All stories by Steve Hallex on BroadwayStars

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Young Robin Hood by Steve Hallex

Most of the attention in a theatre review usually goes to the actors and the strong eleven person cast of Young Robin Hood certainly deserves praise.  Yet the success of this world premiere…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:26AM
Monday, November 5, 2012

The Brontes by Steve Hallex

The Brontes is not a play for lovers of 19th-century literature.  In fact, some of this crowd will be offended by this irreverent production from Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue. But t…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:16AM
Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Marathon ’33 by Steve Hallex

If I were to tell you that young couples once danced nearly to the point of death, staying in motion for forty-five minutes every hour around the clock for sometimes 4,000 hours straight for…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:38AM
Sunday, July 22, 2012

Harmony by Steve Hallex

The Bedroom is by the far the worst venue I have yet to view a play in.  The low ceilings provide for terrible sightlines, especially for those not in the first few rows.  This also create…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:04PM
Friday, July 20, 2012

Imagination Meltdown Adventure by Steve Hallex

Viewing Pointless Theatre’s Imagination Meltdown Adventure is like looking at a bowl of half-melted ice cream: what you see is runny, messy, and almost formless.  But then you think “wh…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:17AM
Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Right to Remain … The Life and Mind of Tupac Shakur by Steve Hallex

Actor Meshaun Labrone is an experienced actor who has played a number of Shakespeare’s most famous characters, including the title role in Richard III.  It shows throughout in his one man…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:22PM

The Cloudism Project by Steve Hallex

The Cloudism Project from Borealis Theatre seeks to create an “atmosphere” for a unique interactive experience.  What we get is a clever, but in fact, conventional play. Perhaps this wa…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:07PM
Monday, July 16, 2012

R.U.X. (Rockwell’s Universal seXbots) by Steve Hallex

Most “adult” plays are meant as biodegradable entertainment; few, if any offer as many ponderable themes as Maurice Martin’s R.U.X..  Just before the show, by chance I ran into Martin…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:10AM
Sunday, July 15, 2012

Mindset by Steve Hallex

Someday, Jace Casey (actor, writer, director, choreographer, composer, choreographer, music director, arranger) is going to spend a slow afternoon going over the production notes and artwork…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:06AM
Friday, July 13, 2012

The Last Flapper by Steve Hallex

The Last Flapper ends when Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald leaves the building.   Oh, I’m not giving away anything: she left it many years before the play began.  The “jazz age” author/ dan…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:14PM
Friday, June 15, 2012

Source: Uses of Enchantment by Steve Hallex

Once upon a time, there was a lonely critic.  Never mind where he lived, nor care whether he was tall or handsome, though he certainly was not rich.  One day, this lonely critic went to se…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:56PM
Friday, May 11, 2012

Oxygen by Steve Hallex

Russian playwright Ivan Vyrypaev, whose play Oxygen is being produced by Taffety Punk, is a proponent of the experimental school of New Drama where plot and character are no longer the basis…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:50AM
Monday, April 30, 2012

Hamlecchino: Clown Prince of Denmark by Steve Hallex

Don’t take this the wrong way, but Hamlet has always been difficult for me.  Yeah, there are more than a few who say it’s Shakespeare’s greatest play (though the older you get, the mo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:59AM
Friday, April 27, 2012

Pinky Swear’s Killing Women by Steve Hallex

Producer/ stars Allyson Harkey and Karen Lange, in their newest production for Pinky Swear—Marisa Wegryzn’s Killing Women— present a play about the big women’s issues of our day.  I…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:18AM
Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neill, Volume 1: Early Plays/ Lost Plays by Steve Hallex

Who knew there was such a lode of priceless, unheralded Eugene O’ Neill material out there, and just under our noses?  The New York Neo-Futurists found it by digging in a place some of us…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:33PM
Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Studio 3′s children’s show, Home by Steve Hallex

