Raleigh Theater Reviews

Review: COME FROM AWAY National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - January 19, 2023

Come From Away is based on a true story of when the isolated community of Gander, Newfoundland played host to the world. What started as an average day in a small Canadian town turned into an international sleep-over when 38 planes, carrying thousands of people from across the globe, were diverted t...

Review: TINA - THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - January 04, 2023

Tina - The Tina Turner Musical follows the life and career of legendary recording artist Tina Turner. The story begins with her upbringing in Nutbush, Tennessee, continues with her tumultuous relationship with Ike Turner, and ends with her transformation into the global queen of rock 'n' roll. In ca...

BWW Review: ELF THE MUSICAL National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - December 01, 2022

Elf, which was released in 2003, has undoubtedly achieved that status with its endlessly quotable lines and endearingly funny performance by Will Ferrell as Buddy. Many of these beloved holiday films have been adapted for the stage, like White Christmas and A Christmas Story, so it’s natural that El...

Review: HAIRSPRAY National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - November 17, 2022

Based on John Waters' 1988 cult film of the same name, Hairspray takes place in Baltimore, Maryland in the year 1962. The story centers on a plump teenage girl named Tracy Turnblad, whose lifelong dream is to dance on the local TV dance program known as The Corny Collins Show. When Tracy wins a role...

Review: North Carolina Theatre's STEEL MAGNOLIAS
by Jeffrey Kare - November 06, 2022

Set in Chinquapin, Louisiana during the late 1980s, Steel Magnolias takes place in Truvy's beauty salon where all the ladies who are 'anybody' come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking ...

Review: SISTER ACT At Raleigh Memorial Auditorium At The Duke Energy Center
by Paul Bolton - October 13, 2022

What did our critic think of SISTER ACT at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium At The Duke Energy Center? Tour de force cast takes you to church in a fun comedic wild ride of a musical - Sister Act....

BWW Review: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, Theatre Raleigh
by Nicole Ackman - September 17, 2022

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG might just be one of the funniest concepts to grace the stage of a theater in the past fifty years. The play, by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer, depicts a theater group putting on a performance of “The Murder at Haversham Manor” that goes disastrously wrong f...

Review: FROZEN National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - September 16, 2022

Based on Disney's 2013 Academy Award-winning animated movie musical of the same name as well as Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 fairy tale, The Snow Queen, Frozen follows two royal sisters named Anna and Elsa. Read our review of the stage show, based on the blockbuster film, which eventually became t...

Review: ON YOUR FEET! at NCTHEATRE at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
by Paul Bolton - August 13, 2022

Current production at North Carolina Theater features the music of 26-time Grammy Award-winning husband-and-wife team Gloria and Emilio Estefan. 'On Your Feet!' tells the story of two talented people who created an international sensation with their music. Featuring Estefan's hit songs, 'Anything fo...

BWW Review: CITY OF ANGELS, Theatre Raleigh
by Nicole Ackman - August 10, 2022

You could still smell the new paint in the newly refurbished theater during the opening night of Theatre Raleigh’s CITY OF ANGELS. It’s fitting that director and choreographer Lauren Kennedy Brady was fulfilling a dream of bringing this production to life while also debuting the company’s new theate...

BWW Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - August 05, 2022

Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic 1960 novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD opened on Broadway in 2018. (Yes, that Aaron Sorkin). Directed by Bartlett Sher, the play transports the audience to Alabama in 1934, where Atticus Finch is representing a Black man falsely accused of sexual assault....

Review: Theatre Raleigh's YELLOW FACE
by Jeffrey Kare - July 01, 2022

What did our critic think? Yellow Face follows Asian-American playwright DHH. Fresh off his Tony Award win for M. Butterfly, he leads a protest against the casting of Jonathan Pryce as the Eurasian pimp in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon, condemning the practice as 'yellowface.' His ...

BWW Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - June 19, 2022

When JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR first premiered in 1972, it was banned by the BBC for being “sacrilegious.” The musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, imagines the last week in the life of Jesus Christ in the form of a sung-through rock opera. The tour currently at DPAC play...

BWW Review: IN THE HEIGHTS, Raleigh Little Theatre
by Nicole Ackman - June 18, 2022

Raleigh Little Theatre’s production of IN THE HEIGHTS was initially announced in February 2020, just before the Coronavirus pandemic shut down theaters across the country. So it’s a joy to finally see it make its way to the stage in June 2022. Directed by Patrick Torres, the story of Washington Heig...

BWW Review: HAMILTON National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - May 20, 2022

Read our critic's review. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical remains every bit as engaging and innovative today as it was seven years ago. Under Thomas Kail’s direction, the show is one of the most unique to have made it big on Broadway. ...

BWW Review: 2022 Triangle Rising Star Awards at DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - May 13, 2022

From the moment that the ceremony started with an upbeat rendition of “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from HAIRSPRAY by the twenty finalists, it was clear that the 2022 Triangle Rising Star Awards was going to be something special....

BWW Review: MY FAIR LADY National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - May 04, 2022

Based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play, Pygmalion, My Fair Lady is set in London in the year 1912. Read what our critic has to say. ...

BWW Review: JERSEY BOYS at DPAC North Carolina
by Paul Bolton - April 30, 2022

The Broadway Award Winning Musical 'Jersey Boys' plays through May 1st, 2022 at DPAC North Carolina featuring the hits of THE FOUR SEASONS...

BWW Review: North Carolina Theatre's RING OF FIRE
by Jeffrey Kare - April 30, 2022

Ring of Fire is a musical presented as a concert by a group of five performers playing the songs of legendary country music artist Johnny Cash. The show, which was conceived by William Meade and created by Richard Maltby, Jr., opened on March 12th, 2006 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Sa...

BWW Review: PRETTY WOMAN National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - April 20, 2022

Read our critic's review: When the film “Pretty Woman” first came out, its narrative didn’t feel as tired. The Cinderella story of sorts follows prostitute Vivian Ward who wealthy businessman Edward Lewis hires to be his escort to business functions for a week. In 2022, with a modern audience, it’s ...

BWW Review: OKLAHOMA! National Tour, DPAC
by Nicole Ackman - March 30, 2022

This is not your grandparents’ OKLAHOMA. During intermission, I heard one woman ask another, “Is this the Oklahoma you remember?” and it’s certainly not. If you’ve ever found the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical boring or problematic, then this is the revival for you....

BWW Review: HADESTOWN National Tour (DPAC)
by Nicole Ackman - February 23, 2022

When a musical makes as much of an impact on Broadway as HADESTOWN did when it first premiered, the first national tour cast has a lot to live up to. Luckily, the tour of HADESTOWN manages to recapture all of the magic that the show had on Broadway, with a stellar cast stepping into the roles....

BWW Review: RENT National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - January 29, 2022

Loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera, La bohème, Rent follows a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in New York City's East Village in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. ...

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS STORY, US Tour (DPAC)
by Nicole Ackman - December 29, 2021

If you’re looking for something festive to do with the family, the national tour of A CHRISTMAS STORY is a fun option. The musical brings the beloved 1983 film to life onstage with music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. While the musical exposes the weakness of the plot of the film, the talented cast ...

BWW Review: AIN'T TOO PROUD National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center
by Jeffrey Kare - December 11, 2021

Ain't Too Proud follows the journey of The Temptations from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With their signature dance moves and unmistakable harmonies, they rose to the top of the charts creating an amazing 42 Top Ten Hits with 14 reaching number one. ...