't lose sight: Common goal is a healthy theater scene by Charles McNulty

One of the unrecognized ironies of the whole Actors' Equity brouhaha is that the union representing actors seems to understand better than most that the Los Angeles theater scene cannot rema…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:30PM
Tuesday, April 21, 2015

SCR's 'Mr. Wolf' sharply provokes, then turns blunt by Charles McNulty

Spoiler alert: The title character of Rajiv Joseph's new play, "Mr. Wolf," kills himself after the first scene. This would preclude him from serving as the play's protagonist, but it doesn't…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:10PM
Sunday, April 19, 2015

'The Great War's' portrayal of WWI battlefield horror proves ingenious by Charles McNulty

Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I — a hellish anniversary, to be sure, but one that couldn't go unmarked. Observe how the geopolitical consequences of that…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:25PM
Thursday, April 16, 2015

'Never Givin' Up' recites MLK's 'Letter' to call for justice by Charles McNulty

Anna Deavere Smith, whose documentary theater offerings have investigated the Rodney King riots ("Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992") and the crisis in U.S. healthcare ("Let Me Down Easy"), among …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:45PM
Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Critic's Notebook: In 'The Heidi Chronicles' and 'Skylight,' Elisabeth Moss and Carey Mulligan make politics personal by Charles McNulty

Critic's Notebook on the Broadway revivals of 'The Heidi Chronicles' and 'Skylight,' -- in which Elisabeth Moss and Carey Mulligan make politics personal

SOURCE: fw.to at 10:33AM

Elisabeth Moss, Carey Mulligan share a sensibility on separate stages by Charles McNulty

There's a moment in the new Broadway revival of Wendy Wasserstein's "The Heidi Chronicles" when Heidi, the art historian holding fast to her liberated ideals while wrestling with loneliness,…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:30AM
Sunday, April 12, 2015

Judith Malina: An Appreciation by Charles McNulty

An appreciation of theatrical trailblazer Judith Malina

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:42PM

Judith Malina: An appreciation of a theatrical trailblazer by Charles McNulty

Had Judith Malina never existed, the 1960s would surely have had to invent her. Yet it was Malina, a diminutive, German-born, American theater provocateur of immense boldness, recklessness, …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:19PM
Thursday, April 9, 2015

'Wolf Hall' a thrilling high-stakes game in Henry VIII's court by Charles McNulty

As Thomas Cromwell, the Machiavellian mastermind behind Henry VIII, Ben Miles surveys the comings and goings at court with a watchful reserve that shifts imperceptibly into murderous stealth.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:20PM
Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Updated 'Gigi' still a relic of its era by Charles McNulty

How do you solve a problem like "Gigi"?

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00PM
Tuesday, March 31, 2015

'Dunsinane' at the Wallis held back trying to land big message by Charles McNulty

Of all the possible Shakespearean sequels, "Macbeth II" seems among the least likely.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:15AM
Sunday, March 29, 2015

'The White Snake' at Old Globe is a sprightly fable of attraction by Charles McNulty

SAN DIEGO — God reputedly made the world in seven days, but that seems lazy by Mary Zimmerman's standards. She needs only a few seconds and some billowing fabric to conjure the four elemen…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:10PM
Friday, March 27, 2015

Out of Carey Perloff's 'Chaos' comes theatrical harmony by Charles McNulty

Carey Perloff talks about the challenges confronting the American theater.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:39PM

Out of Carey Perloff's 'Chaos' comes theatrical harmony by Charles McNulty

Carey Perloff, now in her 23rd season as artistic director of San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater, doesn't mince words when talking about the challenges confronting the American th…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:00PM
Wednesday, March 25, 2015

'Thieves' thick with family dysfunction by Charles McNulty

In the annals of dysfunctional-family drama, Charlotte Miller's "Thieves" isn't likely to find a lasting place, though the producers might want to consider posting the following warning in t…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:03PM
Monday, March 23, 2015

'Pygmalion' falls short in uneven Pasadena Playhouse revival by Charles McNulty

It's always a delight to encounter the disputatious wit of George Bernard Shaw, a playwright who thought comedy was at its fizzy best when ideas were allowed to collide in the service of pub…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:14PM
Thursday, March 19, 2015

Enchanting 'Cinderella' brings happily-ever-after to Ahmanson by Charles McNulty

Everything changes in this world — values, culture, technology, fashion — but the power of Cinderella seems weirdly impervious to time.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:47PM
Monday, March 16, 2015

Despite star Laura Linney, 'Switzerland' an unconvincing stab at noir by Charles McNulty

Images of Patricia Highsmith in her later years suggest that Linda Hunt might be a suitable choice to take on the role of the author of "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and other savage tales of ph…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:30AM
Thursday, March 12, 2015

Barbara Cook at the Wallis: Still doing what she does best by Charles McNulty

Barbara Cook graced the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, and while the singer wasn’t in tiptop form — she needed a cane to walk on stage, sang from a wheelchai…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:35AM
Tuesday, March 10, 2015

'The Day Shall Declare It' has dazzling visuals, limited depth by Charles McNulty

Theatergoing can be such a yawning routine — park, sit, clap, race home like a lunatic.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:55PM
Sunday, March 8, 2015

Angelica Page's 'Turning Page' a beguiling, uncanny tribute by Charles McNulty

Before announcing the winner for lead actress at the 1986 Academy Awards, F. Murray Abraham, elated that the recipient was his stage friend Geraldine Page, exclaimed, "I consider this woman …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00PM
Friday, March 6, 2015

Through 'Hamilton,' the Founding Fathers might once again make history by Charles McNulty

The Founding Fathers famously had a way with words, but as reincarnated in Lin-Manuel Miranda's sensational musical "Hamilton," they can now bust a rhyme with the legendary MCs.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:00PM
Thursday, March 5, 2015

Larry David's play 'Fish in the Dark' thinks too small-screen by Charles McNulty

It's the pesky little things that make up Larry David's infinitely expandable comic universe. All those petty grievances and minor disputes, the slights and slips, the miscues and forced apo…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:20PM
Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Tragic 'Twenty-Seventh Man' brings power of the pen to bear by Charles McNulty

Nathan Englander's short story, "The Twenty-Seventh Man," from his debut collection, "For the Relief of Unbearable Urges," is so impeccably pulled off, so beautifully composed in the spirit …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Sunday, February 22, 2015

Arthur Miller's 'The Price' bursts into meaning at Mark Taper Forum by Charles McNulty

Arthur Miller's "The Price" is an old-fashioned play that takes a fair amount of time to get going, but when it does — midway through the second act — it explodes with the thunderous mor…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:13PM

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
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