Review: SAMARA JOY at Southern Theatre
by Paul Batterson - March 24, 2026
What did our critic think of SAMARA JOY at Southern Theatre? When people describe Samara Joy as an “American jazz singer,” they aren’t wrong. But they’re missing the point....
Review: MISS SAIGON at Short North Stage
by Paul Batterson - March 23, 2026
Short North Stage is never one to back down from a challenge. At the end of every season, the Columbus theatre group asks its audience what shows it would like to see the following season....
Review: JAJA'S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING at The Contemporary Theatre Of Ohio
by Paul Batterson - March 10, 2026
Whether it is Floyd’s Barber Shop in THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Truvy’s Beauty Salon in STEEL MAGNOLIAS or even the Suburban Salon in EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, hair care is the center of society. Gossip is distributed like shampoo, lies are covered up like hair dye, and life’s tangled knots are cut aw...
Review: COLUMBUS CHILDREN'S THEATRE'S CABARET at Riffe Center
by Paul Batterson - February 23, 2026
In the Columbus Children’s Theatre production of CABARET, nothing is what it appears to be. A line can be repeated but cast a completely different meaning and things that are commonplace in the first act take on a darker symbolic meaning by the second....
Review: LES MISERABLES at Ohio Theatre
by Paul Batterson - January 29, 2026
Reviewing the revered LES MISERABLES is always a mixed bag. The show, running Jan. 27–Feb. 1 at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State Street, downtown Columbus), is a towering piece of musical theater history. It has a cadre of powerful songs (“Do You Hear The People Sing?,” “I Dreamed a Dream,” a...