All stories by MATT WOLF on BroadwayStars

Monday, June 11, 2018

Machinal, Almeida Theatre review - descending into darkness by Matt Wolf

Lesser-known American classic exerts a clinical fascination The American playwright /journalist Sophie Treadwell's 1928 expressionist drama crops up every so often in order to allow a direct…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:32PM

BOTTOMLESS ABYSS by Matt Wolf

This is a feisty, animated Iceman , with the magnificent Denzel Washington leading the cast.

SOURCE: Theater News Online at 06:04PM
Saturday, June 9, 2018

Julie, National Theatre review - vacuous and unilluminating by Matt Wolf

Vanessa Kirby leads superfluous update that is a lot more Stenham than Strindberg It seems appropriate that an onstage blender features amidst Tom Scutt's sleak, streamlined set for Julie gi…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:32AM

London Stage Star Gavin Spokes on Truth and Consequences in James Graham's Quiz by Matt Wolf

Gavin Spokes is among those invaluable English performers who can do plays and musicals across both the British and American repertoire. A 2016 Olivier nominee for playing Nicely Nicely John…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 12:12AM
Wednesday, June 6, 2018

The Rink, Southwark Playhouse - lesser-known musical lands afresh by Matt Wolf

1980s Broadway flop proves an Off West End knockout Two dynamite lead performances and the chance to savour an underappreciated score give genuine charge to The Rink, a decades-old Broadwa…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:12AM
Monday, June 4, 2018

London Stage Star Adam Gillen on Moving from the Viennese Court of Amadeus to the Trailer Park of Killer Joe by Matt Wolf

Adam Gillen recently finished an extended and electrifying run as Mozart in the National Theatre’s glorious revival of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, only to segue from the world of Eu…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 01:12PM

The Two Noble Kinsmen, Shakespeare's Globe - a breezy bromance served up slight by Matt Wolf

Late Shakespeare collaboration is by turns engaging and daftThose who find the Bard tough going – wasn't that one of Emma Rice's admissions back in the day? – should beat a path to The T…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:36AM
Thursday, May 31, 2018

Translations, National Theatre review - an Irish classic returns with cascading force by Matt Wolf

Brian Friel's luminous play fully lands in the National's largest space What sort of physical upgrade can a play withstand? That question will have occurred to devotees of Brian Fr…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:36AM

Blind to Race, Gender and Disability, Shakespeare’s Globe Goes a New Way by Matt Wolf

Michelle Terry, the playhouse’s artistic director, defines her agenda with productions of “Hamlet” and “As You Like It.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:48AM
Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Caroline O'Connor on Leaving Anastasia for London's The Rink and the Legacy of Chita Rivera in the Role by Matt Wolf

Caroline O’Connor was born in the north of England to Irish parents, grew up in Australia, and works regularly in the U.S., including most recently on Broadway in Anastasia. She is ret…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 12:24PM
Friday, May 25, 2018

The Grönholm Method, Menier Chocolate Factory - sleek and short but in no way deep by Matt Wolf

Much-traveled play contains one twist too many Add Catalan writer Jordi Galcerán to the shortlist of European playwrights who are finding an international perch, in this case with a tricks…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:04AM
Thursday, May 17, 2018

The Moderate Soprano Star Nancy Carroll on Singing Ambition, Opera Appreciation & a Sondheim Dream Role by Matt Wolf

Nancy Carroll won a 2011 Olivier Award for Best Actress for her searing and stylish performance at the National Theatre in After the Dance and is rarely long away from the London stage. Know…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 12:06AM
Friday, May 11, 2018

London Theater Reviews: Healing and Hurting on the London Stage by Matt Wolf

Matthew Lopez’s “The Inheritance” refracts gay American life through an English novel, while two new British plays choose a shorter, satirical path.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:18AM
Saturday, May 5, 2018

West End Les Miserables Star David Thaxton on the Joy of Returning to the Role of Javert by Matt Wolf

David Thaxton won the 2011 Olivier Award for his stunning performance as Giorgio in Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, but the performer has been spending much of his career returning to Les…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 11:42AM

West End Les Miserables Star David Thaxton on the Joy of Playing Javert On and Off for 13 Years by Matt Wolf

David Thaxton won the 2011 Olivier Award for his stunning performance as Giorgio in Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, but the performer has been spending much of his career returning to Les…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 12:48AM
Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Chess, London Coliseum review - powerfully sung but still problematic by Matt Wolf

Eighties musical remains a melodically rich muddle Its origins as a concept album cling stubbornly to Chess, the Tim Rice collaboration with the male members of ABBA first seen on the West E…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:42AM
Tuesday, May 1, 2018

