All stories by Dan Zeff on BroadwayStars

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Theater Review: CURTAINS (Coronado Playhouse, San Diego) by Dan Zeff

Coronado Playhouse is reviving the 2007 musical comedy/murder mystery Curtains through March 30. The show is the final collaboration of the great music theater team of composer John Kander a…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:43AM
Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Theater Review: 3 SUMMERS OF LINCOLN (La Jolla Playhouse) by Dan Zeff

A HOUSE DIVIDED, A MUSICAL UNITED La Jolla Playhouse has struck gold with 3 Summers of Lincoln, a bold world premiere musical that dives into the three critical summers—1862, 1863, and 186…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 11:47AM
Monday, February 10, 2025

Theater Review: OTHER DESERT CITIES (Cygnet Theatre) by Dan Zeff

LEARNING HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE DESERT Jon Robin Baitz‘s Other Desert Cities—which opened at Cygnet Theatre last weekend—portrays about 24 hours in the upscale home of the Wyeth home in…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 07:44PM
Sunday, February 2, 2025

Theater Review: APPROPRIATE (Old Globe, San Diego) by Dan Zeff

Isn’t it amazing the way the future succeeds in creating an appropriate past?    — John Leonard, American critic Appropriate won Branden Jacobs-Jenkins the 2024 Tony Award for Best Rev…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 07:47PM
Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Theater Review: ONCE (Lamb’s Players in Coronado) by Dan Zeff

ONCE UPON AN AMAZING TIME Once is back at the Lamb’s Players Theatre for an extended run through March 30, glorious news for area playgoers. This is one of the must-see musicals of the ea…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:10AM
Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Theater Review: BARBECUE (Coronado Playhouse) by Dan Zeff

NO ONE EATS, BUT THERE’S PLENTY TO CHEW ON IN THE DETERMINEDLY DECEPTIVE BARBECUE Robert O’Hara has been a significant contributor to the American theater scene since his first play debu…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:17AM
Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Theater Opening: THE HEART SELLERS (North Coast Rep) by Dan Zeff

Two young women, one from Korea, the other from the Philippines, encounter one another in a grocery story on Thanksgiving morning in a small midwestern American city in 1973. Luna, the talka…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 01:09PM
Monday, December 2, 2024

Theater Review: YOUR LOCAL THEATER PRESENTS: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, BY CHARLES DICKENS, AGAIN (La Jolla Playhouse) by Dan Zeff

ACTORS LOOKING FOR WORK: GOD BLESS THEM, EVERYONE! La Jolla Playhouse is presenting the world premiere of a play for the holiday season, and beyond, with the extensively titled Your Local Th…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:28PM
Thursday, November 14, 2024

Theater Review: DR. SEUSS’S HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! THE MUSICAL (The Old Globe) by Dan Zeff

YOU’LL BE GRINCHING FROM EAR TO EAR For the 27th year The Old Globe is presenting its hit musical Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, continuing its position as one …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:51PM
Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Theater Review: INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP (North Coast Repertory Theatre) by Dan Zeff

INCIDENT AT NORTH COAST REP IS ANOTHER IN A LINE OF HITS THAT NEED NO HELP Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a nostalgic domestic comedy drama now on view in an illuminating and high…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 05:34PM
Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Theater Review: PRIMARY TRUST (La Jolla Playhouse) by Dan Zeff

THIS IS GREAT THEATER. TRUST ME. Reviewers across the country have honored the 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Primary Trust with many positive adjectives, like “touching” and “deepl…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:57AM
Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Theater Review: SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (San Diego Musical Theatre) by Dan Zeff

ATTEND THIS TALE: IT’S MURDER Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a musical filled with gore, brutality, hate, and vengeance. But the show, as composed by the great Stephen S…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 11:57PM
Sunday, September 29, 2024

Theater Review: DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS (The Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre) by Dan Zeff

DRAC-OOH-LA-LA The play Dracula, in its West Coast premiere at the Old Globe is subtitled A Comedy of Terrors. It’s unlikely that viewers will be terrified by the show, but as for “Comed…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:27AM
Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Theater Review: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado) by Dan Zeff

THE IMPORTANCE OF SEEING THIS IMPORTANCE Is there a funnier comedy in the English language than Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest? Since it opened in London in 1895 the play ha…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:50AM

Theater Review: JERSEY BOYS (CCAE Theatricals in Escondido) by Dan Zeff

BOY, OH JERSEY BOY, IS THIS SHOW EVER GREAT In 2004, a new musical called Jersey Boys quietly debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse. It transferred to Broadway the next year, running for 12 year…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:50AM
Thursday, September 19, 2024

Theater Review: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach) by Dan Zeff

