Broadway Theater Reviews

BWW Review: THE PROM is an Uplifting, Feel-Good Musical Comedy
by David Clarke - December 03, 2020

I approached Ryan Murphy’s film adaptation of THE PROM, expertly crafted for the stage by writers Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin and composer Matthew Sklar, with a lot of trepidation. Fortunately, most of my fears were misplaced and the final product is a joyous, technicolor celebration of living auth...

BWW Album Review: Tony Nominee and Emmy Winner, Liz Callaway, Gifts New Holiday Album Comfort and Joy–An Acoustic Christmas That Speaks Directly to the Soul
by Courtney Savoia - December 03, 2020

Working Girl Records recently announced that Tony nominee and Emmy winner, Liz Callaway, will release her new holiday album Comfort and Joy–An Acoustic Christmas, on Friday, December 4, 2020. Knowing that this holiday season would look and feel different, Callaway took to social media for inspiratio...

BWW Review: MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM is a Relevant and Powerful Must-See Film
by David Clarke - November 30, 2020

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson is heralded for progressing and helping to develop contemporary black theater, tackling a wide array of important themes from the black American experience while also allowing white America to truly see black Americans. The expertly crafted 2020 film a...

BWW Review: Jefferson Mays Plays 50+ Characters In A Beautifully Realized Adaptation A CHRISTMAS CAROL
by Michael Dale - November 29, 2020

As virtuosic Broadway stars go, Jefferson Mays be the provider of the most congenially-natured performances of his era....

BWW Album Review: TOGETHER AT CHRISTMAS Embraces the Holiday Spirit
by Amanda Prahl - November 25, 2020

Michael Ball and Alfie Boe are here with a perfect soundtrack for the season, Together at Christmas. The duo of stage icons are teaming up again for an album of holiday favorites, and although there are a few missteps along the way, the end result is, mostly, a pleasantly charming addition to your h...

BWW Review: Bill Irwin's ON BECKETT / IN SCREEN Takes A Clown's-Eye View Of The Modernist's Words
by Michael Dale - November 22, 2020

'I am not a Beckett scholar,' Bill Irwin advises viewers at the outset. 'Mine is an actor's relationship to this language. By which I mean the deep knowledge that comes from committing words to memory, and speaking them to audiences.'...

BWW Album Review: IN THE GREEN Offers a Rainbow of Revelation About the Human Journey
by Courtney Savoia - November 10, 2020

GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS recently announced the digital release of the Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 original cast recording of In the Green – the new musical by Grace McLean. The album features orchestrations by Grace McLean and Kris Kukul, with music supervision by Kris Kukul, and music direction by Ada W...

BWW Album Review: Laura Benanti's Self-Titled Debut Album is Self-Care at its Finest
by David Clarke - November 06, 2020

Recently, Laura Benanti released her delightful self-titled debut album on Sony Masterworks. The record springs to life with light jazz covers of cherished classic and contemporary pop hits....

BWW Review: The Seeing Place Addresses Increasingly Relevant Issues With Jane Martin's 1994 Pulitzer Finalist KEELY AND DU
by Michael Dale - November 05, 2020

For the first time in twelve years, Americans were being served by a president who fully supported The Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision when the pseudonymed playwright Jane Martin's 1994 Pulitzer finalist KEELY AND DU premiered....

BWW Review: Trump-Era Liberals Are All At Sea In Anne Washburn's SHIPWRECK
by Michael Dale - October 28, 2020

While not exactly a moment of déjà vu, I did feel a sense of the familiar while listening to director Saheem Ali's new podcast production of Anne Washburn's provocative play of Trump-era liberal ideology, SHIPWRECK, subtitled 'a History Play about 2017'. It was followed almost immediately by an inte...

Podcast: Howard Ashman, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, and more on THE BROADWAY GINGER PODCAST
by BWW News Desk - October 26, 2020

Due to overexposure to wildly overdone musicals in community theatres (looking at you, SEUSSICAL), Sally and Ashley now have the Community Theatre Formula down to a jazz-handed science....

Podcast: THE BROADWAY GINGER Talks THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, Patrick Page, and More in Disney Episode
by BWW News Desk - October 20, 2020

The only thing more exciting than a Disney movie is a Disney Broadway musical. While the House of Mouse gave the people what they wanted via Broadway mounts of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE LION KING, FROZEN, etc., did you know there are Disney shows that have played regional theatres around the world a...

BWW Album Review: SHE IS RISEN: VOLUME TWO is a True Superstar
by David Clarke - October 05, 2020

We asked for it, and 2020 delivered! Last month, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the musical, the All Female Cast of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR dropped their highly anticipated second EP....