Artistic director Caren Hearne was all bubbles and shine as she introduced Studio 3 Theatre for Young Audiences’ production of Lizzie Allen’s Home to a Saturday afternoon crowd at the Wo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:02AM
Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Nightmare Dreamer by Steve Hallex

On Friday, March 16th, a company called Tattooed Potato showed its first public face at Flashpoint.  Although they are not there yet, this group could easily evolve into yet another iconic …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:45AM
Monday, February 27, 2012

From Shuffle to Showboat by Steve Hallex

I want you to imagine it is 1927; the week after Christmas.  You have bought your tickets, and now your chilly bones sit in a dark corner of Florenz Ziegfeld’s Theater in New York.  The …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:55AM
Thursday, February 16, 2012

Les Justes by Steve Hallex

If you think furs, Fabergé eggs, ballet when you think about 20th century Russia, Les Justes is here to remind you that for every lithographed Russian noblewoman traipsing around St. Peters…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:35PM
Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Almost, Maine by Steve Hallex

Welcome to winter wonderland, presented by 1st Stage.  If you’ve been to this theater, things will seem a little different this time.  The arena-like seating is curtained off for the…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:35AM
Monday, February 6, 2012

Devil Boys from Beyond by Steve Hallex

Landless Theatre is at it again.  Yes, the company that brings you inane post-modern theatre, has hit another one: Devil Boys from Beyond, premiering this February, and though it’s a trip…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:12AM
Monday, January 16, 2012

Landless’ Mashup Festival – late night edition by Steve Hallex

This Saturday, I attended DCTS’ annual party at a lovely Thai restaurant near DuPont Circle.  I must say that every moment was enjoyable, but the party really started with Tim Treanor’s…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:25AM
Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Parfumerie by Steve Hallex

If you like comedy that makes you smile as well as laugh you can’t do much better than 1st Stage’s presentation of Miklós László’s Parfumerie.  Audiences on this side of the world …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:14AM
Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Continuing Adventures of John Blade, Super Spy by Steve Hallex

“Take a typical show at the old Globe, kick out the wine merchants and vassals who paid subscriptions and leave only the groundlings, and you’ll get the audience Apron Theatre Company Ar…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:49PM
Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Crucible by Steve Hallex

- This play will probably always be part of the dramatic canon, because it tells a story that seems to repeat itself as often as summer rain.  From Socrates to Christ, to Jan Hus, to Dreyfu…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:58AM
Saturday, October 22, 2011

ReEntry by Steve Hallex

If you are seeking a nuts-and-bolts review of KJ Sanchez and Emily Ackerman’s ReEntry, you need to look elsewhere.  I can’t provide that; this is simply a play that resists that kind of…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:09AM
Sunday, October 16, 2011

Hellspawn by Steve Hallex

Plays the devil made them write There was once a kid who lived in Cottage City, Maryland.  In 1949, in fact.  Research says the boy—Ronnie Hunkeler—was very “off.”  A loner with c…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:19PM
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Backstage with Shakespeare Theatre’s youngest star by Steve Hallex

The “star” of one of the most popular plays this season only appears on the stage for a few minutes, has no lines of dialogue, and doesn’t take questions from the press.  Worse st…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:02PM
Friday, September 23, 2011

Love Cures Cancer: A Musical by Steve Hallex

Some of you have lost loved ones to a disease that took its sweet time to do its destruction.  I will not ask you to remember what that felt like.  You recalled it all, just because I brou…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:42AM
Sunday, September 18, 2011

Notes to the Motherland by Steve Hallex

Be patient, readers.  There is a review in your future, but first—a history lesson.  Lithuania is a relatively small (about 3 million people) country on the Baltic Sea, bordering both Ru…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:02PM
Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Much Ado About Nothing – Riot Grrrls style by Steve Hallex

It seems there are three simple rules to staging Shakespeare successfully.  One: put the play in a modern setting, like, say, a dive bar in Anytown, country unknown.  Second, inject as muc…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:09PM

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