Pittsburgh Theater Reviews

Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Makes for a Monster Hit at Pittsburgh CLO
by Greg Kerestan - July 22, 2024

Sometimes, smaller, dumber and cheaper is a compliment, not a put-down, as in this miniaturized Mel Brooks classic....

Review: CHEEK TO CHEEK Is Sincerely Old-Fashioned at Saint Vincent Summer Theatre
by Greg Kerestan - July 18, 2024

Irving Berlin's songs are both timeless, and also thoroughly of their own time and place....

Review: VERY BERRY DEAD Makes a Big Impression at Big Storm Performance Company
by Greg Kerestan - July 14, 2024

José Pérez IV's new tragicomedy feels like it's always been around, but still remains refreshing and new....

Review: THE MUSIC MAN Is Still Charming at Pittsburgh CLO
by Greg Kerestan - July 11, 2024

I'll admit, I had a huge smile on my face all the way through The Music Man that had little to nothing to do with the production itself. You see, I'm a nerd and a theatre kid in my thirties, and to that demographic, there was a cultural phenomenon just as big as Monty Python and Star Trek were to Ge...

Review: UNNECESSARY FARCE Updates the Formula at Saint Vincent Summer Theatre
by Greg Kerestan - June 28, 2024

The funny thing about farce as a genre is it seems to be perpetually stuck in the past; the constant misunderstandings, cross-dressing and door-slamming seem tied to a time before the internet, before cell phones... hell, maybe even before the Pill. It's a Ken Ludwig world that seems tied to the Ken...

Review: THE COLOR PURPLE Brings All the Feels at Pittsburgh CLO
by Greg Kerestan - June 28, 2024

As a literature major, part of me has always found it unbelievable that tight, two-hour adaptations of Alice Walker's The Color Purple have been so successful. The novel is sprawling, complex and dense, with an epistolary structure not unlike the similarly tricky-to-adapt Dracula. Nonetheless, my st...

Review: WEST SIDE STORY Makes a Classic Feel Fresh at Pittsburgh CLO
by Greg Kerestan - June 13, 2024

There is no greater musical theatre staging preservationist than Baayork Lee, who has devoted much of her career to preserving and restaging the original direction and choreography to A Chorus Line. ...

Review: LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL at Pittsburgh CLO Is Brilliant, Hard to Watch
by Greg Kerestan - June 07, 2024

It's a tale as old as time: the downward spiral of a once-brilliant talent into substance abuse and early death. It's the second half of the 'star is born' template, and it never goes out of style... because it sadly never stops happening in real life. The list is long, with Amy Winehouse as the rec...

Review: THE COFFIN MAKER Deftly Blends Genres at Pittsburgh Public Theater
by Greg Kerestan - June 05, 2024

Folks, this is a first. I've been writing reviews for BWW for about ten years now, and rarely have I seen a new work that so deftly and fearlessly blends genres and tones together. Director Monteze Freeland and playwright Mark Clayton Southers have achieved the impossible: The Coffin Maker is an exe...

Review: THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES Sings the Hits at Saint Vincent Summer Theatre
by Greg Kerestan - May 30, 2024

It's an oldie but a goodie, and packed with oldies-but-goodies....

Review: A... MY NAME IS STILL ALICE Brings Back the 90s at Front Porch Theatricals
by Greg Kerestan - May 22, 2024

It's the best episode of 90s SNL that you never saw....

Review: News and Tunes at SUMMER THEATRE GALA at Saint Vincent Summer Theatre
by Greg Kerestan - April 15, 2024

I've posted many times about how much of an institution Saint Vincent Summer Theatre has become: you know you're going to get a slapstick farce, a Golden Age or earlier revue, and usually a musical comedy with pop oldies. ...

Review: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Zips Along at Pittsburgh Public Theater
by Greg Kerestan - April 05, 2024

Oscar Wilde's comedy of manners, lightly reconceived as a screwball farce, is a refreshing summer treat....

Review: FAT HAM Serves Cookout Chaos Realness at City Theatre
by Greg Kerestan - March 11, 2024

James Ijames's Pulitzer-winning comedy Fat Ham is less an adaptation or reimagining of Hamlet, and more a play ABOUT Hamlet, a response to Hamlet. The characters are all too aware of how their stories and behaviors are mirroring characters from Shakespeare's tragedy: they quote it, riff on it, confi...

Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF IN CONCERT Breathes Life into an Old Favorite at Heinz Hall
by Greg Kerestan - February 26, 2024

The rediscovered orchestrations of John Williams make a beloved musical just that much better. If you were a movie or musical fan during the VHS era, you likely remember Fiddler on the Roof as one of those unwieldy three-hour films that require two different cassette tapes to watch in full, like Tit...

Review: DRAGON LADY Weaves Memory and Magic at Pittsburgh Public Theater
by Greg Kerestan - February 14, 2024

Sara Porkalob's solo show is a captivating mix of musical, monologue and alternative vibes. Solo shows are growing in popularity, both due to their artistic charms and their economic advantages post-COVID. Solo musicals, however, are still a rarity. What's the last one you can think of? ...

Review: THE PERFECT MATE Is Fantastic, and Fantastical, at Pittsburgh CLO
by Greg Kerestan - February 14, 2024

CLO's Spark program has a large-sized hit with the latest small-scale musical it commissioned. As a musical writer, let me just say: it's TOUGH to launch a new musical. The best thing you can do is have a company commission a show from you based on your pitch, otherwise you're going to have a long, ...

Review: URINETOWN Hits Below the Belt at The Lamp Theatre
by Greg Kerestan - February 05, 2024

If you asked me about important works of twentieth century literature, I'll rattle off all the obvious ones like The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, but I'll also make a case for the first ten years of The Simpsons as an essential piece of American literature. Hyper-referential, joke dense, to...

Review: MY FAIR LADY Stirs Up Conversation at the Benedum Center
by Greg Kerestan - February 05, 2024

Leave it to a musical based on George Bernard Shaw to have audiences debating in the aisles after bows....

Review: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY Sings Sweet Through the Sour at Benedum Center
by Greg Kerestan - January 15, 2024

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this show, but it sounded like heaven....

Review: A CHRISTMAS STORY Continues the Marathon at Pittsburgh Public Theater
by Greg Kerestan - December 14, 2023

It's back! Just last year I made the prediction that Philip Grecian's A Christmas Story: The Play would become a yearly staple, becoming the Christmas equivalent of Rocky Horror. To my delight, I was correct. Distinct from the more popular but more sentimentalized musical version by Pasek and Paul, ...

Review: WHO'S HOLIDAY Hits Below the Belt at Pittsburgh CLO
by Greg Kerestan - December 04, 2023

The CLO Cabaret's holiday special is delightfully raunchy, thanks to a go-for-broke performance by Lara Hayhurst....

Review: FRONT PORCH CABARET Unveils a Season of Firsts at Front Porch Theatricals
by Greg Kerestan - December 04, 2023

Pittsburgh's boutique professional musical theatre company loves taking chances, and this cabaret is full of them....

Review: ASSASSINS Goes for the Prize at Riverfront Theater Company
by Greg Kerestan - November 14, 2023

A great cast and extremely solid band steps up to the challenge of Sondheim's prickliest show....

Review: Michael Cerveris Shines in THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS IN CONCERT: A BENEFIT at Barebones Productions
by Greg Kerestan - November 04, 2023

Broadway's most complicated leading man is a fascinating match for one of the most iconic film musical roles of all time....