Des Moines Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 8

BWW Review: BASKERVILLE: A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY at Des Moines Playhouse-The Game is Afoot!
by DC Felton - January 27, 2019

The game is afoot at the Des Moines Playhouse as they continue with their 100th season. This weekend they opened Ken Ludwig's 'Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery' and the audience was eager and ready to play along. While familiarity with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' w...

BWW Review: ORDINARY DAYS REVIEW - NOTHING SHORT OF EXTRAORDINARY at Tallgrass Theatre
by Denise Forney - January 26, 2019

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BWW Review: THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE at Kate Goldman Children's Theatre-Des Moines Playhouse-A Miraculous Journey
by DC Felton - January 13, 2019

Journeys take us to all sorts of amazing places. Some come in big sizes and are meant to be fun. Others come in the small size of a toy bunny made of china. 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane', takes audiences on an amazing journey with a toy bunny made of china, on a journey where he learns t...

BWW Review: HAMILTON at Des Moines Civic Center
by Jenifer Brown - July 06, 2018

If you live in the Des Moines area and not under a rock, chances are you know that Hamilton is playing at the Des Moines Civic Center. The critically-acclaimed hip-hop musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda about the 'Ten Dollar Founding Father' is here from June 27-July 15. Des Moines was chosen to host the...

BWW Review: RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN at Iowa Stage Theatre Company
by Nolan Boggess - May 17, 2018

While the characters are dealing with heavy political and personal issues, Iowa Stage Theatre Company's Rapture, Blister, Burn, directed by Kristin Larson, is a delightful and thought provoking comedy with uncomfortably relatable characters making it a must see....

BWW Review: RAGTIME at The Des Moines Playhouse
by Nolan Boggess - April 08, 2018

From Harry Houdini, to baseball, to Booker T. Washington, to the American Dream, Des Moines Playhouse's production of Ragtime covers a lot of ground - ten years to be exact. In presenting an encyclopedic glance of these ten years from 1902 - 1912, the musical, with book by Terrence McNally, lyrics b...

BWW Review: SWEENEY TODD at Kansas City Repertory Theatre
by Alan Portner - March 31, 2018

An outstanding cast opened Kansas City Repertory Theatre's new production of Steven Sondheim's 1979 'Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' at the Spencer Theater on the UMKC campus. KC Rep Artistic Director Eric Rosen does more than justice to Sondheim's incredible operatic score and the...

BWW Review: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at Kata Klysmic Productions
by Nolan Boggess - February 26, 2018

Somewhere in between the high heel kicking, lap dancing, water spitting, wig switching and rocking music, I fell in love with Kata Klysmic's production of Hedwig and The Angry Inch. This feeling must have come towards the beginning of the show, as I do not remember one second where the momentum of t...

BWW Review: TURANDOT triumphs at Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre
by Zachary James - January 25, 2018

Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre presented Puccini's epic Turandot as part of the company's Twentieth Anniversary season, January 19th and 21st at the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Cedar Rapids, delivering a handsome production, richly adorned with all the spectacle and vocal fireworks one could ...

BWW Review: DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID at The Des Moines Playhouse
by Nolan Boggess - December 22, 2017

It is somewhat of an unspoken rule in community theatre that if it's Disney, it sells. This magic word, in combination with the team that made the Cloris Award-sweeping Young Frankenstein last summer, ought to make the Playhouse's production a surefire hit. Luckily, the math adds up for the Playhous...

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL Brings Comfort and Joy at Iowa Stage Theatre Company
by Zachary James - December 18, 2017

Love and joy come to you , and come to you it may if you have the chance to join Iowa Stage Theatre Company as they bring 2017 to a close with A Christmas Carol. In this digital age as we increasingly turn to our screens for happy endorphins, the holidays are the perfect time to partake in the unfo...

BWW Review: WAITRESS Serves at Des Moines Civic Center
by Zachary James - December 17, 2017

The most important ingredient in every great recipe is love and it's not a secret element in the formula that made the hit musical, Waitress. She is rich with love in heaping scoops and I, for one, am ready for seconds....

BWW Review: UNNECESSARY FARCE at Ankeny Community Theatre
by Nolan Boggess - August 06, 2017

What do you get when two undercover cops, a clueless mayor, his wife, a security guard, an accountant and the Scottish mob collide in two conjoining motel rooms set somewhere in the middle of America? The answer has to be a poorly thought out joke or the play Unnecessary Farce by Paul Slade Smith, w...

BWW Review: THE AMEN CORNER at Pyramid Theatre Company
by Nolan Boggess - July 31, 2017

Redemption is on the mind in Pyramid Theatre Company's The Amen Corner, the classic James Baldwin show that completes Pyramid's summer season. Baldwin's play often rests on questions concerning redemption, sacrifice, and spirituality making the show a fitting choice for Pyramid after two successful ...

BWW Review: GUYS & DOLLS at Urbandale Community Theatre
by Nolan Boggess - July 30, 2017

Although Urbandale Community Theatre's dedication to producing classic shows may be safer than putting on contemporary pieces, a classic must be done in a fresh way in order to convince the audience that the show must be seen. This production remains fresh enough to receive that seal of approval and...

BWW Review: MISSISSIPPI GODDAMN at Pyramid Theatre Company
by Nolan Boggess - July 28, 2017

In times of great distress, fear can make people do terrible things. It can push wives to turn on husbands, mothers to turn on children, and neighbors to turn on neighbors. This idea surrounds Mississippi Goddamn, a new play by Jonathan Norton that received its first official staging at Pyramid Thea...

BWW Review: THE MUSIC MAN at The Des Moines Playhouse
by Nolan Boggess - July 15, 2017

This production of The Music Man will lift your spirits and remind you of a great staple of American musical theatre, even if it does need some modern rewrites....