All stories by Charles McNulty on BroadwayStars

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Review: A classic talent in 'Wait Until Dark' by Charles McNulty

Alison Pill radiates Old Hollywood and theatrical style in an adaptation of 'Wait Until Dark' that only partly dusted off an outdated work.The suspense is laboriously built up in the Geffen …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:40PM
Monday, October 14, 2013

Review: 'Fast Company' a wily game of one-upmanship by Charles McNulty

A family of con artists are as ruthless with one another as they are with their marks in Carla Ching's clever but labored drama at South Coast Repertory.In the program for "Fast Company," a …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:50PM
Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Review: 'The Few' captures resentments and lonely-hearts by Charles McNulty

The characters are more involving than the plot in Samuel D. Hunter's play at the Old Globe about unresolved relationships.SAN DIEGO — Characters in drama don't have to be likable, as …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:05PM

Stanley Kauffmann: A vicar of theater criticism by Charles McNulty

Stanley Kauffmann, who died Wednesday at 97, will be remembered for his intellectually rigorous, neatly manicured film reviews -- the meditative yin to Pauline Kael’s ecstatic yang.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:15PM
Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Review: 'The Last Goodbye' gets rocky as it fuses the Bard with pop by Charles McNulty

The fusion of Jeff Buckley songs with 'Romeo and Juliet' is sometimes hypnotic at the Old Globe, but more often it jangles.Shakespeare and contemporary popular music might seem strange bedfe…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:30AM
Thursday, October 3, 2013

Review: Time has overtaken 'The Sunshine Boys' by Charles McNulty

'The Sunshine Boys,' with former 'Taxi' stars Danny DeVito and Judd Hirsch at the Ahmanson Theatre, feels dated and a step slow.The knock against Neil Simon in the early days was that he car…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:20PM
Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Radar L.A. produces notable blips on the city's theater scene by Charles McNulty

Critic's notebook: The festival has created a significant cultural event and allowed us to appreciate the scope of an unorthodox theater town.Nearly all of the shows in Radar L.A. have packe…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:30PM
Friday, September 27, 2013

Review: 'Shun-kin' knows the art of seduction by Charles McNulty

An erotic 1933 story from Japan is beguilingly rendered in a joint production by Complicite and Japan's Setagaya Public Theatre.Rarely has the dance of shadows, the interplay of light and da…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:55PM
Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Theater reviews: Solo performances with the power to touch many by Charles McNulty

The truths told by, respectively, Luis Alfaro ('St. Jude'), Roger Guenveur Smith ('Rodney King') and Trieu Tran ('Uncle Ho to Uncle Sam') at Kirk Douglas Theatre have a personal quality that…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM
Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Review: 'The Normal Heart' beats unsteadily, but with passion and love by Charles McNulty

The drama chronicling the early AIDS epidemic also serves as an emotionally searing character study.Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart" holds such an important place in the history of the AIDS…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:00AM
Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Review: 'Lost Girls' finds its heart after an unsteady opening by Charles McNulty

Gritty New Hampshire drama presents a truthful psychological study that ultimately proves moving and poetic.John Pollono, author of the much-feted "Small Engine Repair," has supplied Rogue M…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Theater review: 'R II' is a charming take on an ill-equipped ruler by Charles McNulty

Jessica Kubzansky's ingenious adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Richard II' at the Theatre @ Boston Court uses three actors and focuses on the tale of a ruler who is never more kingly than when g…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Thursday, September 12, 2013

Fall theater season listens to new voices and old by Charles McNulty

Such exciting new writers as Samuel D. Hunter, Amy Herzog and Young Jean Lee are on tap. So are stalwarts Neil Simon, Reginald Rose and, yes, Shakespeare.Theater festivals have the potential…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:15AM
Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Review: 'Death of a Salesman' at SCR erratic yet still shattering by Charles McNulty

Charlie Robinson rises above inconsistent staging to get to the hard truth of the South Coast Repertory revival of an Arthur Miller classic.It's always a privilege to be in the company of an…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:00AM
Sunday, August 25, 2013

An Appreciation: Julie Harris, Broadway saint by Charles McNulty

Julie Harris wasn’t simply one of the great American actors of the 20th century. She represented to those in her profession a reverential ideal.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:20PM
Thursday, August 22, 2013

Review: 'Rapture, Blister, Burn' slyly upends fixed notions of life by Charles McNulty

