Paul Batterson
In 25 years of working with newspapers and magazines, Paul Batterson has had the pleasure of interviewing wide variety of people, from Phil Campbell of Motorhead to David Hasselhoff to the San Diego chicken. He was born in Columbus, graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia and spent three years in Frankfurt, Germany before returning to Columbus. He lives here with his wife, Nancy, and children Alicia and Grant.
BWW Review: QUARANTINE WITH THE CLAUSES at Short North Stage
BWW Review: MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT at Columbus Immersive Theatre
BWW Review: ROCKY HORROR SHOW at Columbus Immersive Theater
BWW Review: THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB at Curtain Players
BWW Review: MARK CRABTREE'S WHEN PIGS FLY at Short North StageBWW Review: MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT at Columbus Immersive Theatre
March 22, 2021
Before its 2004 debut on Broadway, MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT, Eric Idle’s musical take on the cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, raised a few eyebrows. Python purists wondered if a musical could capture the lunacy of the 1975 film. Broadway aficionados wondered if there would be a place for Monty Python’s brand of humor on the Great White Way.
BWW Review: QUARANTINE WITH THE CLAUSES at Short North Stage
December 17, 2020
The world premiere of the 90-minute musical can be viewed online between Dec. 10-27 by making a donation on ShortNorthStage.org.
BWW Review: ROCKY HORROR SHOW at Columbus Immersive Theater
October 25, 2020
For the show to be successful, the audience must be engaged with the performance.
BWW Review: MARK CRABTREE'S WHEN PIGS FLY at Short North Stage
October 5, 2020
Stage version of HOWARD CRABTREE'S WHEN PIGS FLY, the silence can be almost deafening.
BWW Review: THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB at Curtain Players
September 15, 2020
In the play,THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB, a group of female swimmers return each year to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a weekend rendezvous of drinking and playing catch-up on each other's lives. Curtain Players' season-opening production of this five-women play feels much the same way.
BWW Reviews: Short North Stage Brings YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN to Life
March 9, 2020
a??a??a??a??a??a??a??Consider this entry from the 'If at first you don't succeed' department. A young television writer is recruited to write a book for the musical SHINBONE ALLEY. Haven't heard of it? That's not too surprising. It lasted a little over a month and closed on Broadway after 49 performances. Undaunted, he writes the first act for another musical, ALL-AMERICAN five years later. It also flops, closing on Broadway after 80 performances.
BWW REVIEWS: ANASTASIA is Not a Botox Version of the Animated Movie
January 31, 2020
When the movie ANASTASIA was released in 1996, somewhere someone was humming along with the score of the 20th Century Fox film and thought 'This might make a fantastic musical.' It took nearly 20 years but the faith in the concept is paying off.
BWW Review: MEAN GIRLS Makes the Transformation From Movie to Musical
October 26, 2019
In the television show, 30 Rock, Tracy Jordan, the self-centered actor played by Tracy Morgan, decides his life-goal is to EGOT (meaning to capture Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards). Jordan asks Whoopi Goldberg, an EGOT winner herself, for advice.
BWW Review: BWW REVIEWS: BACK TO BEING A DUO, PAGE SHINES AGAIN IN NEWARK at 31 West Ballroom
October 21, 2019
BWW Interviews: Bare No More Former BNL Front Man Turns Over a New Page
October 7, 2019
Even after close to three decades of performing, sales of over 15 million records, twice being named as group of the year at the Juno awards, and a selection into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Steven Page still feels he has to win his audience over at every show.
BWW REVIEWS: DEAR EVAN, Thanks For Everything. Sincerely, Columbus.
September 19, 2019
As it did at the Tony Awards, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, the 2017 award winner for Best Musical, rolls into Columbus on the tails of HAMILTON, the 2016 Tony Award winner which played in the Ohio Theatre in the Spring. Although the style of music and subject manner are hard to compare, there are many similarities between the two. The most striking of these unlikely storylines for a musical with HAMILTON taking the life of America's founding father Alexander Hamilton while DEAR EVAN HANSEN confronts many of the problems facing teens and parents currently. Like HAMILTON, DEAR EVAN HANSEN gets style points for originality with a powerful message and memorable score that stays with you for days.
BWW reviews: NPAC presents a sweltering performance of KISS ME KATE
September 16, 2019
The second act of the Northland Performing Arts Center & Vaud-Villities Production of KISS ME KATE opens with Cole Porter's classic 'Too Darn Hot.' It turned out to be a fitting anthem for the evening production. The temperatures hit in the high 80s-90s mark on the thermometer and the performance of the 22-member cast made the shirts of the audience sit to the back of their chairs.
