Linda Hodges is a theatre reviewer and playwright who’s been covering the vibrant San Francisco Bay Area theater scene since 2009. She got her start at Broadway Magazine but soon found her true home at BroadwayWorld where she is the senior theatre critic. Highlights include interviewing Stephen Schwartz, Rupert Holmes, Rita Moreno, Betty Buckley, Melissa Manchester and more. A dedicated theater aficionado, Linda first became involved in the dramatic arts while in college, becoming one of the first “techies” at her school to be voted into Delta Psi Omega, the National Theatre Honor Society. She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Pacific School of Religion and maintains that theater, at its best, is a religious experience!
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First Show:
The Canterbury Tales when I was 13!Favorite Show:
WickedFavorite Stories:
- Review: WICKED at Orpheum Theatre - I don't have a favorite review (I'll leave that to readers) so I'll focus on my favorite show... My heart still races remembering the night I stepped into the Orpheum Theatre to experience WICKED—the first show I ever reviewed. It felt like stepping into a different world, one that shimmered with secrets and crackled with magic. I was beyond thrilled, barely able to contain my excitement and the tugging emotion that had me nearly tearing up from the very first notes. The air seemed to vibrate with the legacy of the Curran Theatre, where WICKED first cast its spell in 2003, and here I was, so close to the place where it all began. Watching two powerful female leads—Elphaba and Glinda—command the stage was nothing short of mesmerizing. I felt every beat of Elphaba’s journey and her defiant choice "for good" reverberate within me. WICKED isn’t just a show; it’s an anthem of empowerment and courage, as dazzling as it is deeply moving. It struck a chord then, and it still does, leaving me forever enchanted.
- BWW Reviews: THE BOOK OF MORMON Is Freakin' Awesome -
- Review: HARPER LEE'S TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Golden Gate Theatre -
- BWW Review: THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD THRILLS AND DELIGHTS NOW THRU NOV. 11 at 3Below - DROOD holds a special place in my heart...
- BWW Review: Mask UP! HAMILTON Lights Up the Stage as Live Theatre Returns to Broadway San Jose - Phenomenal show. Right up there with Marvin Hamlisch's A CHORUS LINE. Both changed the trajectory of theatre forever by redefining the rules of musical theater but in starkly different ways. A Chorus Line broke through in the 1970s with raw, unfiltered honesty, spotlighting the personal struggles of dancers—the unsung heroes of Broadway—giving voice to their dreams and sacrifices. It was revolutionary for its gritty realism and portrayal of the artists behind the glitz. Decades later, Hamilton exploded onto the scene, electrifying audiences by blending rap and hip-hop with historical narrative, casting actors of color as Founding Fathers, and transforming the musical into an audacious reimagining of American identity. Both shows expanded the boundaries of musical storytelling, but where A Chorus Line was introspective and self-revealing, Hamilton was expansive, taking on the entire nation’s story with fresh eyes and new voices. Together, they redefined what audiences thought Broadway could be and do.
December 19, 2022
What did our critic think of BEETLEJUICE at Golden Gate Theatre? Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, beat a path to San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre for a night of frighteningly funny laughs about death.
November 24, 2022
What did our critic think of THE BOOK OF MORMON at San Jose Center For The Performing Arts?
November 23, 2022
What did our critic think of DISNEY'S FROZEN at Orpheum?
November 13, 2022
What did our critic think of AIN’T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS at Golden Gate Theater, SF?
September 22, 2022
What did our critic, Linda Hodges think of CATS at San Jose Center For The Performing Arts?
September 18, 2022
What did our critic, Linda Hodges, think of HARPER LEE'S TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Golden Gate Theatre, SF?
September 14, 2022
What did our critic think of MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL at Orpheum Theatre? Sometimes a show happily checks all the boxes for a satisfying performance, but then there is that rare creature that rises above the rest to so thoroughly dazzle, delight and enchant theatergoers that it leaves an indelible imprint on their minds forever. And what is the show? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Moulin Rouge! The Musical, a jukebox musical like no other. Prepare to be dazzled! Playing now through November 6, BroadwaySF's Moulin Rouge! The Musical will take your breath away.
August 20, 2022
What did our critic think of ROGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S OKLAHOMA! at Golden Gate Theatre, San Francisco?
August 5, 2022
What did our critic think of THE LION KING at Broadway San Jose?
July 18, 2022
What did our critic think of COME FROM AWAY at Broadway San Jose? Broadway San Jose's Come From Away is far and away a show of delight, laughter, pathos and altogether great story-telling. The show - with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein - 'tells the true story of 38 planes and almost 7,000 passengers from around the world that were diverted to the small community of Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001, doubling its population in an instant.' Using a documentary theater approach, Sankoff and Hein drew from interviews with the people of Gander and 'the plane people,' as they affectionately came to be called, to craft their loving, hugely funny and deeply touching show.
June 26, 2022
What did our critic think of THE PROM at Golden Gate Theatre?
June 10, 2022
What did our critic think of DEAR EVAN HANSEN at Broadway San Jose?
June 9, 2022
What did our critic Linda Hodges think of HADESTOWN at Orpheum Theatre? Right now, before reading the rest of this review, go online and buy your BroadwaySF tickets for Hadestown before the show sells out. It is that good. Playing now through July 3, 2022, Hadestown is song and story woven together then ripped apart and put back together again, all conspiring to grip your heart. And grip your heart it will.
April 21, 2022
Tootsie made its Northern California premiere at San Jose's Center for the Performing Arts and will be there now through April 24. With a Tony-winning book by Robert Horn, and with music and lyrics by the clever David Yazbek (The Band's Visit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Tootsie garnered eleven Tony nominations, two wins and much acclaim, as well as pointed critique centered on transmisogyny. There are other problems as well.
April 9, 2022
Broadway San Jose's limited run of Jonathan Larson's RENT is a glorious time of raw-energy rock, as well as a heartrending reminder to measure your life in love. Billed as the 'Farewell Tour,' supposedly being the final time the original Michael Greif staging will travel North America, the show packs up its bags after Sunday, April 10 - and you do not want to miss it.
December 5, 2021
For twenty-five years, Jonathan Larson’s RENT has inspired audiences to choose love over fear and to live without regret. But perhaps just as importantly, this Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning phenomenon celebrates artists and the raw courage and commitment they evince in daring to pursue their craft – almost always in a community of like-minded misfits, non-conformists and crazies. -- Linda Hodges
November 26, 2021
It’s 1962 and perky, pretty and plump teen Tracy Turnblad has dance moves that will never be seen unless she can find a way to get on the local teen dance show, “The Corny Collins Show.” Niki Metcalf shines as the effervescent, strong and kind Tracy Turnblad who dares to cross boundaries (she’s often in detention for her big hair-don’t) to stay true to herself. Playing now thru November 28th at Broadway San Jose, there’s still time to get your tickets and be carried away on dance wave of laughter and music from a phenomenal show with a stellar cast. Review by Linda Hodges
October 16, 2021
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s HAMILTON triumphantly took the stage at Broadway San Jose, returning to a changed world - as the masked patrons showing proof of vaccination at the door attested to. But more than that, in the intervening years since Miranda and his intrepid band of brothers (Alex Lacamoire, Andy Blankenbuehler and Thomas Kail) created the sound, look and feel of the nation’s origin story, the country today has undergone seismic shifts of great magnitudes.
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