Gina Gionfriddo's 'Rapture, Blister, Burn' at the Geffen Playhouse adds a comical edge to the old question of whether a woman can have it all.To judge by appearances, Catherine is a roaring …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:10PM

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart on 'No Man's Land,' parallel paths by Charles McNulty

It's a Pinteresque reunion for English actors Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, performing the Broadway-bound 'No Man's Land' in Berkeley.BERKELEY — Their Stradivarius voices precede t…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:00PM
Saturday, August 17, 2013

Review: 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' goes from merry to muddle by Charles McNulty

Jaunty Actors' Gang entertains mightily in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' but at eve's end it's stretched to the limit.The love games of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" are as frolic…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Thursday, August 1, 2013

Cate Blanchett channels Blanche in 'Blue Jasmine' by Charles McNulty

Critic's Notebook: For Cate Blanchett, it's an inspired trip from 'Streetcar Named Desire' on stage to 'Blue Jasmine' on film.One of the joys for a theater critic of watching Woody Allen's …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:30AM
Monday, July 29, 2013

Postscript: A few more thoughts about 'A Parallelogram' by Charles McNulty

In “Postscript,” a critic returns to works already reviewed to respond to readers, touch on points not covered, share second thoughts and extend the critical conversation.  

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:04PM

Review: 'Chicago' storms into the Hollywood Bowl by Charles McNulty

A fun Brooke Shields-directed production of 'Chicago' at the Hollywood Bowl features a vivid Ashlee Simpson and a strong Samantha Barks."Chicago" is a perfect fit for the Hollywood Bowl for …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:30AM
Thursday, July 25, 2013

Anthony Weiner as a Broadway play: Tragedy or farce? by Charles McNulty

A colleague asked me the other day whether there was a character in Shakespeare to compare to disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner, whose New York mayoral campaign has spun out of co…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:41PM

Review: 'Sideways' drives into La Jolla Playhouse with mixed results by Charles McNulty

Rex Pickett's 'Sideways,' directed by Des McAnuff at La Jolla Playhouse, is touching but struggles with both a stage car and memories of the film.The theater can do just about anything in my…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:00AM
Saturday, July 20, 2013

Traveling to London in summer 2013 to see theater shows? by Charles McNulty

Adrian Lester, Rory Kinnear star in a can't-miss 'Othello.' You can miss 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' Reviews of 'Passion Play,' more. LONDON — Traveling to London this summer …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:00PM
Wednesday, July 10, 2013

'Sister Act' review: Stale musical can still be good for the soul by Charles McNulty

'Sister Act' is hackneyed. But up-tempo numbers and Ta'Rea Campbell's singing boost the musical at Pantages Theatre."Sister Act" has been on quite the pilgrimage since its world premiere at …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:23PM
Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Review: 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' leaves a bitter taste by Charles McNulty

The much-anticipated West End stage production of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' has little originality, lacks flavor and doesn't live up to its billing.LONDON — All the best ingr…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Saturday, June 22, 2013

Hollywood Fringe Festival, a theater party with room to grow by Charles McNulty

Critic's Notebook: There's no arguing with the event's success, but it's worth asking how the quality can improve without compromising its vision of openness.On a crowded sidewalk outside of…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:00AM
Friday, June 14, 2013

Theater review: Life and art boundaries blur in fluid 'Neva' by Charles McNulty

Guillermo Calderón's powerful drama at the Kirk Douglas Theatre poses more questions than it answers as three actors grapple with the meaning of theater at a time of revolution in early-20t…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:10PM
Thursday, June 13, 2013

Review: 'Yes, Prime Minister' gets lost in British politics by Charles McNulty

Tongues wag and accents flag in this witty yet wordy satire from Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Too bad that much of it's lost on an American audience not up on parliamentary rules.Political …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:30PM
Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Theater review: 'We Are Proud to Present' and a time of genocide by Charles McNulty

In Jackie Sibblies Drury's play at the Matrix Theatre Company, the depiction of a tragic period in African history is at issue.Theodor Adorno's oft-quoted, much misunderstood remark, "It is …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:30PM
Monday, June 10, 2013

Tonys 2013 Q&A: 'Neil Patrick Harris is the god of awards show' by Charles McNulty

Charles McNulty , The Times theater critic, shared his insights about the 2013 Tony Awards and the upcoming theatrical season in an hourlong chat Monday with readers.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 05:52PM

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