BWW Interview: Anthony Focuses on role, Cartoon Network as He Takes Lead in DEAR EVAN HANSEN
September 3, 2019
When Stephen Christopher Anthony first saw the show DEAR EVAN HANSEN, he marveled at the performance of Benjamin Platt, his former cast mate in THE BOOK OF MORMON, in the title role. Platt went on to win the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his portrayal of Hansen.
BWW Interview: Spraggan Is Anything But An Overnight Success
June 25, 2019
Midway through her opening song on June 23 at the Rumba Cafe in Columbus, singersongwriter Lucy Spraggan's eyes widened in surprise as the audience picked up the chorus of 'In a State.'
BWW Reviews: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Retooled And Ready To Rock
June 17, 2019
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, which makes its triumphant return to the Short North Stage's Garden Theatre (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus) this June, is a musical that thrives in its awkward pauses. It is one-part comedy, two parts heartbreaking exposition of a soul-bearing torment, blended together with a pulsating rock soundtrack.
BWW Reviews: FINDING NEVERLAND Much Lighter Fare Than Real Life of Peter Pan Author J.M. Barrie
June 5, 2019
Reality is often dirty, gritty, depressing and discouraging. Such is the case with FINDING NEVERLAND, the musical written by James Graham with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy. The national tour of the two-act musical takes up residency June 4-9 at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State Street in downtown Columbus).
BWW Reviews: SNS' PIPPIN Leaves Its Performers Hanging But Not The Audience
March 25, 2019
Performing as the Leading Player in Short North Stage's production of PIPPIN, Knicole faces a whole new set of challenges, including singing upside down from a trapeze six feet off the ground. PIPPIN, which runs from March 21-April 14 at the Garden Theatre (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus), could be best described as a circus. The SNS production features a host of performers in clown white as well as some Cirque Du Soleil-like acrobatics in its retelling of Pippin's search for meaning in his life.
BWW Reviews: Larson Left His Mark with RENT
March 21, 2019
It's with a touch of sadness that RENT celebrates its 20th anniversary of its first national tour. The national tour company of the Jonathan Larson musical about artists trying to make it big in New York City rolled into Columbus for an eight-show stay March 19-24 at the Palace Theatre (34 West Broad St. in downtown Columbus).
BWW reviews: Hotel California's Concert with Columbus Symphony A Little Too Peaceful, A Little Too Easy
February 27, 2019
A friend once joked the Eagles were 'the official band of old WASP men everywhere.' To test the person's theory, another woman asked her husband, himself old, fat and balding, 'Honey, you like the Eagles, don't you?' The man, who missed out the set up of this conversation, exclaimed 'I looooove the Eagles.'
BWW Reviews: Tyrone leads the charge in HAND OF GOD's return to Short North Stage
February 10, 2019
March 22, 2021
Before its 2004 debut on Broadway, MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT, Eric Idle’s musical take on the cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, raised a few eyebrows. Python purists wondered if a musical could capture the lunacy of the 1975 film. Broadway aficionados wondered if there would be a place for Monty Python’s brand of humor on the Great White Way.
BWW Review: QUARANTINE WITH THE CLAUSES at Short North Stage
December 17, 2020
The world premiere of the 90-minute musical can be viewed online between Dec. 10-27 by making a donation on ShortNorthStage.org.
BWW Review: ROCKY HORROR SHOW at Columbus Immersive Theater
October 25, 2020
For the show to be successful, the audience must be engaged with the performance.
BWW Review: MARK CRABTREE'S WHEN PIGS FLY at Short North Stage
October 5, 2020
Stage version of HOWARD CRABTREE'S WHEN PIGS FLY, the silence can be almost deafening.
BWW Review: THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB at Curtain Players
September 15, 2020
In the play,THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB, a group of female swimmers return each year to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a weekend rendezvous of drinking and playing catch-up on each other's lives. Curtain Players' season-opening production of this five-women play feels much the same way.
BWW Reviews: Short North Stage Brings YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN to Life
March 9, 2020
a??a??a??a??a??a??a??Consider this entry from the 'If at first you don't succeed' department. A young television writer is recruited to write a book for the musical SHINBONE ALLEY. Haven't heard of it? That's not too surprising. It lasted a little over a month and closed on Broadway after 49 performances. Undaunted, he writes the first act for another musical, ALL-AMERICAN five years later. It also flops, closing on Broadway after 80 performances.
BWW REVIEWS: ANASTASIA is Not a Botox Version of the Animated Movie
January 31, 2020
When the movie ANASTASIA was released in 1996, somewhere someone was humming along with the score of the 20th Century Fox film and thought 'This might make a fantastic musical.' It took nearly 20 years but the faith in the concept is paying off.
