Saturday, April 20, 2024

A Crowning Achievement at the Guthrie: ‘Richard II,’ ‘Henry IV’ & ‘Henry V’ by Alan Smason

By LOU HARRY While many companies have responded to the challenges facing post-lockdown theater by offering minimally cast shows and/or feel-good entertainments, the storied Guthrie Theater …

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 08:33PM
Thursday, April 18, 2024

Comic relief abounds as JPAS brings back ‘Noises Off’ farce by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Playwright Michael Frayn claims he got the inspiration to write Noises Off in 1970 while watching a comedy he had written unfold…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 01:09PM
Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Midwest Premiere of ‘From Here to Eternity’ Opens in Milwaukee by Alan Smason

By ANNE SIEGEL War is hell, they say. But the months leading up to war can also be a kind of hell, as demonstrated by the characters in From Here to Eternity, a new musical that opened recen…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 08:42PM
Sunday, April 7, 2024

Anthony Hopkins delivers deliberate, understated performance in ‘One Life’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON While the Academy Awards buzz was mostly about “Oppenheimer” and “Poor Things,” a smaller film starring Anthony Hopkins – “One Life” – was distributed a few we…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 01:40PM
Friday, March 29, 2024

Fire Weeds produces two Tennessee Williams one-acts, precursors to ‘Streetcar’ and ‘Glass Menagerie’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) While the Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival has ended this year’s presentations and its famed Scholars Conferen…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 11:27AM
Thursday, March 21, 2024

Rivertown’s ‘The Prom’ a comic romp for Ricky Graham & Co. by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) New Orleans audiences have long been enamored of local comedy genius Ricky Graham, but thanks to the regional premiere of The Pr…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 01:45PM
Sunday, March 17, 2024

New JPAS production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ hits high notes by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) The latest production of Jesus Christ Superstar bowed this weekend, presented by the Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS) at…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 12:01PM
Thursday, March 14, 2024

Regional premiere of Stroli’s ‘A Jukebox for the Algonquin’ is warm and funny by Alan Smason

By ALEX MILLER In the Algonquin Room of the Placid Pines Senior Care Center, a small group of New Yorkers gather to chat, drink coffee or juice and tell the same old stories. On one side of …

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 01:22PM

Jauné Buisson makes directorial debut of ‘Beautiful’ even more beautiful by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) With a subtitle – The Carole King Musical – it’s easy to conceive that Beautiful is a musical that only concerns the life …

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 05:29AM
Monday, March 11, 2024

‘Something Clean’ is compelling in its regional premiere at Dobama by Alan Smason

By ROY BERKO Northwestern grad, Selina Fillinger, was the first Judith Barlow Prize winner, an annual student award given to work inspired by a historic female playwright.  “In 2019, her …

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 06:56PM
Sunday, March 10, 2024

Nature arranges setting for powerful ‘Kingdom of Earth’ opening night by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) The producers from the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans had already planned for a major opening night on March …

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 01:21PM
Thursday, March 7, 2024

‘Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812’ aims high in Denver by Alan Smason

By LOU HARRY There are Broadway shows that seem destined for long lives after the New York production folds. I’m willing to bet, for instance, that we will be seeing productions as wide ra…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 07:51PM
Sunday, March 3, 2024

Talent abounds in national tour of ‘Ain’t Too Proud’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Producers of Broadway shows that performed reasonably well on the Great White Way have largely been upping their game in the yea…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 04:04PM
Friday, March 1, 2024

The NOLA Project puts ‘The Colored Museum’ on display at NOAAM by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON Biting satire must be carefully presented. If it doesn’t go far enough, it can come across as insincere and tepid, but if it goes too far, it can be considered as inappropri…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 02:42PM
Monday, February 19, 2024

‘The Cancellation of Lauren Fein’ sizzles at Palm Beach Dramaworks by Aaron Krause

By AARON KRAUSE “We don’t need you to tell us about (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). We live it,” the title character says in Christopher Demos-Brown’s riveting and vital play, T…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 08:41AM
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Masterclass: Patrick Page’s ‘All the Devils Are Here’ is spellbinding by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Patrick Page chooses his words very carefully or, perhaps, it should be said he chooses Shakespeare’s words carefully. In All …

