All stories by Cogency on BroadwayStars

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Creativity thrives in Tick, Tick…Boom! at Theatre Horizon by Cogency

Theatre Horizon has done it again. As they’ve done so many times since its founding in 2005 by Erin Reilly and Matthew Decker, Theatre Horizon has brought some of the brightest talent in t…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 09:00AM
Saturday, April 6, 2024

The Lehman Trilogy brings captivating history to Philadelphia by Cogency

Most of us only know Lehman Brothers as a greedy bank that didn’t get bailed out in the 2008 financial crisis and shut down, but there was so much more to their history. The Lehman Trilogy…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 09:00AM
Sunday, December 3, 2023

Reimagined classic comes to Philadelphia by Cogency

“Phone rings, door chimes,” in comes the national tour of Company to Philadelphia. The classic Stephen Sondheim musical is playing at the Forrest Theatre through December 10th. This prod…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 10:50AM
Friday, November 24, 2023

Mischief of the Mind at New World Stages by Cogency

Mischief Theatre is known for the hysterical The Play The Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong, but they’ve now brought an offshoot to New York. Mind Mangler : A Night of Tragic Illusion is…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 01:22AM
Monday, June 26, 2023

Tick, Tick…Boom! comes to Bucks County by Cogency

Composer Jonathan Larson is most remembered for the smash hit musical Rent, but he wrote a far more introspective musical called Tick, Tick…Boom! It was initially performed as a rock monol…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 09:52PM
Monday, June 12, 2023

Grey House brings a spooky genre to Broadway by Cogency

The Broadway stage has been home to many genres, but we haven’t seen much horror. The new play Grey House by Levi Holloway isn’t a slasher full of jump scares and murders, but it is a ps…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 09:06AM
Friday, May 5, 2023

New York, New York brings Kander & Ebb back to Broadway by Cogency

More than 55 years after the premiere of the groundbreaking hit Cabaret, John Kander and the late Fred Ebb have a new musical on Broadway. New York, New York is a new work loosely based on t…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 07:45AM
Monday, April 24, 2023

Comedy geniuses return in Peter Pan Goes Wrong by Cogency

I’m not sure I’d ever lost my voice from laughing hysterically, until I saw Peter Pan Goes Wrong on Broadway. Six years after the premiere of The Play That Goes Wrong debuted on Broadway…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 12:30PM
Sunday, April 16, 2023

Stagecraft mastered at Life of Pi by Cogency

Life of Pi tells the story of one boy trapped on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. It’s hard to imagine, particularly after seeing the film, h…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 02:24AM
Friday, March 31, 2023

Six reigns in Philadelphia by Cogency

The international smash hit Six is finally in Philadelphia and lives up to the hype. Six tells the story of the six wives of King Henry VIII through a concert format. This one-act show gives…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 05:50PM
Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Some Like It Hot, a fresh classic by Cogency

The Academy Award-winning movie Some Like It Hot is a classic and very much of its time. It took place in 1929, shortly before musical movies like 42nd Street became smash hits. It was relea…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 11:28AM
Monday, December 12, 2022

Kimberly Akimbo, a heartwarming gem by Cogency

The beauty of live theater is its ability to truly move you. Many shows these days can make you emotional, but the most heartfelt show to hit Broadway in years is an original musical called�…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Only Gold shines on stage by Cogency

Andy Blankenbuehler is the best choreographer working in theater, and his brilliance is on full display in the new musical Only Gold. This production, playing off-Broadway at MCC Theater, is…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 11:21AM
Monday, November 28, 2022

Nostalgic hits in the joyous & Juliet by Cogency

You may not know the name Max Martin, but you undoubtedly know his music. Martin is a Swedish songwriter/producer who has written many of the biggest chart-toppers on the planet since the la…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 01:38PM

Almost Famous rocks the stage by Cogency

A new Broadway show based on a beloved movie takes you back to the world of rock and roll in the ‘70s. Almost Famous, based on the Academy Award-winning film, is playing at the Bernard B. …

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 01:12PM
Sunday, October 23, 2022

