DES MOINES - MUSICALS

by Jared Reynolds - December 12, 2025

Cozy, cute, and full of Christmas cheer. That’s what you get with Miracle on 34th Street. That was abound and aplenty at the Connecticut Theatre Company’s production of the motion picture classic! CTC’s production of Miracle on 34th Street kept the joy of the season at the heart of this production, ...

by Doug Poms - December 12, 2025

What did our critic think of A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS at Olney Theatre? Olney Theatre continues its lovely tradition of its annual rendering of Paul Morella’s one-person adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas.” Now in its 16th year, this r...

by Shelley Dean - December 12, 2025

The movie Elf is one of those films that sticks with you throughout your life; you remember the spaghetti, the syrup, and the unrivaled holiday cheer from the unique story. It’s only natural that a story full of this much nostalgia takes on a new life that honors its legacy. Enter Elf: The Musical. ...

by Vickie Evans - December 12, 2025

The event was a strong representation of the transformative power of the arts and the importance of creating platforms for Black playwrights and performers....

by Brett Cullum - December 12, 2025

Going into Irving Berlin’s WHITE CHRISTMAS, you already know what you are in for. Most people have seen the film starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, released in 1954....

by Gabby Ziccarelli - December 12, 2025

As the houselights dim at the Metropolitan Opera, the Julie Taymor–directed The Magic Flute transports viewers into a buoyant and kaleidoscopic fairy-tale dreamworld. This abridged, English-language production is a visually sumptuous version of Mozart's singspiel bathed in bold primary colors, shape...

by James Lindhorst - December 12, 2025

Director Will Bonfiglio, Music Director Larry D. Pry, Choreogrpaher Jo Palisoc, and the entire company deserve a lot of credit for their all in committed, peppy, and high-spirited production of a marginal show that is staged as a pet project far too often. There are thousands of musical theater asse...

by Franco Milazzo - December 12, 2025

There are many museums dedicated to disaster, but only Britain could create one in which the exhibits are victims of its own fiscal policies. Museum of Austerity, revived at the Young Vic, is a cool, technologically-slick indictment, a moral subpoena served directly to your eyeballs through augmente...

by Rakaputra Paputungan - December 12, 2025

On August 24, the theater production company Broadwayang put on their latest production, Mahar Kemerdekaan (“The Dowry of Independence”) at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta. It’s based on the true story of Indonesia’s founding fathers and how their love lives intertwine with the struggle for independence....

by Aliya Al-Hassan - December 12, 2025

What happens after Happily Ever After, after all? In Sondheim and Lapine’s beloved musical retelling of the Grimm classics, a parade of familiar folktale figures find their way “Into the Woods” and try to get home before dark—under the guidance of Mark Lamos, who dazzled us with A Little Night Music...