Reviews

The Getty Villa, a Los Angeles museum of Greek and Roman antiquities, is not the first location one might think of when mounting a musical tribute to Liza Minnelli. When that musical, however, is based on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and set in an amphitheater against the backdrop of an ancient Roman villa, everything falls into place. 

Critic Juan A. Ramirez reviews Dear Evan Hansen, the film adaptation of the musical which will hit theatres on September 24.

Kyle Turner reviews xXPonyBoyDerekXx, a new theatrical experience on OnlyFans from Brooklyn-based playwright Gage Tarlton and The Misfits Theatre Company.

Situated in the McKittrick’s Club Car, a dark and hazy locale with dim lights and alcohol flowing, guests are sat at tables with half a dozen or so chairs and might I add some delicious popcorn at Speakeasy Magick. Our review.

On paper, The Memory of Water seems like a sombre affair, it follows three sisters as they are reunited for their mother’s funeral and examines their relationships with each other and with their significant others. Currently playing at the Hampstead Theatre through October 16.

Juan A. Ramirez reviews "The Last of the Love Letters” which plays through September 26 at the Linda Gross Theater at the Atlantic Theater Company on 20th Street in New York City.

Arturo Luís Soria’s Ni Mi Madre plays at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater through September 19. Our review for Theatrely.

Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's PASS OVER is now open on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre. Read Juan A. Ramirez's review for Theatrely now.

A theatrical review of playwright Liza Birkenmeier and director Katie Brook’s Islander, currently playing at the HERE Arts Center through September 4, 2021.

I had not seen a micro-play before this afternoon, but let me tell you, after experiencing the sextet of micro-plays at Theatre for One: Here is Future at Brookfield Properties’ Manhattan West Plaza, I can confidently say I’m a micro-play stan.

Max Harwood stars as Jamie New in Everybody's Talking About Jamie film which lands on Amazon on September 17. Juan A. Ramirez reviews for Theatrely.

Following a world premiere on the West End earlier in May produced by Sonia Friedman, TheaterWorks Hartford has taken this new ambitious drama and produced a rather incredible US Premiere of Amy Berryman's Walden. One of the most thrilling and satisfying nights at the theatre that I have had the pleasure of attending in a very long time — this is one of those performances that will be with you for many days. 

Juan A. Ramirez reviews Jocelyn Bioh's adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor currently playing at the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park — a celebratino of the joyful pan-African spirit.

A response to Shakespeare’s King Lear, Marina Carr’s The Cordelia Dream, making its North American debut with the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York City, a woman revisits her strained relationship with a man after experiencing a chilling dream about King Lear and his daughter, Cordelia. 

Tennessee Williams’s The Two Character Play at the Hampstead Theatre ow follows a pair of actor siblings as they attempt to perform a play after the rest of their cast and crew abandoned them in a theatre in the middle of nowhere. What follows is an incredibly meta performance where actor and character become indistinguishable from each other. 

On a deeper note, I Hate It Here from the Goodman Theatre admits that so many horrible things in the world remain unchanged. The show does not suggest things will get better. Yet, if we take a moment to admit how bad things are, maybe we can find some common, solid ground. And that’s a start.

As you descend the stairs into Bond 45’s cellar, you are immediately handed a rather delicious craft cocktail (the first of five) and shown to your seats for an unforgettable evening of burlesque and belting at Speakeasy: Times Square

In E. Dale Smith’s new one-act play Fruma-Sarah (Waiting in the Wings), Jackie Hoffman stars as Ariana Russo, an embittered actor playing the ghost Fruma-Sarah in a community theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof.

Madeline Sayet’s one-woman filmed show Where We Belong, now streaming through Washington D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Folger Shakespeare Library. Over the course of 80 minutes, Sayet gracefully explores the places she has tried to reclaim as her own—Shakespeare’s words, her Mohegan identity, her ancestors—and ultimately asks why we need to belong somewhere at all.

Theatrely made the trip out to Cape Cod to catch opening night of Little Shop of Horrors at the Cape Playhouse...and boy are we glad we did.

