1,308 stories by "Charles McNulty"
Success for an actor " yes, even one of the classic Hollywood mold " can be a mixed blessing. For Leonardo DiCaprio, "Titanic" was both the greatest thing that ever happened to his career " …
Lady Macbeth is such a larger-than-life theatrical figure that it's only natural that audiences would like more information about her than Shakespeare is willing to provide. His method, stil…
Broadway, hardly a bastion of diversity, has been starting to see the wisdom in this "Hamilton"-rocked season of bringing new voices to the table. "Eclipsed," by the U.S.-born, Zimbabwean-ra…
Large dumpsters, the kind often seen at construction sites or behind restaurants, play a prominent role in Dámaso Rodriguez's kinetic modern-dress production of William Shakespeare's "Rom…
In the ancient world, long before modern psychology domesticated sex, Eros was considered a fearful, destabilizing, often ruinous force. In "The Mystery of Love & Sex," a recent play by Bath…
"Miss Julie," August Strindberg's 1888 classic, has inspired so many high-profile adaptations " the work has been relocated to Britain, Ireland, America, Russia and (most effectively) South …
God is headlining at the Ahmanson Theatre in the Broadway comedy "An Act of God," but please don't think of this as the Second Coming. This appearance is really more of a tease, an occasion …
This is not a review. Samuel French Inc., the licensing agent representing the Harold Pinter estate in the U.S., has decreed that the Wooster Group's production at REDCAT of Pinter's first p…
History is given a warm theatrical salute in "Fly," a tap-dance-infused drama that tells the story of a group of Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American Army Air Corps fighters who helpe…
"Hamilton" is coming to the Hollywood Pantages Every Hollywood mover-and-shaker ought to see it.
A tremor of excitement ran through the Los Angeles theater scene on Tuesday with the announcement that "Hamilton," Broadway's biggest phenomenon since "Rent," will play the Hollywood Pantage…
A flop with a glittering score. That was the consensus verdict after Leonard Bernstein's "Candide," a musical adapted from Voltaire's slim, satiric 1759 novel, closed on Broadway shortly aft…
There's nothing quite as gratifying as spending 90 minutes in the company of a gifted storyteller. James Lecesne holds his audience rapt at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, where his solo show "The…
They weren't household names, and only one of their faces might be widely recognizable, but the deaths in rapid succession of Myra Carter, Brian Bedford and Alan Rickman represent an incalcu…
When literary classics are adapted for the stage with kid gloves, Masterpiece Tedium is usually the result. The reason is fairly straightforward. Art that makes a lasting impression must pos…
Sandra Tsing Loh's midlife crisis may turn out to be the best thing that has ever happened to her career. Adultery, divorce and menopause have given this multidisciplinary humorist a banquet…
Highlights of ten years of theater reviewing
Sometimes the word "unforgettable" can be taken literally. I can still feel that electric charge when I first encountered Rajiv Joseph's "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" in 2009. The world …
Still haven't checked off those on your gift list who are of a more melodramatic or histrionic temperament? Never fear. There is a cornucopia of holiday goodies waiting for the thespians and…
Idina Menzel is such a beloved Broadway talent that it only makes sense that a show built around her would give us two Menzels for the price of one. "If/Then," the 2014 Broadway musical now …
Here, in alphabetical order, are my 2015 theater highlights. "Amélie," Berkeley Repertory Theatre: An enchanting act of theatrical translation that brought the French film to the stage in a…
"Identity politics" has an old-fashioned ring, the banner of the academic culture wars of the 1990s, but the conflicts over race, religion, sexuality, gender, nationality and, let us not for…
What a difference a director makes. Having seen the original Broadway staging of "The Color Purple" in New York and then the touring production at the Ahmanson Theatre, I was in no rush to r…
The crowds in the theater district here have been as large and unwieldy as they typically are this time of year. Walk along Broadway or 8th Avenue between 42nd and 50th streets around 7:30 i…
NEW YORK " The youngsters from the new musical "School of Rock" are on a rescue mission. Not only are they trying to salvage their wacko teacher's dream of transforming their nerdy selves in…