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 12:02PM
Monday, December 25, 2023

Musical ‘Shucked’ is a ‘gritty’comedy with country charm by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic Following his 2019 Tony Award win for Tootsie, writer Robert Horn was offered several projects of his choosing, but none seemed more appropriate than r…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 04:35PM
Sunday, December 17, 2023

‘Black Nativity’ leaves audience joyously singing praises of Afrocentric holiday musical by Alan Smason

By ROY BERKO Langston Hughes, the author of Black Nativity, now on stage at the Allen Theatre, in a joint production between Karamu, the country’s oldest black producing theater and the Cl…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 10:44PM
Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Rivertown’s ‘A Christmas Story, the Musical’ is superb holiday fare by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Since its release in 1982, New Orleans native Bob Clark’s “A Christmas Story” has been part of the holiday landscape, help…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 05:12AM
Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Something ‘Wicked’ This Way Comes…Again! by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) After celebrating its 20th anniversary this past October, the juggernaut that is Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked on Broadway seems …

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 11:07PM
Monday, December 4, 2023

Broadway debut of ‘Harmony’ a mellifluous tale of the Comedian Harmonists by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) “Harmony: A New Musical,” the Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman work is hardly a “new” musical, having simmered off the Br…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 09:10AM
Sunday, November 26, 2023

Talented crew of young musicians rule at Skylight Music Theatre’s ‘School of Rock’ by Alan Smason

By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI. – Don’t be late for this class: the School of Rock is astonishing audiences at Milwaukee’s Skylight Music Theatre. Based on the successful 2003 film of th…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 03:58PM
Monday, November 20, 2023

Remarkable, immersive ‘Here Lies Love’ closing this Sunday by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) The history of Here Lies Love dates back almost two decades ago when David Byrne and Fatboy Slim came up with an improbable conc…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 05:51PM
Sunday, November 12, 2023

Marvelous Leslie Castay channels Tallulah Bankhead in ‘Looped’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) There was a time when Tallulah Bankhead was as well known a celebrity as any who dominate the social media channels of our own t…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 04:56AM
Thursday, November 9, 2023

New theatre group’s campy ‘Onepiece’ is musically pleasing by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) The history of Onepiece, billed as “A Splashy Musical Play” goes back many years to a time when Randy Bibb felt especially c…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 11:59AM
Monday, November 6, 2023

Bob Dylan music key to ‘Girl from the North Country’ in Key Bank series by Alan Smason

By ROY BERKO David Greene, the Senior Vice President of Programming at Playhouse Square, informs theater-goers in his program notes for Girl from the North Country that “it is a non-trad…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 10:10AM
Sunday, November 5, 2023

National tour of ‘MJ’ is dazzling, daring and dynamic by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When award-winning playwright Lynn Nottage accepted the task as book writer for MJ, the Michael Jackson musical, she probably kn…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 05:43AM

National tour of ‘Company’ at Cadillac Palace Theater in Chicago by Alan Smason

By ANNE SIEGEL The American musical theater has been graced with another revival of Company, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1970 musical about our basic human need for togetherness. I…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 03:41AM
Thursday, November 2, 2023

JPAS reanimates ‘Young Frankenstein’ at JPAC by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Following the record setting production of The Producers, Mel Brooks set his sight on bringing another of his film classics from…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 10:18AM
Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Stirring, historically important ‘The Island’ being shown at Ensemble Theatre by Alan Smason

By ROY BERKO Former South Euclid resident and Brush High School graduate, Dr. Alan Wieder, is on a quest “to stem the time of forgetfulness.” An oral historian, Wieder has been on the fa…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 05:21AM
Friday, October 27, 2023

Rivertown scores major hit with ‘Assassins’ by Alan Smason

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When most people consider the macabre work of Stephen Sondheim and his delicious sense of dark humor, they typically point to Sw…

SOURCE: TheatreCriticsm.com at 09:44PM

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