The Importance of Being Earnest, currently playing at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is pretty marvelous. Oscar Wilde’s witty comedic masterpiece begins BTG’s summer season and marks the company’s and this critic’s first indoor theatrical experience in many, many months. 

Directed by BT McNicholl, the hilarious musical comedy is the perfect production to introduce patrons back to in-person performances with Spamalot at Ogunquit Playhouse.

"Sloppy Bonnie: A Roadkill Musical for the Modern Chick" is streaming now through July 15 from No Puppet Co.

George Street Playhouse's final virtual production knocks it out of the park with Terrence McNally's "It's Only A Play"

See what our chief critic thought of IN THE HEIGHTS which hits theaters and HBO Max starting June 11.

A new filmed adaptation of her 2017 Bushwick Starr “musical seance”, ANIMAL WISDOM is co-produced by the American Conservatory Theater and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

Emma Stone and Emma Thompson star in "Cruella" which is currently in theatres and streaming on Disney+.

"Persou" is currently running at The Cell Theatre in Chelsea until June 12th.

If hiding vegetables in your child’s macaroni and cheese were a musical, it would be The Door You Never Saw Before: A Choosical Musical at the Geffen Playhouse. This interactive musical written by Matt Schatz is the latest offering in the Geffen’s Stayhouse series of performances via Zoom.

Jacob Rivera reviews “This American Wife” for Theatrely.

We sent our chief critic to one of the first indoor performances in the city, see what he thought of "Lilies" - currently playing at The Theatre Center Off-Broadway.

The LA-based playhouse has seemed to find the perfect formula for pandemic theatre after their recent productions of "The Present" and "Inside The Box".

Get your tissues folks, and prepare for a realistic look at life, love, and loss. Writer Calvin Trillin’s About Alice takes a look at a grieving husband, Calvin (played by Jeffrey Bean) as he reminisces about the unforgettable times he had with his wife, Alice (played by Carrie Paff).

Becky Mode’s hilarious "Fully Committed" now steaming through April 11 from George Street Playhouse starring Maulik Pancholy.

Often, an efficacious story is one that is veiled in a series of satirical jokes. Such describes the brilliance behind Second City’s She The People at the Huntington Theatre Company.

Wad, written by Keiko Green, follows the development of a pen pal relationship between Jim, a prisoner on death row, and teenage Nyce, a high schooler. The Ameenah Kaplan-directed virtual world premiere presented by A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle stands out through its handling of timely topics and unique production among the ever-growing landscape of pandemic theatre.

“Life is good eh...even in Dublin” - well I would say life is great right here on Cape Cod! Of course that line comes from Once, the 2012 Tony Winning Best Musical now playing at the Cape Playhouse.

Your favorite mystery-filled board game has come to life in a hilarious new play. Clue: On Stage opened last night at the Cape Playhouse here in Dennis, Massachusetts.

I do believe the tea has gone luke-warm; that being Tea At Five which opened last night at the Huntington Avenue Theatre here in Downtown Boston.

Everything old is new again...that saying rings truer than ever in Cherry Docs now playing at The Rockwell.

Tony winner Susan Stroman directs a talented cast including Anna Chlumsky, David Corenswet, Stephen Kunken and more in Anna Ziegler's "Photograph 51" on chemist Rosalind Franklin.

I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun at an opera.

The Cape Playhouse closes their 93rd season with one of Broadway’s most successful comedic thrillers of all time.

Before the curtain even rose on American Utopia playing at the historic Emerson Colonial Theatre, the sounds of birds and thunderstorms filled the space - I knew we were in for a unique night.

Harmon, no stranger to Boston audiences–Bad Jews and Significant Other–has struck gold with his latest play, unpacking what exactly it means to be a white liberal in today’s society.

After the wildly successful conclusion to "The Present", which closed in October after a six month run, Guimarães has once again teamed up with Hollywood director Frank Marshall to bring what this critic finds to be the most exciting piece of virtual theatre born in this era of COVID-19. 

In Romeo y Julieta, the Public Theater’s latest foray into audio plays, she proves that a rose in any other medium (and language) smells and sounds as sweet. Unfortunately, her rose is surrounded by the thorns of misguided intentions.

