By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI. " January temperatures rarely rise above 30 degrees here, so indoor activities are welcomed. Local theatergoers can watch a foot-stompin,' whooping and hollerin…
By ALAN SMASON There are a plethora of plays that have become the basis of successful Broadway musicals. A classic example is Lynn Riggs' Green Grow the Lilacs, which became Oklahoma. …
By EDWARD RUBIN Billed as "A Penetrating Portrayal of A Queer Giant," performance artist John Kelly's explosive gay-themed show Underneath The Skin, " bolstered by actor/dancers Hucklefa…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot," considered by many film enthusiasts as one of the greatest movies of all time, would seem to be a p…
By ROY BERKO Since 1959, Dobama Theatre has been dedicated to premiering important new plays by established and emerging playwrights in professional productions of the highest quality. The L…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Tom Stoppard had long established his credentials as One of the 20th century's leading playwrights and authors, Tom Stoppard was a pro…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") There's no more an appropriate time to present Irving Berlin's 'Holiday Inn'Â than during the festive season of holiday time. With s…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Sharai Bohannon is an activist playwright who doesn't shy away from tackling issues that some might feel uncomfortable discussing. Whe…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Taking their regal cues from the likes of pop music royalty Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Avril Lavigne and J…
By EDWARD RUBIN You Will Get Sick, currently playing Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre in New York City through Sunday, December 11, is the most riveting and mind-stretching play that I…
By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI " Some funny anecdotes were once relayed by playwright Catherine Trieschmann to Milwaukee Repertory Theater Artistic Director Mark Clements. They initially led t…
By ROY BERKO Describe the Night, which is now on stage at Ensemble Theatre, is Cleveland Heights native Rajiv Joseph's 2018 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play. Joseph was named …
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") There is probably no more magnificent opening number in Broadway history than "Circle of Life/ Nants Ingonyama" found in Disney's The …
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") It's taken a minute, but the only play to ever win both an Olivier Award in London and a Tony Award on Broadway has finally arrivedÂ�…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") It would seem The NOLA Project, those upstarts who came to New Orleans from New York's Tisch School just prior to the landfall of Hurr…
By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI " With the mid-term political elections just weeks away, one of Milwaukee's newer theater companies uses that timing to open The Totalitarians, a 2015 political …
By EDWARD RUBIN Sometimes, a gripping story with universal relevance sells big. Such was the case of "The Kite Runner," Khaled Hossein's 2003 semi-autobiographical novel which was turned int…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Back when I was still in high school, writer Peter Stone and composer and lyricist Sherman Edwards got together to reimagine a patriot…
By ROY BERKO When Les Misérables last came to Cleveland in November of 2018, in part I wrote: "From the very first time I saw Les Miserables, shortly after its opening in London, to the New…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") It's taken 16 years since it first bowed at the Public Theatre and 15 years after it became a Broadway smash, but In the HeightsÂ�…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") There are some classic movies that easily make the transition from the big screen to the stage. Because some have first been independe…
By ROY BERKO The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, now on stage in the Senney Theater in the Beck Center complex, is a play by Simon Stephens which is based on British writer Ma…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic It's not going to reshape your concept of the Founding Fathers through inventive use of choreography and hip hop music. It's not going to give you insi…
By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI. " Race-based violence " especially against young Black men " is not unknown in this Midwest city, although most of the conflicts seen on the local TV news s…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") It wasn't that long ago when theaters were shuttered and charges were leveled at many theatrical institutions for a perceived lack of …