PUNK, PRAYER, AND PURE CHAOS The Conspirators’ neo-commedia take on Molière finds fresh mischief in a timeless satire What could be better than a saucy, irreverent, seventeenth-century Fr…
REACHING FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM Henry Ong’s final play transforms one man’s remarkable life into a timely cautionary tale Ascent is a small gem. It is not ostentatious enough to be affix…
READING BETWEEN THE LINES OF FAME Broadway’s funniest staged reading proves that truth is often stranger —and funnier—than fiction Yevgeny Yevtushenko famously wrote, “A poet’s aut…
CORNER OF THE SKY, CENTER OF THE RING Signature’s dazzling revival embraces Pippin‘s whimsy, darkness, and enduring search for meaning A sort of ninth-century, one-ring circus crammed wi…
TRAGEDY AND TEMPTATIONS The rise and fall of a hit machine Ain’t Too Proud tells the story of the rise of The Temptations, a musical group comprised of young Black men who came together in…
THE GOLDEN BOYS A sitcom-worthy comedy finds surprising heart beneath the laughs The Palm Springs stage has long been fertile ground for stories about reinvention, friendship, and chosen fam…
A THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE SCIENCE-MINDED Theater of the Mind created by David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar and directed by Andrew Scoville is an interactive neuroscience experiment tied toge…
WHEN BALLET BECAME AMERICAN American Contemporary Ballet celebrates the choreographer who traded princes and swans for jazz, swagger, and pure fun Before George Balanchine arrived in America…
THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA York Walker’s Southern Gothic keeps its secrets close and its audience on edge “Everybody got a secret” That is the line that opens Covenant, the grippin…
A CITY BUILT TO BE SEEN FROM THE WATER Chicago’s celebrated architecture tour transforms familiar landmarks into a living history lesson For tourists, cruising the Chicago River on a top-r…
OLD SONGS GET NEW LIFE FROM TALENTED YOUNG GUYS WHO ARE OLD SOULS Zip and zing with musical fizz and sparkle Hooray! They’re back!! Bryce Edwards—the mercurial, merry multi-talented, m…
SAY CHEESE—AND PASS THE TRAUMA Sharr White’s adaptation of Larry Sultan’s memoir turns one California family into a deeply recognizable portrait of memory, regret, and love Now making …
Arts coverage runs on facts as much as taste. A smart review still needs a curtain time, a venue name, and a run date that matches the ticket page. Stage and Cinema readers know the drill: c…
WE ARE WHAT WE ARE Theatre Rhinoceros turns its intimate Castro venue into a joyous explosion of feathers, farce, and fierce self-acceptance Since 1977, Theatre Rhinoceros has produced theat…
GREAT EXPECTATIONS, OR GREAT DECEPTIONS? Miranda Jonte and playwright John Minigan turn Dickens into the subject of a witty and compelling literary cold case Despite the broken air-condition…
A LITTLE SHOW WITH A VERY BIG HEART The Bent’s first musical proves this company is ready for anything The Bent, Palm Springs’ queer theatre company, closes its fourth season with its fi…
BRIGADOON EARNS ITS MIRACLE Pasadena Playhouse’s revelatory new production treats Lerner and Loewe’s fable not as nostalgia, but as a question of faith, sacrifice, and survival Dormancy …
For small and mid-size theaters, keeping the lights on is more than a figure of speech. Older tungsten rigs gulp electricity, chew through gel rolls, and leave crews sweating under followspo…
HOOP DREAMS IN HARLEM Young People’s Theatre closes its season with a charming, energetic celebration of childhood, friendship, and community In The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen, the stakes are ve…
EN GARDE, YOU FOOLS A spirited cast and plenty of swashbuckling fun can’t quite compensate for a forgettable score “He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad…
WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD Hunter College’s American Voices series salutes the musician who changed the sound of America When it comes to American music few artists are as iconic and represent…
LOST IN TRANSLATION? NOT TONIGHT The Arabic Theater Company blends improv chaos, bilingual comedy, and cultural specificity into a fun night of laughs First, take eight appealing actors, all…
GREEK TRAGEDY WITH A LOWRIDER HEART Luis Alfaro’s barrio reimagining of Sophocles turns Greek tragedy into a vibrant, joyous story of identity, fate, and survival Playwright Luis Alfaro’…
WHO KILLED EDWIN DROOD? WELL, IT’S UP TO THE AUDIENCE The musical whodunit is done with panache by the reliable J2 Musical Theater Company The unpleasant fact about life is that everybody …
LONG LIVE THE ABSURD Michael Michetti’s visually stunning staging transforms Ionesco’s meditation on death into a thing of eerie beauty It is rare, nowadays, when a play by the Romanian …