PHILADELPHIA THEATER REVIEWS

Bucks County Playhouse's reimagined Evita, directed by Will Pomerantz, is one of the most creatively staged productions of the Andrew Lloyd Webber hit to come along in years. Evita, which chronicles the rise and fall of Eva Perón, shines a spotlight on the controversial icon whose life and death li...

Dear Evan Hansen will pour your heart fit to overflow and then spend an hour eyedroppering it over the brim. The Tony-hoarding show has juggernaut bones and design. Despite less-than-lustrous vocal performance from greenhorn show star Anthony Norman, the touring cast does it earnest justice with sta...

The Kimmel Cultural Campus has a masterful work currently playing at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, before heading out on the rest of its first national tour. Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s to Kill a Mockingbird, directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, is a powerhouse of a...

What did our critic think of INTO THE WOODS at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia? A fresh and innovative take on the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine classical musical. The acting and vocal delivery from the ensemble cast let the James Lapine book shine through while giving the audience a lavis...

There is no easy or simple way to discuss the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Seth Rozin’s world premiere play, Settlements, which opened last night at InterAct Theatre Company, centers on exactly that—not the conflict itself, but the discussion around it....

The national tour of Waitress, featuring music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, opened at the Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Academy of Music last night, where it is set to run through Sunday, April 3....

Arden Theatre Company, which returned to the stage this past January with a triumphant production of A Streetcar Named Desire, is back with the world premiere of R. Eric Thomas’ Backing Track....

The national tour of Daniel Fish’s reimagined Oklahoma!, now playing at the Forrest Theatre, is Oklahoma! like you’ve never seen it. Darker and sultrier than you ever imagined Rodgers & Hammerstein’s magnum opus could be, this production makes an almost 80-year-old musical feel not only modern...

The jukebox musical is a genre of musical theatre that is not always easy to get right. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which opened last night at the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy of Music, is an example of a jukebox musical done perfectly....

The Tony Award-winning Hadestown gets the audience on their feet on opening night at the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy of Music. Don't miss Broadway's deviously upbeat mythical musical tragedy, here through Feb. 20....

The underworld has never felt hotter. The first national tour of Hadestown, the eight-time Tony Award-winning musical by Anaïs Mitchell and director Rachel Chavkin, opened last night, Wednesday, February 9th at the Academy of Music on the Kimmel Cultural Campus and is set to run through Sunday, Feb...

A modest audience was drawn into the reeks and roars of a rare production of Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy on Saturday night around the intimate, runway-style stage at Quintessence Theater in Philadelphia, directed by Alexaner Burns. Actor Steven Anthony Wright leaving a definitive stamp on a c...

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater heated up a subdued and snow-drenched Philly audience January 28 – 30 with an admirable, often stunning return to the stage at the Kimmel Cultural Campus’ Academy of Music, ending a long, pandemic-driven tour hiatus....

After a long two-year wait, the Arden Theatre Company has finally brought the curtain up on its highly anticipated production of Tennessee Williams' 'A Streetcar Named Desire.' Originally slated for March 2020, the Arden's 'Streetcar' officially opened last night to a packed, masked, and vaxxed hous...

Philadelphia Ballet Presents The Nutcracker at The Academy of Music in Center City. For the first time since COVID, the ballet returns to the Kimmel Campus...

The North American Tour of Anastasia-the sweeping, alternate-history/fairytale musical based on the animated 1997 film-journeyed to Philadelphia's Merriam Theater last night. Anastasia features a book by theatre luminary Terrence McNally, and a score by the Tony Award -winning team of Stephen Flaher...

The Garbologist, a captivating and entertaining new play written by Lindsay Joelle opens the 2021-2022 Season by the Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC).  It will be onstage through December 5th.  Don’t miss this two-hander! ...

On October 22, 2021, Opera Philadelphia began streaming its rendition of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. This staging is a judiciously cut two-hour-and-forty-eight-minute production by Opera Philadelphia, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, San Diego Opera, and Palm Beach Opera. Each company is choosing...

Hamilton is being presented at the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Academy of Music from Wednesday, October 20, 2021 - Sunday, November 28, 2021. ...

Dragonbutter is a multi-sensory experience is an ambitious project set in an 8,000-square-foot warehouse located at 200 Spring Garden Street. Dragonbutter is spread out through multiple themed rooms where each room challenges players with mini-riddles, and dramatic physical performances, leading up ...

Wilma Theater’s Fat Ham is a witty take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet where the only death is the patriarchy.Let's see what BWW's critic had to say......

Theatre Exile invites you to check into Zoo Motel, a virtual odyssey that combines interactive live theater, gripping storytelling, cinematic illusions, and magic all in one creative hour of surprises....

Soldier Songs is a filmed opera that tells about the life and memories of a returning soldier. Composer and librettist David T. Little says this concept took shape when Johnathan McCullough approached Little with an idea for a production of the opera involving an Airstream. When the pandemic happene...

On January 8, 2021, Opera Philadelphia presented Bon Appétit! a Sweet Soirée. Mezzo-Soprano Jamie Barton portrayed  Julia Child and Jonathan Easter accompanied her with Hoiby’s sparkling, decorative piano score. Keep the Music Going Directors Ryan and Tonya McKinny provided the superb audio and...

Releasing a CD of vocal works entirely made up of 20th and 21st century composers is a brave and bold effort on his part....