Saturday, July 12, 2025

Summer Lyric Theatre finds excellent ‘Company’ in Dixon Hall by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) When Company by Stephen Sondheim (and a book by Mark Furth) opened on Broadway in 1970 it was such a breath of fresh air and so …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 01:51PM
Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Stratford Festival offers theatrical roller coaster by Alan Smason

By LOU HARRY You don’t need to go to an amusement park to have the feeling of riding a roller coaster. In Stratford, Ontario, you can acquire something akin to whiplash at a festival where…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 06:34PM

New York revival of ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence’ is beautifully realized by Alan Smason

By SCOTTY BENNETT A famous line from the John Ford film “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” is spoken by the newspaper reporter character, Maxwell Scott, near the end of the film, after h…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 01:16PM
Monday, July 7, 2025

Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ is a jazzy treatl by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) In Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Rupert Holmes proves he knows how to take a popular hit,  re-set it in an improbable location…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 09:04AM
Saturday, July 5, 2025

Pittsburgh CLO’s ‘Camelot’ shines for one brief moment by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) There are times when a local production company attempts to put on a treasured musical theatre piece and it collapses under the …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 05:14PM
Monday, June 30, 2025

Beck’s ‘Robber Bridegroom’ encapsulates pseudo-violence, desire, innocence in bluegrass farce by Alan Smason

By ROY BERKO Like the old tale, my lord: “it is not so, nor `t was not so; but, indeed, God forbid it should be so.” The intimate Beck’s Studio Theatre is a perfect venue for meeting a…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 06:59AM

Absurdist ‘Letter to LBJ or God’ is anything but absurd by Alan Smason

By: SCOTTY BENNETT A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First is a gem of a play written, directed, and performed by Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland. This two-hander makes …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 01:35AM
Saturday, June 28, 2025

LaMaMa takes a deep, disappointing dive with ‘Moby Dick Blues’ by Alan Smason

By SCOTTY BENNETT One of the most famous opening lines of a novel is “Call me Ishmael.” It is from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, a book many people are aware of but have never read. It …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 11:12AM
Saturday, June 21, 2025

National tour of ‘Chicago’ sizzles at the Saenger by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Chicago –the longest running show now on Broadway and the second longest running show in history – made its way to the Saeng…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 05:28AM
Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Le Petit’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin” has the joint jumpin’ by Alan Smason

˘By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) Fats Waller, the very talented American singer and songwriter, lived an unfortunately short but prolific life, dying in 1943 a…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 05:09AM
Monday, June 16, 2025

Theatrecriticism.com theatre review Edward Rubin is dead at 84 by Alan Smason

EDWARD RUBIN, an iconoclastic theatre critic, arts critic and curator, who wrote for decades about theatre and the visual arts, died after a protracted battle with bladder cancer at Calvary …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 05:14PM
Monday, June 9, 2025

2025 Tony Award Winners by Alan Smason

The 2025 Tony Award winners were announced in ceremonies at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 8, hosted by Tony Award winner Cynthia Errivo. Maybe Happy Ending, a musical set in the futu…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 10:47AM
Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Summer Stock Stage holds highly recommended ‘The Prom’ by Alan Smason

By LOU HARRY I caught the first performance of The Prom, produced by Summer Stock Stage, a unique company that fuses the talents of established performers with early career actors. It’s no…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 09:31AM
Sunday, June 1, 2025

World premiere of ‘Oak’ fails to find roots by Alan Smason

By LOU HARRY I caught the opening night of Terry Guest’s play Oak at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center, the second of its three rolling world premiere productions. Some thoughts: – Oak…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 08:59PM
Friday, May 30, 2025

