MADISON THEATER REVIEWS

Agatha Christie's Mousetrap has been running non-stop since it opened in 1952 on the West End. The film can't be made until the show runs its course, mystery lovers continue to see it long after the criminal has been found out, and those who have seen it already are sworn to absolute secrecy....

It's racist and homophobic. Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band is full of gay stereotypes and cringe worthy slang. It is politically incorrect in nearly every way. But, it's history. Boys is a snapshot into the past. A comedic, albeit bleak, look back to 1968 - before Stonewall and the major turn...

It's Romeo and Juliet with dancing, knives, and a taste for Americana. West Side Story, the nearly 60 year old Broadway musical, is deeply rooted in the musical theatre canon. A tale of two young lovers, separated by opposing street gangs explores dated (though still incredibly relevant) social ...

Can a woman achieve undeniable professional success and be a mother? Can she and her husband share an equal amount of achievement or is one always bound to be at least one step behind the other? Such are questions that Gina Gionfriddo's Rapture, Blister, Burn ponders while toeing the line between pr...

Overture Center Makes the Headlines with NEWSIES...

Marriage can be a foreign language. To some, the language comes easily. But, with time, the words can become meaningless as the motivation behind them lessens. The longer the relationship goes on, the more difficult it can become to comprehend the other person and know exactly what to say....

I don't often stay for the post show discussion. Ordinarily, the show stands on its own and I am content with that. Every once in a while, however, a show stirs something within me that insists I stay to hear what the cast or the directors have to say. American Players Theatre's latest production of...

Do you believe in fate? Some people do and some don't. Ordinarily, that belief does not make a bit of difference in the grand scheme of the world around them. In the world of Proper, however, not only is the concept of fate understood to be true, it is followed by almost religious devotion. Infan...

Luisa's husband makes movies. That is the simplest way to describe NINE (the musical based on the 1963 film 8 ½ by Federico Fellini) which follows the story of Guido Contini an Italian director who tries desperately to overcome his recent failings as a filmmaker. Overwhelmed by his desire to hav...

Colorful light bulbs hang from the stairwell beside the home of Stanley and Stella Kowalski - an omnipresent sign that New Orleans is a colorful city alight with parties. When those bulbs are off, however, they stand as an even more daunting reminder that life isn't always Mardi Gras....

One little swish of her tail and they were smitten. The girls who grew up admiring Ariel and humming her tunes can now have the same giddy feeling they used to get when that well-worn VHS slid into the machine. With the incomparable success of The Lion King, Disney set out to create its fair share o...

When the lights went out, there was no sound.  No applause, no cheering, and no uncomfortable laughing. Jim DeVita had silenced the audience in the Touchstone Theatre. That is the power of Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare's An Iliad....

There are quite a few things that out-of-towners don't understand about our great Dairy State: bubblers, cheese curds, cow tipping, and (probably) ice fishing. For many Wisconsinites, ice fishing is more than just a wintertime hobby - it's a way to reaffirm friendships and escape from the wider worl...

Violet is new in town and so is Capital City Theatre. Although the faces behind the company are not newcomers, they are setting out on a journey to bring accessible, professional, musical theatre to our fair city to further Madison's artistic prowess....

Dirty Dancing is essentially a stage tribute to the film from which its based, which is evident from the dialogue as it's taken almost verbatim from the movie. As are the iconic songs - even though only a fraction of the performers actually sing. Those actors that do sing are not main characters, wh...

In a world that is so meticulously run by big business, it often seems as though the universe itself revolves around the almighty dollar. Particularly in the reality for artists, the corporate world is rarely viewed as an entity of good. Rather, it is seen as a soul sucking enterprise that can leave...

It happens faster than one can fathom. A child acts out in a public space - one automatically looks to the parent's reaction. A slew of questions arise: does that happen often? What are you going to do about this? Why aren't you more upset? Why did you even bring your child here?...

Loosely based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and paired with some of Elvis Presley's most beloved music is a feel good show worth dancing to. All Shook Up has shimmied its way to the Fireside's stage and immersed its audiences in an atmosphere of intoxicating nostalgia....

'Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.' - Rudyard Kipling Kipling's musing on what it means to be a writer could not be truer. Broom Street Theater's latest original production, The Point of It All, tackles the sensitive subject of living with a drug addiction. Writer and Di...

Colorful buildings cascade down the walls of the Evjue Stage at the Bartell Theatre. When the lights are dim they appear to slowly fade into the darkness. It is only when the lights are fully illuminating the playing space that the images are melting into nothingness. Backgrounds become distorted un...

Even Madison's most dedicated theatrical hipsters have heard of [Title of Show] - the Broadway musical that effectively parodied a true story as well as the strenuous process of creating art. The show follows the plights of 'two nobodies in New York' as they attempt to create an award winning musica...

A quaint, well-loved home is where the scene is set. Minimal set dressings to mask the beautiful awkwardness of the first scene - with remnants of Anton Chekov's greatest works scattered upon the mantle. A seagull, a sister, a cluster of cherry blossoms, and a brood of hens watch over the home from ...

In the midst of the season of repentance for Catholics comes a musical drenched in symbolism. Begging answers to serious dilemmas that young people now face with the unchanging church. Bare: A Pop Musical does for the religious community what Rent did to the society at large regarding AIDS. It cries...

Many small Wisconsin towns thrive on their rich European history. In a state steeped in a melting pot of culture, it seems almost unreal that anyone would try to do away with any aspect of that existence. However, in the 1930's there was a push to demolish the crumbling stone houses that etched the ...

The musical that has had theatregoers buzzing since its premiere, The Book of Mormon, has finally made its way to Madison. It's a show so full of lewd behavior that one would almost have to assume it was written by the men behind the series South Park. That shock value - however - is what makes this...