BWW Review: David Hargreaves Stars in [email protected]'s Enchanting Radio Drama Production of THE TEMPEST
by Michael Dale - October 05, 2020

After an impressive inaugural production of HAMLET in the atmospheric surroundings of Jersey City's Grace Church Van Vorst, Artistic Director Sean Hagerty's [email protected], like so many theatre companies around the country, was suddenly placed in the position rethinking its immediate future....

BWW Album Review: EINSTEIN'S DREAMS Celebrates the Human Imagination Through the Lens of Legendary Thinker
by Courtney Savoia - October 01, 2020

Broadway Records recently celebrated the release of the original Off-Broadway cast recording of Einstein's Dreams. Written by Joanne Sydney Lessner (book and lyrics) and Joshua Rosenblum (music and lyrics), the musical ran Off-Broadway last winter and received four Drama Desk nominations, including ...

BWW Review: Richard Nelson Closes Out His Pandemic Trilogy With INCIDENTAL MOMENTS OF THE DAY
by Michael Dale - September 18, 2020

When playwright/director Richard Nelson introduced Public Theater audiences to a family of Rhinebeck, New York residents by the surname Apple, he referred to his creation as a 'disposable play.' Well, it's been nearly ten years and, thankfully, he hasn't disposed of the Apples yet....

BWW Album Review: Nick Cordero Proves He Is 'One Of The Great Ones' with LIVE YOUR LIFE - LIVE AT FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW
by David Clarke - September 17, 2020

The fact that Nick Cordero isna??t here to celebrate NICK CORDERO: LIVE YOUR LIFE - LIVE AT FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW is an injustice. The record is absolutely breathtaking. Corderoa??s sincerity, heart, and remarkable talent radiates across every second of the recording....

BWW Album Review: Sarah Stiles' You Can Ukulele With Me is the Rejuvenating Vacation We All Need
by Courtney Savoia - September 09, 2020

Tony Award nominee, Sarah Stiles (Tootsie, Hand to God) recently released her debut EP, You Can Ukulele With Me, via Broadway Records. This recoding is in collaboration with songwriter, Holly Gewandter, and has become a bright spot in these uncertain times. Coincidentally recorded ahead of the COVID...

BWW Album Review: A KILLER PARTY Is More Fun Than Mystery
by Amanda Prahl - September 07, 2020

A Killer Party has figured out exactly how to tap into digital-theatre-era frustrations and jokes. A murder mystery that leans gleefully into the campiness of the genre more than the horror, the soundtrack to this video-conferenced musical is as far from deadly dull as it gets....

BWW Review: The Seeing Place Addresses LGBTQIA+ Issues Through Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
by Michael Dale - September 01, 2020

Back in pre-COVID New York, barely a midsummer weekend would go by without a theatre company somewhere presenting an outdoor production of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM in whatever garden, meadow or parking lot would offer a permit. When you add the countless indoor productions, the Bard's...

BWW Album Review: Telly Leung's 'You Matter' Elicits the Humanity That Still Exists in Quarantine
by Courtney Savoia - August 04, 2020

Broadway and TV actor, singer, and songwriter, Telly Leung, (Aladdin, Allegiance, Glee) has turned the bleakness of quarantine into the promise of brighter days ahead, with his new EP, You Matter. Made in collaboration with composer and music director, Gary Adler (Avenue Q) and lyricist, Phoebe Kreu...

BWW Album Review: Ethan Slater's LIFE IS WEIRD EP Short and Sweetly Introspective
by David Clarke - August 03, 2020

Ethan Slater's LIFE IS WEIRD is a short and sweetly introspective record that features two original songs and a cover. The three tracks allow listeners an intimate peek behind the yellow-hued, bubbly effervescence we associate the artist to see the man behind the sponge for whom he really is....

BWW Review: Saheem Ali Reinvents Shakespeare In The Park With An Audio RICHARD II That Stresses Color Consciousness
by Michael Dale - July 19, 2020

'What does it mean to have a Black man who is deemed unfit to rule and what does it mean to have a Black woman take his place?'...

BWW Album Review: Melissa Errico's TWO SPRING SONGS FOR SUMMER Finds New Meaning in Uncertain Times
by Courtney Savoia - July 17, 2020

Broadway favorite, Melissa Errico, recently released Two Spring Songs for Summer, featuring two classic hits, newly recorded in quarantine: Michel Legrand's “You Must Believe In Spring”-- including new lyrics specifically written for Melissa by Alan and Marilyn Bergman -- coupled with Alec Wilder's ...

BWW Review: LUNGS: IN CAMERA, Old Vic
by Eleni Cashell - July 06, 2020

When Lungs opened at the Old Vic back in October last year, it gained positive reviews for its take on relationships in a complicated world and the strong performances from both Matt Smith and Claire Foy. With a a stripped-back design and only two performers required, it was a clear (and good) choic...