Raleigh Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: Poiema Artistry Theatre Co.'s IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS
by Jeffrey Kare - December 07, 2025

Based on Michael Curtiz’ 1954 Academy Award nomination film musical of the same name. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas follows veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis who have formed a successful song-and-dance act after World War II....

Review: THE OUTSIDERS National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - December 03, 2025

Based on S. E. Hinton’s 1967 novel of the same name as well as Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film adaptation. The Outsiders is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s. The story follows Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade, and their Greaser family of ‘outsiders’ as they battle with their affluent ...

Review: Theatre Raleigh's ONCE ON THIS ISLAND
by Jeffrey Kare - November 13, 2025

Based on Rosa Guy’s 1985 novel, My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl, a Caribbean-set retelling of the original fairy tale of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen....

Review: Ali Stroker in Concert at Theatre Raleigh
by Jeffrey Kare - October 19, 2025

In June 2016, my mom and I went to New York during Tony Awards weekend. On the day of the telecast, we both walked all the way to the Beacon Theatre (where the ceremony was taking place) while rehearsal was going on...

Review: THE SOUND OF MUSIC National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - October 08, 2025

Based on Maria von Trapp’s 1949 memoir titled The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. The Sound of Music tells the true story of Maria Rainer, a young, free-spirited, but troublemaking postulant at a convent in Salzburg, Austria. Knowing how irresponsible she is, the Mother Abbess sends her to Salzbu...

Review: Theatre Raleigh's WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND
by Jeffrey Kare - September 25, 2025

What We Leave Behind is a completely original musical that explores the impact of chronic illness on a family. When Jenny, a musical theatre composer is diagnosed with breast cancer, it seems as though her world has come crashing down around her....

Review: BEAUTY & THE BEAST National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - September 04, 2025

Based on Disney's 1991 Academy Award-winning animated film musical of the same name as well as Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s classic French fairy tale. Beauty & the Beast follows Belle, a bright, beautiful young woman who doesn't seem to fit in with her village....

Review: THE WIZ National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - August 06, 2025

The Wiz is an all-Black musical reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 classic children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story follows Dorothy, a young girl who lives on a farm in Kansas, until a cyclone arrives, picks up her house, and blows her away to the fantastical land of Oz....

Review: LES MISÉRABLES National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - July 16, 2025

Based on Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name. Les Misérables follows Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who after serving nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, goes on a quest for redemption. When a kind bishop inspires him by a tremendous act of mercy, Valjean breaks his parole as h...

Review: SOME LIKE IT HOT National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - June 18, 2025

Based on Billy Wilder’s 1959 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, Some Like It Hot follows two musicians, Joe & Jerry, who are forced to flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they’re on the run as the newest members of the swingingest big band ever to cr...

Review: Theatre Raleigh's PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
by Jeffrey Kare - June 13, 2025

Loosely based on Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson’s 2004 novel, Peter and the Starcatcher upends the classic story of how a miserable young orphan became The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up, otherwise known as Peter Pan. It begins when he and his mates are shipped off from Victorian England to a distant island...

Review: Carmen Cusack in Concert at Theatre Raleigh
by Jeffrey Kare - May 11, 2025

Carmen opened the show with two back-to-back songs from Steve Martin & Edie Brickell’s Bright Star. The musical where she made her Broadway debut in 2016 after many years in the industry....

Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - April 30, 2025

Based on David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2001 stage play of the same name, Kimberly Akimbo follows a bright and funny teenage girl from New Jersey who happens to look like a 72-year-old lady. However, her aging disease may be the least of her problems. Forced to maneuver family secrets, borderline personalit...

Review: Theatre Raleigh's THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL
by Jeffrey Kare - March 27, 2025

The Trip to Bountiful is set in Houston, Texas in the 1940s after World War II. The story follows Carrie Watts, an elderly Southern woman who dreams of escaping the bustling city to return to her rural home of Bountiful. She sets out on a risky journey to her beloved hometown with her family in hot ...

Review: A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - January 08, 2025

A Beautiful Noise is a biographical musical about legendary singer/songwriter Neil Diamond. The story chronicles how a poor Jewish kid from Brooklyn became one of the most universally adored showmen of all time. With his first break into songwriting in the 1960s, his meteoric rise in the 1970s, and ...

Review: Stephanie J. Block in Concert at Theatre Raleigh
by Jeffrey Kare - December 09, 2024

We’ve come to the end of the second year of Theatre Raleigh’s concert series. Several prolific performers have graced their stages here in the Triangle area throughout 2024. From local talent to Broadway stars such as Telly Leung, Seth Rudetsky, and Julie Benko. As for their closing act this season,...

Review: Theatre Raleigh's CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS
by Jeffrey Kare - November 07, 2024

What did our critic think of Theatre Raleigh's CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS?...

Review: & JULIET National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - October 03, 2024

Read BroadwayWorld's review of the national tour of & Juliet at Durham Performing Arts Center. Learn more about the show. ...

Review: CLUE National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - September 04, 2024

Based on Jonathan Lynn’s 1985 film adaptation of Hasbro’s popular board game of the same name, six guests have been invited to attend a mystery get-together at a large, somewhat secluded mansion. Upon arrival, each guest is provided an alias, situates in the house, and is given a deadly weapon....

Review: Raleigh Little Theatre's SOMETHING ROTTEN!
by Jeffrey Kare - August 24, 2024

What did our critic think of SOMETHING ROTTEN! at Raleigh Little Theatre?...

Review: Theatre Raleigh's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE
by Jeffrey Kare - July 18, 2024

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike centers on middle-aged siblings who share a home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where they bicker and complain about the circumstances of their lives....

Review: SETH'S BIG FAT BROADWAY SHOW at Theatre Raleigh
by Jeffrey Kare - June 24, 2024

Next up in Theatre Raleigh’s 2024 concert series is Seth Rudetsky. For those unfamiliar, he’s a DJ for SiriusXM on Broadway. He’s worked for more than 20 years as an actor, writer, pianist, and conductor working on blockbuster musicals such as Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, and T...

Review: Theatre Raleigh's JANE EYRE
by Jeffrey Kare - May 30, 2024

Based on Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel of the same name, Jane Eyre follows a young orphan who is put in the unfortunate care of her cruel Aunt Sarah and cousin, John Reed, as per her uncle’s dying wish. After spending six years at Lowood School for Girls, Jane leaves and is shortly after hired as a ...

Review: THE LION KING National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - May 17, 2024

Based on Disney’s 1994 animated film musical of the same name, The Lion King tells the story of Simba, a young lion who is supposed to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of Pride Rock. But when Simba's uncle, Scar, kills Mufasa, Simba runs away from home after being tricked into thinking that he wa...

Review: 2024 DPAC Rising Star Awards
by Jeffrey Kare - May 10, 2024

The DPAC Rising Star Awards is a regional competition that brings together high school musical theater students from Central and Eastern North Carolina to perform and compete for the chance to represent the Triangle in The National High School Musical Theater (otherwise known as The Jimmy) Awards in...