396 stories from Theatre Criticsm
By LOU HARRY I laughed a lot during Iceboy, the new musical getting what producers hope is a pre-Broadway run at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. The new musical concerns a wealthy actress’…
By LOU HARRY From 1970 to 1973, composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim and director Harold Prince masterminded a trio of landmark musicals that focused largely on marriages – their complexitie…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) In Shakespeare’s Richard II at the beginning of Act II, there is a famous phrase that is uttered in reference to England. On…
By AARON KRAUSE In a current engaging co-production of Cabaret, the audience enters the Kit Kat Klub before the first scene. Once we’re inside the small space, cast members invite us to da…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) When John Kander and Fred Ebb first premiered Chicago, they must have thought they had bad timing. That’s because with Gwen Ve…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) There are so many things to consider about Once that make it a truly special musical experience like few others. The superb dire…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When the 79th Tony Awards became a part of Broadway history, the show with the biggest heart and smallest carried themselves acr…
By AARON KRAUSE I recently witnessed the non-Equity, national touring production of The Book of Mormon at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami from June 9-14. Here are some observations: This …
By GINNY MARIE Monty Python’s Spamalot galloped onto the Saenger Theater stage this week, the final show of the Broadway across New Orleans 2025-26 season. With lyrics and a book by Eric I…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) The first clue I had that this production was going to be something special was when I got to my row and discovered to my shock …
By LOU HARRY I had the honor of representing the U.S. as a delegate to the International Association of Theatre Critics congress in Craiova, Romania in late May. The fringe benefit of that w…
By MEGHAN LOVELACE The Book of Mormon is a familiar buddy comedy with satirical flair. The jumpy choreography and dopamine disco lighting had me sitting back in my seat thinking I was going …
By AARON KRAUSE There's a moment in the much-loved musical Les Misérables during which the theater feels more like a hushed house of worship than a conventional performance space. It comes …
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") The national tour of Back to the Future: The Musical materialized onto the stage of the Saenger Theater this week and left wakes of la…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") The national tour of Back to the Future:The Musical materialized onto the stage of the Saenger Theater this week and left wakes of lau…
By LOU HARRY Based on a documentary, The Queen of Versailles, the new Stephen Schwartz and Lindsey Ferrentino musical on Broadway at the St. James Theatre concerns an amoral, in-it-for-herse…
By LOU HARRY Musicals tend not to be humble. With rare exceptions, they announce themselves whether with well-known performers, high-profile source material, energetic dance, or visual spect…
By LOU HARRY Thanks to its notorious David Merrick-produced/Patti LuPone-starring died-on-the-road 1976 tryout, the Steven Schwartz/Joseph Stein musical "The Baker's Wife" landed a reputatio…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") At the beginning of Bess Wohi's play Liberation, the character of Lizzie breaks the fourth wall to greet the expectant audience. She m…
'By LOU HARRY Instead of praising our goulash, They're appraising the plays of Willie Mays. In the original production of Dawn Yankees, that's a lyric sung by Meg Boyd and other neglected wi…
By ROY BERKO The Notebook: The Musical tells the heart warming, and often heartbreaking life-long love story, of Allie and Noah.  It is based on a true tale inspired by author Nicholas…
By AARON KRAUSE A social media influencer learns from a DNA test that she is among the 40 percent of individuals who can smell asparagus in their urine. An otherworldly being tells two zoo-g…
By SCOTTY BENNETT Hard to Say by Kyle Ayers is a stand-up comedy show about dealing with chronic " at times " nearly intractable pain. In Ayers' case, it is caused by a nerve disorder called…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") When Arthur Miller debuted The Crucible in 1953, the nation was emerging from the dark and sinister times of accusations and recrimina…
By ANNE SIEGEL SPRING GREEN, Wis. " There's no better time for out-of-state visitors to head towards Wisconsin than right now. Some people might stay at campgrounds, others may find a secret…