BWW Review: MEAN GIRLS Makes the Transformation From Movie to Musical
October 26, 2019
In the television show, 30 Rock, Tracy Jordan, the self-centered actor played by Tracy Morgan, decides his life-goal is to EGOT (meaning to capture Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards). Jordan asks Whoopi Goldberg, an EGOT winner herself, for advice.
BWW Review: BWW REVIEWS: BACK TO BEING A DUO, PAGE SHINES AGAIN IN NEWARK at 31 West Ballroom
October 21, 2019
BWW Interviews: Bare No More Former BNL Front Man Turns Over a New Page
October 7, 2019
Even after close to three decades of performing, sales of over 15 million records, twice being named as group of the year at the Juno awards, and a selection into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Steven Page still feels he has to win his audience over at every show.
BWW REVIEWS: DEAR EVAN, Thanks For Everything. Sincerely, Columbus.
September 19, 2019
As it did at the Tony Awards, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, the 2017 award winner for Best Musical, rolls into Columbus on the tails of HAMILTON, the 2016 Tony Award winner which played in the Ohio Theatre in the Spring. Although the style of music and subject manner are hard to compare, there are many similarities between the two. The most striking of these unlikely storylines for a musical with HAMILTON taking the life of America's founding father Alexander Hamilton while DEAR EVAN HANSEN confronts many of the problems facing teens and parents currently. Like HAMILTON, DEAR EVAN HANSEN gets style points for originality with a powerful message and memorable score that stays with you for days.
BWW reviews: NPAC presents a sweltering performance of KISS ME KATE
September 16, 2019
The second act of the Northland Performing Arts Center & Vaud-Villities Production of KISS ME KATE opens with Cole Porter's classic 'Too Darn Hot.' It turned out to be a fitting anthem for the evening production. The temperatures hit in the high 80s-90s mark on the thermometer and the performance of the 22-member cast made the shirts of the audience sit to the back of their chairs.
BWW Interview: Anthony Focuses on role, Cartoon Network as He Takes Lead in DEAR EVAN HANSEN
September 3, 2019
When Stephen Christopher Anthony first saw the show DEAR EVAN HANSEN, he marveled at the performance of Benjamin Platt, his former cast mate in THE BOOK OF MORMON, in the title role. Platt went on to win the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his portrayal of Hansen.
BWW Interview: Spraggan Is Anything But An Overnight Success
June 25, 2019
Midway through her opening song on June 23 at the Rumba Cafe in Columbus, singersongwriter Lucy Spraggan's eyes widened in surprise as the audience picked up the chorus of 'In a State.'
BWW Reviews: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Retooled And Ready To Rock
June 17, 2019
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, which makes its triumphant return to the Short North Stage's Garden Theatre (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus) this June, is a musical that thrives in its awkward pauses. It is one-part comedy, two parts heartbreaking exposition of a soul-bearing torment, blended together with a pulsating rock soundtrack.
BWW Reviews: FINDING NEVERLAND Much Lighter Fare Than Real Life of Peter Pan Author J.M. Barrie
June 5, 2019
Reality is often dirty, gritty, depressing and discouraging. Such is the case with FINDING NEVERLAND, the musical written by James Graham with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy. The national tour of the two-act musical takes up residency June 4-9 at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State Street in downtown Columbus).
BWW Reviews: SNS' PIPPIN Leaves Its Performers Hanging But Not The Audience
March 25, 2019
Performing as the Leading Player in Short North Stage's production of PIPPIN, Knicole faces a whole new set of challenges, including singing upside down from a trapeze six feet off the ground. PIPPIN, which runs from March 21-April 14 at the Garden Theatre (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus), could be best described as a circus. The SNS production features a host of performers in clown white as well as some Cirque Du Soleil-like acrobatics in its retelling of Pippin's search for meaning in his life.
BWW Reviews: Larson Left His Mark with RENT
March 21, 2019
It's with a touch of sadness that RENT celebrates its 20th anniversary of its first national tour. The national tour company of the Jonathan Larson musical about artists trying to make it big in New York City rolled into Columbus for an eight-show stay March 19-24 at the Palace Theatre (34 West Broad St. in downtown Columbus).
BWW reviews: Hotel California's Concert with Columbus Symphony A Little Too Peaceful, A Little Too Easy
February 27, 2019
A friend once joked the Eagles were 'the official band of old WASP men everywhere.' To test the person's theory, another woman asked her husband, himself old, fat and balding, 'Honey, you like the Eagles, don't you?' The man, who missed out the set up of this conversation, exclaimed 'I looooove the Eagles.'
BWW Reviews: Tyrone leads the charge in HAND OF GOD's return to Short North Stage
February 10, 2019