NOLA Project bellys up to ‘Clown Bar 2’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) A decade ago the NOLA Project mounted an unusual production of Adam Szymkowicz’s Clown Bar at The Little Gem Saloon. Set in a …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 08:51PM
Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Crescent City Stage effectively sets poignant, dark ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) Over the course of the last several years, Crescent City Stage has established itself as the premiere equity theatre company in …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 12:31PM
Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Hilarious ‘Something Rotten’ is Eggs-cellent at Rivertown Theaters by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, the two brothers who conceived Something Rotten! and more recently wrote the music and lyrics for t…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 06:35AM
Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Superbly acted, flawlessly directed ‘Doubt’ at Le Petit Theatre is divine by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable is a brilliant indictment of organized religion and the negativity attached to innuend…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 12:52AM
Thursday, May 1, 2025

Tony Award Nominations 2025 by Alan Smason

The 2025 Tony Award nominations were announced on Thursday, May 1 by Tony Award winners Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce. The nominations for competitive Tony Awards are: Best Play English,�…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 02:35PM
Monday, April 14, 2025

Melodramatic Mexican-American tale makes for a worthy trip to Beck Center by Alan Smason

By ROY BERKO Hispanic theatre is noted for its’ fictional-based literature that normally has six elements: character, plot, point of view, setting, style and theme. These are often encased…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 05:20PM
Saturday, April 12, 2025

Magical Angelica Tour of ‘Hamilton’ casts its spell on New Orleans by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) It’s been a full decade since Lin-Manuel Miranda’s idea of a “mixtape” about the Founding Fathers was playing at the Pub…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 02:48PM
Thursday, April 3, 2025

Final week to see electrifying ‘Billy Elliot’ at JPAC by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When the season announcement was made last year that Jefferson Performing Arts (JPA) would be producing Billy Elliot: The Musica…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 01:59AM
Sunday, March 30, 2025

A Greek tragedy, bless his heart, in Williams’ ‘Orpheus Descending’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Throughout his life, Tennessee Williams knew tragedy. Whether through his sister Rose’s struggle with mental health or the los…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 01:04AM
Saturday, March 29, 2025

Escapism abounds in ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ at Mezzanine Theatre in New York by Alan Smason

By SCOTTY BENNETT There are times in a person’s life when the only rational response to the pressures of daily living is to escape into a different reality. Drugs and alcohol are often the…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 11:09AM

Appalachian, African art amalgamated in ‘Gloaming, Nowhere’ by Alan Smason

By SCOTTY BENNETT In the moments between daylight and evening, there is a time when it is neither day nor night. It is a time of transition, a liminal state between now and then, a twilight …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 06:45AM
Saturday, March 22, 2025

Chagrin Valley Little Theater’s ‘Jersey Boys’ sells out run by Alan Smason

By ROY BERKO A juke box musical consists of pre-existing songs which are melded into a script to tell a story.  The songs, in contrast to lyrics and music, which are specifically integrate…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 04:17PM

Jordan Lawrence soars in royal role at Rivertown Theaters by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) The Hans Christian Andersedn fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea” is the basis for Once Upon a Mattress, the 1959 musical t…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 03:38PM
Friday, March 21, 2025

Jersey ‘hitmen’: Allegra, Buisson helm first local production of ‘Jersey Boys’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré has removed any doubt about whether it could creatively pull off  the first local production o…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 09:46AM
Sunday, March 16, 2025

Superb cast makes first national tour of ‘Funny Girl’ especially memorable by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) It’s hard to believe, but until three years ago there had never been a revival of Funny Girl on Broadway. The starring vehicle…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 06:41AM
Saturday, March 15, 2025

Using a cloak of humor, ‘Wounded’ reveals deep pain of characters by Alan Smason

By SCOTTY BENNETT One of the fascinating things about humans is how easily they mask intense feelings in a cloak of smiles and good humor. Pain, both physical and emotional, can be disguised…

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 01:48PM
Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Sarah Silverman’s musical comedy ‘The Bedwetter’ gives a surprisingly poignant look at childhood mental health by Alan Smason

By ELIZABETH SCHABINGER The Bedwetter, based on Sarah Silverman’s memoir of the same name, is an intimate look at Silverman’s year as a 10-year-old. In The Bedwetter,  Sarah is a fifth …

SOURCE: Theatre Criticsm at 12:39AM