The Lyric Stage Company opened their 45th season with the cult-classic, Little Shop of Horrors, which continues to delight audiences of all ages.

Once again, Williamstown flaunts an astute ear for material that lends itself beautifully to audio adaptation in partnership with Audible for "Wish You Were Here".

It is not everyday that Dolly Parton premieres a new musical here in Boston, so the buzz around Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, has been the talk of the town.

The Arlekin Players Theatre’s interactive performance proves that digital, distanced theatre can be a compelling medium. In fact, it’s a medium with incredibly high stakes.

In socially-distanced lieu of a staged production, the Williamstown Theatre Festival has released what was to be the crown jewel of their season as what is, essentially, a radio play, produced in tandem with Audible.

Turned on its head for our digitally obsessed brains by writer Henry Filloux-Bennett, The Picture of Dorian Gray lives on in an imaginative new adaptation that brings the musings of Wilde right into modern day.

Derek Delgaudio’s In & Of Itself, a Hulu Special Event, arrives on the streaming platform Friday, January 22.

"The Pink Unicorn" at SpeakEasy Stage allows one to step out of their own worldview and learn the power that love and support can have on a child’s life.

Patrick Page teaches and performs marvelous villainy in Shakespeare Theatre Company's All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain.

With the current state of the world, live theatre starting to come back is like a hope-filled, sweet dream come true, just like Sleepless: a Musical Romance.

Oh bless the Lord, live theatre is certainly back. Sitting through quarantine over the past few months and often dreaming of what my first show back would be, I did not think Godspell in an open-air tent ever crossed my mind.

"Sing Your Hallelujah" might not be the holliest jolliest concert of the holidays, but it might be the balm we need to heal from an eventful year and move into 2021 with a renewed spirit.

SpeakEasy Stage Company opens their 29th season with Tarell Alvin McCraney’s coming-of-age drama Choir Boy.

“TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever” from SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston is now running digitally through May 13, 2021.

Meaningful connections and deep conversations are something even the most introverted of us crave during this seemingly never-ending pandemic. Social Alchemix Live! aims to remedy this collective loneliness by engaging in thought-provoking and reflective exchanges.

It has been three days since I attended Pass Over at SpeakEasy Stage Company, and the powerful images of this new drama are still stirring inside my head.

With a cast of thirteen, it is the most ambitious of Williamstown Theatre Festival’s audio-only season, and the cast and crew pull it off brilliantly.

I have said it time and time again, college theatre in Boston is continuing to create some of the most experimental and thought-provoking productions we have in the city.

At its core The Stone is a story about how we as human beings recount history and how history changes as it’s retold to protect people. It explores what happens when parts of history get buried and what happens when the truth comes to the surface.

Williamstown Theatre Festival ends its season with Audible with a new musical "Row" from Daniel Goldstein and Dawn Landes.

As echoed in the opening number, SIX, now playing at the American Repertory Theater, is truly one of a kind.

Arden and Mays make a dynamic duet of the material, and that’s enough to warm the coldest heart.

Part immersive theatre, part computer game, and part choose-your-own-adventure story, The immersive groundbreaking company Les Enfants Terribles present Sherlock Holmes: An Online Adventure. In “The Case of the Hung Parliament,” three members of Parliament have been murdered and it appears as though the Prime Minister is next!

“Never be too good, nor too bad. The world will punish you for both. Try to pace right with the rest of us in the unnoticeable hypocritical middle.”

"Blindness" at the Daryl Roth Theatre is the first indoor theatrical experience available to New Yorkers since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GHBoy’s ambitions are admirable in how it tries to address many misconceptions surround gay culture, and specifically gay hookup culture: drug use, casual sex, the stigma of HIV positivity, and more. But just when you think GHBoy is going to say something profound about any one of these topics we immediately move on

Out of the Box Theatrics is known for taking theatre and scaling it down to its core of the story, and their latest production of Jason Robert Brown’s "The Last Five Years" is more evidence that even throughout a global pandemic, the young Off-Broadway company continues to produce riveting and gorgeous content — now for the digital audience. 

