From the outset, it is clear, that Theatre Raleigh's production of ONCE is not going to be a typical theatrical experience, but a completely immersive one.
Based on the 2007 movie of the same name, ONCE is a story about a Guy and a Girl who come together through their love of music.
From the g... (more...)
Based on Emile Ardolino's 1992 film of the same name, Sister Act follows disco diva Deloris Van Cartier as she is put in protective custody after witnessing a murder. Not only that, but she is hidden in the one place that the cops are sure she won't be found, a convent. While struggling through the ... (more...)
There's an irony about sitting in a theater on opening night reviewing a play about a play and the sometimes-tempestuous relationship between the players and the critics. But that's exactly what Terrence McNally's IT'S ONLY A PLAY is about, a group of theater people waiting for the reviews of their ... (more...)
With the fiery intensity of a tigress, Judy McLane channels opera diva Maria Callas in Theatre Raleigh's production of Terrence McNally's MASTER CLASS.
The Tony Award-winning MASTER CLASS opened on Broadway in 1995. The play is inspired by the master classes Callas taught at Julliard in 1971 and ... (more...)
When THE BOOK OF MORMON opened on Broadway in 2011, it was called blasphemous, crude, raunchy, and genius. The brainchild of the creators of adult animated series "South Park," THE BOOK OF MORMON won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. This week it plays at the Durham Performing Arts Center (D... (more...)
Kristin Chenoweth kicked off the next leg of her tour in Boone after a six-week hiatus last weekend. She lit up The Schaeffer Center as part of the Appalachian Summer Festival. The concert was a homecoming of sorts for Chenoweth's ever-talented musical director Mary-Mitchell Campbell who is from Wil... (more...)
Based on the 1992 Disney film of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the real-life newsboys strike of 1899 in New York City, Newsies tells the captivating story of a band of underdogs who become unlikely heroes when they stand up to the most powerful men in New York. When I last met up with... (more...)
Any Stephen Sondheim musical is a lofty feat for even the most seasoned of performers. Sondheim's music is notable for its quick syncopated rhythms, timing and nuance, which is one reason Raleigh Little Theatre's Teens on Stage production of INTO THE WOODS is such an achievement.
INTO THE WOODS t... (more...)
Long before Disney introduced the world to Anna and Elsa, Christina Rosetti penned GOBLIN MARKET, a fairytale narrative poem about the power of sisterly love. In Rosetti's poem, two sisters, Lizzie and Laura, triumphantly overcome the temptation of goblin men in a haunted wood.
Rosetti's piece ha... (more...)
FIRST DATE is a cute, somewhat formulaic, kitsch musical comedy that packs a whole lot of laughs.
The show, which premiered at Seattle's ACT Theatre in 2012 and opened on Broadway a year later, kicks off North Raleigh Arts Creative Theatre's (NRACT'S) new season. The score features music and lyri... (more...)
Theatre Raleigh's BIG FISH transports audiences to a simpler time, before the age of social media and the insatiable need to curate personal stories on small screens. This is the stuff of pure imagination.
Based on Daniel Wallace's 1998 novel, BIG FISH centers around the character of Edward Bloom... (more...)
PIPPIN opened on Broadway in 1972 under the direction of legendary choreographer Bob Fosse. In 2013, the show was reimagined as a circus spectacle for the Tony Award-winning revival.
The North Carolina Theatre production of PIPPIN, showcasing the talents of its North Carolina Theatre Conservatory... (more...)
At what concert can you hear music from both Young the Giant and Olivia Newton-John? The LM/DC Tour featuring former "Glee" stars Lea Michele and Darren Criss.
Michele and Criss kicked off the second leg of their tour this week. This weekend they play both the Durham Performing Arts Center and O... (more...)
According to Mo Gaffney, she and Kathy Najimy still think they are the funniest people on the planet. And if the play PARALLEL LIVES is any indication, they just might be.
Najimy and Gaffney (better known as Kathy and Mo) first performed PARALLEL LIVES, a series of comedy sketches they penned abo... (more...)
You are cordially invited to Theatre in the Park (TIP) for the wedding of Brian Howard and Rebecca Steinberg. But before you pop the cork on that bottle of champagne, or dance the Hora, the bride and groom might have something to share.
IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU opened on Broadway in 2015, after a 201... (more...)
Always a bridesmaid, never the bride… or so the old saying goes. But what happens when all the bridesmaids become brides and the gay best friend is left quite literally standing alone?
That's the premise of Joshua Harmon's smart, funny and poignant play SIGNIFICANT OTHER. Harmon's play premiered ... (more...)
What do you get when you cross a grief-stricken mother, a bomb-making daughter, a crazy cat lady for an aunt, an apartment mourning for better days, and an apparition manifesting himself in the form of Justin Timberlake and Harrison Ford? Sheila Callaghan's play CRUMBLE (LAY ME DOWN, JUSTIN TIMBERLA... (more...)
