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 09:00AMYou 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 01:38PMA 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 01:12PMThere 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 10:00AMPhiladelphia’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 10:01PMThe 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 06:44PMBilly 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 10:48PMIn 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 07:07PMThe 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 02:00AMIt’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 10:47PMAt 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 06:28PMThe 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 12:35PMMy 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 02:55PMShakespeare 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 01:53PMHello, 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 11:36AMEverything 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 08:17PMFool 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 06:47PMThe 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 08:07PMOriginally 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 04:10PMThe Band’s Visit, music and lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Itamar Moses. Philadelphia Academy of Music through January 19, 2019. The Band’s Visit is a delicate, intimate show about t…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 06:34PMAn Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, directed by Rebecca Wright at the Arden Theatre, Philadelphia, through December 15, 2019. One of Philadelphia’s best actors, Mary Tuomanen,…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 08:38AMJagged Little Pill, music by Alanis Morissette. Broadhurst Theatre, New York City. Jukebox musicals are everywhere, but very few create original stories focused not on an entire catalog b…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 11:48AMUpon entering the Booth Theater for a performance of Freestyle Love Supreme I overheard a passerby ask an employee what the show was about. The answer, or lack thereof, is one of the main dr…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 12:21PMConcept albums are having a moment. Hamilton was originally intended to be a concept album and Hadestown was recorded as a concept album nine years before the Broadway album. In a similar pa…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 11:01PMMandy Patinkin in concert: Diaries, at Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, October 30, 2019. Mandy Patinkin began a 30-city national tour in Philadelphia on October 30. The m…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 03:59PMBuried Child by Sam Shepard. EgoPo Classic Theater, through November 10, 2019 at the Latvian Society, 531 N 7th St, Philadelphia. What’s happened to this family? That’s what these cha…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 02:26PMThe National Dog Show, the annual television tradition that airs on TV on Thanksgiving Day following the Macy’s parade, will be live in the Philadelphia suburbs this weekend. The two-hour …
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 11:46AMA Small Fire by Adam Bock. Directed by Joanie Schultz. Philadelphia Theatre Company, through November 10, 2019, at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia. A smal…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 06:11PMFalsettos, music & lyrics by William Finn, presented by 11th Hour Theatre, October 2019 at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Philadelphia. When I recall that William Finn started to…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 11:49AMCome from Away national touring production, at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music through November 3, 2019. This unpretentious musical delighted me when it opened on Broadway early in 2017…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 09:04AMThe Height of the Storm by Florian Zeller. Manhattan Theatre Club production at the Samuel Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th Street, New York. The essence of this play is ambiguity and uncert…
SOURCE: theculturalcritic.com at 05:20PM