The Writer, Almeida Theatre review - deconstruction run rampant by Matt Wolf

Romola Garai gives a storming performance in deliberately tricksy Ella Hickson playForget write what you know: writing what you feel would seem to be the impetus driving Ella Hickson's often…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:42AM

Red's Alfred Enoch on Returning to the London Stage, Talking Theater with How to Get Away with Murder Co-Star Viola Davis & More by Matt Wolf

Alfred Enoch hit the big time as Wes on ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder and played Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter films, but the fast-rising screen star is returning to the stage to…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 12:32AM
Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Strictly Ballroom: The Musical, Piccadilly Theatre review - largely naff by Matt Wolf

Long-aborning stage version of the Baz Luhrmann film is a protracted cartoon A much tinkered-with show needs to go back to the drawing board, if this latest iteration of Strictly Ballroom: T…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:12AM
Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Kathleen Turner: Finding My Voice, The Other Palace review - a familiar name in freshly exciting form by Matt Wolf

The screen and stage star invents herself anew, this time in song A onetime Martha and Maggie the Cat in the theatre, not to mention a screen siren of the sort they don't make anymore, might…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:18PM

All or Nothing's Carol Harrison on Bringing the Mod Musical to London's West End by Matt Wolf

All or Nothing, the self-described “Mod Musical” now at the Ambassadors Theatre directly following a run at the Arts, tells the story of the Small Faces, the English rock band fr…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 12:42AM
Thursday, April 19, 2018

London Theater Reviews: In ‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,’ a Pop Star’s Life as Victory Parade by Matt Wolf

Two London stage productions bring some razzle dazzle to the city: a musical biography of Tina Turner and the return of “Chicago.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:06AM
Wednesday, April 18, 2018

West End Bat Out of Hell Star Christina Bennington on Finding Her 'Full-Throttle Rock Belt' for the Jim Steinman Musical by Matt Wolf

Bat Out of Hell, the rock and roll stage extravaganza drawn from songwriter Jim Steinman and the iconic Meat Loaf album of the same name, has returned to London, this time to the Dominion Th…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 04:24PM
Monday, April 16, 2018

TALE OF TWO ACTS by Matt Wolf

Bernadette Peters and company find their voice in the second act of this classic musical.

SOURCE: Theater News Online at 09:12AM
Friday, April 6, 2018

West End Star Josefina Gabrielle on Journeying from Roxie to Velma & Performing Chicago in the Era of Trump by Matt Wolf

Josefina Gabrielle has been an invaluable West End presence in productions ranging from Oklahoma! as Laurey opposite Hugh Jackman to Gussie in the Maria Friedman-directed Merrily We Roll Alo…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 01:56PM
Thursday, April 5, 2018

London Theater Reviews: Ripping Up the Rule Book on the London Stage by Matt Wolf

In “Brief Encounter” and “Summer and Smoke,” directors subvert the expectations of their audiences with fascinating results.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:00AM
Thursday, March 29, 2018

West End Motown Star David Albury on Getting into the Groove of Playing Smokey Robinson by Matt Wolf

David Albury has gained attention in the verbatim musical Committee… at the Donmar and as Fleetwood in Michael Blakemore’s British stage debut of The Life and is now making his …

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 03:29PM
Friday, March 23, 2018

The Voice, the Moves, the Hair! Tina: The Tina Turner Musical Star Adrienne Warren on Playing the Queen of Rock & Roll in London by Matt Wolf

Adrienne Warren received a 2016 Tony nod for the Broadway musical Shuffle Along and is now making a hugely anticipated West End debut as none other than rock goddess Tina Turner in the new s…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 02:18PM
Thursday, March 22, 2018

London Theater Reviews: Double, Double: Two Troublesome Takes on ‘Macbeth’ by Matt Wolf

Why is “the Scottish play” so hard to get right? Two productions in Britain show why Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy is also his trickiest.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:51AM
Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Kiss of the Spider Woman, Menier Chocolate Factory review - brilliantly performed and imaginatively staged by Matt Wolf

A familiar title transcends the schematic to land with renewed forceNo, this isn't the large-scale Kander and Ebb musical, which opened in 1992 in London before transferring for a sizable ru…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:47PM

Caroline, or Change, Hampstead Theatre review - Sharon D Clarke conquers by Matt Wolf

The award winning musical returns in all its ferocity and glory It's long been a theatrical given, especially in musicals, that characters need to be seen to change: a climactic duo in the e…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:00AM

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