Raleigh Little Theatre's Don't Dress for Dinner is a comic romp about marriage, infidelity, and alibis gone awry. Bernard (Rob Jenkins) is planning a romantic weekend with his mistress (A.C. Donohue) in his charming converted French farmhouse, while his wife, Jacqueline (Jenny Anglum), is away. He h... (more...)
The Tony Award-winning SPRING AWAKENING begs the question: 'How will we know what to do if our parents won't tell us?' The provocative show, which opened June 1st, closes out North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre's (NRACT) 2017-2018 season. Adapted from Frank Wedekind's 1890 play 'Spring's Awakeni... (more...)
If it is the secret of happiness you seek, you might look no further than The Kennedy Theatre in Downtown Raleigh where Theatre Raleigh's production of 'Daddy Long Legs' opened last night. Based on the 1912 novel by Jean Webster, the two-actor musical 'Daddy Long Legs' is the coming-of-age story of ... (more...)
Playwright and performer Taylor Mac once said: "Theater reminds an audience of the things they've forgotten, dismissed, or buried or that others have buried for them. It unearths. It brings the conversation you aren't having with yourself into the room." Such is the case with Raleigh Little Theatre'... (more...)
Gone are the days of the magic wand, rabbit, and top hat. Instead, THE ILLUSIONISTS LIVE FROM BROADWAY delivers a balanced mix of mind readers, escape artists, sleight-of-hand and disappearing acts to the stage. The standout of the show is Forensic Mind Reader Colin Cloud (aka The Deductionist). Clo... (more...)
Janis Joplin is alive and well and rocking the Fletcher Opera Theater at The Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Directed by Randy Johnson, the creator, writer, and director of the 2014 Tony Award nominated production, North Carolina Theatre's A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN pays homage to the roc... (more...)
Based on Adrienne Shelly's 2007 independent film of the same name, Waitress tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a Waitress at a small town diner who is trapped in an abusive marriage to her husband Earl. When Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she begins an affair with her gynecologist, Dr. Jim Po... (more...)
There is something very sinister happening at Theatre in the Park (TIP) in Raleigh and you only have until May 6th to catch it before it's exorcised. It's a good night out for mature audiences who don't mind a little blasphemy with their supper.... (more...)
BWW Review: Theatre Raleigh's ONCE is Simply Grand
BWW Review: Raleigh Little Theatre's SISTER ACT
BWW Review: Theatre in the Park's IT'S ONLY A PLAY Has Makings of a Good Show, but...
BWW Review: Intense and Fiery Performance Makes Theatre Raleigh's MASTER CLASS Riveting
BWW Review: Irreverent THE BOOK OF MORMON Still Big on Laughs, Slight in Shock Value
BWW Review: Kristin Chenoweth Returns to the Stage in Boone After a Six-Week Hiatus and Lights Up the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts
BWW Review: North Carolina Theatre's NEWSIES
BWW Review: Raleigh Little Theatre's INTO THE WOODS Turns Spotlight on Talented Teens
BWW Review: Women's Theatre Festival's GOBLIN MARKET Makes for a Visual Feast
BWW Review: NRACT'S Fun FIRST DATE Worthy of a First Impression Rose
BWW Review: Theatre Raleigh's Inventive, Heartfelt BIG FISH Transports Audience to a Simpler Time
BWW Review: Conservatory Students Prove They Are on the Right Track in North Carolina Theatre's Production of PIPPIN
BWW Review: Fans Gleek Out During LM/DC Concert at DPAC
BWW Review: Women's Theatre Festival's PARALLEL LIVES Delivers Enough Knee-Slapping Moments of Hilarity to Be Worthy of a Night Out
BWW Review: Theatre in the Park's Funny IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU Rides on the Coattails of Standout Comedic Performances
BWW Review: Theatre Raleigh's Compelling SIGNIFICANT OTHER Strikes Delicate Balance
BWW Review: Poignant, Dramedy CRUMBLE (LAY ME DOWN JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE) Opens Women's Theatre Festival
BWW Review: Raleigh Little Theatre's DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER Serves Up Comic Romp About Marriage, Infidelity and Alibis Gone Awry
BWW Review: NRACT'S SPRING AWAKENING Delivers Timely Message
BWW Review: Theatre Raleigh's Sweet, Heartfelt DADDY LONG LEGS Transports Audience to a Simpler Time
BWW Review: BLOOD DONE SIGN MY NAME at Raleigh Little Theatre is One History Lesson Not to be Missed
BWW Review: THE ILLUSIONISTS LIVE FROM BROADWAY Delivers Good Family Fare to Durham Performing Arts Center
BWW Review: NORTH CAROLINA THEATRE'S A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN Rocks the Fletcher Opera Theater
BWW Review: WAITRESS National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
BWW Review: Theatre in the Park's Irreverent HAND TO GOD Delivers Laugh Out Loud Comedy
