Charlotte Theater Reviews

Feature: The National Black Theatre Festival Is Back
by Vickie Evans - August 02, 2022

'Put On Your Purple And Black...The National Black Theatre Festival Is Back'. Yes! Yes! Yes! The premiere 'crème de la crop' theatre festival for people of all colors is back after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. People from all over the world gather onto what is referred to as 'holy ground' in W...

Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Belk Theater
by Perry Tannenbaum - July 28, 2022

Amid a banquet of juicy roles doled out by Aaron Sorkin in his adaptation of Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Richard Thomas feasts the fullest, delivering the most powerful, staggering work I’ve seen from him in my 59+ years of watching his most memorable performances live on Broadway, live in C...

Review: SISTER ACT at Matthews Playhouse
by Perry Tannenbaum - July 22, 2022

We may have underestimated Cheri and Bill Steinkellner's musical adaptation of Paul Rudnick's SISTER ACT screenplay, moving the action from Vegas to Philly and making the show more character-driven. It actually works better on the smaller community theater stage at Matthews Playhouse than the big st...

BWW Review: UNTIL THE FLOOD at Spoleto's Festival Hall
by Perry Tannenbaum - June 09, 2022

UNTIL THE FLOOD is an amazing, transformative theatre experience, a lesson for us all - including playwright Dael Orlandersmith, who researched it in Ferguson and St. Louis, Missouri....

BWW Review: THE APPROACH at Landmark Productions
by Perry Tannenbaum - June 05, 2022

...

BWW Review: HAMILTON Returns To Charlotte Post Pandemic at Belk Theatre
by Vickie Evans - April 29, 2022

Read our critic's review. 'Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!' I heard myself screaming loudly in sync with the other 2,000 plus fans at the Belk Theatre, located in the heart of Uptown Charlotte, as we rendered a standing ovation to the incredible splendor of the Tony award-winning musical, Hamilton (winner of ...

BWW Review: KAT EDMONSON Brings Latenight Chic to Middle C
by Perry Tannenbaum - April 15, 2022

With a mix of perennial favorites and time-tested originals, KAT EDMONSON made her long-anticipated Charlotte debut, charming a latenight Middle C Jazz Club audience...

BWW Review: Patti LaBelle Takes the Stage at Belk Theater
by Vickie Evans - March 14, 2022

'When You Talk About Love'...You Must Be Talking About Ms. Patti LaBelle. Ms. LaBelle Performed At The Belk Theater, In Charlotte, NC. This Timeless Beauty Always Delivers A Fun Time Of Chart-Topping Songs Filled With Joy And Amusement....

BWW Review: CHLOE' ARNOLD'S SYNCOPATED LADIES LIVE! at Knight Theater
by Vickie Evans - February 24, 2022

Syncopated Ladies, founded by Chloe' Arnold, is the most viewed female tap dance band in history. They were recognized by Beyonce, whose support catapulted them on a global platform....

BWW Review: STEP AFRIKA! at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center's Booth Playhouse
by Vickie Evans - February 23, 2022

Step Afrika! An infusion of drums, dance, and singing that foretells the true uprising of the Stono Rebellion that birth The Negro Act of 1740....

BWW Review: RAVEL PIANO CONCERTO at Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
by Perry Tannenbaum - January 30, 2022

Stewart Goodyear was scintillating in his Charlotte Symphony debut, but the Stravinsky-Weill lineup that followed wasn't an anticlimax....

BWW Review: AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG at Belk Theater
by Vickie Evans - January 24, 2022

Ain’t Too Proud To Beg (ATPTB), The Life and Times Of The Temptations, based on the book by Dominique Morisseau, is a compelling, “tell-all” biographical musical about the triumphs and trials of Motown’s number one male group....

BWW Review: BNS Productions Present BLACK NAVITY
by Vickie Evans - December 19, 2021

BNS Productions present an adaptation of the Langston Hughes classic, 'Black Nativity', directed by Jermaine Nakia Lee...