A BRIDGE TO GREAT THEATER Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge may be a small play physically, with a single drab set and just five significant characters. But it builds from a sympathet…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:50PM
Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Theater Review: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Cygnet Theatre) by Dan Zeff

DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO THE PLOT, AND YOU’LL HAVE A BLAST In 1973, a rock musical called The Rocky Horror Show opened in London and ran until 1980 as other productions of the show blossom…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:54PM
Saturday, September 14, 2024

Theater Review: AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (The Old Globe) by Dan Zeff

ALL ABOARD FOR MURDEROUS FUN Agatha Christie fans rejoice! There is a new Christie adventure in a terrific production at The Old Globe, a novel/play hybrid of one of the Dame’s most popula…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:51AM
Saturday, August 24, 2024

Theater Review: VELOUR: A DRAG SPECTACULAR! (World Premiere at La Jolla Playhouse) by Dan Zeff

DRAGTACULAR Velour at the La Jolla Playhouse subtitles itself “A Drag Extravaganza” and for 105 uninterrupted minutes it validates the label with a smorgasbord of song, dance, film, proj…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 05:11PM
Monday, August 19, 2024

Theater Review: EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR (Coronado Playhouse, San Diego) by Dan Zeff

The Coronado Playhouse is currently presenting Exit, Pursued by a Bear, a one-act 80-minute play by American dramatist Lauren Gundersen. who is one of the most successful writers on the Amer…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:27PM
Monday, August 5, 2024

Theater Review: MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT. 2B (The Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre) by Dan Zeff

YOU CAN GO HOLMES AGAIN! The world obviously cannot get enough of Sherlock Holmes. Since the first story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle appeared in 1887, the immortal fictional private detective …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:59AM
Thursday, August 1, 2024

Theater Review: HENRY VI (The Old Globe in San Diego) by Dan Zeff

LONG MAY THIS PRODUCTION REIGN Since its first production opened in Balboa Park in 1935, the Old Globe Theatre has built a national reputation for ambitious and stimulating productions, but …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:29PM
Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Theater Review: DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER (North Coast Rep) by Dan Zeff

DON’T BOTHER FOR DINNER The North Coast Repertory Theater is offering two hours of exceedingly lightweight summer theater in the French farce Don’t Dress for Dinner. And being a typical …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:59AM
Thursday, June 6, 2024

Theater Review: MRS. DOUBTFIRE (North American Tour) by Dan Zeff

ROB MCCLURE IS ON FIRE AS MRS. DOUBTFIRE Mrs. Doubtfire started its theatrical life as the hit 1993 film starring Robin Williams. As happens so often with hit movies, it was adapted into a s…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:07PM
Monday, June 3, 2024

Theater Review: CAMELOT (North Coast Repertory Theatre) by Dan Zeff

A BRIEF SHINING MOMENT AT NORTH COAST REP Sometimes less can be more in the arts. Consider the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot. The show set a record for the biggest advance sale in Broadwa…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:58PM
Friday, May 31, 2024

Theater Review: FAT HAM (Old Globe in San Diego) by Dan Zeff

FAT HAM HATH POWER TO ASSUME A PLEASING SHAPE American playwright James Ijames has written a funny and thoughtful play based on the Shakespeare tragedy Hamlet. The work carries the unlikely …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:48AM
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Theater Review: SENSE OF DECENCY (North Coast Repertory Theatre in San Diego) by Dan Zeff

JUST A SENSE The North Coast Repertory Theatre is currently presenting the world premiere of Sense of Decency, a psychological drama adapted from a 2013 book by American author Jake El-Hai t…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 12:45AM
Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Theater Review: NATASHA, PIERRE, & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 (Cygnet Theatre in San Diego) by Dan Zeff

GREAT COMET! Who would have thought that a paltry 70 pages from a mammoth novel by 19th-century Russian author Leo Tolstoy would inspire one of the hits of the recent off-Broadway and Broadw…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:38AM
Sunday, April 7, 2024

Theater Review: RIDE (American Premiere at the Old Globe) by Dan Zeff

RIDE ON! Annie Cohen Kopchovsky was a late 19th-century young English working-class woman who wanted to upgrade her life. So she tried to earn money and recognition as well as elevating her …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:16AM
Saturday, March 16, 2024

Theater Review: KING JAMES (The Old Globe Theatre) by Dan Zeff

WINNING ASSIST Big hits can come in small packages. The wonderful production of King James — which opened last night at the Old Globe Theatre — has only two characters and runs only abou…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:57AM
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Theater Review: TARTUFFE (North Coast Rep) by Dan Zeff

NORTH COAST REP DOESN’T JUST HEIGHTEN TARTUFFE, IT LEVITATES IT Let’s not bandy words. The North Coast Repertory Theatre revival of Molière‘s comedy Tartuffe is a brilliant success. T…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:48PM

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