Audible's latest theatrical offering includes Mary-Louise Parker and Will Hochman who star in THE SOUND INSIDE.

Emblematic of the blood sport from which the play was inspired, Studio Theatre’s streaming production of Cock exposes the rawness and vulnerability of the self-sparring human spirit.

Hi, Are You Single?, from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in association with IAMA Theatre Company, is the perfect vehicle for Haddad to take us along his romantic journey in what is one of the most touching and poignant pieces of theatre this critic has seen throughout quarantine. 

Notable filmmaker and cookbook author Sri Rao's "Bollywood Kitchen" is now playing, via Zoom, at The Geffen Playhouse produced in association with Hypokrit Theatre Company. Read what we thought of the immersive cooking experience.

As we approach one year of staying at home because of the pandemic it can be hard to see the wonder and amazement in the everyday things around us. Magician Dan White has tried–and succeeded–to bring back that sense of excitement in his virtual magic show The Magician Online.

Critic Juan A. Ramirez explores Stacy Osei-Kuffour's world premiere play "Animals", part of Williamstown Theatre Festival's Audible season.

If anything can be said, it’s that this pandemic has fostered creativity like never before, and nowhere is that more apparent than in New Ohio Theatre for the Young Mind’s Journey Around My Bedroom. The downtown venue’s family oriented programming team came together, albeit physically distanced online, and produced a beautiful jewel box of a play.

Never has the saying “The Show Must Go On!” rang truer than with opening night of A Chorus Line now playing at the Cape Playhouse until August 3rd.

Things are getting a little Freaky up in Beverly, MA. We are talking about Freaky Friday, a new musical now playing at North Shore Music Theatre until July 21st.

Who can you rule out? Which one is guilty? And what does it mean for the community of Boyle Heights? Those are the questions Echo Theatre Company forces us to answer in Under the Freeways of Los Angeles.

New Repertory Theatre in Watertown is finding new ways to showcase innovative productions during unprecedented times.

Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s play shadow/land, presented as an audio production for the Public Theater, is a tremendous new work. As the first installment of an epic 10-play ‘Katrina cycle,’ it signals the beginning of what promises to be a staggering achievement in theatre which concerns itself with race, ecology, queer feminism, and human displacement.

Dominique Morriseau’s "Paradise Blue", directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson is now available on Audible, from Williamstown Theatre Festival.

“Why is this night different from all other nights?” It’s a question that you would most likely be asked by your English professor if you were writing a play that took place at night, but also one of the four questions that the youngest child at the Seder table must read aloud on Passover.

Last seen on Broadway in 2002, "Amour" is now back in a virtual format.

Curtain up…or down..or should I say up for Noises Off now playing at the Cape Playhouse until August 17th.

Back on the road touring the UK, this new production is celebrating its 30th year wowing audience since its premiere in 1988.

Loosely based on the movie of the same title from 2000, the musical follows two rival high schools on their way to Nationals for competitive cheerleading.

When looking into Theatre Talk Boston’s bi-annual London trip we always search for what immersive theatre the city has to offer and dotdotdot never disappoints.

The Barn Theatre, based in Cirencester, is breaking the mold for virtual theatre yet again with their production of The Secret Society of Leading Ladies. Part concert, part choose-your-own-adventure, this short performance packs a punch that will undoubtedly leave audiences satisfied.

The play, commissioned specifically for a digital platform, is the latest offering from PlayCo and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, in association with American Repertory Theater, Guthrie Theater, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

In Homeschool Musical: Class of 2020, streaming on HBO Max starting December 17, World of Wonder, Benanti, and their team introduce seven talented graduated high school seniors in what is one of the most feel good hours of entertainment I have experienced this year.

Our review of The Color Purple from Curve Leicester in association with Birmingham Hippodrome.

Evil is alive and well and living in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Written by Bess Wohl and beautifully directed by SpeakEasy regular M. Bevin O’Gara, Small Mouth Sounds brilliantly redefines silence not as a barrier, but rather a catalyst for introspective knowledge.

The Conjurors' Club is a new interactive experience from the American Repertory Theater which brings magicians right into your living room.