BWW Review: A CONVERSATION WITH STACEY ABRAMS at Ovens Auditiorium
by Vickie Evans - November 23, 2021

A Conversation With Stacey Abrams was phenomenal, fun, and frank. This political advocate made such impact sharing her professional and personal life. The audience walked away educated, enlightened, and entertained. I was so glad to be 'in the room'....

BWW Review: BNS Productions Encore Presentation: MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM at Duke Energy Theater
by Vickie Evans - September 10, 2021

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is one of ten of August Wilson's productions about the African American experience. Ma Rainey depicts the life of the famous blues singer, Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey, and Black Bottom is one of the songs she made famous. BNS Productions, based in Charlotte, NC, did an excellent ...

BWW Review: Warehouse PAC's SWEAT Deploys Stellar Cast on Stellar Script
by Perry Tannenbaum - August 02, 2021

Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning SWEAT analyses the effects of NAFTA on steelworkers in Reading, PA - a microcosm of why blue-collar and union workers jumped out of the pockets of Democratic politicians in the 2000 election and how the seeds of xenophobic Trumpism were first planted...

Three Bone Theatre Responds to this Moment with HANDS UP
by Perry Tannenbaum - November 22, 2020

As relevant and compelling as it was back in 2014 in responding to Michael Brown, HANDS UP is a perfect way for Three Bone Theatre to return to the Charlotte scene, more activist and more woke....

BWW Review: Symphony Bolsters CHOPIN PIANO CONCERTO With Improved Beethoven
by Perry Tannenbaum - February 22, 2020

An R&J Valentine's Day theme, an ongoing Beethoven celebration, and a CHOPIN PIANO CONCERTO that few at Charlotte Symphony had likely played before were the crisscrossing storylines at the latest classics series concert at Knight Theater....

BWW Review: Sports Seasons and Generations Clash in Brand New Sheriff's FENCES
by Perry Tannenbaum - February 13, 2020

Their third dive into August Wilson's ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle, Brand New Sheriff's FENCES may be their best yet, with an outstanding cast, led by Jonavan Adams - and an outstanding director, Corlis Hayes, who has been here before....

BWW Review: Matthews MAMMA MIA! Mixes Summer Romance and Autumn Regret
by Perry Tannenbaum - February 08, 2020

Director Billy Ensley has lured a bevy of seasoned Charlotte musical stars to a fine looking Matthews Playhouse production of MAMMA MIA! - and he has found a sensational newcomer to ignite the action....

BWW Review: Cherokee Nation Claims Territory Next to APPALACHIAN SPRING
by Perry Tannenbaum - February 01, 2020

Two American warhorses, Samuel Barber's 'Adagio' and Aaron Copland's APPALACHIAN SPRING, topped the marquee, but William Brittelle's 'Si Otsedoha' stole the show at Charlotte Symphony's all-American concert at Belk Theater....

BWW Review: A Disfigured War Vet Struggles to Find – and See – Herself in UGLY LIES THE BONE
by Perry Tannenbaum - January 30, 2020

With Andrea King as a disfigured war vet going through an excruciating rehab in Three Bone Theatre's UGLY LIES THE BONE, it's a perverse pleasure to have Scott Tynes-Miller and Peter Finnegan making asses of of themselves as they make the road to recovery that much tougher....

BWW Review: Sher Tinkers With MY FAIR LADY, Recalibrating Its Perfections
by Perry Tannenbaum - January 24, 2020

Bartlett Sher fiddles with the legendary perfection of MY FAIR LADY, freshly illuminating the characters of Professor Higgins, Eliza, and Freddy - while risking unexpected tech difficulties....

BWW Review: BE A LION RETURNS...BETTER THAN EVER!
by Vickie Evans - December 18, 2019

Broadway World awarded musical, Be A Lion, written by Rory D. Sheriff, who recently won a?oeBest Directora?? at the Atlanta Black Theater Festival, returns with improvements and upgrades to the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center's Duke Energy Theater, at Spirit Square....