The Piano Lesson, a star-studded hit by Cogency

There is an acting masterclass on Broadway in the new revival of one of theater’s most prolific playwrights. August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David W…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 10:00AM
Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Rocky back in Philadelphia by Cogency

Philadelphia’s most notable movie is back in town as a stage musical at the Walnut Street Theatre. Rocky the Musical was a Broadway show in 2014 and is now playing in the hometown of its s…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 10:01PM
Friday, August 5, 2022

The Kite Runner from the page to the stage by Cogency

The Kite Runner has transformed from Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling 2003 novel into this new Broadway adaption. The Kite Runner tells the story of a boy named Amir, ranging from his childho…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 06:44PM
Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Billy Crystal back on stage in Mr. Saturday Night by Cogency

Billy Crystal is a Broadway musical star for the first time. The legendary comedian and actor is now the leading man in the new Broadway musical Mr. Saturday Night, playing at the Nederland…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 10:48PM
Monday, June 13, 2022

Hilarity back on Broadway in POTUS by Cogency

In these trying times (do I sound like a politician yet?), we could all use a good laugh. Broadway isn’t always hospitable to farces, not since The Play That Goes Wrong opened in 2017 ha…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 07:07PM
Monday, June 6, 2022

Hangmen, a menacing thriller by Cogency

The playwright Martin McDonagh loves to make audiences uncomfortable, and he has succeeded yet again with his new play Hangmen. Set north of Manchester in Oldham, England during the 1960’…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 02:00AM
Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Little Shop of Horrors back where it belongs by Cogency

It’s been nearly 40 years since the premiere of Little Shop of Horrors, the breakthrough musical about a sentient plant that feeds on human blood. Since the 1986 film adaption directed by …

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 10:47PM
Monday, November 15, 2021

Caroline, or Change back on Broadway by Cogency

At the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in September 2021, West End actress turned Ted Lasso star in her acceptance speech praised West End musical theatre performances, with the quote “give…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 06:28PM
Thursday, December 10, 2020

The Wolves, zoomed into your home by Cogency

The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, directed by Nell Bang-Jensen; streaming through December 20, 2020 at philadelphiatheatercompany.org.   The Philadelphia Theater Company’s production of The Wo…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 12:35PM
Thursday, June 25, 2020

Walter Dallas, a gentle giant by Cogency

My friend Walter Dallas has lost his battle with cancer. In loving tribute, we reprint here a profile that I originally wrote in 2005 about this gentle giant.   Dallas told me, “I am an A…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 02:55PM
Monday, March 9, 2020

All the stage’s a world by Cogency

Shakespeare in Love, adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, based on the screenplay by Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard. Matt Pfeiffer directs at Peoples Light, Malvern, PA through March 29.   Sh…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 01:53PM
Monday, February 24, 2020

Dolly is back where she belongs by Cogency

Hello, Dolly! Music & lyrics by Jerry Herman. Directed by Jerry Zaks. National tour at the Academt of Music, Philadelphia through March 1, 2020.   She’s back where she belongs — to …

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 11:36AM
Saturday, February 22, 2020

It’s not wonderful by Cogency

Everything is Wonderful by Chelsea Marcantel. Philadelphia Theatre Company at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre through March 8, 2020.   Good intentions do not guarantee a positive outcome. That …

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 08:17PM
Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love by Cogency

Fool For Love by Sam Shepard. Directed by Brenna Geffers. EgoPo Classic Theater. Through February 23, 2020, at the Latvian Society Theater, 531 N. 7th Street, Philadelphia. (267) 273-1414 or…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 06:47PM
Saturday, February 1, 2020

The Children, a superb & troubling play by Cogency

The Children by Lucy Kirkwood. Directed by Abigail Adams, through February 9, 2020, at People’s Light, Malvern, PA   The Children is a beautifully written play that’s receiving stunning…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 08:07PM
Sunday, January 12, 2020

Looking back at Wozzeck by Cogency

Originally published in The Opera Critic, the international website for professional musicians.     The new production of Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera presents a stark contrast with t…

SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 04:10PM

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